David’s Channel Surfing Thoughts
Posted by David L. Williams Categories: Drama, Late Night, Music, Prime Time, ABC, Cable, FOX, HBO, NBC, American Idol, Saturday Night Live, Talent, The Sopranos, Editorial, Features, News,
Yes, even more thoughts I’ve had about TV for the past few days, laid out for you in easy-to-read paragraph format.
MOLLY SHANNON ANNOYS & DELIGHTS – Saturday Night Live came back with a new episode recently starring Molly Shannon (she’s ostensibly there to promote her movie “Year of the Dog,” but I really think SNL looks for any excuse to have it’s former cast members return) and it was … pretty much what I thought it was going to be. I used to remark when Ms. Shannon was on the show that she didn’t have many characters, just the same character in different outfits and wigs. That character comes out, goes through her catch phrases and/or crazy falls, and then the sketch is over. That’s Mary Katharine Gallagher, that’s Sally O’Malley (the I’m 50! Lady), that’s Ann Miller (from “Leg Up”).
And she did those first two characters when she hosted and it was annoying and really not funny. The laughter always felt more like a reflex from the audience than an actual “this is funny” laugh.
But what Molly Shannon also can do (and I heard Mike White, the writer/director of “Year of the Dog,” mention this in an interview) is be really funny when she’s quiet and not so over-the-top. Like the Delicious Dish sketch (aka Schwetty Balls) and her typical 80’s mulleted stand-up comedienne.
She did the stand-up comedienne character on Weekend Update and that was great, and she played a quieter part in a very good presidential debate sketch. So, it was a mixed bag: nothing great, but nothing too awful.
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Fear not, loyal 24 fans, the Emmy-winning show will be around for a couple more seasons. In the land of 24, however, that’s really only two days. 24 has been a ratings winner for Fox for the past six seasons (somehow I can’t believe it’s been on that long) and this season’s finale will air May 21st. Star Kiefer Sutherland has a contract through 2008-09, when the series is expected to wrap. So, at least fans can be assured that Jack Bauer will ride out the series until the very end. What’s in store for season number seven? Well, producers say that some big changes will be in the works—only you’ll have to tune in to find out. Or read recaps, I suppose.
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Gallery: 24 Gets Two More Years
Kate Walsh is a Big Winner
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Drama, Prime Time, ABC, Grey’s Anatomy, Gossip,
Looks like Kate Walsh is on a roll these days. Not only has her Grey’s Anatomy spinoff, Private Practice, been picked up… but she also just got engaged. Lucky girl, indeed. ABC announced that the show has officially been added to the fall roster, given the excellent ratings of the recent Kate Walsh-centric episode of Grey’s. Interestingly enough, despite the great cast (Taye Diggs, Tim Daly, Amy Brenneman, among others), viewers seem to be lukewarm about the spinoff. I don’t watch Grey’s (I know, I must totally be in the minority on that one), so I’m not sure how the Private Practice pilot held up. Looks like ABC is willing to give it a try though, however, the show will air on Wednesdays in the fall, rather than in the cushy post-Grey’s Anatomy time slot. Now, on to the engagement—which happened just one day after she got word that her series was being picked up. Her boyfriend, 20th Century Fox copresident of production Alex Young, popped the question even though they have only been dating for a few months. Was he waiting to see if her series would get the green light, or is that just a funny coincidence?
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Gallery: Kate Walsh is a Big Winner
ABC will continue to work toward ratings supremacy this coming fall with no less than eleven brand-new shows. Will any one of them match the Desperate Housewives phenomenon? ABC certainly hopes so. The eleven new shows will bring some once-familiar faces back to the small screen, including Christina Applegate (of Jessie and Married With Children fame) and Lucy Liu (Charlie’s Angels movie star who got her start on Ally McBeal). But how many of these newcomers will make it to a second season on ABC? That probably all depends on how popular the existing ABC ratings-grabbers stay when faced with new network competition. How do these new fall shows stack up?
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Gallery: ABC to Welcome 11 New Shows
NBC Could Have Been a Contender
Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Comedy, Drama, Prime Time, NBC, News, Ratings,
When television was new, NBC was there. The company began broadcasting great primtetime way back in 1938, quick to jump on the newfangled creation, television. In the 1950s, NBC dominated television with must-see shows like The Tonight Show and Today. The network was even home to some great TV in the 1990s, including the hit series Seinfeld. But for several years now, NBC has struggled to keep its shows among the top ten Neilsen ratings slots. Back when NBC had only to compete with ABC and CBS, it seemed the network would dominate. Today, NBC struggles for ratings supremacy against both these former rivals and even the “new” network, FOX. The famous peacock has unveiled its fall schedule…will this be the year that NBC finally claws its way back to the top of the TV ratings game? Looking at the line-up, I’m thinking no. They probably won’t even get close.
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Dukes of Hazzard eBay Bid a Hoax
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Comedy, Drama, Cable, Cable/Satellite, Gossip, Rumors,
In a case of too good to be true… the highest bid on the General Lee car from Dukes of Hazzard was in fact a hoax. Don’t you think a bunch of red flags should have gone up when someone bid almost $10 million for a replica of the famous TV car? Former Dukes star John Schneider (Bo Duke) was selling the car on eBay to help fund a movie project. What to do? Try, try again—the car will be put back up for auction for a second go. Plus Schneider filed a “failure to pay” complaint with eBay and may sue the fraudulent buyer. The phony buyer is William Fisher, who of course did not respond to emails requesting a comment. Schneider will keep the bidding offline, this time opting for an auction house. And for all the crazy Dukes of Hazzard fanatics, there’s an event called DukesFest June 2nd and 3rd in Nashville. Schneider and Daisy Duke herself, Catherine Bach, will be on hand.
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Gallery: Dukes of Hazzard eBay Bid a Hoax
This Week’s Channel Surfing Thoughts
Posted by David L. Williams Categories: Comedy, Drama, Reality, ABC, Cable, HBO, NBC, Saturday Night Live, Survivor, The Office, The Sopranos, Editorial, Features,
Otherwise known as thoughts I’ve had about the last few days of TV that aren’t long enough individually to make an entire article…
WOO-HOO, THEY LOST! – I lamented the possibility of Charla and Mirna winning The Amazing Race: (not really) All Stars, and they didn’t. They came in last (or third, really) and it was all…kinda lackluster. I didn’t want C&M to win, and I wanted the Beauty Queens to win, but they didn’t either. Eric & Danielle (aka, Team Not Charla & Mirna) won and their fakey relationship and the love between them will, I’m sure, flourish like a sunflower and I’m feeling underwhelmed. Then again, I felt underwhelmed most of the season, so I guess this is a fitting finale. By the way, Race Producers (and I know that you read all of my work), let’s try to make sure in the future that you not design the race legs so that the decisions made by the racers in the first thirty-five minutes of the episode don’t matter at all. I know you want to keep things close, but that’s just annoying.
BEST OF? REALLY, SNL? REALLY?? – Saturday Night Live was not new this week, but instead had their best of the 2006/2007 season episode. There are a couple of things wrong with this. The first is that they still have a few more episodes left. I’m not sure why they felt the need to jump the gun on this one, but maybe they were just tired of rerunning the Peyton Manning episode. Just a tip, NBC: maybe you should wait until the season is over before you start doing a “Best Of” episode. And this leads me to the other thing that’s wrong with this episode: just because you’ve chosen the best example of a recurring sketch, that doesn’t necessarily mean that what you’ve chosen is any good. I know that a lot of people like to hate on SNL on the internet (I believe the phrase “Is this show still on?” is a common “joke” (ironic quotes firmly in place)), but I can’t fully hate the show yet because there are always funny moments every week, and that’s why God invented TiVo (that has to be invented by God, right? Humans are not that good). But, SNL, “Deep House Dish” and that Bronx talk show … they’re not funny. Really not ever. And I really like Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, and Keenan Thompson. Those sketches, though, are just … ugh. Oh, and finally, SNL went online to have people cast votes on what their favorite digital short of the year was (and maybe the whole episode should have just been digital shorts). Did anybody really think “Dick in a Box” wouldn’t win?
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Renewals Aplenty at FX
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Drama, Prime Time, Cable, Nip/Tuck, Cable/Satellite, DVR, Ratings, Renewals,
At least there’s one network that’s not so quick to cancel every new series. FX has announced that freshman series Dirt and The Riches will both be back for a second run. While I couldn’t get into Dirt, it seems to get solid ratings (and that kiss between Courteney Cox-Arquette and Jennifer Aniston probably didn’t hurt either). I couldn’t wait to see The Riches because I’m a huge fan of Eddie Izzard, however, I haven’t had the time to keep up. Thank goodness for DVR! After watching the first two episodes, I’ve been recording the others and will have a bunch of episodes to catch up on once all of the other season finales are over with. FX president John Landgraf commented, “FX now has six original dramas, more than any network in the history of cable television, cementing the network’s status as a leader in quality original series.” Dirt pulled in about 5.2 million vieweres per week, while The Riches drew 5.9 million. Rescue Me returns on June 13th, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia comes back for season three in September, and new seasons of Nip/Tuck and 30 Days will come later in the year.
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Gallery: Renewals Aplenty at FX
Golden Girl Rue McClanahan Joins Ryan’s Life
Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Comedy, Drama, Prime Time, Cable, News,
Rue McClanahan, famously forward Golden Girl (a show that’s still proudly in syndication on Lifetime) will join the cast of Ryan’s Life on the all-gay Here! network. As sexually open Blanche Devereaux, Rue became a mainstay of prime time TV from 1985 to 1992, but her legacy lives on in re-runs for ever. In her new role, Rue will be exploring unchartered acting ground in her career – she’ll be the “flamboyant” grannie of a sexually confused teenager. Rue’s costumes will include feather boas, turbans, and a whole lot of fabulous flash…no wonder her character’s grandson is confused, right?
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Lauren Graham Sounds off on Gilmore Decision
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Drama, Prime Time, The CW, Cancellations, Ratings,
Despite the recent news that Gilmore Girls has been cancelled, star Lauren Graham seems somewhat relieved with the decision. With a hit to the ratings and a hectic schedule, Graham is happy to see the show end. “I think it’s the best decision for the show,” Graham said. “One of the things Alexis (Bledel) and I wished could be different was the schedule, and it really can’t be.” Single mom, Lorelai (Graham) and daughter Rory (Bledel) have been drawing viewers for seven seasons, but last year creator Amy Sherman-Palladino jumped ship and the show seemed to lose its momentum for some viewers. Get it while you can. The final Gilmore Girls will air on May 15th. Graham can next be seen opposite Steve Carell in Evan Almighty. I’m sure this is not the last we’ve seen of her.
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Gallery: Lauren Graham Sounds off on Gilmore Decision
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