Two Tivos To Paradise 10.31.08: The Halloween Edition - All TV News Treats, No TV News Tricks

Posted by Al Norton on 10.31.2008

Courteney Cox takes up residence in Cougar Town, an update on The Simpsons' future, NBC reshuffles their line up, The Cleaner gets renewed, Sam Raimi's big week, more on Mad Men's behind-the-scenes turmoil, a guide to Halloween viewing, raves for Katie Holmes and Eli Stone, the TV Pick of the Week, and more, all in this week's edition of Two Tivos To Paradise!

Hello Friends. It's been a busy week in the Norton house in ways having nothing to do with television. Harry and Genevieve had a number of Doctor's appointments this week, including their first set of immunization shots (sorry, Jenny McCarthy), and if you don't think getting twins ready to leave the house is a production that rivals any Broadway musical you are sadly mistaken. We also celebrated our wedding anniversary by going to see the So You Think You Can Dance? live show last night in the confines of a luxury box last night.

It's close to midnight and something evil's lurking in the news.

Stacy, Can I Come Over After School? We Can Hang Around By The Pool
ABC has ordered a pilot for Cougar Town, a sitcom from Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence that will star Courteney Cox as a newly single women in her 40's with a 17 year old son. While Cox does have a guest stint on the upcoming final season of Scrubs, this would mark her first regular sitcom role since Friends. Dirt, an FX series she produced and starred in about tabloid journalism, was recently canceled after two seasons. Lawrence and Cox have worked together before as he was a writer on the first season of Friends before leaving to (co)create Spin City.

And the award for best title goes to…Cougar Town! Actually, doesn't that sound like something that would have been paired with The Mullets on the old UPN? Bill Lawrence is a proven TV talent, and even though Dirt was really quite bad in its second season, Cox's performance was not the reason, so I can see why ABC moved so quickly to get this into development. I think enough time has passed since Friends went off the air – and especially since her role on Dirt was SO different than what she had played before – that people won't be watching expecting to see Monica Geller.

Cougar Town (Won't you take me to…)

Nice Girls, Not One With A Defect, Cellophane Shrink-Wrapped, So Correct
NBC announced a reshuffling of its line up this week, creating a "crime time" Wednesday programming block. Life is being moved from its current Friday's at 10 pm slot to Wednesdays at 9, and will be followed by new episodes of Law and Order at 10. Knight Rider will continue to lead off the night for the network. Lipstick Jungle will shift from Wednesdays at 10 to Fridays at 10.

This is great news for Life fans as it shows NBC is really getting behind the series. The original plan was for Law and Order to return in January once the NFL regular season ended but bringing it back now gives them a nice one-two punch. The most recent DVR numbers showed Life had the single biggest percentage gain for the key demo audience, and those encouraging numbers combined with the very positive critical response to the series played a role in moving the show to a more attractive day/time slot. It will be going against the popular Criminal Minds but the thought process is that one crime drama can clearly find success in that spot so why not two?

Lipstick Jungle's banishment to Fridays at 10 doesn't bode well at all, especially with the disappointing Crusoe as a lead-in. New episodes of Medium, which are scheduled to return in January, are waiting in the wings for the next time NBC pulls a show from it's line up.

Don't You Understand I Already Have A Plan; I'm Waiting For My Real Life To Begin
A & E gave a thirteen episodes second season order to The Cleaner this week, sighting strong ratings as well as synergy with the network's reality series Intervention. The Cleaner, which stars Benjamin Bratt as recovering addict who helps others get clean using some rather extreme tactics, averaged 4.2 million viewers during its first season, easily topping A & E's last few attempts at scripted dramas. The network has the Patrick Swayze fronted drama The Beast starting next year and recently signed a deal to air reruns of Criminal Minds to go with the CSI: Miami episodes that currently run multiple times per day.

Regular readers know how much I loved The Cleaner's pilot – I called it the best new show of the summer and maybe even of the year – and while the 12 episodes that followed didn't hit the same levels of quality, the show's unflinching look at addiction as well as it's exploration of the responsibility we all have to each other as people was always compelling. Benjamin Bratt carries the weight of the series on his shoulder - if the audience doesn't buy William's commitment to keeping his deal with God than the show fails – and does so quiet well. I wouldn't be surprised if there were a Norty Nomination in Bratt's future. I am happy a show taking on such weighty subject matter is getting a second season to grow it's audience.

He's Gotta Be Strong And He's Gotta Be Fast And He's Gotta Be Fresh From The Fight
This is turning into a big week for Sam Raimi; not only is his action-adventure series Legend of the Seeker debuting in syndication this weekend but he and producing partners Rob Tapert and Joshua Donen have signed a deal for 13 episodes of Spartacus on Starz. The Starz series will be set in the world of gladiator fighting and will be filmed almost entirely with green screen technology, with a rumored budget of $2 million per episode. The show will use 300 and Sin City as style touchstones and the producers are looking to use a cast of unknowns to give it a fresh feel. Steven S. DeKnight (Smallville) will serve as head writer and showrunner.

Legend of the Seeker is certainly an interesting test for the current TV world as there hasn't been a hit first run syndication show in sometime. Obviously the Rami-Tapert track record (Hercules, Xena) bodes well for this new show but I wonder about the scheduling; as an example, it airs at 11:30 on Saturday night here in Boston, opposite SNL, and I haven't seen a single ad for it yet.

I love the spin the Spartacus producers put on casting unknowns – it's to give the show a new look, and couldn't have anything to do with how expensive the show is going to be to make, right? Starz is clearly trying to become a player in the original programming game and Spartacus is obviously much, much different that Crash, which is a good thing as it shows they are more about quality ideas and working with talented people than they are following any one set style.

The Ghouls All Came From Their Humble Abodes To Get A Jolt From My Electrodes
Today is Halloween (duh!) and what follows is a run down of the spooktacular viewing options available to those looking to celebrate the day. In no particular order (until the end)…

*Spike has all three original Omen movies starting at 9 am.

*I am not sure how Poltergeist qualifies for ABC Family but that isn't stopping the network from airing the classic at 7:30 pm.

*The Travel Channel has all day programming beginning at 10 am and including four hours of Ghost Adventures and 3 hours of America's Scariest Halloween Attractions.

*Bravo is running the five hour 100 Scariest Movie Moments special.

*WE is getting in the act with four hours of Extreme Ghost Stories.

*TCM and AMC are continuing their week long runs of non-stop scary movies.

*History has a full set of theme programming including four hours of Monster Quest and special Halloween editions of Modern Marvels.

*TheWB.com offers up my personal favorite viewing options, Halloween episodes of Friends, Everwood, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Gilmore Girls, and One Tree Hill.

And finally, the top Halloween viewing option has to be the third annual Ghost Hunters Live broadcast from SCI FI. This seven hour special (7 pm) comes to you from Fort Delaware, a site where the TAPS crew has found paranormal activity earlier this season and is hoping to capture some more right before your eyes. For those of you who like to multi-task, you can go on-line to www.scifi.com and watch live footage not being shown on the air. As a warm up the network is showing an all-day Ghost Hunters marathon starting at 8 am.

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 Daily Show's October ratings are the highest in series history…CSI topped Grey's Anatomy on Thursday in both total audience (standard) and demos (somewhat unusual)…Both Smallville and Supernatural showed improved numbers over the previous week…Friday's Ex List was down 20% in the demos, which led to the news below…Crusoe was down 18% from last week's two hour premiere but still won the 9 pm hour on Friday…While not hitting the heights of last week's Sarah Palin fueled numbers, Saturday Night Live was up 74% from last October's average…Mad Men's second season finale was up 88% from its first. More good news for the series is that the adult demos were up 109% season-to-season…Desperate Housewives (15.6 million) and Brothers and Sisters (10.1 million) showed no ill effects of going head-to-head with the World Series, each showing a small increase from last week…My Own Worst Enemy's outing was down 28% from its premiere three weeks ago, which does not bode well for the series long – or short – term future…Dancing with the Stars audience was 18.8 million strong on Monday night…NCIS' 2008 roll extended for another week with an audience of just over 17 million, which allowed lead-out The Mentalist to post a series best 16.1 million as well as tie Dancing with the Stars for key demos…Speaking of DWTS, it had a 7 figure jump to hit 17 million overall on Tuesday…Both 90210 and Privileged showed gains over their last new episodes…Barack Obama's paid infomercial that ran on CBS, NBC, and Fox on Wednesday was watched by 26.3 million, 12% more than the average for those networks in that timeslot. The demos were up 13%...ABC gambled that Pushing Daisies running unopposed by regular programming would help the show grow it's audience but the gains were nowhere near as high as the network was hoping for…19.8 million tuned in to see the Phillies clinch their World Series Championship…

All The Young Dudes Carry The News
Industry News, Notes, and Hot Rumors…I wrote about the uncertainty of Mad Men's third season with AMC last week and while it's a lock that it will return, negotiations between series creator Matthew Weiner and the show's production company Lionsgate have reached the point where sources are reporting that the studio has started contacting talent agencies to line up a list of possible names to replace him as showrunner. This may just be posturing in order to get him to sign but considering that Weiner is involved in just about every decision that is made involving Mad Men, those would be some awfully big shoes to fill and would put at risk the "Best Show on TV" label the series has earned during it's second season… Just about every entertainment news source known to man is reporting that The CW will have a Melrose Place reboot in its fall of 2009 line up…CBS pulled The EX List from it's line up, replacing it with reruns of NCIS. It's doubtful the show will air again…Ice Cube has signed to write and executive produce an action comedy for NBC. He is not attached to star in the cop-buddy drama but that is also not out of the either…Joss Whedon confirmed that the original pilot for his upcoming Fox series Dollhouse will not air. It was reported a few months back that the pilot would end up being the second episode but enough changes have been made where it is now being totally scrapped. In more upbeat news about the project, Jane Espenson, coming off of Battlestar Galactica, will reunite with Whedon as a producer n the show. Previously the two worked together on Angel, as did several of Dollhouse's other writers/producers… ABC Family is developing Perfect 10, a drama about Olympic hopefuls…Peter Coyote will guest on a Christmas episode of NCIS…Despite rumors to the contrary, E! picked up a second season of Denise Richards: It's Complicated…Speaking of E! renewals, the network also picked up Chelsea Lately through the end of 2009…Jennifer Lopez has signed a two year development deal with Universal Media Studios (NBC, Bravo, etc.)…Alexis Denison (Angel) will guest on Private Practice…You read in this space a few weeks back about Gary Cole's upcoming guest stint on Entourage but now comes word that he will be a series regular next season….USA made the last minute decision to table the new season of Law and Order: Criminal Intent until next year, when they can show the full 16 episodes in a row instead of breaking it up into two runs. The show was set to return next Friday night…A & E's Manhunters, a new reality series that follows the US Marshall Task Force as they hunt some of the country's most wanted criminals, begins its 21 episode first season run on December 9th…John Schneider's renaissance continues as he just booked a three episode run on Dirty Sexy Money…You read a couple of weeks ago about The CW bringing Gossip Girl's episode total this season to 24 and now word comes out that not only are the adding one more (bringing the total to 25) for GG but they bumping both 90210 and One Tree Hill to 24 episodes this season as well…ABC will bring According to Jim back to its lineup starting in early December…Emily Rose, who spent time last season on Brothers and Sisters and Jericho, and can currently be seen on ER, has been cast as the lead on the USA pilot Operating Instructions. Rose will play a trauma surgeon who returns from two tours of duty in Iraq to work as head of surgery at a stateside Military hospital...

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…It's easy to simply think of Katie Holmes as Mrs. Tom Cruise, or the girl with the bad haircuts and the rolled up jeans, but it takes something like her guest spot on last week's Eli Stone to remind people why she is famous in the first place; a relaxed charm and grace that lends itself to winning performances. Some actors create great characters but what Holmes has the ability to do is come across like an actual person, not a writer's creation, and that's a rare TV trait. I am not sure why it hasn't translated to the big screen but it was this skill set that endeared her to the nation in the first place when she was Joey Potter.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention just how sexy Holmes was in her opening scene, more than holding her own singing and dancing through Eli's vision. Let's hope Holmes return to TV soon, either on Eli Stone or on a new series that a network would be foolish not to build around her.

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…The season finale of Mad Men was in no way disappointing, and that's coming from someone who sat down to watch with the highest of expectations. I was ready to subtitle the episode, "Pete Gets In The Game" until Peggy just crushed him at the end. It's one thing to tell him the truth, it's another to say, "I could have had you if I wanted" with an almost evil smile on her face. I can't wait for season three, although reports are that we won't see it until late 2009 at the earliest…Speaking of MM, Jon Hamm proved to be a fantastic SNL host this past weekend. I love the Vincent Price holiday special sketches and Hamm's James Mason was a highlight. It goes without saying that Jon Hamm's John Ham is an instant classic, ranking ahead of the Peter Sarsgaard SARS Guard and just behind Steve Martin Penis Crème…One Tree Hill made a nice comeback after a couple of off episodes this week. Austin Nichols is a strong cast addition and even though it was obvious that he and Peyton had a past, it will be interesting to see how this pans out. I continue to be amazed at Jackson Brundage's acting ability…The Desperate Housewives' writers deserve praise for how they are taking their time with Dave and his seeking revenge on one of the residents of Wisteria Lane. Neal McDonough has shined as he conveys both Dave's obsession as well as the not-so-bad guy that lays underneath…Peter Krause excelled at doing scenes where adult children confront their parents about childhood issues during Six Feet Under's run and on last week's Dirty Sexy Money he showed those skills have not waned in the slightest. Nick's confrontation with his Mother gave the show some much needed bite to go with the glitz and lies…If I had told you a year ago that Brian Austin Greene would be doing a great job playing a military badass you would have laughed at me but here we are, with him being a major reason why The Sarah Connor Chronicles is as good as it is. It may be the highest compliment I can pay him when I say that not once have I ever thought of him as David Silver while watching TSCC…How about the steam coming off of last week's Army Wives?!? A seriously hot sex scene featuring Catherine Bell, plus even an openly straight man like myself can acknowledge how ridiculous Sterling K Brown looked in his boxers…Two weeks in and I am still solidly on the Chocolate News bandwagon. Not every segment works but I laugh a lot more than I don't…Seeing Dean afraid of everything made for a very entertaining Supernatural this past week. More and more I think of Jensen Ackles as one of primetime's most underrated talents. The reader who suggested him to play the lead in the upcoming Captain America movie was dead on…I am a big Paul F Tompkins fan and even I would have to call last week's unnecessary revamp of Best Week Ever an epic fail. Why would they remove what worked so well for the show, that being the wide array of takes on the pop culture world? Yes, there are still some others involved in the show but going with one main front person begs comparisons to The Soup. Paul F Tompkins, you sir, are no Joel McHale. All of that aside, Doug Benson's review of High School Musical 3 was the single funniest thing I saw all week…This final season of Boston Legal has me more than a bit confused as I am not sure what they are going for with Denny lately; the scene where Carl Sack was questioning his sanity and wondering how long people were going to turn a blind eye to his antics seemed to be a bit of foreshadowing but I was very perplexed by Alan letting Denny's lusting after a sheep and borderline assault ofTara go without so much as a comment. Also, is Clarence even on the show anymore?…Sports Soup turned a big corner this past Tuesday with a laugh out loud funny outing. Twice is week is ambitious but the world of sports should be able to provide plenty of material…I can't for the life of me think of why Ari didn't take the studio head job on Entourage, both for the character and the storyline possibilities…

TV Pick Of The Week
While I am not a huge Simpsons guy, I never miss a Treehouse of Horror and the ad's for this year's editon featuring a Great Pumpkin parody look fantastic. Not only that but the best animated series in TV history also does a Mad Men send up, which has my name written all over it!

Since we are talking about The Simpsons, this is a good time to bring up that executive producer Al Jean told the New York Post that there was a 90% chance the show would be back next year, and since the cast has all been signed to extensions, he put the odds at 50-50 that the series could see another 3 seasons. If it's in Fox's fall line up next season it will break Gunsmoke's record for longest running scripted series; currently both shows are tied with 20.

Don't miss The Simpsons this Sunday at 8 pm on Fox!

Other noteworthy programming of the next seven days…

*D.L. Hughley looks to be CNN's answer to Bill Maher (or Jon Stewart, or Steven Colbert – take your pick) when DL. Hughley Breaks the News debuts this Saturday at 10 pm.

*Primevil wraps up its first season on BBC America Saturday night. Cheesy special effects and good casting make for an entertaining hour, that's for sure.

*The last pre-election episode of Saturday Night Live (11:30 pm, NBC) is hosted by Ben Affleck.

*Brotherhood, a quality show that slips below the radar, has its season three premiere Sunday at 8 pm on Showtime.

*Army Wives (Lifetime) brings its strong sophomore season to a close Sunday at 9 pm.

*NBC airs SNL Political Bash 2008 on the eve of the election, a two hour "Best of" outing that highlights political sketches.

*Raising The Bar rests its first season case Monday at 10 pm on TNT.

*Wall-to-Wall coverage of the Presidential election on Tuesday, with the big three networks taking over from 7 to 11 and then again at 11:35 pm. The cable news outlets will be on the job all day.

*Top Design (Bravo) crowns a new winner Wednesday at 10 pm.

*Lady Heather reappears on CSI (9 pm, CBS) this Thursday.

*The funniest episode in 30 Rock (NBC) history airs Thursday at 9:30. Seriously. Seriously.

*50 Cent: The Money and The Power is a new reality show on MTV where people compete for the rap star to invest in their business proposals.

30 Days, 30 Rock, The Academy, American Idol, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, Antique Roadshow, The Apprentice, Battlestar Galactica, Best Day Ever, Best Week Ever, Big Love, Bones, Boston Legal, Breaking Bad, Brothers And Sisters, Burn Notice, Chocolate News, 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, Gary Unmarried, Ghost Hunters, Gossip Girl, Grey's Anatomy, Heroes, The Hills, House, How I Met Your Mother, In Plain Sight, International Ghost Hunters, Last Comic Standing, Last Restaurant Standing, Law And Order, Law And Order: Criminal Intent, Law And Order: Special Victims Unit, 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, Reaper, Rescue Me, Rules Of Engagement, Run's House, Samantha Who?, Sanctuary, The Sarah Jane Chronicles, Saturday Night Live, Scrubs, The Secret Life of the American Teenager, Shear Genius, Skins, So You Think You Can Dance?, Sports Soup, Sons of Anarchy, The Soup, The Starter Wife, Step It Up and Dance, Supernatural, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Top Chef, Top Design, Torchwood, True Blood, Ugly Betty

People Love You When They Know You're Leaving Soon
Here ends another edition of Two Tivos To Paradise. I hope everyone has a happy and safe Halloween. We'll be back next week with all the latest from the world of TV. As always, don't forget to check out WillDailey.com for the Dailey Weekly, a regular interview segment I do with the singer/songwriter.

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.