Prime Cuts: Your Best Bets In Prime Time For Thursday, 1-19-06
Posted by Rhys Alexander Categories: Comedy, Drama, Prime Time, Reality, ABC, FOX, NBC, WB, Editorial,
Bumping and grinding, beautifying and geeking…reality rules tonight. Be sure to tune in and enjoy the last great night of television before the weekend doldrums start.
Dancing With the Stars, 8pm, ABC. This special 90 minute episode will satisfy your celebreality needs. Just be sure to tape Beauty and the Geek.
Grease 2, 8pm, TBS. This isn’t exactly stellar prime time material, but we have a soft spot for this Michelle Pfeiffer early-1980s debut.
That 70s Show, 8:30, FOX. One of the last new episodes ever, as the series will soon sign off.
The O.C., 9pm, FOX. Money and melodrama highlight the adventures of Brandon and Dylan and Kelly…er, of Marissa and Summer and Seth.
My Name is Earl, 9pm, NBC. Everybody’s favorite hillbilly is shining in his new time spot.
Beauty and the Geek, 9pm, the WB. Oh, how we love this show. Love and trouble are already brewing, and it’s only the second episode!
True Life, 10pm, MTV. Tonight, extreme sportists explain why they have a death wish.
The Fog, 11pm, SciFi. The original is worth catching, if just to erase the hideous memories of the remake from your mind.
Gallery: Prime Cuts: Your Best Bets In Prime Time For Thursday, 1-19-06
Advertisement
Emily’s Reasons Why Not Cancelled After First Episode
Posted by Rhys Alexander Categories: Comedy, ABC, News,
The Heather Graham vehicle was cancelled after only six produced, and one aired, episode. Apparently, ABC had some reasons ‘Why Not’ - dismal ratings. Though undoubtedly disappointed, the lovely Heather Graham doesn’t have to sulk for long…there’s always hope for another Austin Powers sequel.
Read More 
| Variety
Gallery: Emily’s Reasons Why Not Cancelled After First Episode
The groundbreaking, thrilling series boasting uber-talent Jennifer Garner and uber-hottie Michael Vartan will soon depart, with its series finale scheduled for this season. How would you end the show? TV.com has some ideas:
Let’s hope that ABC gives the Alias folks the budget and freedom to send the show off in style. TV.com has done a lot of thinking about this, so we’ve decided to help out the writers and give them some ideas about what they could do in the finale.
For one, TV.com thinks that Vaughan should definitely come back and prove to everyone that he wasn’t a turncoat. Sydney and Vaughan should live happily ever after in Sydney’s cool modern design house.
Sloan should tell those blackmailers to stuff it, even though that means risking the life of his daughter Nadie, but then Nadia should wake up anyway, perfectly fine and ready to kick bad guys in the face. At that point, Nadia, Sydney, the French chick, and that new girl should get together and run down various alleyways shooting people and doing a lot of kicks and stuff.
As a personal favor, we’d like to see more of the fake Sloan, in the form of Joel Gray. Something about that whole thing just made TV.com laugh. It was hilarious!
Whatever you do, don’t kill Sydney’s dad.
How would you direct the series’ finale? Leave your suggestions in the comments.
Read More | TV.com
Gallery: Goodbye, Dear Alias
It’s January, which means a TV fan’s heaven of all new episodes and mid-season replacements to check out. It also means the most vicious television battle of the year is about to start. In a fight that makes the Olympics pale in comparison, the major TV networks are desperately tossing new shows, and old returning favorites, into the ring. Who will emerge the victor?
NBC has the advantage of the popular comedy Scrubs returning, along with ratings powerhouses such as My Name is Earl and The Office. ABC’s bringing back the beloved Dancing With the Stars, and has the guarantee of massive Super Bowl ratings. CBS has the advantage of the mega-rated CSI franchise. And Fox, of course, might have the best weapon of all in American Idol.
My predictions? Scrubs will sink in the ratings due to its unfortunate move to Tuesday nights, in direct competition with critical darling and fan favorite House, M.D. CSI will continue to be CBS’s reigning show. American Idol will rule its time slot, beating all competition except on the overdrawn ‘results shows,’ where many viewers will wait until the last 10 minutes to tune in.
Which network or show would you bet on? Share your predictions with us!
Gallery: Networks Get Ready To Rumble
Desperate Housewives Receives Chilly Reception In China
Posted by Rhys Alexander Categories: Drama, Prime Time, ABC, Desperate Housewives,
Oh dear. Looks like not everyone loves those crazy ladies on Wisteria Lane after all. Desperate Housewives recently began airing in China—in censored form—to great speculation. Would it succeed in a culture so different than what the show portrays? Would editing hurt the show? Would Susan get on everyone’s nerves?
Looks like the Chinese audience is less than receptive:
Ultimately, it’s the show that matters. To put it bluntly, “Housewives” does not have a demographic fit in the Chinese market. True, it is high in quality and has suspense, thrill and murder as plot hooks to entice a wider audience. But a typical television viewer in China is not someone well-versed in Western arts and literature, mesmerized by parallel narratives and ingenious tracking shots. It is usually someone with no advanced education but simply wants to kick off her shoes and relax after a hard day’s work.
For one thing, American serials like “Desperate Housewives”, with their witty innuendoes and multiple twists, are too fast-paced for Chinese taste. Some viewers complained they would get lost with the plot after a bathroom break. But with South Korean soaps, even if you skip three episodes, you can still follow the story lines.
On a deeper level, life on Wisteria Lane, the fictional California community in Housewives, is too far removed from ordinary Chinese, even the burgeoning middle class. A Chinese teenager would never, in her right mind, advise her single mother on the etiquette of dating. When Chinese housewives get into an adulterous mood, they would not turn to teenaged gardeners, who are usually migrant workers in rags, but to people with deeper pockets and higher ranks. A Chinese woman may act as fastidious as Bree Van De Kamp, but she would not take on the arch-conservative stance of an American Republican. A Chinese super-mom, in a country with family planning policy encouraging for one child, faces challenges very different from tending four unruly kids.
Simply put, the show fails to connect with the vast number of television viewers here because it implicitly requires prior knowledge of the US middle-class lifestyle, exaggerated for dramatic effect of course. That shouldn’t dampen the enthusiasm of those who crave for quality programming, but its target audience shrinks from the culturally curious to the culturally adventurous.
The fabulous Leora from the fabulous Desperate Blog has the full story.
Read More | Desperate Blog
Gallery: Desperate Housewives Receives Chilly Reception In China
Eva Longoria: One Hot Comedienne
Posted by Rhys Alexander Categories: Comedy, Drama, ABC, Desperate Housewives, Talent,
TMZ is offering a peek at a video of Eva Longoria in her earlier days, “when she couldn’t even afford to put gas in her car.” In an apparent ploy against poverty, Eva and a friend began a female comedy act entitled “Hot Tamales Live.” Follow the link below to view the video.
Read More | TMZ
Gallery: Eva Longoria: One Hot Comedienne
Fans Applaud Return of Dancing With The Stars
Posted by Rhys Alexander Categories: Prime Time, Reality, ABC, Dancing With The Stars, Talent,
The surprise smash hit of last season, ABC’s Dancing With The Stars, returns Thursday, January 5th, at 8pm. Nearly obsessed with the controversy over the winners chosen last season and the subsequent “dance-off,” fans are no doubt ready for some fireworks this time around. This season will feature a diverse mix of celebrities, including the always-tan George Hamilton and the always-dramatic Tatum O’Neal. ABC gives some hints about new developments for the second season, saying “This season of Dancing with the Stars sees 10 couples taking to the floor on the first show—and one will be knocked out in the very first week! There’ll be more dancing, more well-loved classic tunes and lots more rhinestones.”
Read More | ABC
Gallery: Fans Applaud Return of Dancing With The Stars
Desperate Housewives Reveals A Juicy Storyline
Posted by Rhys Alexander Categories: Drama, Prime Time, ABC, Desperate Housewives,
Poor Bree. A philandering, then murdered, husband. An evil, revenge-driven son. A distant daughter. An insane stalker. And then, taking part in a murder (sort of) herself. Her life sure hasn’t been easy. But of course, it’s much more fun for the viewers that way! And it’s not over yet - it was recently announced that Bree, once the ‘perfect’ housewife and mother, will begin another battle…with the bottle.
The ABC show’s creator, Marc Cherry, says Marcia Cross’ character — who became a widow following her husband’s poisoning and then watched her flipped-out fiance die of an overdose — isn’t reacting well to changes.
“We’re starting her descent into alcoholism,” Cherry tells TV Guide in its Jan. 2 issue, on newsstands Thursday. He says there are some alcohol-fueled moments with her fellow housewives where “it gets pretty ugly.”
Read More | TMZ
Gallery: Desperate Housewives Reveals A Juicy Storyline
Salma Hayek’s Betty La Fea Gets Third Chance To Shine
Posted by Rhys Alexander Categories: Comedy, ABC, NBC,
The hit Colombian telenovela Betty La Fea (“Ugly Betty”) is getting a third chance to be made into an American television series. Previously stalled at both NBC and ABC, this third attempt will likely succeed at ABC. The series revolves around ‘unattractive’ fashion assistant Betty, who carries a torch for her handsome boss. Salma Hayek has signed on as a producer, and reports of the series’ progress are hopeful.
Read More | Zap2it
Gallery: Salma Hayek’s Betty La Fea Gets Third Chance To Shine
Commander In Chief Joins iTunes Line-Up
Posted by Rhys Alexander Categories: ABC, Commander In Chief, Internet, News,
ABC recently announced that it has added its hit show Commander In Chief to the list of television series available through your iPod. Episodes will be available after the day they originally appear on television, and will cost 1.99 each to download. Commander In Chief joins fellow network shows Lost and Desperate Housewives in this iTunes service.
Read More | Zap2it
Gallery: Commander In Chief Joins iTunes Line-Up
Advertisement
© Gear Live Media, LLC. 2007 – User-posted content, unless source is quoted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Public Domain License. Gear Live graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, videos, articles, blogs, forums, scripts and other service names are the trademarks of Gear Live Inc.