Barton Baby Could Bounce DTV Bill Deadline

By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable

We have it on good authority that the House Commerce Committee is looking for some wiggle (and giggle and cry) room in its deadline for getting a new DTV transition bill to the budget committee.

The deadline for both the Senate and House Commerce Committees is to get the bill done is Sept. 16, but Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-Tex.) and wife Terri have scheduled Sept. 15 as the delivery date for their new son, and so staffers are working with the budget committee to see if there is any possibility to push that deadline a bit.

The deadline is not statutory, but a congressional deadline that could have some flexibility in it. Either way, one Senate source familiar with the bill's crafting said he expected it would include a "no set left behind" subsidy for every analog-only receiver, not just for those who met an economic-needs test.

That source said the need to get analog spectrum to emergency responders should be enough to justify using whatever auction proceeds it takes to cover an analog-only set converter to everybody who needs one, preventing a political backlash in the bargain.

The bill is also likely to contain a requirement that TV sets include labels that spell out their capability, including the date after which they would not operate without a digital converter. That issue is a very personal one with Barton, who has talked on several occasions of a TV-buying trip he made in Texas where the salesman tried to convince him an analog set would be a fine purchase because Congress wasn't going to do anything about the DTV transition anytime soon.

While a House staffer said that side of the aisle was leaning toward a June or July 2009 date for the cut-off of analog, the Senate is still looking to January.

Neither side is saying whether there will be a multicast cable must-carry provision, which broadcasters are pushing hard for.

Fox News Leads Katrina Ratings

By Steve Donohue Multichannel.com

The all-news networks continue to draw more viewers as the scale of the disaster spawned by Hurricane Katrina worsens each day.

Fox News Channel set a new primetime record for 2005 Wednesday night, drawing 4.9 million viewers, compared to Cable News Network’s 3.6 million and MSNBC’s 1.5 million.

Fox News averaged 2.8 million viewers on Wednesday during the total-day period, topping CNN’s 2.0 million viewers and MSNBC’s 736,000.

Since Sunday, Fox News has led the all-news network in ratings, averaging a 2.4 total-day rating and 2.1 million households. CNN has averaged a 1.7 rating and 1.5 million households from Sunday through Wednesday, followed by MSNBC’s average 0.7 rating and 572,000 households.

CNBC averaged a 0.1 rating and 122,000 households from Sunday through Wednesday, and Headline News has averaged a 0.3 rating and 297,000 households.

In primetime, Fox News averaged a 3.6 rating and 3.1 million households from Sunday through Wednesday, followed by CNN (2.8 rating, 2.5 million households) and MSNBC (1.2 rating, 988,000 households).

I'm not particularly fond of Comcast, but this seems to be a nice gesture on their part.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The Comcast Family of Companies and The Comcast Foundation Donate $10 Million of Advertising Time and $50,000 in Cash to Support Hurricane Katrina Relief and Recovery Efforts

Comcast's Family of Companies Are Working Closely to Continue to Identify Additional Ways to Provide Relief Support

PHILADELPHIA, Sept 01, 2005 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The Comcast family of companies and The Comcast Foundation today announced they will donate $10 million worth of advertising time on its cable systems and $50,000 in cash to the American Red Cross to support relief efforts in areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina. The companies are continuing to identify ways in which to support the relief efforts, and will announce those additional activities next week. Comcast also plans to dedicate ON DEMAND programming in September to air American Red Cross updates, benefit concerts and information on how the public can help relief efforts.

"Comcast and its many entities are committed to providing a combination of financial support and resources unique to the cable, entertainment and sports industries to assist with the relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Today's announcement is a first step towards rallying our resources from across the country," said David Cohen, Executive Vice President of Comcast. "We are feeling the personal impact of this tragedy as we have employees and customers in many of the communities that were devastated, and we appreciate the dedication of the American Red Cross as they work to help the many victims of this terrible natural disaster."

Local Comcast cable systems across 35 states and the District of Columbia are joining in the hurricane relief and recovery efforts. Comcast employees are purchasing gift cards for food and supplies to assist their fellow employees living in areas of Alabama and Mississippi that were affected by Hurricane Katrina, and can make donations to the American Red Cross through a link on the Company's Intranet site. Local employees are participating directly on the ground by providing technical support, trucks and volunteers to aid the relief effort.

Comcast cable systems around the country will air Public Service Announcements from the American Red Cross. These Public Service Announcement spots are designed to help educate the public on disaster and emergency preparedness as well as to help raise awareness of the need for monetary donations to aid in the relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Comcast also has posted information on how to make donations to the American Red Cross and the latest news reports on its broadband Internet portal, http://www.comcast.net, and on its customer website, http://www.comcast.com.

And I am not usually a big fan of this group, but you have to applaud its efforts, too…

NAB Commits To Raising $100 Million-Plus For Katrina Relief Efforts

By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable

The NAB says its members have committed to raise at least $100 million for hurricane relief.

NAB is putting its money where its mouth is, seeding the effort with $1 million from the association.

The centerpiece of the "BroadcastUnity for Katrina Relief" initiative will be a Sept. 9 effort where TV and radio stations across the country will "roadblock" specific time periods for telethons, phone banks, and radiothons.

"Broadcasters are a lifeline to communities in times of crisis, " says NAB President and CEO Eddie Fritts "and Hurricane Katrina has touched America’s soul like no natural disaster in our history."

NAB earlier this week began distributing PSA's to stations soliciting contributions directly to the Red Cross.

Of course a major difference is that the Comcast folks are actually contributing its $10 million, while the NAB is only throwing in $1 million and is going to work to raise the rest of the $100 million pledge from viewers and listeners.

So even more plaudits to Comcast.

Anyone know how to reach Universal HD? The broadcast of the US Open right now is still in SD, maybe the switch hasn't been flipped..?

Of course a major difference is that the Comcast folks are actually contributing its $10 million, while the NAB is only throwing in $1 million and is going to work to raise the rest of the $100 million pledge from viewers and listeners.

So even more plaudits to Comcast.

No the mjor difference is Comcast is only giving $50,000 in cash and donating $10 million in ad time. NAB is giving $1 million CASH. That ad time is eye candy to make it look like they are actually doing something. For a company the size of Comcast and the number of systems they have, 10 million in ad time across the system is a drop in the bucket and makes a very nice tax write off to boot.

"The Comcast Family of Companies and The Comcast Foundation Donate $10 Million of Advertising Time and $50,000 in Cash to Support Hurricane Katrina Relief and Recovery Efforts"

By bringing the devastation and human loss
of Hurricane Katrina into the nation's homes,
television journalists are reviving their image

By Robin Abcarian Los Angeles Times Staff Writer September 2, 2005

The macho postures were predictable and they were instantly mocked. Here was CNN's Anderson Cooper, the hood of his red jacket whipping around his head in the high winds of Hurricane Katrina as he struggled to narrate the weather. And there was Fox's Steve Harrigan, blown nearly out of the camera frame, exclaiming, "Oh man, I think this wind can knock me down!" ("We're not asking you to take one for the team here, Steve," the anchor replied dryly, off camera.)

New York Daily News TV critic David Bianculli was underwhelmed. "TV reporters unpacked their brightly colored slickers and left their common sense at home," he wrote Tuesday, "in hopes of riding the next big media weather wave."

Critic Jill Vejnoska at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution poked fun at reporters' raingear, covered in network logos. "What'll they call the next one, Hurricane Dior?"

They may have mocked too soon.

Those early images have been replaced by ominous ones — images of reporters on the dangerous front lines of a complete breakdown of civilized society. Great work by real reporters — brave reporters — bringing back simple news about the living and the dead.

"It defies comprehension that the United States can look like this," CNN correspondent Jeanne Meserve said on the air Wednesday. And on Thursday morning, CNN's Chris Lawrence reported an absolutely chilling scene from the New Orleans convention center: "We saw dead bodies. People are dying at the convention center, and there's no one to come get them.... Right in front of us as we were watching this, a man went into a seizure on the ground. It looked like he was dying. People tried to prop his head up. No one has medical training. No ambulance can come. There's nowhere to evacuate him to. It is just heart breaking that these people have been sitting there, without food, without water.... And they keep asking us, 'When are the buses coming? When are the buses coming?' "

Like the windblown roof of the Superdome, the mainstream media's reputation has been in tatters (due to scandal, circulation and ratings woes and competition from the Internet), and the often superb coverage of the 2001 terrorist attacks has faded from public memory. Hurricane Katrina has starkly displayed the press at its best. Reporters, most of whom have been working in a kind of communications blackout, have left the showboating behind (if standing in the wind to demonstrate its ferocity can be called showboating) and are performing the most basic tasks of journalism: tell what you know, describe what you see, share the human drama unfolding before you.

"People sometimes think we're a bunch of wacky thrill seekers," CNN's Aaron Brown concluded Tuesday night after a powerful interview out of New Orleans with Meserve, who normally covers homeland security. "And no one who has listened to the words you've spoken or the tone of your voice could possibly think that now."

"We are sometimes wacky thrill seekers," replied Meserve. "But when you stand in the dark, and you hear people yelling for help and no one can get to them, it's a totally different experience." It was this interview with a shaken Meserve that served as a kind of turning point for the coverage. Before her report, in which she drew a horrifying verbal portrait of a city on the verge of a compounding catastrophe, the Katrina story seemed to be "New Orleans dodged a bullet," since the storm had veered away from the city. "It was the moment for viewers and in some respects for me that we understood it was not getting better, it was getting worse," Brown said.

The man who practically invented what would later become the oft-parodied, wind-blown-reporter approach to hurricane coverage has been watching Katrina almost constantly since Sunday, safe in his dry New York digs. A wistful Dan Rather answered the phone with a little joke: "I used to be Dan Rather. I used to cover hurricanes." Indeed he did. He is the prototype of the TV reporter whose career was made in a storm. During 1961's Hurricane Carla in Texas, he even tried to chain himself to a tree but gave up when he realized the storm would hit at night and he wouldn't have enough light for the shot. CBS executives, impressed by what they had seen, brought him to the network.

"The reporting for Katrina has been fabulous, among the best I have seen, right across the board," Rather said. "Television is at its best when it commits itself to public service and this was a classic, almost pluperfect, example of television news as a public service."

Rather's greatest contribution to hurricane coverage was his insistence that the radar image of Hurricane Carla be broadcast superimposed over a map of the region. That dramatic image — Carla was an immense storm — helped persuade half a million people (many of whom had become blasé about hurricanes) to evacuate.

"It was a breakthrough," he said. "People began to evacuate, and at the time it was the largest peacetime evacuation in the country.... And please do not read this as braggadocio, almost from the moment we put that up, people began to flee. As a result, when Carla came in ... the death toll was very small." (There were 46 deaths.)

"By and large," he added, "the reporting on hurricanes is the most responsible reporting done on television. You can say that's damning with faint praise, but there it is. Covering a hurricane well is a dangerous line of work, and it's very easy to overlook this."

This week, television viewers saw reporters who were not only telling a difficult story under difficult conditions, but saw the raw emotion that reporters simply could not hide. Whether this is a breach in the professional mode is debatable. But it made for some very powerful television. "I have been incredibly impressed by the humanity of the coverage," Brown said.

On a tape broadcast by CNN, a local reporter, unidentified, was in tears as she interviewed a man named Harold Jackson, whose wife had slipped out of his hands into the floodwaters. "You can't find your wife?" she asked, her voice rising in pain. "What's your wife's name in case we can put this out there?" Reporters talked about giving drinking water and rides to people in dire straits. They lent victims their satellite phones so they could call worried relatives. National reporters used national airwaves to allow people to ask after missing loved ones. And at least one television station employee, Chris Merrifield of WWL-TV in New Orleans, was shown rescuing a motorist trapped in floodwaters by pulling him out his car window.

"There are elements to the story that, if handled well, can help improve the way the public perceives the press," said Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism in Washington. "The other thing is that the press is doing a bunch of things that are new. They are reading e-mails, saying, 'I am looking for my nephew ... so-and-so, if you can hear me, please call.' That's community journalism on a national scale and I think that will go a long way to demonstrate that the press is doing more than just thrill seeking."

But, cautioned Rosenstiel, "the idea that this could rehabilitate TV is an oversimplification.... While the story has advantages for television, it also exposes grave weaknesses." The first days after a catastrophic event like a hurricane or the 2001 terrorist attacks put television at an advantage, but the limits of the coverage lead to a "bias of perspective," as Rosenstiel put it. "It's a little bit like the embedded reporters in Iraq. Any one reporter is not sufficient; you need all the reporters to come together and that information needs to be synthesized. The continuous loop quality, particularly of cable, is very frustrating." And then, he said, there is the potential for dissonance when words don't match pictures — when, for instance, a live conversation with a doctor about the potential for disease outbreaks takes place over video of looting.

Although the immediate aftermath of a catastrophe such as this one belong to television — it's hard for newspapers to compete with the immediacy of all that video, not to mention those dramatic early shots of TV folks blowin' in the wind — all reporters are facing the same hurdles, working in the same awful conditions as the victims themselves. And there will come a point — in this swelling tragedy, it's hard to predict when — that the print folks will begin to dominate, on stories about delivery of services, how the government performed, how the money was spent, logistics, the economy and politics.

Carroll Doherty, associate director of the Pew Research Center for People and the Press in Washington, said his organization will conduct a survey next week to gauge the public view of the media's Katrina coverage. "For what it's worth historically, 9/11 was the news media's last great moment in terms of the public view. I'd be hesitant to say much more than that because we don't know how the public is reacting to this crisis — whether there will be the same sense of unity and common cause. There was an immediate rally effect shortly after 9/11, and that rubbed off on the media."

By November 2001, said Doherty, the increase in favorable attitudes toward the media on all measures was "stunning." Six months later, however, levels of esteem had dropped back to normal; low, in other words.

Judy Muller, a veteran network news correspondent and USC journalism professor, has noticed that most hurricane survivors seem to be welcoming the intrusions of reporters. "Usually in disasters, people don't want to talk," she said, "but in this case, they are using us as a community bulletin board. It's helping people connect in a very real way." (With the notable exception of a live exchange between Fox News Channel's Shepard Smith and an unnamed man in New Orleans just before Katrina hit: "Why are you still here?" asked Smith. "None of your ... business," the man replied.)

The really good news for the media is that Hurricane Katrina is not ideological and has no partisan underpinnings, at least for now, Rosenstiel said. Nor can anyone accuse the media of sensationalizing what is clearly a disaster of historic proportions.

"I hope that this is a story that reminds people that it ain't all about Aruba and Jayson Blair," said Brown, referring to what many have criticized as saturation coverage of a missing Alabama woman, Natalee Holloway, and the scandal that rocked the New York Times in 2003. "Most of the time, most of us really want to do serious work." And, he added, referring to a spike in ratings this week, "It's damn good for us to be reminded that viewers will come to us when we present important stories well."

Doing the light thing
The darkness lifts and gives way to a brighter tone that could lead to a kinder and gentler prime time


By Diane Werts Newsday Staff Writer Sunday, September 4, 2005

Could TV get any darker? Society murders on "Law & Order." Sex slayings on "CSI." Kids kidnapped on "Without a Trace." Crime-time procedural dramas filled last season's prime-time listings. But NBC's somber "Medical Investigation" bombed, CBS' spinoff "CSI: New York" was hardly the expected hit and even the hot "Law & Order" franchise cooled off, as "Trial by Jury" got canned.

Last season's hits were the long shots: ABC's comedic soap "Desperate Housewives" and the network's character-driven fantasy adventure "Lost." Personality-powered escapism was in. Gruesomely detailed wrongdoing was out.

TV lightened up. That trend only escalates in the 2005-06 season, because the broadcast networks do nothing so efficiently as copy successful strategies. Or, perhaps we should say, copy their superficial qualities. The fall lineups are overrun with supernatural spookiness, a la "Lost," and nutty personal escapades, a la "Housewives."

Never mind that the former's power actually derives from multilayered storytelling cleverly laying out each character's secrets in flashback. Or that the latter deftly sends up old soap formulas from a very specific sensibility. Or that both are fresh alternatives to TV drama's standard cop/doctor/lawyer/family templates. The hits' surface qualities were fantasy and humor, so that's what spreads like wildfire this coming fall.

There's a lighthearted tone infiltrating even the traditional franchise series. The two wackiest new hours both feature odd-couple courtroom teams: former mental patients recovering together in Fox's aptly named "Head Cases"; teen prodigy rejuvenating jaded idealist in The WB's "Just Legal." The doctors of NBC's infertility saga "Inconceivable," are doing serious work, but their series giddily crams in "comic" moments involving surrogate stalking and sperm switching. Lest we leave out forensics, the new Fox series "Bones," about anthropologists solving crimes via the remains in the title, takes a youthful slant. This procedural's procedures include a young scientist ripping her blouse open to focus the attention of a male clerk.

But evil still lurks

This doesn't mean that the graphic evildoing of previous seasons has been expunged. In fact, the crimes are sicker than ever in the pilot episodes of CBS' "Criminal Minds" (women kidnapped and caged), Fox's "Killer Instinct" (women poisoned and paralyzed) and CBS' "Close to Home" (abused wife and kids imprisoned at home). But these extreme portrayals feel like the last gasp of a dying format desperately jacking up the horrors to make any impression at all.

Meanwhile, this season's six-series binge of supernatural spookiness departs sharply from the gloom-and-doom tone of "The X-Files." Instead of government conspiracies, where evil looms so recognizable it might afflict us next, the 2005 arrivals provide the throwback chills and thrills of fanciful aliens, monsters and other vicarious terrors. We can watch shows such as ABC's "Invasion" and "Night Stalker," CBS' "Threshold," NBC's "Surface" or The WB's "Supernatural" safe in the knowledge that we are probably not the next victims of intergalactic invaders or spontaneous combustion.

Fox's already-airing "Prison Break" is no "Oz," for that matter. Unlike the "authentic" brutality of HBO's sordid saga, this one is a dandy escape caper evoking some old Warner Bros. movie potboiler. As a real-life war rages in Iraq, NBC's Pentagon drama "E-Ring" takes its cue not from reality but from "Alias," its pilot playing out like some spy romp of SWAT-team rescue. Even God seems more remote on CBS Friday night at 8. Where the canceled "Joan of Arcadia" had a personally soulful connection to the Almighty, the "crossover" conniptions of the time period's new "Ghost Whisperer" have Jennifer Love Hewitt aiding marooned spirits in a pat manner out of "Highway to Heaven."

Personal predicaments now take pre-eminence over bigger ideas or insistent issues. When ABC's White House drama "Commander in Chief" focuses squarely on new president Geena Davis, it's much more concerned with her one-woman reaction to what's going on than with any "West Wing" study of the mechanics of government. "Supernatural" doesn't even use a permanent setting or supporting cast to frame its 20-something brother pair. They're on the road chasing their ghost-hunting dad, vanquishing evil along the way. Their relationship is the thing, as is the tangled stepfamily involved in "Invasion." You could even argue, based on its pilot hour, that the body-snatcher angle serves to add escapist impact to all the behavioral changes through which the plot takes its parents.

Sneaky, sneaky. Comedy is no less sly, seeking ways to lure us back after the stagnation of the laugh-track format. Fall's 10 new half-hours - pretty paltry, spread across six networks (none adds more than two) - practically jump through hoops to convince viewers they're not the same-old. Narration is pervasive, along with flashbacks, on-screen graphics and other descriptive tricks designed to provide information and sometimes insight. Three are filmed cinematically, single-camera sans audience, a la "Malcolm in the Middle." And while Fox's "Kitchen Confidential" is your basic sex-brained comedy, the other two stand out with not only their quality but their focus on folks rarely seen on the small screen.

Loopy love all around

UPN's "Everybody Hates Chris" looks back with humor on a serious slice of life from comic Chris Rock's childhood as the only black student in his 1980s Brooklyn junior high. It's enlivened by zippy cutting and smile-inducing yet thought-provoking narration from the sharp-witted stand-up. NBC manages to hit a high-water mark, too - rare these days for the fading "peacock network" - with "My Name Is Earl," about a shady small-time ne'er-do-well endeavoring to go straight. These two nonjudgmental gems share a sweet side that's never syrupy. There's a lot of loopy love all around.

You just feel good watching them, which is also the ticket for fall's two new reality entries. NBC's spinoff "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart" has to be less hard-edged than the original, just because Martha isn't The Donald, and because her gig is homey crafts rather than cutthroat corporate deals. An even more obvious upper is the same network's "Three Wishes," sort of a triple-header makeover show involving an entire small town. Icing the cake: The host is Christian singer-turned-pop sweetie Amy Grant.

Why not? Plenty of viewers have felt beaten into submission during the past few network seasons by all the depraved crimes, "reality" backstabbing and humiliation humor. Have we finally come through the darkness to reach the dawn of a kinder, gentler prime time? We'll know for sure only when the Nielsens come in.

I didn't know where else to put this, maybe that AVS forum news thread, but anyway it seems new worthy.

From Video Business (www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6253485.html)

HD DVD launch off for Q4

As Toshiba delays hardware production
By Paul Sweeting 9/1/2005

SEPT. 1 | After weeks of hoping against hope, Toshiba is backing away from its plans to launch the HD DVD format in the U.S. this year.

In e-mails to its U.S. studio partners Thursday, the hardware maker said it was considering a “re-timing” of the format’s introduction for sometime next year to ensure maximum software and retail support.

“We are now in talks with Hollywood studios and large-scale retailers to seek the most effective timing of the launch and best way to launch,” the company said in a statement issued to Japanese media outlets. “The majority [of HD DVD companies] prefer a large-scale launch, rather than a gradual launch.”

A spokesman for the HD DVD Promotion Group in the U.S. said the issue is one of coordinating plans rather than any problems in getting the hardware or software ready for launch.

“The key issue is, when we launch, all of our partners, including the studios, retailers, authoring houses and everyone else, we all agree we want to do it with a big bang. And that just takes time,” the spokesman, Mark Knox, said. Knox also is a consultant to Toshiba.

Until this week, Toshiba had been telling reporters that at least a small number of players would arrive this year, with at least limited software support. Knox said Thursday that many specialty electronics retailers were anxious to demo the format for their customers this year and that it could still happen if software becomes available.

What impact the delay will have on the ongoing battle with rival format Blu-ray Disc was not immediately clear.

Last month, representatives from the Blu-ray camp said they hoped that any delay in the launch of HD DVD could be used for further efforts to agree on a single, unified format.

Warner Home Video officials said at the time that finding a compromise on a single format was more important that proceeding quickly with a launch of HD DVD.

Warner is one of three studios that has previously vowed to support HD DVD. Paramount Home Entertainment and NBC/Universal Studios Home Entertainment are the others.

At the Consumer Electronics Show in January, all three said proceeding with a launch this year was imperative to gain a competitive advantage in the market over Blu-ray, which is not expected to be introduced here until the middle of 2006.

Officials at the three studios were not immediately available at press time to comment on Toshiba’s e-mails or statement.

Good post, Jim.
I just reposted it over at the AVS Community Forum News site.
Thanks for the heads up.

Yeah, HD-DVD just lost a huge advantage they had over BRD. Hopefully the delay will result in an end to another stupid format war.

Networks Get Gimmicky To Hype New Shows

By BROOKS BARNES Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL September 2, 2005; Page B1

To generate buzz for its new medical sitcom "Out of Practice," CBS is plastering ads on drugstore prescription bags aand water coolers. NBC is pushing the reality series "Three Wishes" by slapping yellow stickers on 100,000 dollar bills (real ones). Head-shaving parties are part of Fox's marketing blitz for its new drama "Prison Break."

So much for the supremacy of the on-air promo.

For decades, the big television networks advertised new shows primarily through ads on their own air. Radio, billboard and magazine ads were thrown in for key launches or vanity projects. That worked fine when the major broadcast networks commanded 90% of the TV audience. But the growth of cable channels has eroded that share to less than 50%. More recently, growth of on-demand cable, videogames and the Internet is adding to competition for people's leisure time. As a result, the networks need a wider array of marketing ploys.

For the comedy "Everybody Hates Chris" alone, UPN is running promos on 1,500 movie screens, hiring helicopters to pull aerial banners, distributing one million bumper stickers, and screening the first episode on American Airlines flights for a month, among a dozen other come-ons.

Marketing of new shows is crucial. Over the next three weeks, the broadcast networks alone will start the new seasons of 77 returning shows and introduce 31 new series. Just one new hit can transform a network, but making a show stick isn't easy: Of the 31 shows the networks rolled out last season, only 10 remain -- and some of those are on life support.

But as TV executives turn more to unconventional marketing methods to tout their programs, some marketing experts see the move as an unspoken admission from broadcasters that their commercials are weakening as sales tools.

"This is dangerous because the networks are calling into question their own medium," says Jack Trout, president of Trout & Partners, an Old Greenwich, Conn., marketing-strategy firm.

True, there is still plenty of on-air self-promotion at the networks, and TV executives still defend the power of the 60-second spot. "On-air promotion remains our most effective tool, bar none," says George Schweitzer, who oversees marketing for Viacom Inc.'s CBS and UPN.

But it's the viral and guerrilla marketing campaigns getting all the attention this fall, with some networks spending 30% more on off-network marketing this year compared with last. A healthy off-network marketing budget for a high-profile network series ranges between $5 million and $10 million, says Vince Manze, president of General Electric Co.'s NBC Agency. All six networks have extensive off-network campaigns for multiple shows. "Everybody has upped the ante," says Mr. Manze.

The industry has evidence that the new approach works. Walt Disney Co.'s ABC helped spark this nontraditional marketing frenzy with its successful campaigns last year for "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost." To seed a new crop of hits, the then-struggling network opted for gimmicky tactics to command attention. In one stunt for "Lost," ABC scattered 10,000 plastic bottles on beaches with a flier inside reading, "I'm 'Lost.' Find me on ABC."

Stephen McPherson, ABC's president of entertainment, also decided to spend 80% of his fall marketing budget on the two shows, a notable break with tradition. Movie studios have long reserved their full marketing muscle for a limited portion of their output, but TV networks typically back their full slates relatively evenly.

Both shows became megahits, with the May finales of "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost" respectively drawing 30 million and 20 million viewers. "In a world where broadcast networks have been under attack, I think it's great that we're all getting really aggressive," says Mr. McPherson.

Even so, some TV-marketing executives are wondering if the industry is overdoing it. "People are going to be re-examining what they're spending on marketing after this season," predicts Bob Bibb, co-president of marketing for Time Warner Inc.'s WB network. "At a certain point, everyone is just doing more to keep up with what everyone else is doing." Among WB's efforts: Covering tables in mall food courts with stickers advertising the new drama "Related."

ABC is drawing attention for its initiatives tied to two new programs -- "Invasion," with a science-fiction theme, and "Commander in Chief" starring Geena Davis as president of the U.S. -- but it's what the network is doing for established hits that has Hollywood talking.

Mr. McPherson has decided to "relaunch" several hit shows. With a limited pool of resources, networks typically shift most of their marketing attention to new series. But ABC is heavily promoting both "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives." Issues of TV Guide this week come with a preview DVD for "Lost" attached to the front cover. ABC is slapping "Desperate Housewives" logos on dry-cleaner bags with the tagline "New dirty laundry."

"We can't take anything for granted anymore," says Mr. McPherson. "Coca-Cola never stops selling Coke."

ABC says it is also extending the length of some on-air promos from 60 seconds to 90 seconds pitches and, occasionally, even longer. One 3½-minute promo for the hit series "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" has all the earmarks of a movie trailer.

TV executives note that marketing is starting to work its way deeper into the process for developing new shows. Instead of making a program and then figuring out how to market it, the marketing is increasingly built into the show's DNA.

That's one reason viewers will find so many shows with genre-bending premises on the air this fall. For example, "Reunion," from News Corp.'s Fox, follows a group of friends over 20 years with every episode representing a new year -- a concept virtually guaranteed a certain amount of hype because of its novelty.

Networks struggling in the ratings are among those working the oddity angle the hardest. NBC, which suffered a 17% drop in viewers in key age groups last year, says its 2-inch stickers on 100,000 dollar bills to promote a new reality show called "Three Wishes" required permission from the U.S. Department of the Treasury. (A Treasury spokeswoman says the stickers are fine because they can be removed.)

For the new comedy "My Name is Earl," NBC has hired a team of "attractive young women" to screen previews in big-city bars the weekend before the premiere, says John Miller, chief marketing officer. The women will have flat-screen TVs strapped to their torsos. "Our circulation just isn't what it used to be," says Mr. Miller. "We're trying to be as creative and breakthrough and invasive as possible."

At a time when broadcasters are demanding Congress grant them multi-carry provisions, the nation sees its networks back off from perhaps the greatest natural disaster in the history of the United States.
Aaron Barnhart, respected TV critic for the Kansas City Star, took note of the lack of network news coverage in his blog tvbarn.com on Thursday. I think he brings up some very salient points.

Where is the Coverage?
By Aaron Barnhart The Kansas City Star

Is it just me, or are the major broadcasters not paying nearly the mind to Katrina's aftermath as they would if, say, the hurricane had devastated New York City? Or Chicago?

If not for President Bush deciding to hold another press conference this afternoon, I think the networks would have gone blissfully on with their entertainment schedules, not minding at all the fact that at this point during 9/11, or the Iraq War, broadcast TV was overrun with news coverage.

Do I see this correctly -- CBS is airing repeats tonight? With no plans for Katrina coverage?

Where is the urgency? Where is the concern? Where is the social responsibility?

Once again, broadcasters want to have their cake and eat it too. They want special treatment (read: higher ad rates) from sponsors because they have wider reach and greater cultural impact. (The latter is always tricky to measure, but that doesn't stop the networks from claiming they have it.)

And yet, when having a cultural impact really could make a difference -- telling people that this is a big deal and they need to care what's going on down South right now -- they punt.

The good news is that NBC and ABC are again devoting whole hours to Katrina coverage in prime time tonight. Too bad they are overlapping hours (both airing at 10 pm ET).

***

To be sure, cable coverage has been unstinting. I've preferred Fox News' coverage to the other two, just because it seems more compelling and urgent. But all look like they're doing their jobs. (Why, though, was CNN using a videophone at the intersection of Orleans and Canal when CNBC was at the same intersection with a live crew? You'd think someone could fly or even drive one in from Atlanta.)

That's not the issue, though. The issue is that when broadcasters shunt coverage of anything off to cable, they are in effect making a comment on that story's newsworthiness. By shunting Katrina coverage off to cable, they are saying it is not that much of a concern for the rest of America.

By contrast, after 9/11 dozens of broadcast and cable channels aired continuous coverage for three days, some for nearly a week, before returning to regular programming.

As I argued in 2004, it doesn't matter if the coverage can be found somewhere else. When it's offered by broadcast networks, more people are informed and the overall sense of urgency rises. This is what happened in 9/11. It happened in the war. It didn't happen during the Democratic Convention last year -- hence, an estimated 10 million people missed Barack Obama's coming-out party. (I'm sure there are Republican equivalents, but the Obama snub was so striking.)

Coverage = importance. That's what makes broadcasting broadcasting.

In Kansas City, "Nightline" is airing at its regular time period all week. Which is to say, on a 90-minute delay. After "Seinfeld." After "Will & Grace." After (gasp) "Extra."

In Kansas City, KCPT has suspended pledge and will resume normal programming. That includes a rebroadcast Friday night of a story that predicted a major disaster should a hurricane come near New Orleans, and explained why. It'll appear on "NOW," along with an update (check local listings).

"In deference to the other fundraising efforts currently underway surrounding the tragic events unfolding along the Gulf, KCPT will suspend its membership drive until after the Labor Day holiday. The thoughts and prayers of the KCPT staff are with the victims of this tragedy," said KCPT general manager Victor Hogstrom in a statement.

Our public broadcaster is the only broadcaster that has done anything that indicates that somebody there gets it, and is acknowledging the unprecedented tragedy on our home soil.

What exactly is at stake here? Those screamingly high HUT levels during the last week of August?

Networks' Disaster Relief Effort

By Lisa de Moraes The Washington Post Friday, September 2, 2005; C01

Television networks are rushing to raise funds for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

But, unlike four years ago, when a rare spirit of cooperation among networks resulted in the joint production of "America: A Tribute to Heroes" for victims of the Sept. 11 attacks, which was telecast live across more than three dozen networks, this time fundraising program plans are only slightly less chaotic than the relief efforts in New Orleans.

The broadcast networks plan to announce today a one-hour special to air next week. Oddly, NBC announced Wednesday that it was rushing to put its own benefit special, "A Concert for Hurricane Relief," on the air tonight at 8.

The networks had hoped to simulcast their joint effort next Tuesday, but that fell through late yesterday when they learned they probably couldn't acquire for that day the large number of phone banks needed to mount a major telethon fundraiser, according to an executive involved in the discussions. They are now shooting for a later date, probably Friday.

Like the Sept. 11 fundraiser, this special will be offered free to any network and will also be executive-produced by Joel Gallen. There was talk of having Ellen DeGeneres, who is from New Orleans, host, but as of last night the networks seemed more likely to go with a hostless format, as they did in '01. DeGeneres would be one of the special's participants.

NBC's hurricane relief concert will air tonight on NBC, MSNBC and CNBC, as well as on i, formerly known as PAX. (NBC's Telemundo network will broadcast its own one-hour special at 9 tonight.)

ABC, CBS and Fox, which spearheaded the simulcast effort, were ambushed by NBC's announcement, according to some on those networks' staffs, because the Big Four already had early talks about doing another collaborative effort like that in '01.

NBC did not notify the other networks that it was about to announce its own special, those sources said.

Trade reports on NBC's announcement cited network insiders who claimed NBC rushed its special onto the air in response to a call from Harry Connick Jr. to NBC chief Bob Wright and/or NBC Universal President Jeff Zucker, asking the network what could be done to help hurricane victims. Those reports also said that tonight was the date that worked with Connick's schedule.

Connick, a native of New Orleans, where tens of thousands of people are homeless and stranded by floodwaters, did a well-received multiple-episode guest gig on NBC's sitcom "Will & Grace" and headlined an NBC holiday special in 2003 that averaged just under 7 million viewers, but it is unclear how Connick was able to singlehandedly talk these two men into preempting the broadcast networks' collaborative fundraising effort with a separate fundraising special. An NBC rep declined to discuss it on the record for this column.

Also interesting is that not all of the NBC Universal networks are simulcasting the NBC special, which is being produced by the news division and will feature news packages, as well as performances by Connick, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Wynton Marsalis and Aaron Neville, and appearances by Mike Myers, Hilary Swank, Lindsay Lohan, Claire Danes, John Goodman, Leonardo DiCaprio, Eriq La Salle and Eli Manning.

NBC had much better luck getting its cable networks to simulcast its tsunami relief fundraiser concert in January. USA Network, Sci Fi and Bravo all participated in that one; they will not simulcast tonight's special.

Tonight, instead of "A Concert for Hurricane Relief," USA Network continues its 12 days of U.S. Open coverage with a lineup headlined by Roger Federer, Maria Sharapova and Serena and Venus Williams.

Bravo will kick off its rerun marathon of "Being Bobby Brown," the reality series that ran this summer, documenting the antics of Mr. Whitney Houston.

And Sci Fi opted out rather than annoy "Stargate SG-1" fans who had voted in an online poll for the rerun episodes they wanted to see during the "Stargate" marathon that kicks off at 8 tonight.

The NBC rep said those cable networks may run the special at a later date.

Among the networks planning to participate in the more ambitious telethon are Time Warner's WB network, as well as UPN, which like CBS is owned by Viacom.

But Viacom, like NBC Universal with its smaller effort, doesn't have all its networks on board. Then again, Viacom is in the middle of a messy divorce from itself. (It's set to split into two companies in 2006 with CBS separating from many of the Viacom cable properties.)

Specifically, MTV Networks has already announced its own fundraiser special for Sept. 10, to be simulcast on MTV, VH1 and CMT. And Viacom's BET network has announced its own fundraiser TV special, scheduled one night earlier.

MTV Networks CEO Judy McGrath explained in a statement that "in the face of a tragedy of this scope, we simply have to do everything in our power to offer support, comfort and hope to all the people directly impacted by the hurricane" because "this is always the first and best instinct of all our millions of viewers and the artists we know so well."

Wading through the treacle, those artists with the best instincts include Ludacris, Green Day, Gretchen Wilson, Usher, Alicia Keys, John Mellencamp and the Dave Matthews Band.

BET decided to go out on its own, a network representative told The TV Column, because "BET places special priority around the needs of African Americans."

He said BET did not, at this time, plan to participate in the major simulcast being put together because "one of the things about this particular tragedy is there is such tremendous need. . . . I don't think we can do this type of philanthropic effort enough," adding, "There is enough need to go around."

But that's not all. Late yesterday, networks DIY, Fine Living and GAC: Great American Country announced they would simulcast on Sept. 27 "Country Reaches Out: An Opry Benefit for the American Red Cross."

The commercial-free special will include performances by country music stars such as Alan Jackson and Alison Krauss, who will urge viewers to contribute to the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. The special will originate from the syndicated radio show "Grand Ole Opry Presented by (down-homey restaurant/retail chain name)," which is heard on more than 200 country radio stations and on GAC each week. GAC, DIY and Fine Living are all owned by the E.W. Scripps Co.

Inside Move: Telethon delayed
Nets postpone fundraiser for a few days

By JOSEF ADALIAN variety.com

The Big Six are delaying plans for a hurricane relief telethon, pushing the event back a few days.

Fundraiser had been penciled in for next Tuesday (Daily Variety, Sept. 1). Once organizers began nailing down specifics, however, it became clear that it wouldn't be possible to corral enough phone lines to handle the expected call volume so soon after the Labor Day holiday.

Nothing was final as of late Thursday, but it's now expected the telethon will air next Friday. ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, the WB and UPN are all on board to broadcast the event, which will air without commercials.

NBC is airing its own telethon tonight.

Stations grapple with aftermath of Katrina; NAB solicits help

Sep 2, 2005 8:00 AM
RF Update e-newsletter

WLOX in Biloxi, MS, sustained serious damage from Hurricane Katrina but remained on air following the disaster on back up power.

Although the WLOX building lost sections of its roof — over the newsroom and sales department — and the collapse of an unused transmission tower, no on-duty station personnel were injured in hurricane.

On its Web site, WLOX station manager Dave Vincent described the damage to the Gulf Coast of Mississippi as “catastrophic.” Following the destruction, two-way voice communications with the outside world was limited to Ham radio and a single satellite phone.

Vincent’s Web post said there was a Ham operator at WLOX with the call sign WX5AAA.

WLOX broadcasts to Biloxi, Gulfport and Pascagoula, MS.

In New Orleans, portions of which had filled with 20ft of water, television stations sought temporary quarters. CBS affiliate WWL-TV moved its studios to Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge Aug. 28. Hearst Argyle-owned NBC affiliate WDSU broadcast from a sister station in Jackson, MS.

On Aug. 30, the NAB said local radio and TV stations across the country were partnering with the American Red Cross to provide public service announcements that advise citizens how to donate money for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Additionally, NAB asked its members to donate much needed equipment to the television and radio stations affected by the hurricane.

For more information, visit www.wlox.com and www.nab.org.

TELEVISION FINDS COVERING AREA HIT BY STORM IS LIKE WORKING IN A WAR ZONE
By BILL CARTER, The New York Times, 9/1/2005


After struggling with enormous logistical problems trying to cover the calamity caused by Hurricane Katrina, television news organizations moved yesterday onto what one executive called a ''war footing.''

That description, from a CNN senior vice president, Jack Womack, reflected the widespread view among news executives that the problems they have faced this week in documenting the damage to the Gulf Coast have been far tougher than anything experienced covering the war in Iraq or the tsunami that hit Southeast Asia last December.

''This really does remind me of covering a war zone or a third world story,'' said John Stack, the vice president of newsgathering for the Fox News Channel.

The news channels have scrambled against impediments like widespread power failures, disrupted cellphone service, and lack of fuel to maintain contact with correspondents and news crews, while also struggling to keep them supplied with food, water and shelter. Yesterday, they began sending in relief crews and setting up supply lines. The broadcast networks also raised the visibility of their coverage in prime time, with ABC, CBS and NBC all scheduling hourlong specials after several days during which they broadcast only hourly updates in the evenings.

Mr. Womack said that one of CNN's main problems had been finding ways to recharge technical equipment. ''We had been using car batteries,'' he said. ''But now most of them are under water.''

Many news organizations surveyed surrounding areas to find recreational vehicles that could be used as both supply carriers and air-conditioned shelter for crews. Mr. Womack said CNN had leased every such vehicle it could find in the Atlanta area. NBC rented recreational vehicles from all over Texas, filled them with food and water, and drove them toward New Orleans.

Paul Slavin, senior vice president of ABC News, said communications began to improve yesterday, but he recounted difficulty in getting satellite trucks past the numerous police and military checkpoints on roads leading to New Orleans.

Steve Capus, the senior vice president of NBC News, said one of its trucks ''died in the water'' after its tires were blown out when it rode over a fallen light pole in New Orleans.

Marcy McGinnis, senior vice president of news coverage for CBS, said that the networks had expected to have communications problems in Iraq and planned for them.

''We thought of every contingency in that case,'' Ms. McGinnis said.

The hurricane fooled everyone, she said, because the flooding took place just when it seemed that the worst was over. The networks found themselves inadequately equipped, especially with satellite phones, for a place with no electrical power.

The NBC News anchor Brian Williams, who is the most prominent network news personality in New Orleans, has been able to maintain only infrequent communication with his headquarters in New York, Mr. Capus said. Mr. Williams has anchored the news from New Orleans each night since Sunday after being able to speak with the news desk only a couple of times each day.

CBS has had John Roberts co-anchoring the news from New Orleans. One of Fox's main anchors, Shepherd Smith, anchored his program from a highway overpass crowded with displaced people from city housing projects.

Diane Sawyer of ABC secured an exclusive interview with President Bush about the disaster; it was to be broadcast on ''Good Morning, America'' this morning.

Viewership for the cable news channels has soared. Fox's prime-time audience climbed to 4.2 million on Tuesday night, 112 percent above its Tuesday average, according to Nielsen Media Research. CNN had 3.7 million viewers, an increase of 336 percent. MSNBC had 1.5 million viewers, 379 percent above its average.

Audiences for the broadcast networks' regular evening newscasts were also up. As usual, Mr. Williams of NBC led the pack, with 11.3 million viewers on Tuesday night, up from 8 million the week before. ABC had 9.7 million viewers, up from 7.8 million. CBS had 8.1 million, up from 6.4 million.

So many questions this season

By Gary Levin, USA TODAY

Cliffhangers — a staple of prime-time TV in the salad days of Dallas and Dynasty - are captivating viewers again amid a resurgence in serialized dramas.

The trend in shows with continuing story lines, from The West Wing to 24, has mushroomed, thanks to the success of last season's biggest new hits, Desperate Housewives, Lost and Grey's Anatomy.

That has left plenty of dangling plotlines this fall as fans eagerly await answers to last May's burning questions.

And fall ushers in new serials, including Reunion, a murder mystery with each episode reflecting a year in the life of six high school classmates; Commander in Chief, with Geena Davis as the first female president; and Prison Break, which premiered Monday, about a man who has himself sent to prison so he can bust out his wrongfully accused brother.

Several sci-fi or supernatural-themed series — CBS' Threshold, NBC's Surface, ABC's Invasion and WB's Supernatural - promise to slowly unravel their complex mysteries. Fans will be teased but ultimately rewarded for their patience, if the shows aren't canceled first.

It's a marked change from a glut of crime dramas, many of which remain successful and are embraced by the networks: They're self-contained, can be viewed in any order and are far more durable in reruns.

But even comedies such as Friends showed that viewers become more invested in characters that evolve week to week, as they rooted for Ross and Rachel to end up together.

Networks relish such devoted fans. "The average regular viewer watches about half the episodes of series, but with serialized dramas, it can be as high as 70%," says CBS research chief David Poltrack. "When you get one that's successful, you're going to get people there every week."

WB has long trafficked in continuing sagas, from 7th Heaven to Dawson's Creek and Smallville. Fox is extending a strategy that has moved from Beverly Hills, 90210 to The O.C. and 24. "The loyal audiences those shows breed gave us a lot of confidence when it came to stepping up on Prison Break and Reunion," says Fox entertainment chief Peter Liguori.

But network chiefs say that a strong, well-written series is more important than its format. "It truly was us falling in love with those shows, and recognizing there was an opportunity to counterprogram what other networks were doing" with crime stories, says ABC programmer Francie Calfo.

"The success of Desperate Housewives does not mean people are looking for another soap opera," says analyst Steve Sternberg of ad firm Magna Global USA. What do they crave? "Good characters that they look forward to seeing week after week."

Left hanging? Stay tuned

By Ann Oldenburg USA TODAY

It seems like ages ago that we left Locke heading down the hatch, Marissa holding the smoking gun, and Mike the plumber walking into a trap. Where were we in May — and where are we headed this fall? USA TODAY offers a quick refresher course for those of us standing at the edge of the cliffhangers.

'Lost'

When it returns: Sept. 21, 9 p.m. ET/PT, ABC

Where we left off: Danielle takes Jack, Locke, Kate and Hurley on a trek to the Black Rock, which turns out to be an old wooden ship, from which the band retrieves explosives. A small group of castaways heads out to sea on a raft. Fifteen miles out, in the dead of night, a boat approaches them. Sawyer winds up getting shot and falls into the water. Jin dives in after him. A man with a beard grabs young Walt and takes him into his boat, at the same time forcing Michael into the water. As Walt screams for his dad, someone on the boat throws a bomb and it explodes, leaving Michael, Jin and Sawyer adrift in the dark water. Meanwhile, on the island, Locke finally forces open the mysterious hatch — imprinted with Hurley's winning lottery numbers (4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42) — and what's revealed? Nothing but a ladder leading down, down, down.

What's ahead: Producers promise to show us what's in the hatch in the first episode of the new season, which picks up five seconds after we left off in May. That, and the story line for the next two episodes, promises to change the dynamics of the group. And producers say that by the end of this season, we'll know why Oceanic Flight 815 crashed.

Several new faces will appear: British actor Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Oz) is heading to the island to portray a mysterious man named Emeka. Julie Bowen, who plays Jack's wife in flashbacks on the series, will appear. Michelle Rodriguez joins the regular cast playing Ana-Lucia Cortez, a survivor from the other side of the island. Cynthia Watros will emerge as another survivor, playing Libby.

'The O.C.'

When it returns: Thursday, 8 p.m. ET/PT, Fox

Where we left off: Good girl and favorite O.C. mom Kirsten goes into rehab after her dad, Caleb, dies. Jimmy Cooper resurfaces and is hooking up with ex-wife and Caleb's widow, Julie. And during a wild confrontation between Ryan and his brother Trey, Marissa shoots Trey. When we last see them, blood is trickling from Trey's mouth and Marissa is a whimpering mess just as Summer and Seth arrive.

What's ahead: Two months later, as Trey hangs on to life, Ryan, Marissa, Seth and Summer start their senior year at Harbor High with a new dean (Eric Mabius). Jimmy and Julie Cooper are determined to protect their daughter, who gets kicked out of Harbor High. "A major character will leave, and we may find ourselves at another funeral" this season, teases creator Josh Schwartz. And while Sandy, Seth and Ryan try to fend for themselves at home, Kirsten forms a friendship with fellow recovering alcoholic Charlotte (Jeri Ryan). Autumn Reeser also joins the cast as Taylor Townsend, a new rival for Summer.

'Nip/Tuck'

When it returns: Sept 20, 10 p.m. ET/PT, FX

Where we left off: A season of conflict, sexual and otherwise, ends with knives drawn. Matt's gender-bending lover Ava, who turned out to be Avery, has a finale clinch with her son, who commits hara-kiri; the episode ends with Christian in bed, about to be sliced by the serial attacker called The Carver.

What's ahead: The series picks up a month later, with Christian heading in a different direction because of the repercussions of the attack. Rhona Mitra guest-stars as a detective investigating The Carver.

Veronica Mars

When it returns: Sept. 21, 9 p.m. ET/PT, UPN

Where we left off: In the finale, the season-long mystery of who murdered her best friend Lilly Kane is revealed — it's Logan's movie-star father, who was having an affair with her. A new mystery begins, as Veronica opens her door to an unseen visitor and says, "I was hoping it was you."

What's ahead: Charisma Carpenter (Angel) joins the cast as Kendall, a sexy trophy wife and stepmother to brothers Dick and Cassidy "Beaver" Casablancas. Steve Guttenberg will star as Woody Goodman, a major league baseball team owner and candidate for mayor; his daughter transfers from private school to Neptune High.

'Desperate Housewives'

When it returns: Sept. 25, 9 p.m. ET/PT, ABC

Where we left off: Tom quits his job and orders Lynette back to work. Gaby lies for Carlos on the witness stand, which does no good because Carlos snaps right afterward and attacks John in court. Mike is set to kill Paul, but relents when Paul reveals that it was Mary Alice, not Paul, who killed Deirdre, to stop her from taking back her son, Zach. Rex dies after being mismedicated by George the pharmacist, who's in love with Bree. At the end, Zach holds Susan at gunpoint as Mike enters the house.

What's ahead: A new mystery begins on Wisteria Lane with new neighbors who clearly have a secret, starting with the mom (Alfre Woodard). Carlos heads for prison. Shirley Knight joins the cast as Rex's mother.

'Smallville'

When it returns: Sept. 29, 8 p.m. ET/PT, WB

Where we left off: A meteor shower on graduation day creates havoc. Lana becomes free of Isobel after killing Genevieve. Lex takes her in to help, but he really wants her stone, one of three Kryptonian artifacts. Lana passes her stone along to Clark. Jason goes after the Kents thinking they can lead him to the stones. Disaster looms as Clark assembles the stones.

What's ahead: Clark finally begins to accept his destiny. He unlocks the Fortress of Solitude and is given a new challenge by his father, Jor-El. Carrie Fisher plays Pauline Kahn, no-nonsense editor of the Daily Planet.

'Grey's Anatomy'

When it returns: Sept. 25, 10 p.m., ABC

Where we left off: There's an outbreak of sexually transmitted disease affecting several members of the hospital staff, prompting mass testing. Meanwhile, chief of surgery Dr. Webber confides his own medical concerns to Dr. Derek Shepherd; Izzie and Cristina are worried by a patient's wife and daughter who are at odds over his care; Burke treats Bill, a college buddy whose medical diagnosis raises some questions regarding his wife's actions; and, just as Meredith and Derek grow more intimate, a bombshell is dropped — his wife appears.

What's ahead: The story will pick up right where it left off, and Derek will have some explaining to do. Where has this wife been? What is the status of their marriage and why didn't he ever mention it? Burke and Cristina's relationship will continue to unfold, and George's love life will continue to be troubled, to say the least.

'Alias'

When it returns: Sept. 29, 8 p.m. ET/PT, ABC

Where we left off: Sydney destroys the Rambaldi device, a huge red sphere that made humans rabid, but not before her sister Nadia is infected and shot. Safely back home, Syd and Vaughn are in a car planning their wedding when, just as Vaughn is about to reveal a dark secret about his life — "My name isn't Michael Vaughn" — a car blindsides them and the screen goes dark.

What's ahead: Producer J.J. Abrams spoiled it a bit for fans already by saying that he's writing Jennifer Garner's real-life pregnancy into the show. Expect Sydney to mentor a new young female agent played by Rachel Nichols. French actress Elodie Bouchez also joins the cast, playing an international criminal. Balthazar Getty joins the cast as another agent. The big question: Will the car wreck be fatal to Vaughn?

'Gilmore Girls'

When it returns: Sept. 13, 8 p.m. ET/PT, WB

Where we left off: Lorelai picks Rory up from the police station, where she was taken for stealing a boat, and takes her home. Rory explains that the boat theft was not Logan's idea and Lorelai should not blame him. Rory decides she won't go back to Yale next year, which Lorelai does not like. Rory moves in with Richard and Emily. The show ends with Lorelai proposing to Luke.

What's ahead: Lorelai will get an answer to her proposal early in the first episode. The Twickham house is going up for sale. Rory goes to court on charges of grand theft boat and criminal mischief.

Thursday’s network prime-time ratings have posted at the top of Latest News the first item in this thread.

foxeng wrote:

No the mjor difference is Comcast is only giving $50,000 in cash and donating $10 million in ad time.

You know, when I'm stranded in a flooded city with nothing to eat or drink, nowhere to sleep, and wondering if this is where I'll die, my first thought is "I sure hope I'll get some ad time on a cable network?"

What a joke Comcast. Seriously, what will $10 million in free ad time do for the victims of the hurricane? Hundereds of hours of PSAs? Those are worthless.

-Reagan

foxeng wrote:



You know, when I'm stranded in a flooded city with nothing to eat or drink, nowhere to sleep, and wondering if this is where I'll die, my first thought is "I sure hope I'll get some ad time on a cable network?"

What a joke Comcast. Seriously, what will $10 million in free ad time do for the victims of the hurricane? Hundereds of hours of PSAs? Those are worthless.

-ReaganMaybe they figure the ads will motivate donations from viewers?

You are right, foxeng, about Comcast. I should have read the press release far more carefully.
My bad.

You are right, foxeng, about Comcast. I should have read the press release far more carefully.
My bad.

Unfortunately, you read it the way they HOPED you would read it. I had to read it twice myself to be sure they were actually going to give $10 million. ;)

Maybe they figure the ads will motivate donations from viewers?

Nice thought though. I am afraid that the news pictures are motivating more than anything any company to do and that IS a shame.

No matter how you slice it, it's still a nice gesture...they didn't have to do anything. It's certainly more than I could do as an individual. Even if it's more an effort in self-promotion, every little bit can help. I can't believe the devastation and suffering in that area....there's whole towns that don't even exist anymore...

From DirecTV (phoenix.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=127160&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=752380&highlight=)

DIRECTV Launches Dedicated ``Hurricane Katrina Information'' Channel; Viewers Place Text Messages on Channel to Reconnect with People Separated by the Hurricane

Channel Also Provides Vital Information to Refugees in Shelters and Viewers Nationwide on Hurricane Katrina Relief Effort

EL SEGUNDO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 2, 2005--DIRECTV has launched a dedicated 24/7 "Hurricane Katrina Information" channel that is providing vital information concerning Hurricane Katrina relief and recovery efforts to evacuees in shelters across the Gulf Coast region, as well as to DIRECTV viewers nationwide.

Since it went live, the Hurricane Katrina Information channel has been providing viewers with the ability to send text messages to family and friends separated by the hurricane and its aftermath -- messages are scrolled across the bottom of the television screen on DIRECTV channel 100. To place a message on this channel for family and friends, viewers can send an e-mail message to katrina@directv.com or send a text message via their cellular phone directly to text code "48433."

Information available on the Hurricane Katrina Information channel includes:

* Transportation infrastructure - road closures throughout the Gulf Coast region
* Counties/parishes in the Gulf Coast region that are able to assist evacuees
* Special needs shelters - the location and phone numbers of special needs shelters in Louisiana
* Shelter openings throughout the Gulf Coast region
* Relief agency contact information, including phone numbers for the American Red Cross, The Salvation Army and Feed the Children
* Insurance company contact information

Updated information will be posted on the channel as necessary. DIRECTV is collaborating with the Red Cross and FEMA to provide DIRECTV service to shelters throughout the Gulf Coast region to inform evacuees and officials of the latest developments concerning the ongoing relief and recovery efforts. DIRECTV is also working with local, state and federal officials to make this vital communications tool available for them to communicate with people impacted by the hurricane, especially those in shelters.

DIRECTV is the nation's leading digital multichannel television service provider with more than 14.6 million customers. DIRECTV and the Cyclone Design logo are registered trademarks of DIRECTV, Inc. (NYSE: DTV). DIRECTV is a world-leading provider of digital multichannel television entertainment. DIRECTV is approximately 34 percent owned by News Corporation. For more information visit www.directv.com.

From News Corp (www.newscorp.com/news/news_258.html)

News Corp. Contributes $1 million to Hurricane Relief Fund

NEW YORK, NY, September 2, 2005 - News Corporation today announced its pledge of $1 million to the Salvation Army to support its relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

News Corporation will also match – dollar-for-dollar – contributions made by the Company’s employees to accredited charities to a total of $1 million.

Separately, Fox Networks Group has committed more than $5 million in commercial inventory across FOX Broadcasting Co. and all of News Corp.’s cable and satellite-delivered programming services. Public service announcements benefiting the American Red Cross, Salvation Army and USA Freedom Corps’ ongoing relief efforts have already begun. In addition, FOX, FX and FSN will participate in an industry-wide simulcast of a benefit concert and telethon that will air sometime in the coming week.

Katrina Scoreboard: Thursday, September 1

Mediabistro.com---Cable news network ratings continue to break records. Fox News averaged 2.8 million viewers in total day on Thursday, and CNN averaged 2.1 million.

At any given time, almost six million people were watching the cable nets. In prime time that number swelled to 10.3 million viewers.

Fos Fox News Channel, Shep Smith delivered his highest-rated telecast of 2005; The Fox Report had 4,091,000 viewers. More #'s:

Total viewers:

Total day:
FNC: 2,847,000
CNN: 2,178,000
MSNBC: 796,000

Primetime:
FNC: 4,828,000
CNN: 3,916,000
MSNBC: 1,587,000

25-54 demographic:

Total day:
FNC: 1,174,000
CNN: 1,012,000
MSNBC: 406,000

Primetime:
FNC: 2,056,000
CNN: 1,925,000
MSNBC: 846,000

The emergency spectrum issue – one of the reasons Sen. John McCain says he wants a faster conversion to digital TV – has reared its head again in the aftermath of Katrina.

McCain was widely ridiculed by the NAB and broadcasters for saying the spectrum now used for analog TV needed to be returned sooner rather than later so that emergency workers could have better communications.

He cited problems with failed communications as a major factor in so many fire and police deaths on 9/11. Now, in the wake of the devastation in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, the topic has apparently returned to the forefront.

Katrina Spotlights Spectrum Issue

By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable

The issue of spectrum for fireman, police and other emergency workers could well come up in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

One of the themes of the coverage starting Wednesday was a lack of communications among emergency workers, including the frustration of a Col. Henry Whitehorn speaking for the L.A. state police, who said they continued to have trouble communicating with first-responders.

Another policeman, facing a fire at the gateway to the French Quarter, asked CNN to pass along to his colleages, who he could not communicate with, that the fire had broken out and potentially threatened the quarter.

Commerce Committee Member Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) told B&C in an e-mailed response: "I am closely following the communications failures in Katrina hit areas."

"Many public officials in the region are naming communications failures as a primary concern. Local state and federal officials require seamless communications in times of crisis," he said from Baghdad, where he was on a fact-finding trip.

"This is a further demonstration of our inadequate response to the 9/11 Commission's recommendations and other warnings about the failures in our first responders' communications systems," he said

"As Congress soon tackles the DTV Transition, we must be mindful of these challenges and ensure public safety, emergency response and interoperability remain our paramount focus."

Senator John McCain's office was not available for comment--the Senator was in Italy--but the Arizona Republican has repeatedly criticized broadcasters and the pace of the return of analog spectrum for, among other things, emergency communications. He has invoked 9/11, saying that if there were another disaster, the continuing lack of communication could cost more lives.

Tom Campo, spokesman for Hearst-Argyle, whose WDSU New Orleans has been in the center of the storm and aftermath, said that if there were any such specturm debate, it should promote a dialog in Washington about what broadcasters do with the spectrum they have. In terms of Katrina, that has included reporters putting themselves at risk from looters and more to stay in the city and help others, including some who have lost their own homes and possessions.

Campo said he hoped FCC critics of broadcast public service were paying attention to stations' efforts to serve their community, or as NAB President Eddie Fritts put it earlier in the week: "They are staying on the air when at all possible, and against all odds."

‘Survivor:Palau' runner-up arrested

The Fresno Bee

Merced's Katie Gallagher, who finished second on the CBS reality television show "Survivor: Palau," has been arrested and charged by the Merced Police Department with driving under the influence.

The arrest was made in the 400 block of Main Street in Merced just before 2 a.m. thursday.

Gallagher was held overnight at the Merced County Sheriff's Department and released Thursday morning.

Sgt. Scott Dover, a spokesperson for the Merced County Sheriff's Department, explained that authorities are required to hold those arrested for DUI until they are sober.

The finale of Gallagher's exploits on "Survivor; Palau" were broadcast May 15. During the run of the weekly series, Gallagher spent 39 days on one of 200 islands in the chain 528 miles southeast of the Philippines.

Details of the exact prize money won by the former radio account executive were not revealed in the finale. Official "Survivor: Palau" rules on the CBS Web site revealed that the runner-up gets "approximately $100,000."

Grim outlook for New Orleans media
It will take many months to rebuild after Katrina

By Nate Herpich and Diego Vasquez medialifemagazine.com

With the disaster in New Orleans seeming to worsen by the hour, the city's remaining media outlets are in full emergency mode, reporting on the chaos left by Hurricane Katrina and the mounting relief efforts as the city evacuates.

Many of those outlets are just now beginning to assess the damages caused by the storm and how long before they might return to full operation. Their biggest concern has been ensuring the well-being of workers. But there's the sense it that it could be many months, if not more, meaning it could take far longer for the city's media economy and that of the region to fully recover.

"In all honesty, the New Orleans market could be crippled six months to a year, if not longer," Dennis P. McGuire, vice president and regional spot director for Carat, tells Media Life.

Of the city's TV stations, only the CBS affiliate, WWL-TV, continues to broadcast, doing so from the Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.

“As far as damage goes, it’s too early to assess, we’re still worrying about personnel," says Carey Hendrickson, communications vice president for WWL-TV parent Belo. As to costs incurred by the storm, Hendrickson says, "We are working through all those details right now. The truth is, we just don’t yet know. We are in the throes of trying to work this all out.”

The city's paper, the Times-Picayune, is publishing on it web site, but parent Advance Communications is not venturing a guess as to when it will resume putting out a print edition. As an interim step, it hopes to publish limited editions at papers outside the city.

Just when the paper can expect to begin repairs on its presses is the big unknown. Much will depend on when power is restored to the city, which could be weeks or even months away.

Actual press repairs could take months longer, depending on the extent of damage, says longtime newspaper analyst John Morton of Morton Research. The 270,000 circulation paper has 52 presses, and Morton notes the presses are highly susceptible to water damage, both because of their of their advanced electronics and the precision with which they are built. The computer system will most likely have to be replaced and the presses themselves taken apart, cleaned of contaminants from the flood water, and then rebuilt. The cost could run into the tens of millions of dollars, and that's before all the costs associated with rebuilding the infrastructure of the news operation.

As for the region's ad economy, media people say the destruction is all but unprecedented, making it that much harder to forecast recovery.

"I can’t think of anything else like this, and I’ve tried," observes Carat's McGuire. "Even earthquakes or major fires have been limited in scope to certain areas, but they didn’t stop people from getting to work. It’s not like we know next Tuesday everyone will be back in place."

"I’ve never seen anything this widespread," says Sue Johenning, executive vice president and director of local broadcast at Initiative.

"This is not even close to what happened during the San Francisco earthquake. Most disasters affect a relatively small geographic area. New Orleans is underwater. Biloxi is pretty much gone."

Media people don't expect to see much ad spending anytime soon, certainly not in the coming days or weeks.

"It would be ridiculous to run spots," says Kathy Crawford, president of local broadcast at Mindshare. "Who in the world is watching TV? People who are can’t go buy anything, they can’t do anything. The few people who are watching TV are watching for information, they’re not watching for commercials."

In the long-term, buyers see a slow recovery in the ad economy. Says Johenning of Initiative:

"It's going to take a long long time before advertising will come back to any sort of normalcy. I don’t think we’ve begun to realize the severity of everything that’s happened yet.

"I have no way of knowing, but it seems like it could be many, many months. I don’t even want to speculate."

(Nate Herpich is a New York writer. Diego Vasquez is a staff writer for Media Life.)

Tom Campo, spokesman for Hearst-Argyle, whose WDSU New Orleans has been in the center of the storm and aftermath, said that if there were any such specturm debate, it should promote a dialog in Washington about what broadcasters do with the spectrum they have. In terms of Katrina, that has included reporters putting themselves at risk from looters and more to stay in the city and help others, including some who have lost their own homes and possessions.

Campo said he hoped FCC critics of broadcast public service were paying attention to stations' efforts to serve their community, or as NAB President Eddie Fritts put it earlier in the week: "They are staying on the air when at all possible, and against all odds."

Well one thing I will grant to broadcasters/NAB. The disaster does help make a case for maintaining a limited "emergency" analog service post "transition." Let's acknowledge the fact that it's going to take some time to miniaturize digital technology to the point where the digital equivalent of a 2.5" hand held, battery operated TV's (aka Watchmans) are possible. Sounds like a good use for VHF-lo to me. OTOH, there's always AM/FM/SW/HAM radio ...

CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK
A loss of face value

In the networks' heyday, many a small-screen persona loomed large.
Today there's little currency in character; it's plot that counts

By Paul Brownfield Los Angeles Times TV Critic September 4, 2005

"We've opened up the casting pool to the billions of people on planet Earth," Ted Harbert said.

I had asked him where all the TV stars had gone. The Shelley Longs, the Patrick Duffys, the Tim Allens. The ones who just were television. Telly Savalas, Valerie Harper. Don Johnson.

Now the head of E! Entertainment Television, Harbert is a longtime executive with stints running ABC's entertainment division and NBC Studios, in the era — actually, only a decade ago and less — before reality TV redefined TV stardom as something we could all truly, madly, deeply aspire to.

What show has a TV star? Take away any of the "Desperate Housewives" and you still have "Desperate Housewives." The star of the show, really, is the titillating tone with which creator Marc Cherry imbued it. The star of "Lost" is not a person either, it's a place — that island. Special effects and lavish production values are increasingly becoming the norm on TV (as in movies). One reason procedurals are multiplying is because the star is, in a way, subordinate to the procedure through which a crime is solved.

In the pecking order that has emerged, there are very-good-actors-doing-television (Gary Sinise, Hugh Laurie), but they are not necessarily stars — not in the way that "American Idol's" Paula Abdul is or "Dancing With the Stars' " Kelly Monaco is or Donald Trump is.

It is this kind of intangible fame that seems most tangible now — muddled, Jessica Simpson-type fame. She's on the cover of the Aug. 22 Star ("Jess' Butt Goes Flat!"), an issue in which Charlie Sheen also appeared — paparazzi photos of him and formerly estranged wife Denise Richards, under the headline: "Charlie & Denise Back On: Their Kisses Say It All!" (the photos, frankly, were inconclusive).

Star did mention that, in addition to this domestic drama, Sheen also stars in the CBS sitcom "Two and a Half Men." And the same issue featured five of the "Desperates": two of the men from Wisteria Lane (they were in an ad for Lee National Denim Day) and three of the women, Eva Longoria, Teri Hatcher (repeatedly) and Marcia Cross (once).

If an actor hopes to become a certifiable presence in the culture these days, it seems safe to say it won't happen through their day job but through their bigger overall TV job — creating a persona out of the actual self.

"To the 18-to-34-year-old audience, except for a small number of exceptions, if they're just actors showing up and doing their job, that won't do the trick," Harbert said. He pointed, for example, to the predicament for the "Lost" cast. "If you're just an actor, and especially if you're in Hawaii, you're only seen once a week. You'd better be on E! and 'Access Hollywood' every night."

Reality show stars are good for this kind of stardom. In fact, they seem like naturals at playing themselves, getting savvier with each new season. Who didn't like Bo Bice as Bo Bice?

And so it's a gas, seeing Don Johnson parachute into this fall season, where he so clearly no longer belongs, courtesy of the WB's Monday offering "Just Legal."

From the firmament

There are a few certified stars showing up on TV this fall (Geena Davis, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Chris O'Donnell, even Dennis Hopper, while Heather Graham is in the ABC midseason comedy "Emily's Reasons Why Not").

There are also plenty of appearances by that particular type of actor who shows up every TV season. Think of him as Matthew-Broderick/Paul-Rudd-still-won't-do-television-so-how-about-this-guy. He can do 30-ish, can be funny, can be relatable, can be attractive but not intimidatingly so. His name, this fall, is Josh Radnor (on CBS' "How I Met Your Mother") and Christopher Gorham (on CBS' "Out of Practice") and Josh Cooke in the NBC midseason comedy "Four Kings," after costarring in last season's canceled NBC sitcom "Committed").

Jason Lee — is he a TV star? Like an ambassador to greatness, Lee, starring in NBC's heavily hyped comedy "My Name Is Earl," comes from the film world, from having not done television yet. You are meant to be excited that he's on TV, just as you are that Davis is starring on TV as the first woman president in ABC's "Commander in Chief" or that Love Hewitt is going to be on CBS' "Ghost Whisperer."

Every year, networks try to get into business with "names," but until further notice that's all they are — names, some of whom go through the pilot dance — will they or won't they? — every year. Less discussed is the character that these names will play at the end of the deal. One of the more anticipated returning shows is in its second year, Fox's "House," and it has a bona fide character at its center. But otherwise, developing a character has become a trick to be expected mainly on cable, where this summer viewers got to see Kyra Sedgwick — in a crime procedural, no less — playing a three-dimensional human being in "The Closer."

"Just Legal" too has a flesh-and-blood person. Johnson, last seen as San Francisco cop "Nash Bridges," plays an alcoholic and spiritually broken lawyer who takes to mentoring a whiz kid. The show is far from great; it might not even be noteworthy, save for how bizarre it is that something so anachronistic would even make it onto a network's schedule.

But there he is, Don Johnson as Grant Cooper (love the name, evocative of a western), all growly voice and weathered look, loping in and out of court. The show has him buddying up with idealistic 18-year-old David "Skip" Ross (Jay Baruchel) to represent clients who will no doubt range from the indigent to the just plain odd.

In other ways too, the show feels built from the ground up. Cooper's physical world helps us understand who he is; his office is on the Venice boardwalk, and its dark shabbiness is practically an ode to film noir. It might be sunny and 80 degrees outside, but Cooper's upstairs, avoiding the brief he has to read, drinking his coffee spiked with booze out of a mug. He's not above resorting to punching a guy's lights out in a bar down in the grittier pockets of Santa Monica and Venice.

The character, the story, is in his voice and his face — that old throwback gleam, as when he says of a pretty client accused of murder: "She seems nice. She did stab a guy to death, though."

Such is Johnson's TV tenure that he has starred in a show credited with altering the stylistics of series TV ("Miami Vice"), and he now appears in one going against the grain in the opposite direction. "Just Legal" is a longshot of a show because the formula's so retro, almost quaint at this point, and because, well, how many members of the WB's core audience even know he is/was?

Johnson's been around long enough, both as Hollywood tabloid fodder and Hollywood actor, to become a statue of himself, almost more reference point than person. But less is said about what he also exudes — a certain TV gravitas, a kind of faith in the basic pleasures TV has long given, before cable happened, before words like "procedural" and phrases like "flawed characters" and "multilayered plots" entered the vocabulary of the ordinary TV watcher.

It is the paradox that Johnson represents this fall: TV is a whole lot better. But also a whole lot worse.

There are, it seems strange to say, few dramas anymore about people and their problems. If there has been, as some have argued, an advance in the kind of narrative that TV is leaning toward these days, a showcasing of more intricate plotting, what these new shows lack, at the same time, is the not-old-fashioned old-fashioned character. There may be better actors on TV these days than in Johnson's heyday, but the system of creating TV shows being what it is now, it seems safe to say none of them will be a future Don Johnson — fun, imaginatively accessible, uniquely TV.

Stature over story

The WB calls "Just Legal" "a fast-paced, procedural drama with humor." They have to say that, even if, in another era, the title might be "The Rockford Files" or "Magnum P.I." or "McMillan & Wife."

Johnson's not the only old-hand TV star back this fall — every year brings a few of these faces. CBS' "Out of Practice" has Henry Winkler as a divorced gastroenterologist dating young, and Fox's "Prison Break" has Stacy Keach as a prison warden.

But Johnson is the only one back with a vengeance, representing once-upon-a-time dramatic television, when the men were men, the women were Lee Meriwether, and the on-screen persona an actor created — larger than life, preferably — mattered.

By contrast, for instance, we will get only glimpses of the hollow personal life of Carla Gugino's government contingency analyst on CBS' Thursday drama "Threshold" (unpacked boxes in her house, ready-made food in her fridge).

This is, I guess, understandable — she's trying to save the world from potential mass annihilation. But what about that novelistic notion that character is story? On "The Sopranos," Tony's sessions with Dr. Melfi are key to story, to conveying how the character exists in his varied worlds. What many shows seem to be saying nowadays is: No time for character. Gotta cut back to the chase.

For all its touching attempts to seem contemporary, "Just Legal" can't hide that it has more character in its characters than do most new series. Its appearance on the WB's fall schedule suggests that networks are still paying homage to this old way of manufacturing hits — larger-than-life actor playing entertaining character in familiar template — but that's what it seems like now, homage.

WEEKEND TV
Shows to Watch over the Holiday Weekend

Chicago Tribune September 2, 2005
"Entourage," 10 p.m. Sunday on HBO: This uneven but addictive comic series, about a movie star and his trio of hangers-on, ends its second season at the top of its game. It's now reportedly a cult obsession in L.A. show business circles, the target of its satire, and it manages to poke fun at the industry while simultaneously exploring the highs, lows, ins, outs, vulgarities, depravities and frolic of four thirty-ish regular guys who are almost fatally comfortable in their regular guyness.

Kevin Connolly, who plays the star's best friend-turned-manager, Eric, has grown into his part this season, shrewdly mixing romantic seducer, best buddy, den mother and cranky nudge. But, culminating in a bravura performance last week, Jeremy Piven regularly steals the show as the manic, duplicitous, devilish Hollywood agent Ari Gold. The picaresque, undisciplined storytelling also coalesced this season into one with an actual serial plot and cliffhangers: Piven has just been fired, bereft of even his cell phone and luxury car, while movie star Vince (Adrian Grenier) is pulling out of the big-budget "Aquaman" after a failed off-screen romance with Mandy Moore.

"The Comeback," 9:30 PM ET/PT Sunday on HBO: A kind of companion piece to "Entourage," in that it also satirizes backstage Hollywood, this time from the female perspective, this show concludes its premiere season Sunday as well. Lisa Kudrow, in a painfully all-too-real portrayal as Valerie Cherish, plays an absolutely ordinary, mediocre woman, who once lucked onto a sitcom and is a helpless sheep among the wolf pack of ambitious Hollywood types surrounding her.

A formal tour de force as a sitcom within a mock reality show, the comedy is nervy and everyday, such as the time Valerie and her husband awkwardly tried to make love and avoid the reality-TV eye-in-the-sky camera. Then there was last week's riotous farce, in which Valerie slugged longtime nemesis/sitcom writer Paulie G in the gut, causing both to vomit on the set. Metaphor for a business? You bet. Lance Barber's slyly passive-aggressive, repugnant villainy as Paulie, and Robert Michael Morris' hairdresser Mickey, a benign, funny-sad throwback to a more closeted era of gay life, are two performances that help make the show so three-dimensional.

"Footballers Wives," 8 PM ET/PT Sunday, BBC America: Thanks to popular demand, BBC America scheduled another season of the skullduggery and soapy drama -- mostly off the soccer field -- of this unmissable Brit import, which has long been a hit across the pond. High-living hellions Tanya and Jason Turner are still in the middle of major trouble as this new season begins; she brings a rape charge against the team's owner, Frank Laslett, after being accused of causing the car accident that almost killed him.

There are a host of marathons this holiday weekend; here are a few of the most tantalizing:

- "24," 2 to 11 PM ET/PT Sunday, 8 AM to 10 PM ET/PT Monday on A&E: The entire fourth season of this nail-biting drama airs over two days.

- "Stargate SG-1," 8 PM ET/PT Friday, Sci Fi. A viewer's choice marathon of six episodes of this sci-fi stalwart.

- "McLeod's Daughters," 2 PM ET/PT Saturday, Women's Entertainment. Sheep-shearing, family angst and sexy shenanigans among a set of sisters running an Australian farm.

- "Survivor: The Australian Outback," 12 Noon ET/PT Monday, Outdoor Living Network. Contestant Colby Donaldson hosts this all-day session devoted to the second season of "Survivor."

- "Reno 911!," Comedy Central, 7 PM ET/PT Monday. Forget good cop, bad cop. Why not spend an entire evening with world's least effective cops?

Networks to air Katrina telethon next Friday

LOS ANGELES Hollywood Reporter---The six major broadcast networks have finalized their plans to present a live hourlong Hurricane Katrina relief special to air next Friday at 8 PM ET/PT.

"Shelter From the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast" will feature performances and celebrity appearances originating from Los Angeles and New York (the telecast will air on tape-delay in West Coast and Mountain time zones).

Veteran live events producer Joel Gallen has been recruited to executive produce the telecast. Gallen drew widespread praise for spearheading the "America: A Tribute to Heroes" telethon that the major broadcasters arranged a week after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001.

Calling it a "cooperative and collaborative effort," ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, the WB Network and UPN said they will air the special in simultaneous "roadblock" fashion in an effort to underscore the depth of the need among victims of Katrina in the hardest-hit Gulf Coast states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The "Shelter" feed will also be made available to other cable and satellite outlets.

In confirming plans for the benefit telecast Friday, the broadcast networks said that details about the collection of donations and what organizations would receive those donations were to be announced later.

The 'Lost' Master Plan

By Brill Bundy zap2it.com

Those viewers who felt burned by the last few seasons of "The X-Files" and have wondered more than once what's going on with "Alias" are probably the same ones who have been fighting the temptation to become too attached when it comes to "Lost."

Watching the extras on the first season DVD set (available Tuesday, Sept. 6) does nothing to assuage these doubts. Jack (Matthew Fox) was slated to die in the first episode? Kate was supposed to be on a quest to find her husband who went to the bathroom right before the plane blew apart? If those stories were left at the wayside, what else could be in a state of flux? Does anyone know how the polar bears got there? How about the monsters? The Numbers? The Hatch? The Others?

According to executive producer Damon Lindelof, there's no need to panic.

"The big questions we have the answers to, but we are running a race that has no finish line right now," he says. "If they said, 'We want you to do four seasons of the show,' we would have sat down and planned out 88 episodes."

In other words, while the destination is set the journey could take some detours. Still, there's a limit.

"That's what happened to Chris Carter," Lindelof explains. "People look at that show and go, 'I'm disappointed with the way "X-Files" ended,' but they did 200 episodes.

"Chris Carter wanted to do four seasons and a movie, and the movie would have answered everything definitely. And Fox said, 'Great, you can leave the show, but we own the show and we're going to keep doing the show.' And he said, 'I'd rather run my own show into the ground then let somebody else do it.'

"I respect that."

Respect for the compromises that the entertainment industry demands doesn't mean that Lindelof and partners-in-crime JJ Abrams and Carlton Cuse are planning on dragging "Lost" out forever.

"We have an ending for the show: we know when it is, we know how many episodes it is," Lindelof says, "but we have to talk to the Powers That Be -- the people that pay for the show -- in order to execute that.

"I think it would be very hard if we did our ending for anyone to come in to the show after and continue."

Work out your own theories as to what such a conclusive ending could possibly entail.

Speaking of network involvement, what's with the promos? During the first season viewers knew that one of the main characters was going to die, but the ABC marketing department jumped the gun after Boone (Ian Somerhalder) suffered a horrific accident and trumpted his death before the fact. Then, they helpfully cleaned up a deliberately garbled radio transmission.

"One of the things that is a constant fight in movies and television is not wanting to give away the show," Lindelof, who doesn't see the promos until they actually run, opines. "Marketing's job is to get people to tune in and our job is to not give it away, and that sort of puts us at odds."

Getting more involved for the start of the second season, Lindelof says that he and the show's creative team worked closely with marketing to design the launch campaign, proclaiming the end result to be "very cool and very mysterious." However, once they are back into what he refers to as the "strum and drang" of writing, editing and dealing with the production of the show on a weekly basis they will turn over the reins.

"Inherently, I have to respect what they do," Lindelof continues, "and I put my frustration aside because the way that they market the show and sold the show, I'm so grateful. So every once and awhile they'll do it in a way I don't approve of, but at the end of the day lots of people are watching and that's in no small part due to the fact that they built awareness."

"Lost: Season One" will be released on DVD on Tuesday, Sept. 6. Season Two will premiere Wednesday, Sept. 21 at 9 PM ET/PT on ABC.

The emergency spectrum issue – one of the reasons Sen. John McCain says he wants a faster conversion to digital TV – has reared its head again in the aftermath of Katrina.

If anyone thinks that this "dog will hunt" they are making hay from the wrong disaster. The comm problem in Louisiana has nothing to do with lack of frequencies, but the lack of AC power and towers to mount antennas. In short, the comm infrastructure was destroyed.

The LAST thing they need is more short range frequencies, which require many tall towers and big power to just communicate over New Orleans alone, which is all the upper UHF channels are. They need LONG range frequecies BELOW channel TV 2 that do not require tall antennas and big power to cover the effected area, frequencies that TV DOES NOT use and Public Service abandoned 40 or more years ago because the Motorola's of the world talked them into them to sell more product.

Truth is they need BOTH types of comm, but have gotten into short range comm and have abandon long range comm and now it is hurting them.

If Senator McCain or others use this emergency as a reason to club broadcasters, their reasoning can be shot down very easily. They need to tread lightly on this one.

Boy, I'll second those thoughts! I completely agree coming from an emergency RF/communications background.
de WB9YRR
George

Updated College Football Schedule

If you are a college football fan it is always helpful to know what games are available to you and where they can be found.

Socdip originally posted this last month – and I’ve got it at the bottom of the Latest News post -- but in case you lost the link, or never saw it, here it is again:

http://www.lsufootball.net/tvschedule.htm

Columbo Mystery: When Is the Next Movie?
showbizdata.com

A new Columbo movie -- the first in more than two years -- has been delayed because of a disagreement between star Peter Falk and ABC-TV over the script.

"There's a bit of a problem," Falk told TVGuide.com. "The script that I like, the network doesn't like. The script that they like, I don't like." Asked why the network disapproved of his preferred script, Falk remarked only, "That is a good question, a good question."

He said that the network wants Colombo's next case to be set among lingerie models, "so you can see why they would prefer that one."

Friday’s network prime-time ratings have posted at the top of Latest News the first item in this thread.

Boy, I'll second those thoughts! I completely agree coming from an emergency RF/communications background.
de WB9YRR
George

I did two-way radio work 25 years ago before I got into broadcasting and Amateur Radio myself for the last 30. They need some HF and low band gear to get things moving down there. That isn't going to happen with 450 megs and DEFINITELY NOT 800 MHz. Bad planning all around. I am afraid this is a dress rehearsal for the next 9/11 and we are showing the terrorist it will not take much on their part to really mess us up.

George Thompson and foxeng: I agree with you both.

But it is no more ridiculous than the NAB insisting on digital multi-carry for emergencies like this.

Both sides appear to be using shrill, emotional (and pretty indefensible) arguments.

The reality is that for the same reason Public Service is having a hard time communicating, so would a second digital channel be just as useless now. There is no power to run the stations and many are off the air right now and there certainly isn't any viewers to watch them anyway since the authorities are trying to evacuate the entire city. Talk about your "chicken and the egg".

See, foxeng, we can agree! :)

See, foxeng, we can agree! :)

But BEFORE the storm, that is a different story. :)

A long but fascinating story on arguably the most influential person in network TV:

Les Moonves of CBS: Giving Them What They Want

By LYNN HIRSCHBERG editor at large for The New York Times Magazine
September 4, 2005


After three decades in the TV business, Leslie Moonves, the chairman of CBS and the person most responsible for taking the network from last place to first in the ratings, has figured out a few things about what people want to see when they turn on their televisions. ''Americans do not like dark,'' Moonves told me last May, before a scheduling meeting to select CBS's fall 2005 lineup. Moonves, who was wearing a gray suit, white shirt and diagonally striped maroon and navy tie, was in a wood-paneled corner office on the 35th floor of Black Rock, the longtime home of CBS on 52nd Street in Manhattan. The office used to belong to William S. Paley, the legendary tycoon who personified CBS for more than 60 years. Truman Capote once remarked that Paley ''looks like a man who has just swallowed an entire human being,'' and Moonves has that same sort of aggressive vigor -- an almost palpable appetite and enthusiasm for the complications and constant challenges of network TV.

On this particular Thursday, at 11 a.m., Moonves was considering which of the network's current shows to cancel in order to make room for new programs. He had decided to take a once-promising show called ''Joan of Arcadia'' off the air. The show was about a teenager who receives directives and advice straight from God. ''In the beginning, it was a fresh idea and uplifting, and the plot lines were engaging,'' Moonves said, sounding a little sad and frustrated. ''But the show got too dark. I understand why creative people like dark, but American audiences don't like dark. They like story. They do not respond to nervous breakdowns and unhappy episodes that lead nowhere. They like their characters to be a part of the action. They like strength, not weakness, a chance to work out any dilemma. This is a country built on optimism.''

One key to running a successful broadcast network is understanding just this kind of thing: what the audience wants -- sometimes even before it knows that it wants it. Like a candidate seeking election, a network and its shows are voted into prominence by the public. The people either tune in or they don't. Unlike the movie business or the premium cable industry (of which HBO is emblematic), which charge for their products and have much smaller, more homogeneous audiences, broadcast TV aims to attract the tens of million of Americans who might watch CBS (or ABC or NBC or Fox) on any given night. In recent years, CBS shows like ''C.S.I.,'' ''Survivor'' and ''Everybody Loves Raymond'' have enticed those multitudes, and as a result the network has soared in the ratings. Moonves said that he hopes to have another success (or several) of that magnitude this coming season.

''A hit show is like lightning in a bottle,'' he said as he glanced at a large board in the corner of his office that listed 22 hours of prime-time TV shows, network by network. The office was sparsely decorated; the only really personal touch was a small ceramic dragon, which had been positioned just so by a professional feng shui expert. ''It can't hurt,'' he said of the dragon. ''My wife'' -- Julie Chen, an anchor on CBS's ''Early Show'' -- ''believes in feng shui, and I can use all the luck I can get. Even with all the changes at this company, creating a schedule with hit shows is still the center of my job.''


Thinking about the fall TV season was something of a creative escape for Moonves. Much of his time in the previous few months was taken up with the complicated details of the business restructuring of Viacom, CBS's parent company, which is trying to divide its vast holdings into two entities. Viacom's assets include, among others, Paramount motion pictures and television; MTV Networks and its international spinoffs; Infinity Radio; and the third-largest outdoor-sign business in the world.

The proposed division of Viacom's properties represents a significant shift in the business world -- away from large, supposedly synergistic media megaliths and toward smaller, more closely aligned companies. ''Sometimes divorce is better than marriage,'' Sumner Redstone, the chief executive and majority stockholder of Viacom, explained during a recent phone call from his home in Beverly Hills, Calif. Redstone conceived of the split earlier this year, when Viacom's stock price was sagging. Five years ago, around the time that Redstone created the behemoth that is Viacom, he boasted about the unparalleled might of a media giant, but he has since changed his perspective. ''We found out that bigger is not necessarily better,'' he said. The split is likely to be finalized early next year, at which point Moonves is expected to become the chief operating officer of one of the two resulting conglomerates. His unit will consist of, among other entities, Simon & Schuster, Showtime Networks, the United Paramount Network (UPN) and CBS, the jewel of that crown.

When CBS became part of Viacom in 2000, it was not considered a terribly valuable asset. At the time, the ever-declining market share of prime-time network programming seemed to herald the slow, certain demise of broadcast TV. The emerging conventional wisdom was that viewers were attracted to a more customized menu of viewing options tailored to their particular interests: specialized cable networks, like ESPN; interactive offerings on the Internet; and, of course, HBO. But last year, network television began surging back. This year, for instance, ABC has been reinvigorated by ''Lost'' and ''Desperate Housewives,'' and CBS's entertainment programming, under Moonves, has garnered the No. 1 ratings in nearly every demographic. An average of nearly 27 million people watch an episode of ''C.S.I.'' every Thursday on CBS, numbers that advertisers thrill to (and move their billions of advertising dollars toward). At a moment when the movie business is anxious about a declining domestic box office and a downturn in DVD sales, television is re-emerging as the place for commercially successful mass-market storytelling.

There are some in the business who question the longevity of this network revival. ''CBS is back because Les has done a great job,'' Chris Albrecht, the chairman and C.E.O. of HBO, told me. ''But the broadcast audience will continue to erode. Networks like CBS cast a wide net that attracts a vast number of viewers, but eventually that audience will want something specific, and they'll turn to cable or the Internet.''

Moonves, however, has never swayed in his belief that a broadcast network can, with the right approach, attract huge numbers of diverse viewers. His approach involves adhering to some rather old-fashioned verities about what most people want to watch -- strong narratives, traditional heroes, conflicts that can be solved -- and he has used these truths with great success to shape CBS's entertainment programming. The next challenge for Moonves will be whether his people-pleasing instincts can be applied to CBS's nightly news show. Currently in last place, ''CBS Evening News'' needs to be reinvented, and the problem is stark: how do you combine news with entertainment? News stories are often dark, and Moonves would like to find a way to make them light. ''There's a way to fix news,'' Moonves says confidently. ''Just as there was a way to fix prime time. I never saw TV as an ailing medium. There's no place else to get that kind of audience.''

In the meantime, Moonves is, as he has been for the last decade, still intent on securing another victory for his entertainment division. ''One or two little mistakes, and you're no longer No. 1,'' he said earlier this summer when he was concentrating on the CBS schedule for the fall. Moonves, who is 55 and has a booming voice and the classic good looks of a leading man, sounded a little giddy, both excited and nervous. ''I'm always looking at what can go wrong instead of what can go right,'' he said. ''In 2004, NBC went from first to fourth place in just one year. You never really do know what will work or not work. Most of your big hits come out of nowhere.''

This is only half true. Throughout his career, Moonves's sense of the audience's tastes has been uncanny. When he arrived at CBS in 1995, it was known as the ''geezer network.'' The successful CBS shows then were ''Murder, She Wrote'' and ''Walker, Texas Ranger''; the average viewer was well outside the coveted 18-49 demographic; and the network had lost N.F.L. football, probably the only guaranteed draw for American men of every age. The big hits were virtually all on NBC: specifically, ''E.R.'' and ''Friends,'' which were shows that, as it happened, Moonves had developed and sold to NBC in his previous job as president of Warner Brothers Television.

''When I took the job at CBS,'' Moonves said one day at his office, ''it was far more complicated and difficult than I thought. I didn't know what I didn't know. CBS's reputation was that we couldn't put on a big hit -- no one wanted to sell to us because our demographic was too bad.'' He paused. ''But in 2001,'' he went on to say, '''Survivor' and 'C.S.I.' first beat NBC's Thursday night lineup, which included 'Friends' and 'E.R.' Those two shows had been my babies, and they had haunted me for years, and then, finally, we beat them. And we did it on Thursday night, the biggest night of the week in television.''

No one predicted the immense success of either ''Survivor'' or ''C.S.I..'' ''Before the start of the 2000 season,'' Moonves said, '''C.S.I.' wasn't supposed to be the hit. We all thought it would be 'The Fugitive''' -- a show that was based on the same plot as the successful movie (and earlier TV show) of the same name. ''C.S.I.,'' which takes place in Las Vegas and features a team of elite forensic scientists who solve murders, was the last pilot that CBS commissioned that year. ''In the pilot,'' Nina Tassler, CBS's head of entertainment, recalled in a recent conversation, ''there was a dead body in a bathtub with a wound that was covered by maggots. We watch the shows at lunch, and Les was eating coleslaw, and the maggots and the coleslaw had a certain visual similarity. Les is very squeamish, and he insisted that we trim the maggots. He was right: post-maggots, 'C.S.I.' tested through the roof.''

Through it all, Moonves believed ''The Fugitive'' would be the hit. But by the second week that the shows were on the air, the audience had spoken: ''C.S.I.'' was a big hit, and ''The Fugitive'' was in trouble. Today, there are two ''C.S.I.'' spinoffs -- ''C.S.I.: Miami'' and ''C.S.I.: N.Y.'' -- and ''The Fugitive'' is long gone, lasting only one season. ''It's your best judgment out there,'' Moonves said. ''But the bottom line is, you don't know anything.'' He paused. ''Let me modify that, you don't know everything. It's not like we passed on 'C.S.I.,' which others did. But in the end, the audience always lets you know. If they watch, you win. And if they don't -- well, you figure out some way to get them to watch. That's the game.''


It was 11 a.m. on a very hot day in July, and Moonves was presiding over the CBS network leadership staff meeting in the 19th-floor conference room at Black Rock. Except for an eight-day vacation on a boat in Italy and France with his wife and his three kids from his previous marriage, Moonves had spent much of the summer campaigning for the Viacom division, currying favor with Wall Street. He seemed relieved to be back in the office, discussing the finer points of the network's shows. ''I can't believe I'm talking about debt,'' he joked as he took his chair at the far center of the conference table. ''I like casting better.''

The leadership meeting, which convenes about every month, brings together the presidents of each of the network's divisions -- from Sean McManus, who oversees sports on CBS, to JoAnn Ross, who manages sales for the network, to Andrew Heyward, who is responsible for the news division. Nina Tassler and Nancy Tellem, Moonves's top lieutenants in CBS entertainment, were participating by conference call from Los Angeles, where production was beginning for the new season. Aside from JoAnn Ross, the 15 people seated around the oval table were all men, all in suits and ties. Moonves, who was wearing a light-colored suit that accentuated his suntan, began by asking each division president for an update on recent events.

He started with the core business: the shows that were already on, the shows that would be on and the landscape across the dial. Each morning when he gets out of bed, Moonves checks the ratings from the previous night. At that point in July, it was clear that CBS's summer reality show, ''Rock Star-INXS,'' in which contestants vie to become the new lead singer of the famous Australian rock band, was underperforming. ''It's a narrowly focused show,'' David Poltrack, the president of research, said.

''That's a nice way of putting it,'' Moonves countered.

''But many of the people who are watching 'Rock Star' have never watched CBS before,'' Poltrack said.

''That's good, I guess,'' Moonves said, not sounding completely convinced.

The group ran through the status of the new fall shows. In May, the ''upfronts'' -- a weeklong event in New York put on by the major networks for media buyers to introduce the fall schedule -- had been a solid success for CBS. Moonves then asked Kelly Kahl, the head of scheduling, about some changes to the lineup. ''Ghost Whisperer,'' a new CBS drama, was ''tracking very well,'' Kahl said, ''and NBC flip-flopped two shows that are opposite it.'' Moonves seemed pleased.

He then turned to McManus, who was sitting across from him. McManus explained the new promotional campaign for CBS Sports, which will feature the Dave Matthews Band and something called the Blimp Dudes, which are animated stick figures. ''It's 'South Park' meets Atari,'' McManus said.

Moonves looked amused. ''When I saw those promos, I said: 'Sean approved this? My friend from Connecticut?''' he said. Everyone laughed. The group, which has worked together for years, radiates an easy familiarity of the sort that comes from a shared history -- and shared success. ''I've worked with Les for 16 years,'' Tellem told me later. ''And so has nearly everyone at CBS in his inner circle. We have a collective memory, a backlog of common information.''

The conversation jumped around the table. All the reports were positive: sales were good, the affiliates were happy, the press tour could not have been better. The mood darkened somewhat, however, when Moonves turned to Andrew Heyward, the head of news. It has been a rough period in the otherwise storied history of CBS News. Last September, not long before the presidential election, Dan Rather reported on ''60 Minutes II'' that CBS had documents suggesting that George W. Bush received preferential treatment during his service in the National Guard. The documents turned out not to have been properly authenticated, and the resulting controversy -- known as Memogate -- would seem to have led to Rather's early retirement from his post as anchor of the evening news. In May, Moonves canceled ''60 Minutes II,'' and there were those who argued that Heyward, as head of news, should have been fired, but Moonves disagreed.

Three executives and the producer of the news report had to be ousted ''because they didn't do their jobs,'' Moonves had told me earlier. ''As for Andrew, he demanded things of his lieutenants, and being a boss myself, you have to rely on people to do their jobs. I don't think he should have been fired: he did his job; they didn't do theirs.''

CBS commissioned an independent panel -- led by Dick Thornburgh, the former attorney general, and Louis D. Boccardi, the former Associated Press chief executive -- to prepare a report detailing the events at the network that led to Memogate. When Moonves read a draft of the results, ''it made me crazy,'' he said. ''Memogate was awful. News screwed up big time.'' Now that Rather is no longer the network eminence at ''CBS Evening News,'' Moonves says he intends to completely revamp the program. In January, he even suggested that he might be willing to have Jon Stewart, host of Comedy Central's mock-news program ''The Daily Show,'' play some part on the evening news -- a sign of how drastically Moonves feels the news needs to change. Every evening, around seven million people watch ''CBS Evening News,'' which puts it in third place. The median age of the show's viewers is 60. Moonves would like to enlarge that audience and lower its age, just as he did with CBS's prime-time audience.

''We have to break the mold in news,'' Moonves had told me. ''We don't have a choice.'' Moonves has expressed his frustration about the news division to friends and colleagues -- sometimes with intentional hyperbole. ''I want to bomb the whole building'' is one phrase he has used. Moonves genuinely likes and respects Heyward, but has said to colleagues that Heyward may not be able to ''lead a revolution.''

It might seem surprising that Moonves, given his approach to the genre of TV drama, is so taken with reinventing the news. But then he is, as usual, following his sense of what the viewers want. The audience, he imagines, would like its news to be more like his entertainment shows: better stories told by attractive personalities in exciting ways. To this end, Moonves requested in June that Heyward shoot some prototypes of nightly news shows using alternative formats. There were more than 10 meetings that followed in which Moonves pushed Heyward to be less conservative in his thinking. ''The news anchor Andrew wants to use is not surprising,'' Moonves had told me, referring to John Roberts, the chief White House correspondent for CBS and one of Heyward's leading choices. ''That's bothering me. On the one hand, we could have a newscast like 'The Big Breakfast' in England, where women give the news in lingerie. Or there's 'Naked News,' which is on cable in England. I saw a clip of it. It's a woman giving the news as she's getting undressed. And then, on the other hand, you could have two boring people behind a desk. Our newscast has to be somewhere in between.''

At the staff meeting now, Moonves was eager for an update from Heyward. ''So,'' he said, ''how's the pilot?''

Heyward was matter-of-fact. ''We can show you something in a couple of weeks,'' he said. ''It's more about the reporters, the feedback.''

Moonves nodded. ''It's not 'The Big Breakfast,''' he half-joked, but also half-prodded.

The finished news prototype will probably have some nontraditional features -- humorous segments, conversations between reporters and the anchor, interactive elements involving the viewers. Throughout the summer, the news division solicited ideas from a variety of sources: producers of entertainment shows, MTV News and even a group of college-age interns who were working at CBS. In the end, though, Moonves will be the judge. ''It's like pornography -- I'll know it when I see it,'' he would tell me later. ''In the news business, right now is the changing of the guard. Tom Brokaw has retired, Rather has left and then the horrible death of Peter Jennings. In one eight-month period, network news has completely changed, and this is an opportunity to redefine ourselves.''

The meeting was almost over. ''We have a very interesting six months ahead of us,'' Moonves said as he got up to leave. ''Hopefully, by then, we'll be an independent CBS.'' He paused, smiled and added, ''And with any luck, we'll have a naked news show.''


Later that evening, around 7 p.m., Moonves was in a black Mercedes sedan on his way to the New York Press Club, where his wife was moderating a panel on female journalists. As the car idled in traffic, Moonves pointed out the window. ''See,'' he said. ''That's synergy.'' An advertisement for ''Everybody Hates Chris'' -- a new show on UPN, which Viacom owns -- adorned the side of a bus. ''That's our show,'' he said. ''And we own the sides of buses.'' He sounded proud, which is how he usually sounds when he speaks about CBS. ''This job is all-consuming,'' he continued. ''If you don't feel passionately about the shows, the network, even the outdoor-sign business, it would be impossible to continue.''

Wherever he goes -- a huge cocktail party given by the William Morris agency, a small meeting in his office, a routine lunch at a Midtown restaurant -- Moonves is usually the center of activity: talking, joking, soaking up the scene, whatever it may be. He is never jaded or sarcastic about his profession, and his zeal for the sport of show biz is apparent. He rarely shows signs of insecurity or doubt, even when he's somewhat at sea -- as with the Viacom split, which will require him to take on responsibility for a number of businesses that he knows almost nothing about. In the previous week, for instance, he had met with Jack Romanos, the publisher of Simon & Schuster, who gave him a three-hour tutorial on the book industry. (After the Viacom split, Romanos will report to Moonves.)

This week he had visited Matthew Blank, the chairman and C.E.O. of Showtime, which will soon also operate under the CBS umbrella. ''We had a philosophical discussion,'' Moonves said as we turned on 42nd Street. ''I asked him if he wants to have shows like 'Fat Actress' that attract new viewers or water-cooler shows that win awards and are only interesting to a small percentage of the audience.'' If Moonves wants Showtime to challenge HBO, he may have to significantly alter his customary formula; flawed characters in unconventional stories are what attract most new viewers to HBO.

Part of Moonves's identification with a certain type of conventional leading man and story line may have to do with his own background as an actor. In his 20's, as he had explained to me in June over dinner at Mr. Chow in Beverly Hills, he played characters like a Mexican pearl diver on an episode of ''Cannon.'' He moved to Los Angeles to further his acting career in 1975, but eventually decided that what he really wanted was to work on the other side of the camera as an executive. Although he had no formal training in the television business, Moonves was hired by Saul Ilson, a producer of ''The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,'' to work on developing shows for the company. In 1985, Moonves joined Lorimar Television as a vice president. Lorimar was known for shows like ''Dallas'' and ''The Waltons.'' Four years later, Moonves was running the show. By 1993, Lorimar had been absorbed by Warner Brothers, and Moonves was named president of Warner Brothers Television, which developed and sold shows to the networks. Moonves was responsible not only for ''E.R.'' and ''Friends'' but also for ''Lois and Clark,'' ''The Drew Carey Show'' and others. In 1995, he and Warner Brothers Television had an unprecedented 22 shows on the air.

Like many talented sellers in the TV business, Moonves longed to become a buyer, to control the destiny of an entire network. Ten years ago, he got his chance. NBC was in first place in the ratings, ABC was struggling and CBS was in real trouble. In 1995, CBS held the announcement of its fall schedule in the banquet room of the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square. Perception is crucial at these events, and the other networks were holding their presentations at tonier locations -- the Museum of Natural History (for ABC) and Avery Fisher Hall (for NBC). The decoration at the Marriott, by contrast, resembled a tacky disco: there was a giant mirrored ball spinning, and it was hard not to think of CBS, which was trying to recover from a disastrous 1994 season, as a faded beauty begging for a dance.

Moonves was sitting in one of the folding chairs at the Marriott that afternoon. Though it was still a secret, he was in final negotiations to become president of CBS Entertainment. He sat in the audience, stared at CBS's schedule and wondered, Why did I decide to leave Warner Brothers? ''It was exciting to get the job, but it was also awful -- CBS was not only defunct; it was old,'' he told me. ''Agents didn't want to come to CBS. My team was still under contract at Warner Brothers, and I did not have the same relationship with the executives at CBS.''

After taking the job, he started prying away members of his old Warner Brothers team. (One of Moonves's requests when CBS was ordering another year of ''Murphy Brown'' from Warner Brothers Television, in fact, was that Warner Brothers let Kelly Kahl, now CBS's head of scheduling, out of his deal with the studio.) Moonves, in his first year at CBS, also moved the network's upfront to Carnegie Hall. The following year, Moonves persuaded Bill Cosby to star in a comedy for CBS called, simply, ''Cosby.'' ''Carsey-Werner, who were producing the show, tried to talk Cosby out of coming here,'' Moonves said as he took a bite of Peking duck. ''And I don't blame them. If I were them, I would have sent him to ABC or NBC.''

The acquisition of Cosby, whose ''The Cosby Show'' spearheaded the resurrection of NBC under Brandon Tartikoff in the 80's, sent a message to the entertainment community: CBS could attract top talent. ''Cosby'' was never a big hit, but it initiated CBS's psychic turnaround. ''Rebuilding a network is a slow, brick-by-brick process,'' Moonves said. ''It's not just creating a hit show -- it's building shows to back up that hit show; it's creating an identity of success so that people want their shows on your network. In the beginning, the town was not as supportive as I might have expected.''

In 1998, the industry perked up when Moonves helped to bring N.F.L. football back to CBS. Men started watching the network again. CBS had also been running ''Everybody Loves Raymond.'' ''I have to be honest,'' Moonves admitted as he speared a dumpling, ''Ray Romano was a 38-year-old stand-up comedian who was fired by 'News Radio' when he was the fifth lead. The pilot for 'Raymond' turned out well, but I wasn't expecting it to become one of the most successful sitcoms of all time.''

About three years into the job, Moonves was put in charge of CBS's news division. At the time, the newsmagazines were becoming very successful. '''48 Hours' was a good utility player for us, but it's not a game changer,'' Moonves said. '''60 Minutes' was the most successful news magazine on the air, and I needed that force. I went to the news division and suggested '60 Minutes II.''' He sighed. ''Mike Wallace and Don Hewitt'' -- both legendary CBS newsmen -- ''told me that it was a bad idea. Everyone objected. . . . What I also found surprising was that after my first formal meeting with executives at CBS News, I returned to my office and two of the papers called to say that they knew I'd been meeting with news and what was the meeting about. That was an eye-opener. There was none of that sort of leaking of information in the entertainment division. My team would know better.''

''60 Minutes II'' became a battle between Moonves, who represented the supposedly mercenary world of entertainment, and the old-guard CBS news crew. But in the end, the news division didn't really have a choice: then, as now, Moonves was the boss. (In light of the division's initial resistance, the uproar from CBS News over the cancellation of ''60 Minutes II'' this season is a peculiar twist.) ''The news division's outrage bothered me,'' Moonves said. ''News is commerce, too. The news people are all being paid lots of money. So it's a little hypocritical to claim that I was turning news -- a sacred institution -- into commerce by putting '60 Minutes II' on the air. Well, you know what, guys? When your agent calls, he's not being shy about asking for money. He views this as commerce.''

When ''Survivor'' came on in 2000, CBS had its first instant home-grown hit. The show was a pop-culture sensation, establishing reality TV as a viable genre. CBS had long been concentrating on the older 25-54 demographic, which was a strategic decision, since NBC virtually owned 18-49 and CBS's shows naturally skewed a little older in terms of content. But like all big hits, ''Survivor'' brought in every age and demographic. ''Finally, I could mention a show on CBS, and my friends had seen it,'' said Kelly Kahl, who is 38. ''Before 'Survivor,' when I told people I worked at CBS, they'd say, 'Oh, my grandmother loves 'Touched by an Angel.''' ''Survivor'' lured viewers from the other networks, and when ''C.S.I.'' was introduced later in 2000, the new viewers stayed. ''C.S.I.,'' its spinoffs and the other procedural dramas of CBS, like ''Cold Case'' and ''Without a Trace,'' then catapulted the network to the top.


An overarching sensibility began to emerge. If NBC had been, in its heyday, the destination for the young and urban and ABC had been, when it was most successful, the place for red states to find their favorite shows, CBS was more in keeping with the current mood of the country: moderate conservatism. Moonves, although a lifelong Democrat and a friend of Bill Clinton's, is something of a throwback. In his shows, he likes the men alpha and handsome and the women smart and beautiful, and he wants little personal complexity: happy endings are imperative. If being the No. 1 network means that the people have elected you, Moonves has constructed a Bush-like universe (without the politics): in his dramas, there is a continuing battle for order and justice, the team works together and a headstrong boss leads the way.

Producers looking to sell shows to CBS either comply with this point of view or take their shows elsewhere. ''With 'Hack,''' -- a show about a former police officer turned taxi driver -- ''we sold the show to CBS although we had a very strong offer from another network,'' says Gavin Polone, who also produces the innovative ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' on HBO. ''We made that choice largely because Les is both a charismatic leader and probably the best programmer in the history of TV. Subconsciously, I must have thought I could persuade him to produce a dark show about a psychologically and morally ambiguous cabdriver and a corrupt cop. It ended up as a show about two good guys fighting crime. You have as much chance to change Les's perspective on the kind of show that would work on CBS as you would in winning an argument with the sculpture of George Washington on Mt. Rushmore.''

Moonves wouldn't contest that characterization. ''This last season I was worried about 'C.S.I.: N.Y.,''' he said as we prepared to leave the restaurant. ''It was way too dark, both in story line and look. The morgue looked like it was five stories below earth, and I said, 'This is not ''Batman.''' 'C.S.I.' is a great franchise, the No. 1 show on TV, and you shouldn't revolutionize it, which is what 'C.S.I.: N.Y.' was trying to do. So I called in Anthony Zuiker, the producer, and I said: 'You know those sets? Burn them.' The morgue on 'C.S.I.: Miami' looks like a restaurant. It may be an odd thing to say, but it looks like a fun place to be. Melina Kanakaredes, the lead of 'C.S.I.: N.Y.' is beautiful. I want to see her face. I want makeup on it.'' Moonves paused. ''Zuiker agreed with me. He realized that he had tried to reinvent the wheel. And it ain't broke.''

Moonves told this story with evident conviction. He does not seek out the unusual and the different, and neither, it would seem, does most of the national television audience. For instance, despite winning the Emmy for best comedy of 2004, Fox's ''Arrested Development'' has never garnered much of an audience. The show is odd and hilarious but full of cold, manipulative characters. ''It's too dark,'' Mooves said, repeating his mantra. As for ''The Sopranos,'' which he says he loves, Moonves once asked a convention of Pepsi-Cola bottlers if they wanted to see ''The Sopranos'' on network TV. Their response didn't really surprise him: they found the show too extreme. ''Tony Soprano is an unorthodox hero,'' he explained. ''The audience likes someone they can identify with, someone they can believe in. Everybody's looking for a family, for a hero, for a place where they fit in and, despite all the complications, for everything to work out in the end. That's what the audience wants. And that's what we try to give them.''


On Memorial Day last year, everything at Viacom changed. ''It was the Memorial Day massacre,'' Moonves recalled recently over breakfast at the Regency Hotel on Park Avenue. He eats there nearly every morning when he is in New York, and there is a constant stream of well-wishers congratulating him on CBS's success. When he worked at Warner Brothers, he became superstitious about the Regency: he would always stay in a suite on the 18th floor, and he came to believe that the tradition contributed to his success. Last year, he bought an apartment in a building near the the hotel. He commutes between the apartment and his house in Beverly Hills. True to his wife's feng shui principles, wherever he sleeps, his head always faces east.

Moonves drank some orange juice. ''I don't shock easily,'' he continued. ''But last Memorial Day, when Sumner told me that Mel Karmazin was leaving, I was genuinely shocked.''

Some background: Soon after Moonves's arrival at CBS in 1995, Larry Tisch, the owner of CBS at the time, sold the company to Westinghouse for $5.4 billion. Then in 1996, Mel Karmazin, the president of Infinity Broadcasting, accepted a lucrative offer from Michael H. Jordan, then the head of CBS, to buy Infinity and fold it into CBS. Less than two years later, Karmazin effectively pushed out Jordan and was named C.E.O. of CBS. But Karmazin had bigger plans: in 2000, he sold CBS to Sumner Redstone and his company, Viacom, in a deal valued at $37 billion. It was the largest media deal in history.

From the beginning, Karmazin and Redstone clashed. Both self-made men, they each wanted to be in charge. ''They were supposedly coequals,'' explained one longtime CBS employee, ''but their personalities were too strong and too dominant to tolerate that kind of union. Something had to give, and it did.''

The day after Memorial Day, Karmazin publicly announced that he was leaving, and Redstone decided to replace him with two men: Moonves and Tom Freston, who was then the chairman and C.E.O. of MTV Networks. Freston was one of the creators of MTV and, unlike Moonves, has always been attracted to the unfamiliar and innovative. Redstone, who is close to Freston, gave Freston control of Paramount Pictures and all of Viacom's cable networks, including MTV. Moonves was put in charge of the radio division, the outdoor-advertising company, Paramount Television, UPN and CBS. Some perceived that Moonves had been given the consolation prize. Although Moonves and Freston were friendly, they were suddenly co-C.O.O.'s and rivals. The winner of the ''bake-off'' would presumably get the top Viacom job when Redstone, who is 82, eventually stepped down.

''First of all,'' Redstone said when I spoke to him, ''the conflict between Tom and Les was overstated. And secondly, why did anyone think I was stepping down?'' Moonves confided to friends that the situation was awkward, that he would have rather been given Paramount Pictures than the headache of Infinity Radio (whose programs include Howard Stern's talk show). But for public consumption, he remains, as always, diplomatic.

''Tom and I never got competitive,'' Moonves maintained over breakfast. ''We may have eventually, but we were too busy trying to get our arms around our respective companies, and we didn't have the time. And then, nine months later, Redstone decided to split Viacom.'' In January, Redstone conceived the division: the Freston company, with all its MTV assets, would be an entrepreneurial, fast-growth endeavor. Moonves's company, with CBS at its center, would be a high-dividend, value company based in part on the continuing financial success of the network. ''We just had a phenomenal year,'' Moonves said. And yet Viacom's stock price has been consistently down. It closed a little more than a week ago at about $34 a share; three years ago it was trading at $40.45. Redstone said he is optimistic that the division of Viacom will boost the price, but, then again, he is in selling mode. ''The world of the conglomerate has passed,'' he repeated.

In April, it was reported that Redstone, Freston and Moonves together received a total compensation last year of more than $60 million in salaries and bonuses, plus a package of stock options valued at a total of $100 million. A Viacom spokesman said that the overall compensation was based on the company's operating performance, not on the stock price. Still, since Viacom's stock had declined 18 percent in 2004, the compensation packages, valued at around $52 to $56 million for each, were surprising. The cash compensation for Moonves was almost $20 million, although part of that amount was deferred. Several insiders wondered if Redstone was trying to take some of the financial sting out of his 2002 multimillion-dollar divorce settlement. Moonves himself was divorced in 2004, from his wife of 25 years, and remarried the same year. ''It was a momentous year in nearly every way,'' Moonves said as he drank some coffee. ''There were lots of separations and a few marriages.''


The heart of any network is its shows, and in May Moonves was still deliberating over his final fall lineup. (''He schedules in his sleep,'' Julie Chen told me. ''He'll say, 'Should I move that show?''' When I mentioned this, Moonves said: ''I told her to write it down! I might have a great idea while I'm sleeping.'') This year, Moonves was characteristically ebullient about the CBS pilots. ''This is my favorite part of the job,'' he said as he headed out of his office at Black Rock on his way to preside over the final scheduling conference for the 2005-6 season.

Moonves entered the conference room at 11:15 a.m. At one end was a blackboard-size edition of the scheduling board in his office, propped up on an easel with panels for each potential new CBS show. Around an enormous oval table were the 14 members of Moonves's inner executive circle. ''The reason I've been able to maintain my position of chairman of CBS in addition to all the Viacom stuff is my team,'' Moonves said as we sat down. Throughout his career, Moonves has always subscribed to a sports-inspired, team-oriented view of the world. Sometimes he's the coach, sometimes he's one of the players, but it's always about the group.

Curiously, most of CBS's successful dramas -- the three ''C.S.I.'' shows, ''Without a Trace'' and many of the new about-to-be-discussed drama pilots -- revolve around a group of specially trained professionals who work in unison and are headed by a dynamic, attractive middle-aged man. These prime-time-TV teams -- much like Moonves's own -- are determined and work-obsessed. They seem to think of their office as an extended family while, together, they solve crimes.

Moonves started with a discussion of the shows that he and his team planned to cancel. In addition to ''Joan of Arcadia,'' they wanted to ax ''Listen Up,'' ''Judging Amy'' and ''60 Minutes II.''

''This is big, guys,'' he said from his seat at the head of the table. ''Everyone's going to think that we're canceling '60 Minutes II' because of Memogate. But it is our oldest-viewing show. We will just have to answer the question of its cancellation that way.''

The topic rapidly switched to some pilots that were still up for debate. One of them, ''Love Monkey,'' is about a single guy who works for a record company and his travails with his friends and in the dating world. Moonves had said earlier that the show reminded him of ''Entourage,'' an HBO comedy about four buddies set in the world of insider Hollywood, and that while he likes that show, it may not be right for CBS, which is more conservative. '''Love Monkey' didn't test great,'' he said.

CBS, like all networks, does extensive research on all its pilots. David Poltrack, the network's longtime head of research, has created a testing facility called Television City at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas. ''What you can do there is find any demographic group imaginable,'' Moonves explained to me in one of our earlier meetings. ''Let's say we're looking for black men, age 18 to 24, from Omaha, Neb. In Vegas, we can find 30 in 24 hours. This allows us to really get specific. Let's say I'm thinking of a pilot for the slot after our comedy 'Two and a Half Men.' I can recruit people who like 'Two and a Half Men' and see if they'll stick around to watch this new show.''

There are famous cases in which testing has failed: ''Seinfeld'' didn't test well, for instance, but became one of the most popular shows of all time. ''The scheduling and research guys didn't like 'Love Monkey,''' Moonves said now, in the meeting. Nancy Tellem, one of the heads of entertainment, spoke a few words in defense of the show. Moonves nodded, but said no. (Later, he reconsidered and picked up ''Love Monkey'' for midseason.)

''Let's move on,'' Moonves said as he turned the discussion to the next pilot, ''Old Christine,'' a comedy starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus. ''If you're a working mother, you can relate to that show,'' Tellem said. ''I did.'' Moonves stared at her. ''Your children are grown,'' he said. ''But every time we talk about men and situation comedies, we are wasting our time. Women control sitcoms. Period. That's the audience.''

Throughout the discussion, the group looked periodically at the board, especially at the NBC programs. Long the network to beat, NBC has been severely weakened in recent years. But Moonves, ever competitive, seemed propelled by the battle, even if his network is on top. ''Is 'Joey' really going to open Thursday nights for NBC?'' he asked at one point. ''That's a dream come true. I love the smell of napalm in the morning.''

Someone observed that new sci-fi shows are popping up on every network's potential schedule. Perhaps this was a reaction to the success of ABC's ''Lost,'' which features mysterious supernatural elements, or it may have something to do with the country's mood -- a free-floating post-9/11 fear of a terrorist attack in the form of alien invaders. CBS's version is called ''Threshold'' and revolves around a team of investigators who look into unexplained outer-space phenomena.

It was unanimously agreed that ''Threshold'' should go on the schedule at 9 p.m. on Friday nights, following a drama then called ''The John Gray Project'' about a woman who sees visions of nearly dead people and heals them before they perish. ''We need a new title for that show,'' Moonves said. ''How about 'The Grateful Dead?''' Gil Schwartz, the communications chief for the network, said. '''After-slash-Life,''' someone else said. '''The Grateful-slash-Dead,''' Schwartz retorted. ''How about 'Breaking Through'?'' Nina Tassler asked. ''No 'ings' in the title,'' Moonves said. ''They rarely work.''

Out of the nine possible pilots, the four dramas that were chosen were all essentially similar in format to ''C.S.I.'' -- procedural crime shows in which a mystery is solved. Moonves is aware that dramas that tell a complete story in every episode tend to repeat and syndicate well, although ''C.S.I.'' loses nearly a third of its audience when it is repeated. Two of the new dramas, ''Threshold'' and ''Criminal Minds,'' center on a team, and the other two, ''Close to Home'' and ''Ghost Whisperer'' (as ''The John Gray Project'' was eventually renamed), focus on a woman, perhaps to capitalize on the fact that women are a dominant force in CBS's audience. '''Close to Home' is about a woman who prosecutes the sort of crimes they commit on 'Desperate Housewives,''' Moonves said. ''It is a procedural drama, but the procedural dramas always seem to work. When we have too many, the audience will tell me.''

One new comedy that the team decided to schedule, ''How I Met Your Mother,'' departed from the usual CBS mold: the network currently has its share of sitcoms on the air in which a large buffoonish man is married to a shapely, tolerant woman. ''How I Met Your Mother'' is told in flashback as a father tells his children how their parents met back in the year 2005. Comedies are generally much harder to develop than dramas, and Moonves was particularly proud of the show. His favorite UPN comedy pilot was ''Everybody Hates Chris,'' which was originally optioned by Fox. Narrated by Chris Rock, who is also a creator of the show, it is about a black boy who attends a predominantly white school. It also happened to be the most highly praised pilot on any network.

''Everyone in the press wants to know why that show is not on CBS,'' Moonves had told me earlier. ''But if we put it on, that would destroy the credibility of UPN as a network. 'Everybody Hates Chris' may put them on the map.'' Moonves smiled. ''And anyway, Paramount TV made the show, so we really own it. That's synergy for you: there are no shifting assets. If it's a hit, it benefits UPN, which is our network, and Paramount TV, which is our production unit.''

As the meeting ended, Kelly Kahl got up and rearranged the board by putting all the new CBS shows in their new time slots. It was a slightly melancholy moment. Although Moonves said he planned to work on the schedule next year, his days would, in all likelihood, be monopolized by new challenges. In many ways, his work had been completed: CBS was No. 1. The care and maintenance of the network could no longer be Moonves's job: he simply has too many other narratives to reorient.

''This is the earliest we've had the schedule locked in 10 years,'' he said, staring at the board. ''It's getting a little too easy. I'll have to find something else impossible to do.''

Sunday’s network prime-time ratings have posted at the top of Latest News the first item in this thread.

Edit: (As citidream notes below -- these are really Saturday's ratings.)

Sunday huh? So now the ratings can tell the future? Can they tell who the next microsoft will be too? I promise I'll buy some stock for you too :)

Oops-- it is a mistake I make every so often, citidream. Brain cramp. sorry.

WB Network Moves to Attract an Older Audience

By RICHARD SIKLOS The New York Times September 5, 2005

With a roster of new television programs beginning on Sept. 13, the WB Network will be sending an emphatic but unspoken message to viewers: this is not your teenage daughter's WB.

One new program features Don Johnson, now 55, in a legal drama about a teenage law whiz, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer; another has Mr. Johnson's ex-wife, Melanie Griffith, in a new situation comedy.

These 1980's stalwarts join returning shows featuring adult stars like Treat Williams, Reba McEntire and Fran Drescher. While the network continues to have its share of youth-oriented shows, from "One Tree Hill" to "Smallville," it is moving a long way from the "tween" fare - like "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Dawson's Creek" and "Felicity" - that put the 10-year-old network on the map in the late 90's.

And, as if to underline the point, WB recently dropped the vintage Warner Brothers cartoon character Michigan J. Frog as its mascot.

"A month from now, when many of our shows will have premiered, there's going to be a bit of a shift perceived by the viewer," said Garth Ancier, the network's chairman. "What you need to see is sprouts coming out of the ground."

The shift is part of an effort to revitalize the WB after a two-year slump in which the company failed to deliver a breakout hit. But it also comes amid mounting pressure on the network's corporate parent, Time Warner, and particularly Time Warner's 22.5 percent partner, the Tribune Company, which owns 19 WB affiliate stations. Those include the network's anchor markets in the Chicago, Los Angeles and New York metropolitan areas, where Tribune owns newspapers.

In the broadcast season that ended in May, the WB attracted an average of 3.4 million viewers in prime time, according to Nielsen Media Research - 300,000 fewer than the year before, and 1.4 million fewer than it attracted in 1998-99, its best season.

While the WB is a small piece of a big puzzle for its owners, a lot is riding on how Mr. Johnson and his colleagues fare this season. Time Warner and Tribune took the unusual step of renewing the WB's affiliate agreement with Tribune for only the current season, instead of the common multiyear deal. Both sides say that they are strongly committed to continuing the relationship, but were hung up on how to parse payments for new media outlets like video-on-demand and the Internet.

As a rule, independently owned TV stations whose prime-time programming is provided through their affiliations with national networks command higher advertising rates. Still, the WB, Barry Lucas, an analyst with Gabelli & Company, says, "has not necessarily been a great business model" for the Tribune stations lately. An affiliate of Gabelli owns shares in Tribune, and Mr. Lucas has a buy rating on the stock. Still, he says, "The softness at the WB is certainly somewhat disconcerting."

Time Warner has recently come under fire from activist investors for a stagnant stock price. And while the WB Network is a small part of the $40-billion-a-year giant, it stands out as one of its few money-losing operations. The company does not break out the network's results, but analysts estimate that it lost $650 million to $750 million in 2004 and will have a similar loss this year.

Time Warner executives say those losses are more than offset by the strategic value of the WB to the highly lucrative Warner Brothers television production business, which sells more programs to all six big networks than any other studio. The Warner Brothers studio will have 33 series on prime-time TV this fall, 10 of them on the WB Network.

Bruce Rosenblum, executive vice president of the Warner Brothers Television Group, said in an interview that programs on the network sell particularly well as DVD's and in syndication - "a more successful after-market than the ratings on the WB might otherwise suggest."

Steven Sternberg, executive vice president at Magna Global Media Research, said that if just one of the network's new dramatic shows gained traction, the WB "should be in good shape." But he questioned its growing reliance on Warner material.

"Coincidentally or not," Mr. Sternberg said, "the hits stopped flowing at roughly the same time that virtually all of its new shows started coming from its parent company."

For Tribune, the WB Network's recent drought has come at a challenging time. In the last year, it has had to deal with circulation scandals at its Newsday and Hoy newspapers in the New York area, sluggishness and job reductions at The Los Angeles Times and a soft television advertising market.

Last week, Newsday announced that it was greatly reducing its presence in New York City in favor of its core Long Island market, and was eliminating 45 editorial positions. The parent company, whose holdings include 26 TV stations, has also faced delays in the proposed loosening of cross-ownership regulations, without which, it says, it could eventually be forced to divest itself of assets in New York or Los Angeles. Patrick J. Mullen, the president of Tribune Broadcasting, said he was optimistic that the company would be allowed to continue to operate its "duopolies."

Although the WB Network's prime-time schedule represents only 17 percent of Tribune stations' revenue, Mr. Mullen said the affiliation gave those stations access to exclusive programming and a "halo effect" beyond their direct financial contribution. "The image of the brand is important," he said.

While Tribune's newspaper business is much larger in terms of revenue, television has recently accounted for a significant part of the company's operating income. In the second quarter, ended June 26, operating profit at the Tribune's television business fell by some 21 percent, to $122 million from $155.2 million, and revenue from the unit declined 9 percent to $334.5 million. At the company over all, operating income improved 6.1 percent in the quarter.

Mr. Mullen said that the lack of fresh hits on the WB Network had contributed to the Tribune stations' decline in results, but noted that ratings were down only slightly. He said other factors, like the advertising market generally and the introduction by Nielsen of local people meters to measure viewers, had also hurt the results. That said, he welcomed the shifts that have been under way at the WB in the last two years. "I think it's a very logical and appropriate move," Mr. Mullen said. "We are a network that is growing up."

The WB is not abandoning its youthful bent so much as trying to broadcast programs that parents might watch with their children. The thoroughly seasoned Mr. Johnson, for instance, is paired with the young actor Jay Baruchel, who recently appeared in "Million Dollar Baby."

Conceptually, the network's signature new show might be "Related," a show about four adult sisters who range from the late 20's to a college freshman. And the WB continues to have its share of spookfests in the Buffy tradition with series like "Charmed" and a new entrant this fall, "Supernatural."

Mr. Ancier, who became WB's chairman last year, hired the independent producer David Janollari as his president for entertainment, with a view toward widening the network's demographic appeal beyond the 12- to 24-year-old female skew it had become known for through the success of programs like "Felicity." Mr. Ancier, along with the WB's founding chairman, Jamie Kellner, had helped start the Fox Television Network for the News Corporation.

Mr. Ancier concluded that the WB Network would fare better by broadening its reach to 18- to 34-year-olds. The WB had begun doing so through shows like "Gilmore Girls" and "Seventh Heaven" as well as "One Tree Hill."

But this season, it is punctuating the move with "Related" and "Just Legal," the program starring Mr. Johnson, demonstrating Mr. Janollari's intention to bring to the network established producers like Mr. Bruckheimer and Marta Kauffman, who is producing "Related." The program featuring Ms. Griffith, "Twins," is being produced by the creators of the NBCs hit "Will and Grace."

Another major shift this fall is the network's decision to abandon the "WB Kids" block of cartoon programming on weekday afternoons in favor of syndicated programs like "E.R." (also a Warner production). Mr. Ancier and Mr. Mullen said the move made sense because young viewers increasingly watched cable fare like the Cartoon Network from Time Warner and Nickelodeon from Viacom. In addition, Federal Communications Commission regulations prohibit the promotion of that evening's adult fare during the critical block from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. that was given over to "WB Kids."

If young viewers want WB children's shows, they will still be able to see them on the network each Saturday. In the meantime, Michigan J. Frog, a singing amphibian, was presumably returned to the small box he first emerged from in a 1955 Warner Brothers cartoon.

Oops-- it is a mistake I make every so often, citidream. Brain cramp. sorry.

LOL I thought it was funny. I was praying you found someone that predicts the future so we could all get rich. On a more serious note I love what you do here! Great work and thanks for all you do. ;)

Thanks for the kind words, citidream.
I am glad to see you joined those who post in the thread.
Feel free to chime in any time.
The fun days -- the beginning of the new season -- are just ahead!

It seems the long weekend is also a time for long newspaper pieces. :)

What does fall hold for TV news?
A season of turmoil awaits the networks as they cope with covering the hurricane

By Matea Gold Los Angeles Times Staff Writer September 5, 2005

NEW YORK -- As television network news divisions went into overdrive last week to cover the unrelenting aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, scrambling to provide daily necessities to their crews on the ground and assemble special reports that lifted news ratings at all three networks, behind-the-scenes broadcasters were contending with another challenging reality: Their news operations face potentially drastic changes this fall, and no one is sure of the direction things will take.

It's a time of soul-searching and open questions about the future at all three networks — even top-ranked NBC, where News president Neal Shapiro, who began negotiating his departure last spring, is expected to step down from his post as early as this week, according to several network sources familiar with the situation.

Over at CBS, the news division was reeling after network chairman Les Moonves, who has called for a dramatic reinvention of the evening news, appeared to suggest in Sunday's New York Times Magazine that the struggling broadcast should look to entertainment programming for ideas about how to find and keep an audience.

Meanwhile, still-grieving ABC News officials are beginning to search for a replacement for anchor Peter Jennings, who died last month, and contemplating whether and how to make broader changes in their own broadcast.

The atmosphere of widespread change marks the most striking period of flux since the early 1980s, when Jennings, Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather all took over the anchor desks. But back then, the very format of the anchor-led evening news was not on the table. While the hurricane coverage has lifted viewership, it will likely prove hard to sustain that audience in the long run. The persistent defection of viewers still preoccupies network officials: A total of 25.6 million people have tuned in to the three networks' evening news programs on average this season, a 30% drop from 15 years ago, according to Nielsen Media Research.

"Each of the networks is in a period of transition," said CBS News president Andrew Heyward. "It is extraordinary."

Heyward, however, may face the thorniest problem.

Nearly a year after CBS weathered fierce criticism for broadcasting a controversial report about President George W. Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard, uncertainty persists about the direction of its flagship newscast. Once dominant, the "CBS Evening News" has lagged behind its competitors for more than a decade, a situation that frustrates Moonves, who has overseen the recent climb of CBS' entertainment programming.

The CBS chairman wants Heyward to develop a radically new approach to the broadcast. That prospect has been met with some consternation inside the news division, especially after Moonves in January seemed open to the idea of incorporating Comedy Central's "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart into the newscast.

The trepidation about Moonves' intentions turned into alarm late last week after excerpts of his interview in the New York Times Magazine began circulating as the exhausted staff worked to cover the hurricane devastation on the Gulf Coast. In one passage that elicited shocked disbelief, he cited the British newscast "The Big Breakfast," which featured women delivering the news in lingerie. "On the other hand, you could have two boring people behind a desk," he said. "Our newscast has to be somewhere in between."

He was also quoted expressing frustration about the news division's conservative approach to change, saying hyperbolically that he wants "to bomb the whole building" and expressing doubt about whether Heyward could "lead a revolution."

Heyward declined to comment on the article, saying it spoke for itself. He described his relationship with Moonves as "cordial and collaborative."

But the piece prompted interim anchor Bob Schieffer, who took over the broadcast temporarily when Rather retired in March, to defend the news division.

"I can't remember a time in all the 38 years I've worked at CBS News when I've been prouder to be a part of this organization," Schieffer said. "I see our people in Baghdad risking their lives every day and now what our reporters in New Orleans are going through. I'm just in awe of their courage and their dedication and their professionalism."

Late last week, Moonves said his remarks were made "tongue in cheek," adding that he is not seeking to transform the evening news into an entertainment program.

"It's about looking at it differently," he said. "I'm not looking to lighten it or make it entertainment."

"What I was saying was, it's an opportunity for change and I would like our people to try to do that and be more open to change.

Moonves called himself a "huge supporter" of the news division and said he is merely seeking to strengthen the evening broadcast.

"I respect the people at CBS News immensely and realize the phenomenal job they do," he said. "I just want to make sure it's around five years from now."

The CBS chairman said he had confidence in Heyward's ability to develop a new version of the broadcast and said he has been pleased with some of the prototypes the news president has presented in meetings over the last two months.

"Absolutely, some of the things are very interesting," he said.

Those familiar with some of the prototypes said they incorporate more of the storytelling approach of "60 Minutes" and expand the role of correspondents.

Heyward declined to provide other details or indicate when the revamped broadcast would be ready. One factor, he said, was the need to create a new approach to the program that will not alienate its core audience.

"One of Leslie's jobs as an executive, and one of the reasons he's successful, is that he's a successful agent provocateur," Heyward said. "He knows how to encourage people to think in new ways."

"Leslie has made no secret of wanting to at least see what a really radical alternative would look like and we are trying to rise to that challenge.

At ABC, news executives are wrestling with a different kind of challenge — the emotional and practical repercussions of Jennings' death. His presence is still felt keenly in the newsroom, where employees sport blue wristbands that read, "What would Peter do?"

In the midst of their mourning, ABC executives are trying to settle on an anchor for "World News Tonight." No successor had been chosen before he became ill, as Jennings had planned to be in the job for several more years. After his diagnosis, the network did not develop a plan for who would take over for him, hoping it would not be necessary.

His death set off an awkward round of low-key jockeying for the position as executives began meeting to discuss Jennings' replacement.

"TV people are quite aggressively ambitious, and there are probably 10 people here who really want that job and who feel like it should be theirs," said Paul Slavin, ABC News' senior vice president for worldwide news-gathering, who did not name those who have expressed their interest in the post. "But I have to say — with one or two exceptions — they were all very, very sensitive to not look like vultures."

For now, "Good Morning America" co-host Charlie Gibson and "20/20" co-anchor Elizabeth Vargas have split the evening anchoring duties, with weekend anchor Bob Woodruff and White House correspondent Terry Moran filling in at times.

That arrangement could suffice for another couple of months, Slavin said, while the network settles on a permanent solution. For now, he and Jon Banner, the newscast's executive producer, have been meeting twice a week to discuss who should take over and updating News president David Westin on their progress weekly. Ultimately, the decision will be made by Westin and Anne Sweeney, president of the Disney-ABC Television Group, along with Walt Disney Co. chief executive Robert Iger.

"We're not in a tremendous hurry," Slavin said. "We have such depth here that we can keep this regime going for some time while we figure out what the best thing to do is."

Still, he acknowledged that the wearying pace of the recent hurricane coverage underscored the need to find a permanent anchor. Gibson, in particular, is putting in extraordinarily long hours.

The affable morning host is thought to be one of the top candidates for the job. But tapping Gibson for the job could upend the dynamics of "Good Morning America," which made significant gains in closing the gap with top-rated "Today" this past spring. ABC hopes to surpass NBC's morning show this fall, when the launch of new episodes of popular ABC shows like "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives" are likely to drive more viewers to "Good Morning America."

At stake is tens of millions of dollars. The network's morning news programs are more profitable than the evening newscasts, and supplanting "Today" as the top-rated broadcast would mean "Good Morning America" could demand big advertising premiums.

And there are other factors to consider in taking Gibson off the program.

"The morning show is a family," Slavin said. "And anything you do to disrupt that family can have consequences. So it's complicated, sure. Any decision we make is going to have a far-reaching impact on the organization."

More broadly, he and Banner are discussing a ream of issues related to the broadcast, from the design of the set to the structure of the newscast, including the possibility of having more than one anchor.

"This is a perfect opportunity to assess, reassess, explore," Slavin said. "We may end up putting on the exact same program that we're putting on now, but we will certainly take this as an opportunity to look at a lot of different techniques or technologies or editorial ways of doing the evening news."

The likelihood that neither CBS nor ABC will settle on a permanent newscast soon could give NBC — whose "Nightly News" has been solidly in first place for nine years — an opportunity to pull away even further.

"We feel as though our consistency and the strength of our team is what comes through right now," said senior vice president Steve Capus.

But NBC has its own change in leadership to contend with.

After four years as news president, Shapiro has decided to leave, prompted by NBC Universal officials who have reportedly expressed dissatisfaction with his unassuming management style, according to several network sources. An NBC News spokeswoman declined to comment.

Shapiro, who earned a reputation as a talented producer at NBC's "Dateline," had trouble transitioning from the deliberative style of the newsmagazine to the high-profile demands of running the news division, according to editorial employees. Shy and retiring, the news president failed to cultivate strong bonds with the on-air talent.

Discontent with his leadership only worsened after "Good Morning America" crept perilously close to "Today."

While the network's own anchor transition — Tom Brokaw's handoff to Brian Williams in December — was widely lauded as a smoothly managed change, it is less certain how Shapiro's exit will affect the news division. Although his plan to leave was long in the making and something of an open secret at the network, there are no signs that NBC has settled on his replacement.

That could force the network to assign someone to run the division temporarily — thrusting NBC, the only network with a permanent anchor, into its own state of limbo.

John Madden Is More Than a Commentator. He's a Brand.

By RICHARD SANDOMIR The New York Times

For most of us, the summer solstice occurs in late June, but for John Madden, it begins the second he steps on training-camp grass. This is what his body clock is set for, what his biorhythms tell him is right. Early last month, that initial landing was at Soldier Field in Chicago, where the Bears were practicing.

"Perfect place to start," he said in the restaurant-style booth of his bus as it rode along Interstate 80 to Canton, Ohio, where he would be calling the Hall of Fame Game between the Bears and the Miami Dolphins for ABC. "I know this comes off sounding phony, but there's no better smell than that grass - and the smell of a baby's head. It's a great feeling that football's back. You're off for six months. Then my body senses something."

Madden, 69, has built an exquisitely perfect football life for himself. It is monkish in its devotion, sophisticated in its execution.

"Yeah, and none of it was planned," he said in the luxury bus, which has a television (usually tuned to the NFL Network), a telephone, a fax, a bed, a refrigerator and an assistant nicknamed Junk.

Twenty-seven years removed from coaching, Madden has a breadth of renown that has made him perhaps the most enduringly recognizable and well-liked personality in pro football. He lacks the power of Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, and at any given moment, certain players and coaches may be more popular than he is.

But today's stars will retire and fade, and Madden shows no signs of leaving despite his real estate holdings, vineyards and almond orchards. Asked why he bought the orchards, he will tell you about the steep climb in the price of almonds since he went into the nut business, to $3.75 a pound from 85 cents.

"We thought if we got to $1, it would be good," he said, a bag of his almonds propped on his desk.

Madden's multiple careers in the public eye started with coaching the Oakland Raiders for 10 seasons, which led to television commentary, which created the pathway to two decades of commercial endorsements (Ace Hardware, Tinactin and Outback Steakhouse), then to an unexpected incarnation that might be his biggest role yet: the name on the best-selling sports video game ever in North America.

"I'm the luckiest guy in the world," Madden said as he happily watched a Green Bay-Buffalo scrimmage on his satellite feed of the National Football League's channel while piles of papers, media guides and clippings awaited his study.

In Northern California, meanwhile, his son Mike is a real estate developer who oversees the family's holdings. His son Joe runs the production facility where he shoots those commercials. His wife, Virginia, who once owned a bar and flew a private plane, occasionally meets Madden in Manhattan, where they own an apartment at the Dakota.

Through the serendipity of his football realm, Madden's 36 Q score - a measure of his familiarity and appeal - is exceeded in the N.F.L. universe by only Joe Montana's 40 and Brett Favre's 38, and he leads Jerry Rice, who is rated at 35. Among fans ages 12 to 17, his score is twice the average of any other sportscaster.

"The amazing thing about Madden is that he's one of the few commentators who has transcended what he does," said Henry Schafer, the executive vice president of Marketing Evaluations, which produces the Q scores, who added that Madden's appeal means that "you don't have to be a sports fan to know John Madden."

It was not surprising that Fox hired Madden to establish its credibility when it started N.F.L. broadcasts in 1994, that ABC needed him in 2002 to re-establish itself after a botched experiment on "Monday Night Football" with Dennis Miller and that NBC craved his stature for its return to football next year.

"I hired him because he's the best analyst in the history of sports," said Dick Ebersol, the chairman of NBC Universal Sports. "He's able to cut through from people my age, who remembered him as a coach, all the way to 12-year-olds."

That appeal to young fans who never saw him coach is seen most directly with his Electronic Arts video game, which has sold 45 million copies in 16 editions, including 1.7 million in the first week of Madden NFL 06 sales in early August. It was nominated for an MTV Video Music Award for best video game soundtrack.

The average age of the Madden gamer is about 25, with more teenagers playing it than ever, said Jordan Edelstein, EA's director of marketing. The release date of each year's new game is like that of a new Harry Potter book, with thousands of stores opening at midnight to accommodate the demand.

By some estimates, half of all N.F.L. players are Madden devotees, playing at home, online, in locker rooms and in training-camp dormitories.

"When you think of John Madden, you don't think of real life, you think of the branded game," said Dwight Freeney, the Indianapolis Colts defensive end who has won two Madden Bowls, which are staged before each Super Bowl.

B. J. Askew, a reserve fullback for the Jets, said: "I think a lot of people growing up know him from the video game and a little from the broadcasts. But my dad was always watching highlights of him coaching; I think it was the Raiders."

The passion that gamers feel for Madden the game, not the man, was born 20 years ago when Trip Hawkins, who founded Electronic Arts, approached Madden with the idea of creating a product imbued with as much realism as possible.

Hawkins first went to Joe Kapp, then alighted on Madden, who gave him a Raiders playbook, invaluable to constructing plays in the game.

"He contributed a tremendous amount to my understanding of football," Hawkins said of Madden, "and how to approach making a game that would have really good plays and be very engaging."

To give the game verisimilitude took four years, not the one or two that Hawkins had hoped.

"Halfway through," Hawkins said, "John got frustrated, and I held up one of the payments because I wanted to wait until we were closer to revenues."

Sandy Montag, Madden's agent, said the delayed $100,000 payment offered an escape clause from the deal, but Madden gave Hawkins a six-month reprieve.

The game, and the company, took off, and Madden recalled Hawkins saying, "You stay with us, you can get as much stock as you want."

Madden said: "I just thought he'd give me the stock in a public offering, but he said I'd have to buy it. Now this is the biggest mistake I ever made: I wagged my finger at him and said, 'I've given you my time; I won't give you my money.' I was so proud of myself."

The realism built into the game, and the improvements made throughout the years, are rewarded with the devotion of gamers like Will Kinser, 23, of Glen Burnie, Md. Kinser is the co-creator of MaddenNation.com, which he says has 32,000 members, and is the co-host of a weekly Internet radio talk show on the game.

"It's become more than a game to us," said Kinser, who said he started playing at age 11. "A large community has built up around it."

Like Kinser, Chris Cambeiro, 16, of Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., plays the Madden game online far more than on a console.

"When you play at home, it gets boring, but online you're playing against different teams and different playbooks," he said.

Kinser's Web site has a mix of hip-hop songs about the Madden game, including one he wrote to celebrate the game's release date:

"And just to make it clear that I'm being serious here/I played three days straight with no change of underwear/I don't bother to eat, sleep or even talk to my friends/And if the game is really hot, I might chill out in my Depends."

Madden speaks regularly to EA personnel to keep them abreast of various N.F.L. developments and trends.

"He's tough," said Jeremy Strauser, the executive producer of the game. "If we don't have our stuff together, or if we don't have the scripts right, he lets us know about it. He has editing privileges."

At practice facilities and stadiums, players complain to him that his game gives them a lower speed rating than they deserve. Sometimes, he agrees.

"I told him no way that Tony Gonzalez was faster than me," said Dante Hall, the Kansas City receiver and punt returner, who recalled being awed by meeting "the guy who makes the best football game."

Madden's own complaint is that too many gamers routinely reject punting on fourth down.

"It needs something like 'Doink!' " he said, punching the palm of his right hand, "and the whole game goes haywire."

Hours after his arrival at a hotel outside Canton, Madden sat in a conference room - an unlighted cigar in his mouth, a baseball cap over his wavy hair and a coach's clicker in his right hand - to analyze Bears training-camp videotape on a TV monitor.

This, to Madden, is the essential video game, without flashy graphics, rap music or QB Vision Control, the most advanced new feature of Madden NFL 06.

Madden noticed a receiver who twice lined up at the bottom of the screen, then quickly proceeded to run out of bounds of his own volition.

"What's wrong with that guy at the bottom?" he asked.

"Run it again," Drew Esocoff, the "Monday Night" director, said.

They watched again. "You wouldn't do that in the first day you worked with me," Madden said, chuckling.

"How can you do that?" asked Fred Gaudelli, the producer, incredulous at the receiver's actions.

"I would have cut him," Madden said. "I can't believe there's a coach out there who would let him line up where he is."

Fredfa
Any idea why HBO's series seasons are only 12 or so shows?I really like Entourage
and its over all ready.
Thanks.

Any idea why HBO's series seasons are only 12 or so shows?Dunno for sure, but my guesses would be:

1) Quality -- the fewer episodes you have, the more time and attention you can give to each one. It's easier to make 12 really good episodes of a show than 22.

2) Scheduling -- since HBO usually likes to keep its original series airing in the same timeslots, having fewer episodes per season per show keeps a good rotation going, and that sort of rotation may have a positive impact on its number of subscribers.

jtb50:
Adam has it right.
Plus, when you are HBO, you need to get people to think you are providing something special.
It is easier to keep the buzz with a show that has got fewer episodes.
If "The Sopranos" was on a 22-episode schedule per year, for example, people would get bored much more quickly.

It is not a big surprise this holiday weekend, but just for the record, Sunday’s network prime-time ratings have been delayed.

When available they will be posted at the top of Latest News the first item in this thread.

Just asking: what is some other industry offered hundreds of millions of dollars directly to members of Congress to influence legislation?

NAB Dealing in Effort to Win DTV Carriage Requirement
Free Political Ads on the Table

By Doug Halonen TVWeek.com September 5, 2005

If lawmakers approve legislation requiring cable TV operators to carry all of the free TV signals that broadcasters multicast on their new digital TV channels, broadcasters might be willing to accept an obligation to provide free airtime to political candidates.

That potential swap was being floated last week by the National Association of Broadcasters.

"We've indicated everything is on the table," said Eddie Fritts, NAB president and CEO, during a briefing for reporters.

As part of a last-ditch effort to influence the debate over multicast carriage, NAB also announced that 91 broadcasters will gather Thursday in Washington to personally urge key lawmakers to support multicast carriage legislation.

In addition, a study released by the association last week said that while 85 percent of TV stations are hoping to create new local programming streams on their multicast channels, 80 percent of those stations are unlikely to do so without cable carriage assurances.

Another NAB-sponsored study released last week said that cable operators are unlikely to carry much broadcast multicast programming without being required to do so, because cable operators compete with broadcasters for local advertising dollars and cable companies have financial interests in cable networks that compete with broadcasters for viewers.

"Multicasting is about competition to cable, and that's why the cable gatekeepers are fighting multicasting so fiercely," Mr. Fritts said.

Brian Dietz, a spokesman for the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, said in a statement: "NAB's tired rhetoric doesn't disguise the fact that broadcasters are asking the government for another handout that the FCC has already twice rejected, would harm diversity in programming and would do nothing to speed the digital TV transition. Instead of asking for another free ride, broadcasters should follow cable's lead and present a viable plan for ending the digital transition."

The multicast issue is on the industry's front burner because lawmakers are expected to approve a major DTV transition bill that could determine the legislative fate of multicast carriage, along with such other major issues as the date for the digital transition, shortly after they return to Washington from their summer recess. Their return was originally scheduled for this week, but some returned late last week, a few days early, to address relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Also last week, Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, had yet to unveil DTV legislation in the Senate, and it was unclear whether his bill would include a multicast provision. Draft DTV legislation released in the House earlier this year did not include multicast carriage.

But at his briefing last week, Mr. Fritts said Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, have agreed to lead the charge for a multicast carriage requirement in the Senate.

In addition, Mr. Fritts said Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, has made clear that while he opposes a carriage requirement, broadcasters should feel free to lobby other representatives for a House amendment that would require multicast carriage.

"We're going after [the House votes]," Mr. Fritts said.

He also said he expects the cable industry to try to persuade the courts to kill any multicast must-carry rule.

But in the wake of a major NAB lobbying campaign over the past two months, Mr. Fritts predicted that multicast carriage will become law. "In my view, multicasting will be a way of life," he said.

Lobbying over multicast carriage and other issues related to the DTV conversion is expected to heat up dramatically this week because lawmakers have made clear that they want to approve bills on the issue by Sept. 16.

Just asking: what is some other industry offered hundreds of millions of dollars directly to members of Congress to influence legislation?

Your list would be shorter if you asked which industries HADN'T offered millions. Here are just two of the many. Alcohol, firearms and petrochemical. Oh wait! That is three. Sorry.

A slight difference: the NAB, at least as indicated in this story, is talking about giving members of Congress the equivalent of cash in exchange for their votes.
Not donations to their political campaigns.
Free advertising -- worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
If the industries you cited just offered each member of Congress several hundred thousand dollars, they would be charged with felonies.
Oh, and by the way, the broadcasters do have a license to use the "public" airwaves. In effect they lease the airwaves from all of us.
If you want to start a brewery, oil company, pharmaceutical firm, newspaper, magazine (and on and on), you just get the money and start it.
You want to put a TV station in, says Greensboro/High Point/Winston-Salem -- you can't unless the federal government says you can.
Were I on one of the Congressional Committees, I would allow up the three mandated multi-cast signals per station if the programming were primarily (that is 80% or more, including prime time) news, public service, and/or educational.
And I would place a limit of how many commercial minutes could be sold (well under 10 an hour).
But if the stations were truly locally owned and locally controlled, I'd allow up to six, three of which would be subject to the conditions I outlined.
Viacom, GE, NewsCorp and Disney do not need this handout. If they want carriage they can simply start a cable channel and through their muscle get lots of carriage.
It is the truly local operators who need the help.

This week’s HD College Football games

Thu. Sep. 08 Oklahoma State at Florida Atlantic 7 PM ET.ESPN2 HD

Fri. Sep. 09 Pittsburgh at Ohio 8 PM ET ESPN2 HD

Sat. Sep. 10 South Carolina at Georgia 5:30 PM ET ESPN HD

Sat. Sep. 10 Stanford at Navy 6:00 PM ET HDNet HD

Sat. Sep. 10 Texas at Ohio State 8 PM ET ABC HD

Note: The site of the ASU-LSU was switched Monday from Baton Rouge LA to Tempe AZ. The game was originally scheduled in HD on ESPN. It is now missing from the ESPN HD schedule, and Texas-Ohio State is being advertised as being in HD on the ABC website.


Sources: ESPN, HDNet and http://www.lsufootball.net/tvschedule.htm

WRT Entourage at least, HBO is hoping to run a longer season next time around, perhaps on the order of 20 eps.

WRT to The Sopranos, they still show it on promos for the channel, like it's run anytime in recent memory. Has anyone ever milked so much out of so little programming in the history of TV?

A slight difference: the NAB, at least as indicated in this story, is talking about giving members of Congress the equivalent of cash in exchange for their votes.
Not donations to their political campaigns.
Free advertising -- worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

As I am sure you are aware, federal law has required for many years ALL candidates (local, state and federal) to be given a lowering rate for advertising as an election gets closer (not required for any other type of media and the broadcasters DIDN'T ask for that). Also, those ads can't be bumped or moved to other time periods for higher ads. So in effect, the broadcasters ARE already giving it away. Congress will just be making official a practice that they have been doing for years under another guise. Status quo for the broadcasers.

I've been searching in vain for anything that says indeed this Sat.'s ABC CFB game between Texas and Ohio State is HD. The only thing I could find was the below from ESPN's website which seems to make it foolhardy for ABC to shoot their HD wad so soon with potentially so many great games down the road. Hopefully, fredfa or somebody can post the applicable ABC HD listing for this doubting Thomas.

ABC Sports will televise Miami at Florida State (Sept. 5 at 8 p.m. ET), two other regular-season games and all five bowl games in high definition.

Eureka! I found it!

For the indication of Texas-OSU in HD on ABC TV go down to the bottom right at this site:

http://abc.go.com/

NBC News Gets New Leader
Neal Shapiro Stepping Down; Steve Capus Expected as Replacement

By John Consoli Mediaweek.com September 06, 2005


NBC News president Neal Shapiro will step down from his post on Friday. It is expected that he will be replaced by Steve Capus, who earlier this summer was promoted to senior vp, NBC News, and who has since served as Shapiro's second in command. Capus was previously executive producer of NBC Nightly News and when he was promoted, continued as executive in charge of the Nightly News.

Reports have been rampant that Shapiro was facing the wrath of NBC Universal brass for the ratings declines at the NBC morning show Today.

In a memo to his staff, Shapiro said, "When we began our annual planning process this year, I began to think about my future at NBC. Specifically, I wondered if I would find the next few years as personally fulfilling as the first four I have spent as president of NBC News. I also found myself missing the opportunity for the kind of creativity I've had in previous jobs. Reflecting on all of this, I've concluded that it's time to move on to a new challenge."

Shapiro said he has been meeting with Jeff Zucker, president of NBC Universal Television, "and I am confident I leave behind an extremely capable and experienced team in the front office and on all our broadcasts."

Reflecting on his tenure, Shapiro said, "The Today show remains number one; Meet the Press continues to set the standard on Sunday; and Dateline is still the most innovative newsmagazine on television, with as many as four or five hours in a single week.

After years of flux, we've stablized and improved the programming at MSNBC. There is more work to be done, but we've taken positive steps just as we did at MSNBC.com. We've added depth and diversity to the best television newsgathering team ever assembled. I hope you all share the pride that I have about NBC News."

Monday’s network prime-time ratings have posted at the top of Latest News the first item in this thread.

Were I on one of the Congressional Committees, I would allow up the three mandated multi-cast signals per station if the programming were primarily (that is 80% or more, including prime time) news, public service, and/or educational.
And I would place a limit of how many commercial minutes could be sold (well under 10 an hour).
But if the stations were truly locally owned and locally controlled, I'd allow up to six, three of which would be subject to the conditions I outlined.

You know, broadcasters are quick to bring up the fact they provide a service to the community, and maybe it's only this way if you live in a smaller DMA (like I do), but I'm kind of underwhelmed.

For instance, take my local FOX affiliate, WFXL-DT (owned by Raycom Media), they broadcast 30 minutes of news, five days a week. That is the ONLY local programming that they have... PERIOD!! Their non-primetime hours are filled up with syndicated shows, and paid programming.

Now, I will give credit to my local NBC affiliate, WALB-DT (owned by Liberty Corp. which is going to merge with Raycom Media), as they have 5 hours and 30 minutes of local news each weekday, an hour on Saturday, an hour and 30 minutes of local church broadcasts on Sunday, as well as an hour of local news, a real estate program (or does the real estate companies pay for that?), and two shows dedicated to sports (one for UGA, although I suspect that is a statewide program, and one for Valdosta State University, which is local, though in a different DMA) and the occasional telethon and program dedicated to ASU, and at Christmas time they sometimes air some local event. They also have a program by a local hospital that runs occasionally in place of syndicated programming, but is paid for by the local hospital (to make them look better after criticism that landed them on PrimeTime Live).

Now, I could care less about the local programming since neither station ever reports anything about my county unless a councilman/mayor is indicted, and NEVER reports anything positive... I just care about the national programming, BUT I have to give credit to one station in my DMA... an independent (well, an an affiliate of CNN Newsource as they say on their website), who does air syndicated programming like Dharma And Greg, Becker, Malcom In The Middle, etc. and Atlanta Falcon football, but also airs a request music video show that showcases local kids/teens, a lot of local church programming, and will show parades, pageants and high school football games. This station is multiple counties away, so very little of their programming interests me, but certainly gives the feeling of a "local" TV station. Should stations (affiliates) do more programming like this (or air a network affiliation that isn't available locally) on a multicast channel, I would feel that multicast must-carry would be a great idea, but the problem is, I just have not seen ANY multi-casted channel that is worthy of must-carry.

~Alan<~~~~~~~~~~~Who is wondering how RayCom is going to be able to own two stations in the same market...

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,168600,00.html

Bob Denver of 'Gilligan' Fame Dies at 70

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

LOS ANGELES — Bob Denver, whose portrayal of goofy first mate Gilligan on the 1960s television show "Gilligan's Island," made him an iconic figure to generations of TV viewers, has died, his agent confirmed Tuesday. He was 70.

Denver died Friday at Wake Forest University Baptist Hospital in North Carolina of complications from treatment he was receiving for cancer, his agent, Mike Eisenstadt, told The Associated Press. Denver's death was first reported by "Entertainment Tonight."

Denver had also undergone quadruple heart bypass surgery earlier this year.

Denver's wife, Dreama, and his children Patrick, Megan, Emily and Colin were with him when he died.

"Bob is the finest human being I have ever known," Dreama Denver said in a statement released by Eisenstadt. "He was my everything and I will love him forever."

Denver's signature role was "Gilligan," the inept first mate of the tour boat the Minnow, whose bumbling got a group of tourists marooned on an uncharted desert island for three seasons in the 1960s and several movies for decades afterward.

But when he took the role in 1964 he was already known to TV audiences for another iconic character, that of Maynard G. Krebs, the bearded beatnik friend of Dwayne Hickman's Dobie in the "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis," which aired from 1959 to 1963.
When I was young, I loved Gilligan's Island. When I was older, I discovered Dobie Gillis and loved that, too.

Xesdeeni

I've been away from the computer all day, thanks Xesdeeni for the Bob Denver story.

I find it saddening, too. I never really got into Gilligan, but the Dobie Gillis Show was, in my then young eyes, hilarious. I saw it some years ago in syndication, and loved it all over again. Denver as Maynard G. Krebs was great.

Over the years I got a chance a few times to meet with Bob Denver, and he was a sweet, gentle, warm, down to earth man.

Godspeed.

NBC takes a populist approach this fall
Lineup reflects a shift toward the mainstream in hopes of a needed ranking rebound

By Scott Collins Los Angeles Times Staff Writer September 6, 2005

For most of the last 20 years, NBC had a lock on upscale TV viewers, thanks to such relatable yuppie favorites as "Seinfeld," "Friends" and "The West Wing."

So what's the bright new hope for reversing last year's double-digit ratings slide? "My Name Is Earl," a comedy about a scruffy working-class guy struggling to redeem a lifetime of boorish behavior.

"Earl," which has its debut Sept. 20, is part of a larger shift at NBC, where the overall lineup has an unmistakably populist feeling this fall. There's "Three Wishes," a feel-good reality show hosted by Christian pop singer Amy Grant, which executives hope will deliver ratings akin to ABC's hit "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition." Then there's "Surface," a pulpy adventure about explorers who encounter mysterious sea creatures.

And if all that's not enough to pack 'em into the big tent, NBC is bringing back football, a perennial crowd-pleaser. After years of dismissing big-league sports as a money-losing proposition, the network recently reversed course and announced a deal for NFL games on Sundays, starting next year.

Thanks to poor ratings and heightened competition from cable networks chasing niche audiences, NBC is making its boldest push for mainstream American viewers in years. Many TV veterans say that catering to the luxury-loving crowd is a luxury NBC can no longer afford. The network needs to boost its audience any way it can, whether it draws on Neiman Marcus habitues or the Wal-Mart masses.

"When you're at the bottom, the only way to get back on track is to do things that have mass appeal," said Bill Lawrence, executive producer of "Scrubs," the critically lauded sitcom that NBC will bring back for a fifth year sometime in midseason.

"If you look at the characters that were predominantly on their schedule, with 'The West Wing,' 'Frasier' and 'Seinfeld,' they were detached, elitist and urban," said Bill Carroll, vice president at Katz Media, which advises local stations. Now "every network is trying to reach as broad an audience as possible."

That helps explain why the network that once rode to high ratings with an effete call-in shrink named Frasier Crane now has its fall hopes bound up in a show about a bedraggled, underemployed guy named Earl, played by Jason Lee.

Writer-producer Greg Garcia, who said he got the idea for "Earl" during a visit with relatives in North Carolina, thinks it's a fallacy to assume that people only want to see entertainment that reflects their reality.

"Upscale audiences don't necessarily need to sit and watch themselves on TV," Garcia said.

NBC says that the pilot tested well among upscale viewers who participated in focus groups and that just because the hero is broke doesn't mean higher-income people won't watch.

Overall, NBC executives say they've hardly abandoned upscale viewers, although they acknowledge their desire to improve the network's overall ratings.

"It may appear that we're trying to go in a different direction," but that's only because programmers are trying to find shows that are "relatable" for the audience, said John Miller, chief marketing officer of NBC Universal Television Group. "Whether we're executing on that, I think time will tell."

NBC is hardly the only network tinkering with its identity. The WB Network, which has chased teens for years, is now hoping to snag more grown-ups. And after years of edgy comedies and cheesy reality shows, Fox has taken on a more family-friendly image thanks to "American Idol."

The network with the most consistent programming strategy, Carroll said, is probably CBS, which has emphasized mass appeal fare for years. Its reward? The network has maintained its No. 1 position among total viewers while also competing more effectively for young adults, thanks in part to reality hits such as "Survivor" and "The Amazing Race."

NBC's shift is especially notable given that the network has commanded the allegiance of yuppie viewers for so long — and used that advantage to extract some of the highest ad prices in prime time. Thirty-second ads on the last episode of "Friends" in May 2004, for example, fetched a reported $2 million — roughly the same price as an ad on the Super Bowl, TV's most-watched annual event.

The network began targeting well-heeled professionals in the early 1980s, Miller said, when then-entertainment chief Brandon Tartikoff instructed his programmers: "First be best, then be first."

At the time, NBC was mired in a seemingly irreversible ratings funk. But backed by network chairman and chief executive Grant Tinker, Tartikoff nurtured creatively sophisticated, sometimes risky series, most notably the groundbreaking cop drama "Hill Street Blues." Critics hailed the show, and audiences — especially affluent viewers in big markets — eventually caught on as well. (Still, this is broadcast TV, after all, and even then, not every NBC hit was for urban sophisticates; another Tartikoff offering was "The A-Team," an action romp with Mr. T that seemed aimed mostly at 13-year-old boys.)

By the mid-1990s, NBC was firmly ensconced as the network of "quality" shows and was using the slogan "must-see TV" to market its Thursday night lineup, which dominated the most prized demographic — adults ages 18 to 49 — for the next decade.

"The dynasty ran for 20-some-odd years," said Robert J. Thompson, professor and director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University. "NBC had a brand identity that very few networks have enjoyed."

But NBC faces many challenges in recapturing its momentum. Hits such as "Friends" and "Frasier" have been off the air for more than a year, and dramas such as "ER" and "Law & Order" are aging. Attempts to find new hits — including critically acclaimed dramas such as "Boomtown" and comedies such as the "Friends" spinoff "Joey" — have foundered.

Perhaps most important, many well-educated, high-income viewers have already fled broadcast networks for cable series such as "The Sopranos." Nowadays, a broadcaster who aims to be "best" may not necessarily end up first.

"When NBC was going highbrow in the early 1980s, they had no place to go but up," Thompson said. "Now it's harder to get the [viewers who] can make a show like 'West Wing' work, because they'd rather go to HBO."

For those urban professionals who haven't defected to premium cable, though, NBC is covered. It still has plenty of shows aimed at the affluent and those who aspire to be.

It's a safe bet that many upscale viewers will at least check out "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart," an extension of Donald Trump's business-oriented contest, and "E-Ring," a thriller set inside the Pentagon. The original "Apprentice," along with "The West Wing," are among the network TV series with the largest concentrations of high-income viewers.

Of course, if NBC's new shows fail, the push to the mainstream might end up short-lived. But analysts and executives agree that in the 100-channel universe, it's become more important than ever for viewers to know what a network stands for.

"To a large degree," NBC's Miller said, "a network is defined by its shows."

CRITIC’S NOTEBOOK
The Return of the Shrew, and Other TV Woes

By MARGO JEFFERSON The New York Times September 6, 2005

Autumn is almost upon us, and we face the feverish yet dreary spectacle of ever more reality shows and talk shows. Television's marketplace is busy peddling some of the hoariest of myths and types.

My breaking point may have come this summer watching Nancy Grace of CNN hector and flirt with her guests, while constantly dropping her legal credentials ("I know when I was a prosecutor...") as a social-climber drops names. Or maybe it was the realization that there will always be another lurid celebrity couple to savor, obsess on or recoil from. Jessica and Nick (corn pone cunning); Britney and Kevin (teenage tawdry); Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston (over-the-hill New Jack Swing).

Martha Stewart is back in all her Janus-faced glory. One show, the syndicated "Martha," will offer viewers the familiar household-goddess self. It will focus, in the words of one recent article, "on fun and getting more out of life." But "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart" on NBC will offer a tantalizing view of the woman whose business dealings won her an empire and a prison sentence. Here, she will rival Donald Trump as the tough god of business, judging 16 hardworking contestants for 13 weeks and rewarding one with a job in her company. (Note that the lifestyle show aims for first-name feminine intimacy, while "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart" reads like a corporate desk sign.)

Nancy Grace belongs to a group of women who play host or make guest appearances on talk shows and write articles and books. Along with commentators like Ann Coulter and Laura Schlessinger, she has brought one of our oldest female caricatures, the Shrew, back to the culture. The Shrew used to be a staple of mass entertainment. She was the pushy wife who drove her husband out of the home or behind his newspaper. She was the spinster who hectored neighbors and schoolchildren. She was plain and sexually deprived.

No more. These women specialize in perfect marriages, idealized lovers and good sex. They turn facts into attacks. When they argue, their voices rise to the "shrill" notes once ascribed only to feminists. Maybe there's a certain irony in what might be called the power of a woman's influence, though. Now, commentators like Bill O'Reilly and Tucker Carlson are adapting shrewishness and hysteria to a manly style.

As for the celebrity couple shows, what galls so is the absolute conventionality beneath the up-close-and-personal stuff - the details about sex and body functions, the spats over children, the sprawling interior monologues. Somehow, whatever they say or do, we're supposed to be reassured, comforted by the fact that they're a couple, trying to make A Relationship Work. Imagine what kind of analysis would be turned onto single people who let the cameras into their lives and acted out like that. Single people do best on reality television when they live in communities, as on "Big Brother," play "fool for a day" as bachelors or bachelorettes and let their homes and lives be put in order on "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" or "Girl."

Finally, there are all the physical-and-mental-ordeal shows. The primitive rites of "Fear Factor" and "Survivor." The cruel yet ultimately civilizing plastic surgery rituals of "Extreme Makeover" and "Dr. 90210." The surgeons are missionaries. They counsel the needy patients, soothe their fears, tell them they will reveal the beauty that is already inside them. The patients are supplicants on a pilgrimage. The miracle is a new and happy self.

On "The Biggest Loser," two teams of overweight people compete to master weight loss and nutrition plans under the guidance of dueling "celebrity trainers." (One is harsh and stern; one is tender and consoling.) The show's Web site at www.nbc.com tries to soften the brutality factor by announcing: "This season the focus is not just on weight loss, but on adopting a healthy lifestyle!"

But clearly the fittest will be the most deserving; they will survive the weekly contests. Poor Darwin is in enough trouble without being parodied in this way. And to keep that Calvinist spirit safe in the marketplace, the deserving winners will take new money home along with their new selves.

More Stars Join “Shelter”

By Jim Benson Broadcasting & Cable

Sheryl Crow, Dixie Chicks, Alicia Keys, Randy Newman, Paul Simon, Rod Stewart and Neil Young have joined Shelter from the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast, the live one-hour special/fundraiser airing 8 p.m. Friday on the six major broadcast networks.

Among the initial celebrities slated to make appearances are Jennifer Aniston, Cameron Diaz, Ellen DeGeneres, Jack Nicholson, Chris Rock, Ray Romano and Sela Ward.

Benefiting those affected by Hurricane Katrina, the simulcast will also be carried on other programming services, both domestically and internationally.

In addition to “road blocked” coverage on ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, The WB and UPN, the special will be carried live on ABC Family, Black Family Channel, Bravo, E!, Fox Reality, i (formerly Pax), FSN Ohio, FSN South, FSN West, FX, G4 Media, Ovation, Oxygen, PBS, SOAPnet, TBS, Tennis Channel, Trio, TV Guide Channel, TV One, USA Network and WGN.

It will also be distributed to at least 95 countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and virtually all of Asia and the Middle East.

The networks will carry the program from the Sony Pictures studio lot in Los Angeles and Sony Studios in New York City live to the Eastern and Central time zones, tape-delayed in the Mountain and Pacific time zones.

Joel Gallen, who produced the unprecedented “America: A Tribute to Heroes” telethon in September 2001, will executive produce the special.

Cablers fire salvo at NAB
Continuing to fight carriage rule

By WILLIAM TRIPLETT Variety.com

WASHINGTON -- Cablers launched a counteroffensive against the National Assn. of Broadcasters' push to secure a congressional mandate for digital multicast must-carry.

In a letter sent to lawmakers on Tuesday, National Cable and Telecommunications Assn. prexy-chief Kyle McSlarrow claimed such a mandate would be unconstitutional.

"Broadcasters are demanding that the government require every cable operator to carry, without compensation, multiple streams of digital programming that any broadcaster may choose to provide," McSlarrow wrote. "The broadcasters have no public policy rationale for their position, and their position violates the Constitution."

"The enclosed (legal) analysis ... concludes that a multicast must-carry requirement would violate the First and Fifth Amendments," McSlarrow continued.

The analysis, prepared by former assistant attorney general Charles Cooper and others at the law firm of Cooper & Kirk, cited a 1997 Supreme Court decision that held the federal government had a "legitimate interest" in preserving the availability of over-the-air broadcasting via cable and therefore decreed that cablers must carry one analog channel of local broadcasters in a market.

Digital compression technology will allow broadcasters to transmit as many as six channels in the same amount of bandwidth for one analog channel. Broadcasters want cablers to carry all digital channels; cablers are resisting, and so far, the Federal Communications Commission has refused to support broadcasters in the increasingly heated dispute.

"Government mandated multicasting requirements would constitute a taking of cable operators' property, which, in the absence of just compensation, would be prohibited by the Fifth Amendment," McSlarrow argued.

NAB spokesman Dennis Wharton fired back: "NCTA's monopolistic plea for less competition and reduced program choice for consumers rings hollow. ... We're optimistic that Congress will reject the call of the monopolist and embrace more choice for local television viewers."

A decent second act for 'Prison Break'
Down 15 percent from last week's strong debut

Medialifemagazine.com---Fox's critically praised new drama "Prison Break" didn't equal last week's strong premiere, but all things considered it held up pretty well.

The show averaged a 3.9 adults 18-49 rating last night, according to Nielsen overnights, down 15 percent from last week's 4.6 for its two-hour debut.

Some dropoff was to be expected, however, over the holiday weekend. Many people travel on Labor Day, and some may not have expected a new episode on a traditionally quiet day for television.

Also, ABC aired an exciting college football game between Miami and Florida State opposite "Prison" last night, much stronger competition than the show saw last week.

Best of all for Fox, “Prison” is improving on the most recent numbers for its 9 p.m. timeslot. The show’s two-week 4.3 average is up 5 percent over Fox’s 4.1 Monday night average during the 2004-’05 season and up 65 percent over the network’s summer average of 2.6.

“Prison” averaged 8.47 million total viewers last night, a 19.0 percent drop 10.46 million last week.

(for keenan)
Little League World Series Ratings

Sunday Championship 2.9 rating, 4,334,000 persons 2+
Saturday (US Championship) 2.2 rating, 3,102,000 persons 2+

By comparison:
Fox Baseball Saturday (regional games) 2.1 rating, 2,280,000 persons 2+

OBITUARY
Bob Denver, 70; Brought Goofy Comedy to Role as TV's Gilligan

By Adam Bernstein Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, September 7, 2005; B06

Bob Denver, 70, the goofball television comedian who played beatnik Maynard G. "stands for Walter" Krebs on "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis" and was first mate Gilligan on "Gilligan's Island," died Sept. 2 at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in North Carolina. He had complications from treatment he was receiving for cancer.

Mr. Denver's stint as the clueless Krebs from 1959 to 1963 and the hapless castaway on a deserted island from 1964 to 1967 brought him far greater notice in reruns than during the shows' initial lifespans.

The "Gilligan" characters were supposed to be from a cross section of society, all marooned on a South Pacific island.

Mr. Denver once said he was so busy shooting the series initially that he never saw the reviews, "which was lucky, because they were atrocious. But, if I were a reviewer and saw the show, I'd probably attack it, too, and call it silly and inane -- which it was meant to be."

As one of the most popular programs ever in reruns, "Gilligan's Island" was elevated to iconic status, inspiring existential dissertations. Mr. Denver later drubbed co-star Tina Louise, who played a sexpot actress on the show, for turning down one of the "Gilligan" reunion specials for potentially harming her career as a dramatic star.

"I don't know how she can think one two-hour movie can tarnish her image, when 'Gilligan' is showing five times a day everywhere in the country," he told People magazine.

For better or worse, those early sitcoms overshadowed anything else Mr. Denver ever did, which included years on the dinner-theater circuit and taking over on Broadway for Woody Allen in the comedy "Play It Again, Sam" in 1970. Reviewer Clive Barnes wrote in the New York Times that Mr. Denver "has a genuine clown-like wistfulness that Mr. Allen sometimes perspires to with only small success."

He was, above all, a physical comedian who spoke of his great enjoyment working with Alan Hale Jr., who played the burly skipper on "Gilligan's Island."

"I couldn't hurt him," Mr. Denver once told the Los Angeles Times. "I could climb on him, bounce on him, roll all over him and he would go, 'Are you done?' He would never hurt me. He was just too big and strong. You can't rehearse a lot of physical things we did, but you can't do it by the numbers. Whatever happens, you've got to trust each other."

Robert Denver was born in New Rochelle, N.Y., on Jan. 9, 1935. As a pre-law student at what is now Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, he was recruited somewhat unwillingly as house manager for the university theater. He then was asked to audition for the part of a nervous seaman in "The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial."

He acted in a handful of other roles, including Falstaff in Shakespeare's "Henry IV," and, after graduating from college with a political science degree, supported himself as a teacher and postal clerk for several years.

In 1959, he auditioned successfully for the part of Krebs, the goateed, bongo-playing dropout who winced at the thought of work. He was in the supporting cast on the CBS sitcom, one of the many friends of Dobie Gillis, played by Dwayne Hickman.

Mr. Denver went on to other television series, including "The Good Guys" (1968-1970), playing taxi driver Rufus Butterworth, and "Dusty's Trail" (1973), a comedy Western reminiscent of "Gilligan's Island" with its varied characters. He wrote a book, "Gilligan, Maynard & Me" (1993).

After many years living in Las Vegas, a city he said he found "really ridiculous," he moved to Princeton, W.Va., in the 1990s with his most recent wife, Dreama Denver. They co-hosted an oldies radio show.

Earlier marriages to Maggie Ryan Denver and Jean Webber Denver ended in divorce. People magazine once reported an additional marriage to a woman whose name he refused to divulge.

He is survived by his wife and four children.

(for keenan)
Little League World Series Ratings

Sunday Championship 2.9 rating, 4,334,000 persons 2+
Saturday (US Championship) 2.2 rating, 3,102,000 persons 2+

By comparison:
Fox Baseball Saturday (regional games) 2.1 rating, 2,280,000 persons 2+
Better than FOX and in HD to boot...thanks fred.. :D

From Phillip Swann:

DIRECTV to Offer Free HDTV Upgrade
The switch will likely require a programming commitment
By Phillip Swann

Washington D.C. (September 6, 2005) -- DIRECTV revealed tonight that it will offer a free system upgrade for High-Definition TV owners so they can get local high-def channels later this year.

DIRECTV is expected to begin offering local HD in 12 markets by year's end. However, the channels will only be available on new DIRECTV MPEG-4 receivers and dishes, which have yet to go on sale.

Until now, it was uncertain if current HDTV owners would have to pay up to $300 to buy a new receiver to get the local high-def signals.

However, Robert Mercer, a DIRECTV spokesman, told TVPredictions.com Tuesday night that current HDTV owners would be offered a free upgrade. An estimated 600,000 DIRECTV subscribers have high-def sets.

Mercer said the satcaster did not have further details, such as when the upgrade would be available or if current owners would be required to make a one or two year commitment to a DIRECTV programming package. However, Mercer said the upgrade would first be offered to HDTV owners in the 12 markets where local HD will be launched later this year.

In the past, DIRECTV has made the programming commitment a requirement for system upgrades.

DIRECTV is launching four new satellites over the next two years that will enable it to provide local channels in high-def for the first time. Local HD is expected to be launched in one test city in October with the remaining 11 cities to roll out by year's end.

The 12 markets are: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, Dallas, Washington DC, Atlanta, Detroit, Houston, and Tampa Bay.

By 2007, the satcaster expects to have capacity for local HDTV in all major markets -- and up to 150 national HDTV channels. The new HD services are expected to give DIRECTV a major competitive advantage in its battle against the cable TV industry and chief satellite rival, EchoStar's Dish Network

The New York Times Obituary
Bob Denver Is Dead at 70; Star of 'Gilligan's Island'

By DOUGLAS MARTIN The New York Times September 7, 2005

Bob Denver, whose television roles as Gilligan, the wacky first mate in "Gilligan's Island," and Maynard G. Krebs, the beatnik with a bongo in "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis," were first hits, then cult classics, died on Friday in Winston-Salem, N.C. He was 70.

Mike Eisenstadt, Mr. Denver's agent, announced the death, The Associated Press reported. Mr. Denver was being treated for cancer at Wake Forest University Baptist Hospital. He had undergone quadruple bypass surgery earlier this year.

Mr. Denver's most famous role, shown in continuous reruns since the show's first run ended in 1967, was as Gilligan, first mate of the S.S. Minnow, which is shipwrecked on an uncharted tropical island after a typhoon. Regular whacks on the head by the hat of the skipper, Jonas Grumby, played by Alan Hale Jr., were typical of the indignities that Gilligan endured as part of the show's exuberant physical comedy.

The castaways included a millionaire couple, Thurston Howell III, played by Jim Backus, and Lovey Howell, played by Natalie Schafer. There was a curvaceous starlet, Ginger Grant, played by Tina Louise; a sexy farm girl, Mary Ann Summers, played by Dawn Wells, and a science professor, Roy Hinkley, played by Russell Johnson.

The Denver and Hale interaction was modeled on that of Laurel and Hardy, with Mr. Hale focusing exasperated reactions directly into the camera, just as Oliver Hardy had done. Gilligan's first name, almost never uttered on the show, was Willy.

"Gilligan's Island" began in 1964 and immediately became a commercial hit for CBS on Saturday night. It was rewarded by being moved to Thursday for its second season, and again handily won the biggest audience in its time period. For the third season, it went to Mondays and was again successful.

The cast and crew assumed there would be another season, but CBS canceled the series in order to lengthen "Gunsmoke" from a half-hour to a full hour.

The show never aspired to be more than light mass entertainment, according to Tom Shales in The Washington Post in 2004. He said Sherwood Schwartz, the executive producer of the show, named the S.S. Minnow after Newton N. Minow, the Federal Communications Commission chairman who in 1961 called the prime-time television schedule "a vast wasteland."

But the 98 episodes of the show over its three seasons have thrived in reruns, and spawned two animated series, with Mr. Denver's voice in a starring role, as well as a science-fiction version, also with Mr. Denver. He even played Gilligan in an episode of "Baywatch," and starred in three made-for-TV movies based on "Gilligan's Island."

In "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis," which ran from 1959 to 1963, Mr. Denver was the goofy friend of Dobie Gillis, a supposedly typical American teenager played by Dwayne Hickman. Others in the cast included the future stars Tuesday Weld and Warren Beatty.

Maynard's laid-back attitude was repeatedly expressed in his wild exclamation "Work!?" whenever anyone uttered the word within hearing distance. His offbeat humor was typified by his explanation of his middle initial: "The G stands for Walter."

In 1970 Mr. Denver made a well-received transition to the stage by replacing Woody Allen in Mr. Allen's Broadway play "Play It Again, Sam." Clive Barnes of The New York Times wrote that Mr. Denver had "a genuine clownlike wistfulness."

Mr. Denver was born on Jan. 9, 1935, in New Rochelle, N.Y., and graduated from high school in Brownwood, Tex. The family moved to California, where Mr. Denver graduated from Loyola University, one of the predecessors to today's Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles; Mr. Hickman was also a student there. He acted with the Del Ray Players in Los Angeles and made his first theatrical appearance in "The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial." He was given a screen test for the part of Maynard G. Krebs, and to his surprise, won the part.

Among the other television shows in which he appeared were "The Good Guys" (1968-70) and "Dusty's Trail" (1973), a virtual copy of "Gilligan's Island," set on a lost wagon train. He also starred in a children's program, "Far Out Space Nuts" (1975), which was essentially Gilligan in space.

He lived in Princeton, W.Va., where he was co-host of a syndicated radio show with his wife, Dreama Perry Denver. He also did occasional television shows and attended many fan fests dressed as Gilligan.

Mr. Denver was married twice before, In addition to his wife, he is survived by two sons, Patrick and Colin; two daughters, Megan and Emily; and a granddaughter.

Major cast changes enhance new seasons

By Rick Bentley The Fresno Bee September 6, 2005

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Returning network television programs allow viewers to get caught up with old television friends. The shows traditionally launch their new seasons in September.

This year, there will be a lot of new faces mixed in with those familiar stars of returning TV shows. At least 19 of the 54 returning scripted, live-action network series are making some type of major cast changes for the upcoming season.

The returning ABC courtroom series "Boston Legal" is going through one of the biggest cast changes of any returning TV show this fall. Gone from last year's cast are Monica Potter, Rhona Mitra and Lake Bell. Julie Bowen ("Ed") has been added, and Candice Bergen takes on a full-time role.

Series creator David E. Kelley says cast changes are necessary because the process of selecting talent is an inexact process.

"You're looking for characters to tell particular stories, and then on top of that, you're looking for a populace that you can achieve an interaction with," Kelley says. "We discovered that the series really wants to be a comedy more than a drama. So we are looking for characters and actors with strong comedic skills as well as dramatic skills."

Despite being dumped from "Boston Legal," Bell has landed on her feet -- or at least in deep water. She stars in the new NBC drama "Surface."

The addition of Bowen to "Boston Legal" does mean that she won't return to the ABC series "Jake in Progress," and a replacement will be needed.

Numerous returning television shows are turning to both film and television actors to fill out casts. The NBC series "Las Vegas" is adding film actress Rachael Leigh Cook and Lara Flynn Boyle, best known for her work on the small screen.

Except for small roles on "Dawson's Creek" and "The Outer Limits," Cook's work has been in feature films. She has been in the features "Josie & the Pussycats," "Texas Rangers," "Get Carter" and "The Big Empty."

Cook's character on "Las Vegas" will be a potential love interest for the show's hunk-in-residence, Josh Duhamel.

Boyle, most recently of the ABC series "The Practice," joins the cast as the new owner of the show's Montecito Resort & Casino.

Cast changes for returning shows are nothing new for producer Dick Wolf. His numerous "Law & Order" series repeatedly have gone through the loss and addition of actors.

Noth reprises role

This year, the biggest changes come to "Law & Order: Criminal Intent." Chris Noth reprises his "Law & Order" role as detective Mike Logan for the show. His new partner is played by Annabella Sciorra.

The Fox series "24" has gone through major cast changes each new season. The fifth year, scheduled to debut in January, is no different. So far, each season has covered a single major threat to the United States played out over 24 hours. Kiefer Sutherland remains the constant person surrounded each year by new cast members.

Joining the cast of "24" this year are Sean Astin ("The Lord of the Rings"), Jean Smart ("Garden State"), Connie Britton ("Friday Night Lights") and Brady Corbet ("Thirteen").

Executives at The WB explain that the changes on "Charmed" are moves to attract a new audience to the series as it faces its eighth season. Kaley Cuoco ("8 Simple Rules") is set to play a young witch under the tutelage of Phoebe (Alyssa Milano), Piper (Holly Marie Combs) and Paige (Rose McGowan). Jason Lewis will play a new love interest for Phoebe.

New NCIS director

In the case of a series such as "NCIS," casting changes are necessary to replace a departed cast member. Sasha Alexander asked to leave the show last year. Her character, Agent Caitlin Todd, was killed.

Lauren Holly has been added to the cast. She will play the role of new NCIS director Jenny Shepard. She has a romantic history with Gibbs (Mark Harmon). Cote de Pablo has been cast as Israeli Mossad officer Ziva David.

Here are some of this year's other network series cast changes:

"Alias" (ABC): There's a new agent in town, and he will be played by Balthazar Getty. The actor, who starred in "Ladder 49," will play Thomas Grace, a man with a long history of deep-cover experience.

"Desperate Housewives" (ABC): Alfre Woodard gets a permanent home on the ABC drama, playing a new neighbor.

"ER" (NBC): Kristen Johnston, star of "3rd Rock From the Sun," will portray a nurse manager on the medical drama. Sherry Stringfield will not be back.

"House" (Fox): Sela Ward, whose character was introduced in a two-episode arc last year, joins the cast of the medical drama.

"Joey" (NBC): Miguel A. Nunez Jr. ("Juwanna Mann") has joined the cast as Joey's (Matt LeBlanc) buddy and fellow actor.

"The O.C." (Fox): Former "Star Trek: Voyager" star Jeri Ryan joins the cast to play a recovering alcoholic who becomes friends with Kirsten (Kelly Rowan). Eric Mabius plays the new Harbor School dean.

"One on One" (UPN): Jonathan Chase ("Medium"), Camille Mana ("The O.C."), Ray J ("Moesha"), Nicole Paggi ("Hope & Faith") and Kel Mitchell ("Kenan & Kel") are being added.

"One Tree Hill" (The WB): Mekia Cox ("Kenan and Kel") takes on the role of a young girl dealing with a mother who never lives in one place too long.

"Veronica Mars" (UPN): Charisma Carpenter ("Angel") joins the series to play a trophy wife.

"The West Wing" (NBC): Janeane Garofalo ("The Truth About Cats & Dogs") joins the cast to play a media strategist hired by U.S. Rep. Matt Santos (Jimmy Smits).

CRITIC’S NOTEBOOK
Summer sizzled thanks to Sedgwick

By Matthew Gilbert Boston Globe

''The Closer" has been the cable hit of the summer. Since June, it has consistently topped the cable Nielsen ratings, at times drawing more viewers than its network competition. And since ''The Closer" completely and utterly belongs to Kyra Sedgwick and her tour de force performance, that means Kyra Sedgwick has been the cable hit of the summer. And that is a really good thing.

Along with Diane Farr in FX's ''Rescue Me" and Lisa Kudrow in HBO's ''The Comeback," Sedgwick has triumphed where networks have failed this summer. She deserves all the eyes she's grabbing. While she -- and TNT, where the series wraps on Monday at 9 p.m. -- has created a winning spectacle of a character, the networks have created only generic reality contests. As Deputy Chief Brenda Johnson, Sedgwick makes each episode of ''The Closer" into engaging cable theater, flaunting her Southern politesse and using a pair of fashion glasses as a shameless prop.

The ironic thing about Brenda is that her brutal honesty and her drive aren't sugarcoated. Oh, yes, she pretends to be all flustered, and she overdoes her favorite mantra -- ''Why thank you, thank you very much" -- to appear at least moderately gracious. But her mannerisms are an obvious put-on, as everyone on her crew knows too well. She only has eyes for the prize: the perp. In the season finale, Detective Lieutenant Provenza (G.W. Bailey) does a scathing -- and brilliant -- impression of Brenda for the gang, in which he emphasizes the ferocity behind her fluttery demeanor. In mellow Los Angeles, Brenda's unapologetic skepticism is a foreign language, which is why she'll ultimately face anonymous ''conduct unbecoming" charges.

Each week, ''The Closer" serves up the requisite crime cases to Brenda's Priority Murder Squad, and most of them are too predictable, or so unpredictable as to be absurd. But Sedgwick buries that weakness in the show, just as Hugh Laurie flashily overcomes the formula of ''House." She so clearly enjoys playing Brenda, bringing campy, ''Mrs. Doubtfire"-like strains to her accent and an almost romantic affect to her passion for junk food. It's an openly comic performance, as she flirts with self-parody. And yet she always maintains enough gravitas to make Brenda believable as an ace interrogator and a boss.

And being the boss to a squad mostly composed of men has been an important subplot on ''The Closer." She's not a second banana, like so many of the women on the ''Law & Order" series, a fact that ruffles the egos of her male subordinates. Early in the season, she let the guys know she wasn't going to have her spirit broken by them: ''If I liked being called a bitch to my face," she snarls at one of them, ''I'd still be married." And she has prevailed.

Farr's Laura on ''Rescue Me" is in a similar position as Brenda, as the only female firefighter at a Manhattan firehouse. She's not the boss, but she's surrounded by oppressive men with primitive ideas on the opposite sex, including Denis Leary's Tommy Galvin. Farr has made Laura into a scrappy woman who could probably take one or two of the men in a fight, and a girlfriend whose fury can reach operatic proportions. When a male firefighter calls her a derogatory term for a woman, she registers a formal complaint, but then never succumbs to the intimidation dished out by the guys. At the same time, she's also tender enough to take back her lying co-worker boyfriend because he hands her a sheet of poetry.

Unfortunately, Farr has announced that she'll be leaving the series (to join the cast of ''Numb3rs" after this season, which wraps on Sept. 13. She will leave a gap, as she charges all of her scenes with great brittle energy.

Kudrow has also developed a memorable character this summer on ''The Comeback," which ends its season at 10:30 p.m. Sunday. Her Valerie Cherish is brittle, too, but only because she's so uncomfortable with her anger. An aging sitcom actress relegated to a tiny role in an awful new series, Valerie takes constant abuse from Hollywood and then fights not to feel it. She's so unwilling to swallow insults and negativity, she's almost heroic. And when she does let in her frustration, she has an unforgettable and cathartic eruption, as she did this week by punching hostile writer Paulie G in the stomach. Vomit ensued.

Kudrow has been amazing, not just because she's developed a character so distinct from Phoebe on ''Friends," but because her acting is seamless. She becomes Valerie, and she reveals the painful depths and then the small virtues of her controlling nature. So many people have complained about ''The Comeback" because Valerie's humiliations seem relentless; but the character has indeed had her little victories, particularly as the season has progressed. It's a cringe comedy, for sure, but it does contain bright moments of relief.

Sedgwick, Farr, and Kudrow have helped to rescue summer TV from the networks' lack of imagination, and they've done so without the fuzzy Lifetime overlay we see too often in TV's women. They have helped to make the cable channels into a useful alternative to ''Big Brother 6."

So thank you all, thank you very much.

OBITUARY
BOB DENVER 1935-2005
'Gilligan' boxed actor in but gave him lasting fame. His role as inept everyman Gilligan will likely be immortal.

By Glenn Garvin Miami Herald

Bob Denver, who played the beleaguered, bewildered but beloved castaway at the center of the television sitcom Gilligan's Island, died undergoing treatment for cancer.

The 70-year-old Denver died Friday at Wake Forest University Baptist Hospital in North Carolina, his family said Tuesday. His wife and four children were at his side.

''This is a very sad day,'' said Lloyd Schwartz, who produced several Gilligan's Island TV movies. ``He was never given credit for being a great actor, but he was. . . . I had to read dialogue with him on the movies, and he made me sound great, and I'm terrible.''

LUCK AND CURSE

It was Denver's great fortune and also his curse to have created two of the most

memorable characters of 1960s TV: the inept yet ebullient Gilligan, first mate on a shipwrecked tourist boat, and Maynard G. Krebs, the lovably alienated beatnik co-star of The Many Loves Of Dobie Gillis.

The two comedies ran a total of seven seasons and were gone by 1967, but Denver was hopelessly typecast by goofy characters he played. He spent the next 30 years reprising them in various TV spinoffs.

Frustrated by his failure to be offered other roles, Denver left Hollywood for a remote West Virginia mountainside more than 30 years ago and became something of a hermit. But he never expressed regret over his two signature roles.

''Maynard gave me the chance to do wonderful word comedy written by Max Shulman, and you can't knock that,'' he wrote on his fan club website a few years ago. ``When I was offered Gilligan, I chose it because that character gave me the chance to do physical comedy, which I love. With Maynard and Gilligan, I had the best of both worlds.''

POPULAR FOR YEARS

Both Dobie Gillis and Gilligan's Island were largely dismissed by critics of their day, and their impact comprehended only years later -- in the case of Gilligan's Island, many years later. Producer Schwartz recalls that when he was making Rescue From Gilligan's Island, which would be the top-rated TV movie of 1978, NBC executives brushed off his offers to show them a script or daily samples of the shooting.

'They said, `Just bring back the completed film, we don't understand Gilligan's Island,' '' a laughing Schwartz recalled Tuesday.

The original sitcom focused on the fates of seven castaways, marooned on a desert island after their ''three-hour tour'' of the Hawaiian coastline ended in shipwreck. Their every attempt at escape was thwarted by Gilligan's ineptitude. If they built a boat from driftwood, he sank it; if they built a plane from coconuts, he crashed it.

`TOTALLY NAIVE'

''We always thought he was mired in overenthusiasm,'' said Schwartz, a teenage stagehand when his father was producing the sitcom. ``We thought of him as the Shakespearean fool, innocent, totally naive.''

Gilligan's Island was a ratings success, but it was canceled in 1967 when the imperious wife of CBS President William Paley looked at the fall schedule and discovered her favorite show, the aging and Nielsen-challenged Gunsmoke, was missing.

'She said, `Where's Gunsmoke?' and the network people said, 'Right here,' as they erased Gilligan's Island from the schedule,'' recalled Schwartz.

But the show refused to die. The 98 episodes were rerun endlessly in syndication, spawning two cartoon versions, five TV movies, a dinner-theater musical and even a reality-show version, The Real Gilligan's Island.

Audiences were apparently responding to its relentlessly egalitarian message: Though the castaways included millionaires, movie stars, intellectuals and blue-collar workers, they all eventually learned to get along. And they all shared the same bedrock value: They wanted to return to conventional American society.

DOBIE GILLIS

Oddly, that was exactly the opposite of Denver's first show, Dobie Gillis, which gave little-noticed warning of the cultural upheavals on the way for America. Maynard G. Krebs explicitly rejected mainstream American values: He perennially dressed in sweat shirts, shrieked ''Work!'' like a four-letter word, and preferred playing the bongos or sneaking off to movies like The Monster That Devoured Cleveland to holding down a job or attending his college classes.

''The show -- and Maynard G. Krebs in particular -- was in the foreground of a groundswell of counterculture that was going to turn its back on middle-class American values,'' noted Edmond Chibeau, a communications professor at Eastern Connecticut State University and author of a scholarly paper on the show.

FOR BABY BOOMERS

Dobie Gillis was one of the first TV programs explicitly aimed at Baby Boomers -- then teenagers -- and Maynard G. Krebs aimed directly at their increasingly restlessness.

''Kids knew this was something different than their parents wanted,'' said Chibeau. ''The lead character, Dobie, wanted his version of parent's life. But Maynard, he wanted a whole different world.'' Not just a three-hour tour.

OBITUARY
Bob Denver will always put a smile on our faces 5

Bill Goodykoontz The Arizona Republic

Gilligan is dead. Maynard G. Krebs is no longer with us.

And a little bit of TV's innocence is gone as well.

Bob Denver died Friday from complications of cancer at the age of 70 - 70! That in itself is enough to make you feel old, even if your only experience of Gilligan's Island and The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis was through reruns.

No one is going to make a serious claim that either show was anything approaching art. Neither show was trying to be. What they were was fun. Dumb fun more often than not, particularly Gilligan. But in a time when "fun" on television can be defined in a range so broad it has room to include everything from people competitively eating horse intestines to big-time talent shows to crimes solved by autopsy, and everything in between, the shows that made Denver famous seem innocent. Denver was the biggest reason why.

Denver's roles in his big hits were odd, in that he actually seemed to grow younger as time passed. In Dobie Gillis he played Krebs, Dobie's beatnik buddy, complete with goatee and, like, hipster slang.

But even though Gilligan debuted five years after Dobie, in 1964, a clean-shaven Denver seemed younger. Yes, he was playing an adult, a character chronologically older than Maynard. But Gilligan had a naiveté about him that made him seem boylike, a secret of its endless appeal in reruns. Kids can relate to Gilligan, to whom every experience is brand new. And parents can remember how they related to him when they were kids.

Certainly the premise and plots aren't taxing. As everyone who owns a television set must know, Gilligan was the first mate on the Minnow, a tour boat. A storm ran it aground on a deserted island, where the castaways - which included, famously, Gilligan, the Skipper too, the millionaire and his wife, the movie star, the Professor and Mary Ann - tried and failed every week to get rescued.

Sure it's silly, sometimes downright stupid. All manner of characters drop by and, by the end of the episode, manage to get themselves off the island, for instance. Apparently the castaways packed plenty of extra clothes for the trip (a three-hour cruise, as the title song tells us). And somehow the professor always seems to know when an important bulletin is about to be broadcast on the radio, so that he has time to gather everyone around to listen.

It's the kind of thing that, as a critic, drives me nuts.

It's the kind of thing that, when I'm watching it with my kids, doesn't bother me a bit. My 7-year-old can watch Gilligan go power-mad as a deputy sheriff, locking up everyone on the island (including himself) and laugh out loud. And I can remember a happy time when I did, too.

The heart of the show, of course, is Denver. Watching as an adult, it's surprising to see how many of Gilligan's lines are more smart-alecky than you may remember. He's part dim-bulb, part Greek chorus, making snide comments about what will of course turn out to be bone-headed schemes even as they're unfolding - or, more likely, he's ruining them.

But let's not try too hard to make more of the show than it was. Again, it was good, dumb fun, nothing more. But that's nothing to be ashamed of.

Denver was forever typecast, never again really looking like himself unless he was wearing his silly little sailor's cap. No matter what else he did in his life, he would always be known as Gilligan, one of the dumbest characters in one of the dumbest shows ever on TV.

And one that people of all ages still love. What's a more satisfying legacy than that?

Tuesday’s network prime-time ratings have posted at the top of Latest News the first item in this thread.

(From Marc Berman’s Programming Insider column of Wednesday, September 7, 2005 at Mediaweek.com)
Remembering Bob Denver

One of TV’s most beloved stars from yesteryear, Bob Denver, passed away Friday at Wake Forest University Baptist Hospital in North Carolina of complications from treatment he was receiving for cancer. He was 70 years old.

Although Denver is synonymous, of course, with much-loved, but critically panned sitcom Gilligan’s Island, which aired from 1964 to 1967, there was much more to the versatile comedian than just surviving that ill-fated three-hour cruise. Prior to Gilligan’s Island, fans of early 1960s television will remember Denver as beatnik Maynard G. Krebs on 1959 to 1963 sitcom The Many Lives of Dobie Gillis. In between Dobie Gillis and Gilligan’s Island, Denver traveled the guest star route in episodes of Dr. Kildare, The Farmer’s Daughter, The New Steve Allen Show, The Andy Griffith Show, and Make Room for Daddy. In 1964, Denver headed to Gilligan’s Island, making the TV history books as the dim-witted, but lovable Willy Gilligan.

Fresh from his success on Gilligan’s Island, Denver appeared in theatricals Who’s Minding the Mint?, The Sweet Ride, and Did You Hear the One About the Traveling Saleslady? before headlining short-lived CBS sitcom The Good Guys in 1968. Forever typecast as goofball Gilligan, Denver played a similar role in syndicated sitcom Dusty’s Trail, which aired for one season in 1973-74. He also returned as Gilligan in the animated The New Adventures of Gilligan and Gilligan’s Planet; in made-for reunions Rescue From Gilligan’s Island, The Castaways on Gilligan’s Island, and The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island; and in episodes of The New Gidget, Baywatch, Alf, Meego, and The Simpsons. His last appearance was as Gilligan on cable spoof, Miss Cast Away.

If there is a lesson for an actor to learn from Bob Denver, it’s to cherish your place as a famed TV character rather than try to hide from it.

TV SEASON PREVIEWS

The new season continues to slowly gain steam on Thursday with the second-season return of “The O.C” and the premiere of “Reunion” on Fox..

Today and tomorrow I’ll post some critical comments about both programs and later in the week, ahead of Sunday’s new prime time lineup premiere, I’ll post thoughts about the Fox Sunday shows.

Saturday Fox will also kick off the seasons of “Cops” and “America’s Most Wanted”. I am assuming uou know all about these hardy veterans - or don’t care -- so I won’t be posting any previews.

TV SEASON PREVIEWS
'O.C.' Begins A New Season With Big Changes Ahead

By ROGER CATLIN Hartford Courant TV Critic September 7 2005

Back to school is never easy at "The O.C.," and senior year begins on the popular saga Thursday with a particular cloud - after Marissa shot Ryan's brother Trey in last season's cliffhanger.

It's the first of what will be a lot of big events in the show's third season, its creator promises.

"Senior year is so epic if you're in high school - and it's so emotional for the kids and the parents," producer Josh Schwartz told reporters last week. "If you're a kid, you're realizing you're about to leave everything you know behind. If you're a parent, you're preparing for empty-nest syndrome.

"There's a sense that everything can come to an end at the end of this year - the world as our characters know it, and the show as our audience knows it," Schwartz says. "So we'll be undergoing some big changes at the end of this season, too."

Of course, it could be the end of "The O.C.," too, particularly if it continues the kind of ratings free-fall it experienced last year.

That came in part because the show moved to Thursdays, the most competitive night on TV. But this season, "The O.C." is expected to anchor an evening with a similar teen-oriented saga, "Reunion."

As the new season of "The O.C." begins, Trey (Logan Marshall-Green) clings to life in a hospital, and police are anxious to file manslaughter charges, but against who?

"It's this weird horrible thing hanging over us," says Marissa, played by willowy Mischa Barton, early on in the episode. The mood is lightened, though, by her friend Summer, played by Rachel Bilson, who refers to similarly melodramatic plot lines on her favorite TV show that's suspiciously like "The O.C.," called "The Valley."

"On `The Valley' there's someone in a coma like every week," she says. "But I think they only do that so that when the person wakes up, another actor can play the part."

No such luck on "The O.C." where the coma leads to further problems for Marissa, including being kicked out of school.

It's one of several big events planned this season. Besides the usual college tours, college fairs, proms and graduation, Schwartz says, "there will be a wedding, there will be a funeral, there will be a bar mitzvah."

The latter will come as part of the annual Chrismukkah episode in which Benjamin McKenzie's Ryan will get an honorary ceremony.

Schwartz has a lot of ground to cover in the four episodes of "The O.C." that run before the monthlong break for post-season baseball. Besides partly wrapping up the action from last spring's cliffhanger, and the lingering question of Ryan's baby, there is a lot of action to set up and new characters to introduce.

First of the new faces is Jeri Ryan, formerly of "Boston Public," who becomes close to Kelly Rowan's Kirsten during rehab. Then at school, as on the calendar, Summer will turn to Autumn.

That is to say, Summer will butt heads with an annoying social climber at Harbor High seeking to fill the void of Marissa, Taylor Townsend, played by Autumn Reeser.

"Now with Marissa thrown out of school, she's going to work to fill the void as social chair," Schwartz says of the new character. "And Summer is going to go toe-to-toe with her in sort of a symbolic move to keep the Marissa flame alive at Harbor." The confrontation "will bring back the classic old bitchy Summer" in a manner of "All About Eve," he says.

Also new to the cast is Eric Mabius, of "The L Word," as the school's new dean of students. Dean Hess "has come into the show with a real point of view about bringing discipline at Harbor High."

Kicking Marissa out of school puts him at odds with the ever-brooding Ryan.

Ryan's guardian Sandy Cohen isn't happy about it either, but he's got his own problems, taking over Caleb's Newport Group development company, hoping he won't turn into everything he's not. In the process, he'll also get a young business partner.

The cast will also expand as the audience will learn more about Summer's home life and family. "She gets a house," says Schwartz, referring to a new set. "She doesn't just have her pink bedroom."

Ryan and Marissa will finally hook up this year, he says, after a strange year in which Fox brass both encouraged the much-hyped same-sex kiss from Marissa and then ordered it toned down.

Whether "The O.C." will be helped or hurt by "Reunion" ( 9 p.m. Fox), some of whose characters have strong resemblances to those on his show, Schwartz says he wishes it well.

"I have not seen `Reunion' yet," he says. "I'm really hopeful we'll have a show after us that works and we can really build the night. We feel a little bit like an island sometimes on Thursday night. It'd be great to really have a block of programming on Thursday night on Fox that people are excited about. So I'm pulling for it."

TV SEASON PREVIEWS
'The O.C.' reloads

By Scott D. Pierce (Salt Lake City) Deseret Morning News

After more than a bit of a sophomore slump, the creator/executive producer of "The O.C." (Thursday, 7 p.m., Fox/Ch. 13) is promising that the upcoming season of the Fox show "will be our best season yet."

"There will be a wedding. There will be a funeral. There will be a bar mitzvah. There will be graduation," said Josh Schwartz. "There will be some old faces returning and some exciting new characters. I think we're not holding anything back this year.

Not that he and his team were exactly holding anything back last season. But after breaking out into a genuine hit the year before, the problem was trying to repeat that success without repeating the same plotlines. And there were some rough patches in that bumpy ride.

And it's a tough task to make all the viewers happy.

"Every fan has a different thing they're sort of passionate about," Schwartz told TV critics in a teleconference. "Anybody you talk to has a totally different opinion about the show or what they watch the show for or what they want to see in the show. Some people want to know are Ryan (Benjamin McKenzie) and Marissa (Mischa Barton) going to be together. Some people really want to know are Seth (Adam Brody) and Summer (Rachel Bilson) going to be together or Sandy (Peter Gallagher) and Kirsten (Kelly Rowan), but it always seems to land back on sort of the core relationships that are the foundation of the show and will those stay together.

"That seems to be the most frequently asked question, along with Ryan's baby."

Well, if it's Ryan's baby that his ex-girlfriend gave birth to. Schwartz will neither confirm nor deny — although he did say, "That story line will resolve itself sometime in the near future."

Thursday's third-season premiere quickly wraps up the cliffhanger from last spring's second-season finale. Trey (Logan Marshall-Green) — who was shot by Marissa as he beat his brother, Ryan, is not dead, but he's in a coma. And there are legal problems for Marissa and Ryan as a result that, even when they're resolved, will "reverberate" through the season.

Eric Mabius joins the cast as the new dean at the Harbor school — "sort of 'Mean Dean,' as he's referred to" — who throws Melissa out of school in the aftermath of the scandal.

"It's going to put Ryan at odds with the dean. It's going to put Sandy at odds with the dean," Schwartz said. "He's going to be a really good, sort of new nemesis for our kids. He's also going to go after Seth and Summer."

And, with Marissa expelled, Taylor Townsend (Autumn Reeser) steps into the void as the "scheming, young, in-training socialite" who is going to clash with Summer. "It's a real sort of 'All About Eve' (relationship) between Taylor and Summer."

Kirsten is still in rehab, where she's made a new friend (played by Jeri Ryan of "Star Trek: Voyager," who will be around for at least seven episodes). Not that we should expect her to be a good friend.

"(Ryan) was really great and has the ability to be really sweet and really charming and turn on a dime," Schwartz said. "So she's brought a lot of that to the role and kind of played both at the same time.

In a few weeks, there will be a "new young, business partner" for Sandy as he takes over the Newport Group in the wake of his father-in-law Caleb's death. "He has to be careful that he doesn't become what he beheld and not turn into Caleb Nichol," Schwartz said.

While Julie Cooper-Nichol is expecting to inherit the bulk of her late husband's estate, she's "in for a bumpy ride" when his will is read. She's going to get back together with her ex-husband, Jimmy (Tate Donovan), at least for a while.

"Julie and Jimmy are going to make another run at it — but you know that Jimmy Cooper," Schwartz said.

"We're also looking to expand Summer's family. . . . You're going to see a lot more about her family and her dad and all of that."

And we'll be getting the now-traditional Chrismukkah episode — the Christmas and Hanukkah hybrid Seth came up with as the product of a Christian-Jewish marriage. This year it will be a "bar mitzvahkah, I guess is what you'll have to call it, which will be Ryan's honorary bar mitzvah," Schwartz said.

The young producer — he just turned 29 last month — feels like he learned something from taking the show from it first season through its second season — lessons he'll put to use in its third season.

"I just want to say that I'm really excited about this year. . . . I think it will be our best season yet," Schwartz said.

TV SEASON PREVIEWS
No time like the present for 'The O.C.'

Rick Porter Zap2it.com

Marissa gets kicked out of school! Summer gets a new nemesis! Sandy takes over the business he once despised!

Just another year in "The O.C." Or, in the case of all the things just mentioned, just another month.

The Fox series, which opens its third season Thursday, plans to cover a lot of ground again this year, creator Josh Schwartz says. And after tying up a couple of loose ends (albeit not too tightly) in the season premiere, the show will dive into a year of changes for the Cohens and those around them.

"This year is senior year (for the teen characters) and with senior year comes all that sort of angst and anxiety, all that sort of epic teen drama - who am I, where am I going, what's gonna happen to us," Schwartz says. "It's going to call everyone's identity into question and throw the show back on the family."

The premiere resolves the legal questions revolving around Marissa's (Mischa Barton) shooting of Ryan's (Ben McKenzie) brother Trey (Logan Marshall-Green). But Schwartz fallout from the incident will continue to affect the characters - starting with Marissa being kicked out of the Harbor School, thanks to a new dean of discipline ("Eyes' " Eric Mabius, who will have a recurring part).

Marissa's departure will bring a new character, Taylor Townsend (Autumn Reeser, "Complete Savages"), into the forefront at Harbor. Schwartz describes her as "this sort of steaming, young Newpsie-in-training socialite who's been toiling in Marissa's shadow all these years." With Marissa banished to (gasp) public school, Taylor takes over as Harbor's social chair - much to the consternation of Marissa's best friend Summer (Rachel Bilson).

"Summer goes toe-to-toe with her as a sort of symbolic gesture to keep the Marissa flame alive at Harbor," Schwartz says. "It's going to bring back some of the classic, bitchy Summer - there's really sort of an 'All About Eve' thing between Taylor and Summer."

Viewers will get substantial pieces of these plot threads in the first four episodes. And that's to say nothing of Kirsten's (Kelly Rowan) journey through rehab - where she encounters the mysterious Charlotte Morgan (recurring guest Jeri Ryan) - or Sandy's (Peter Gallagher) entree into the Newport Group as a sort of caretaker while his wife is away.

The big steps are by design, Schwartz says, as "The O.C.," after four episodes in September, will take most of October off while Fox televises the major league baseball playoffs and World Series. The network has asked the producers of its serialized dramas to leave viewers wanting more before they go off the air for baseball.

"For us, we've had so many cliffhangers lately, we were really looking for the final episode before baseball to be less a traditional cliffhanger and more a signal of the show being in a new place," Schwartz says. "There's a sense that the show has really moved over the course of those four episodes and set up some new dynamics."

Study: DVR Penetration Slows
By Mike Shields Mediaweek.com

DVR penetration has slowed, and new data from the biggest suppliers suggests that future growth may not accelerate as anticipated.

That's according the latest "On Demand Quarterly" report from Magna Global, which cites data from both DirecTV and Time Warner cable indicating that consumers are not flocking to DVRs as quickly as originally expected.

Only 7-8 percent of new DirecTV subscribers opted for DVRs in second quarter of this year, a rate which is only slightly higher than numbers seen last year, says Magna. Also, while Time Warner added 132,000 new DVR subscribers in second quarter -- that figure is down significantly compared to the previous two quarters.

DVRs, or digital video recorders, have made network executives weak in the knees, given their easy-to-use ad-skipping functionality. Originally the product of pioneers like TiVo (which added just 40,000 subscribers in second quarter), increasingly major cable and satellite providers have been offering their customers DVR subscriptions.

Yet unlike the adoption of previous hot entertainment technologies which saw popularity explosions, like the Web or DVDs, Magna predicts that in most markets, DVRs adoption will surge at first and then lose considerable steam. "DVR growth will slow significantly at all cable and satellite operators after an initial growth spurt lasting perhaps 2-3 years from launch of service in a given market," says the report.

One reason that adoption has been less than spectacular, says Magna, is that DVRs are simply difficult to market -- either because consumers don't 'get' DVRs or just don't seen the technology as being compelling. Magna also contends that vendors' strategy to charge a premium for DVR service limits its potential.

However, despite the underwhelming growth figures, Magna has not seen fit to lower its forecasts for DVR potential over the next five years, predicting that 33 million homes will potentially be zapping ads by 2010. To date, 8.3 million DVRs were deployed by the end of second quarter 2005, reaching over 7 percent of TV households.

Robust fall prognosis for Fox's 'House'
Strong ratings in reruns, ahead of new season

By Diego Vasquez medialifemagazine.com
One of the big questions for Fox heading into the fall is how its sophomore hit “House” will perform without “American Idol” as a ratings-pumping lead-in. If summer reruns are any indication, the medical drama should be just fine.

An 8 p.m. episode of the show last night averaged a 2.2 overnight rating among viewers 18-49, a slight increase over the 2.0 rating the show averaged at 8 p.m. the previous two Tuesdays.

A 2.2 doesn’t sound great, but for a summer repeat it’s decent. Consider that ABC’s “Desperate Housewives,” last season’s highest-rated drama in 18-49s, has barely averaged a 2.0 the past few weeks, while NBC’s big freshman hit “Medium” managed just a 1.8 Monday night.

“House” has averaged a 2.4 18-49 rating for six episodes aired since Aug. 3, though four of those episodes were in the 9 p.m. timeslot that “Prison Break” occupied last night.

The show has consistently finished second in its timeslot opposite CBS’s mild summer hit “Big Brother.” And it’s ranked in the top 15 for most of the summer.

That has to be a relief for Fox, which plans to use “House” to help launch new drama “Bones” next week. It needs the show, which features Emmy nominee Hugh Laurie, to perform well this fall to keep the network in decent position for when “Idol” returns in the winter.

Interesting sports note:

ABC is televising the annual Iowa-Iowa State football game regionally this Saturday at 3:30 Eastern. If you love football, and if your affiliate is airing this game, you should watch. But if you like voyeuristic TV coverage, find another channel.

According to articles in today's Des Moines Register and Cedar Rapids Gazette, Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz and ISU's Dan McCarney are refusing to be wired for sound during their game this Saturday. Also, no cameras in the locker rooms for "look-in" segments.

I guess we'll have to be content with watching a football game. :)

A slight difference: the NAB, at least as indicated in this story, is talking about giving members of Congress the equivalent of cash in exchange for their votes.
Not donations to their political campaigns.
Free advertising -- worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

As I understand it, all candidates (or at least those who were nominees of parties that had received a certain percentage of the vote in previous elections) would be eligible for the free ad time. IMO, this is worth far more to those challenging the incumbents than the incumbents themselves. Incumbents can use their positions much more easily to raise money than challengers can, plus they have the name recognition and status of being the incumbent. Challengers with free ad time would be a much bigger threat to them than challengers without it, and might even motivate parties to run serious candidates in traditionally safe districts for the other party.

It could help independent and third party candidates too, at least to the extent the exposure could get people talking about issues often overlooked by major-party candidates.

I don't consider this the equivalent of a bribe... in a lot of ways, it seems more like an anti-bribe, something that would probably be good for the system overall but not necessarily good for individual incumbents.

You could be right, Whitearrow.

But since they are public airwaves, why hasn't this been the law in the past?

If you look at P&L statements of major broadcast groups, you will find that in years without federal elections the profits are almost always less, and the companies always refer to the fact that the previous year had millions in political spending.

Buzz-wise, it's NBC. (We kid you not.)
Study: It has the most talked-about stars for fall

By Kevin Downey Medialifemagazine.com
With the new fall television season all but upon us, NBC would seem to have the least to look forward to of the broadcast networks, having finished at No. 4 last season and with media buyers pretty ho-hum about its new shows.

But what matters ultimately is how viewers feel, and as it turns out America is surprisingly upbeat about the network's new lineup. Or so goes the buzz.

And it's not just over Martha Stewart and her upcoming "Apprentice" spinoff.

Initiative, the huge media buying concern, learned this by scanning some 15 million online blogs and discussion boards in an effort to find out which new shows and which stars of new shows people were talking about.

The buying firm found that 41 percent of the most-discussed stars on the 10 most-talked-about new programs are on NBC. Stewart alone accounts for nearly 14 percent of these conversations, making her the most talked-about star of any new show. Another 5.5 percent of online chats focusing on new programs center on Jason Lee of NBC sitcom “My Name is Earl.” Also generating a lot of buzz were Chris Rock of UPN’s “Everybody Hates Chris” and Jennifer Love Hewitt of CBS’s “Ghost Whisperer.”

“The most buzz or conversations about TV shows are about the actors associated with these projects,” explains Stacey Lynn Koerner, executive vice president and director of global research integration at Initiative.

“NBC shows have the lion’s share of the conversation. This is a good time for them. They’ve created shows and stars that people are interested in, which is a good sign that they will get some sampling when they premiere these shows.”

Focusing on the stars of the 10 most-discussed upcoming programs, Initiative found that CBS ranks No. 2 behind NBC, with 17.1 percent of online discussions. UPN is No. 3 with 16.1 percent, followed by ABC at 12.3 percent, the WB at 8.3 percent and Fox at only 4.9 percent.

Although the WB does not rank high overall, Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki of the WB drama “Supernatural” rank among the 10 most-talked-about stars.

The actors most often discussed are Stewart, Rock, Hewitt, Geena Davis of ABC’s “Commander in Chief,” Lee, Stuart Townsend of ABC’s “Night Stalker,” Freddie Prinze Jr. of ABC’s “Freddie,” Amy Grant of NBC reality show “Three Wishes,” Ackles and Padalecki, and Alyson Hannigan from CBS’s “How I Met Your Mother.”

Initiative uses its findings to determine the programs and stars that would be a good fit for its clients’ advertising and marketing strategies.

In addition to measuring online chat with proprietary tool PropheSEE, Initiative also compiles findings on the quality of that chat, meaning whether it’s positive or negative. The media buying agency then uses this information to help its clients find the best vehicles for traditional ad messages but also for product placement and off-television marketing tie-ins.

Although Initiative’s PropheSEE isn’t used to predict the fall season’s new hits, Koerner says positive online chat suggests which shows will get millions of people checking out early episodes.

Moreover, Initiative combines three measures – buzz, positive conversations and buzz about specific actors – to determine the programs that will most captivate viewers, which in turn suggests to advertisers programs that will keep viewers tuned in during commercial breaks.

Focusing on what Initiative says are likely to be two of the toughest time slots this fall: Tuesdays and Wednesdays, both at 9 p.m., The WB’s “Supernatural” ranks No. 1 in this fan engagement index in the Tuesday slot, while the network’s “Related” slightly trails NBC’s “E-Ring” in the Wednesday time period.

“This is not necessarily about which shows will generate the biggest audiences,” says Koerner. “It’s about which [shows] will engage fans and create a fan culture.”

Forgettable summer for broadcast networks
By Gary Levin,USA TODAY

Without a big, long-running hit, the broadcast networks are winding up a summer they'd sooner forget.

Final numbers for the stretch between Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends show the six broadcast networks down 13% in viewership from last summer, and down 5% when last summer's high-rated Olympics and other sports are excluded.

Meanwhile, dozens of basic cable channels grew 8%, though pay channels such as HBO and Showtime were down 6%.

Unlike the movie business, hot-weather months are always slow for TV; overall viewership drops about 15%. But this year, as in the past few years, the big networks lost about 40% of their regular-season audiences with a summer diet of reruns and reality shows.

Instead, viewers flocked to cable, and several channels offered their biggest slate of original programming, including TNT (The Closer, Wanted and Into the West), USA (Monk, The 4400 and The Dead Zone) and FX (Rescue Me and Over There).

TNT was up 17% over last summer, while MTV (with Laguna Beach and The Real World) grew 10%. But among broadcasters, only ABC and Fox gained ground, and just slightly.

The difference this year: Viewers soured on virtually all of the big broadcast networks' new reality series except for ABC's Dancing with the Stars, which lasted only six weeks.

Gone are the days when viewers would turn out for each new twist on a reality format. Some that started promisingly (Brat Camp) petered out, while others (I Want to Be a Hilton, The Cut, Princes of Malibu) just never got going.

"It was a rather weak summer" for broadcasters, says Starcom Media analyst Laura Caraccioli-Davis. "They just kind of missed the mark when it came to viewers' appetites" for reality shows, a marked departure from past summers when Survivor, American Idol and Fear Factor caught fire.

But as networks gear up for fall, the summer doldrums are taking their toll: Fewer viewers mean less exposure for promos hawking new shows.

"Every year they come back with less of an audience," says Stacey Lynn Koerner, an analyst at ad-buyer Initiative Media, "so the more they can do to sustain themselves (in summer), the better."

Nielsen data led some networks to question their emphasis on reality over repeats: Fewer than half of all young-adult viewers — most networks' target audience — have seen even a single episode of mega-hits such as Desperate Housewives and Lost, says ABC researcher Larry Hyams, so the chance to lure new recruits during summer months is valuable.

Average viewers (millions):
Net Summer % change
CBS 7.5 -8%
NBC 6.0 -39%*
ABC 6.0 +8%
Fox 5.2 7%
UPN 2.6 -1%
WB 2.0 -14%

*– Excluding 2004’s high-rated Olympics and other sports, NBC’s decline is 12% Source: Nielsen Media Research; prime time, May 30-Sept. 4 vs. similar period last year

Hey Fred, any idea what the numbers for the US Open have looked like..?

I think some numbers will be available tomorrow, Jim -- the holiday weekend has delayed ratings this week.

Cool, I was just wondering, no big deal...

The O.C. has its season premiere on Fox, and I have already posted a few stories about it.

Next up, at 9 PM ET/PT is the premiere of the new series "Reunion"

Reunion Premieres Thu., Sept. 8, 9 PM ET/PT FOX
Premise: Follow the lives of six friends from their 1986 high school graduation to their 20th reunion.
Cast: Amanda Righetti, Dave Annable, Alexa Davalos, Sean Faris, Chyler Leigh
Our 2¢: Each episode will be one year in the lives of the characters, so watch for '80s and '90s hairstyles, fashion and music. FOX has 'The O.C.,' so why not put a retro-twist on the gorgeous-people-with-problems show and throw in a murder mystery. This has the potential to be addictive fun.

TV SEASON PREVIEWS
The age of relative innocence
1980s teens love and lust, but in an earnest way, in "Reunion."
By Paul Brownfield Los Angeles Times Staff Writer September 8, 2005

Graft a "Big Chill"-like premise onto a stiff yet sudsy soap opera and you still have a stiff yet sudsy soap opera. "Reunion," which begins in the summer of '86 (Wham! is huge, that's how long ago 1986 is), introduces us to a close-knit group of graduating high school friends in suburban Bedford, N.Y., enjoying one last summer fling before embarking on the rest of their lives.

The new Fox series is curiously far from the nonstop, teenage bacchanal that is MTV's reality hit "Laguna Beach," not to mention Fox's own "The O.C." (where the creator has proclaimed to Inside TV magazine that it's official — Ryan and Marissa will have sex this season). "Reunion," by contrast, comes from the more earnest world of early Matt Dillon movies, a place steeped in critical moral decisions that have consequences; the show also cranes toward being a mystery while proving, as VH1 already has, that we love the '80s.

Craig (Sean Faris) is the privileged boy in pink polo shirt, heading to Brown. Will (Will Estes), Craig's best friend, is a landscaper's son. Samantha (Alexa Davalos) is Craig's girl, although she's got a forbidden-love thing going with Will and is in fact pregnant with his child. Jenna (Amanda Righetti) dresses like Madonna circa "Like a Virgin"; before heading to New York City to become an actress, she'll melt into the arms of sensitive-funny-brainy-guy Aaron (Dave Annable), who's long harbored feelings for her, much to the dismay of Carla (Chyler Leigh), the good-girl pharmacist's daughter who's carrying a torch for Aaron.

Everybody still on board? Because "Reunion," which Fox is debuting Thursday night at 9 after the season debut of "The O.C.," has an additional hook. The show actually begins in the present day, at the funeral of one of our clique members. This makes it a teen drama in retrospect. We don't know which one has died or how (some stilted language conceals the deceased's gender), but we do know a detective ("Six Feet Under's" Mathew St. Patrick) is investigating, and Carla is no longer so wholesome. Twenty years hence, she's got an "Alias" / "La Femme Nikita" look going.

Each episode of "Reunion" will take place in a subsequent year-in-the-lives of our protagonists. Twenty years in one season alone. It's a good thing too — you'd hate to be stuck in '86 with these kids and their music and their references to "St. Elmo's Fire." That movie remains a kind of embarrassing touchstone for Gen Xers; "Reunion" doesn't make us feel any less squirmy about it.

In the pilot, Craig, the preppy, crashes his Porsche into a truck while drunk, killing the driver, but he avoids the consequences, thanks to reliable Will, whose life ends up getting detoured. But then, you guessed it — everyone's life was destined to change that summer.

Jenna, for instance, learned that " 'I love you' could be spoken after sex as well," Carla, the show's putative protagonist, tells us in a cloyingly aphoristic voice-over. "And Will, I guess you could say that Will found himself farthest from where he thought he'd be, yet somehow much closer to the thing he wanted most."

"Reunion" leaves you a little wrapped up in the intrigue despite yourself; it has the mystery death hook going for it, if nothing else. And yet, the song playing during the end-of-pilot narration is "Broken Wing" by Mister Mister, which could push some past their tolerance level for earnest '80s mawkishness. Of course, the '90s are just around the corner. I've heard it's the age of irony.

TV SEASON PREVIEWS
'Reunion' (3 stars out of 5)
A whodunit with sporadic appeal. Think of Fox's Reunion as "Desperate Friends."

Hal Boedeker Orlando Sentinel Columnist

This ambitious mystery-serial, which debuts Thursday, sidesteps the comedy of ABC's Desperate Housewives.

But the new show puts its own elaborate spin on a seasonlong whodunit, the kind that helped turn Housewives into a phenomenon.

One of six central friends has been murdered, and the series opens at the funeral in 2005. But it isn't clear which character has been knocked off or how it happened. Reunion goes into a long flashback, jumping to 1986, when the friends graduated from high school. The next episode will move to 1987, the following to 1988, and so on in explaining how these six beautiful people made a hash of their lives.

The appeal of this uneven melodrama depends heavily on the actors, and two stand out in the premiere. Will Estes of American Dreams brings a down-to-earth sweetness to Will, a poor guy whose niceness will trip him up.

Chyler Leigh of The Practice conveys a bittersweet yearning as Carla, the group wallflower. Leigh also ages convincingly 20 years for the 2005 scenes as Carla recounts the stormy saga of her friends.

The opener introduces the six main characters as two triangles. Will secretly loves Samantha (Alexa Davalos), who is the girlfriend of his best friend, Craig (Sean Faris of life as we know it). Craig doesn't know that when he briefly broke up with Samantha, she and Will had a fling, one that will have long-term repercussions.

Your sympathies automatically go to Will, because rich-boy Craig is such a jerk. Craig, in Faris' overbearing performance, looks like the Tom Cruise of 1986 but comports himself like the Cruise of 2005. Craig would seem the most likely candidate to be the corpse.

In the other triangle, Carla secretly longs for Aaron (Dave Annable), but he has a debilitating crush on aspiring actress Jenna (Amanda Righetti). Jenna, however, basically ignores Aaron, which is understandable. His attraction to her can make him act idiotically.

The drama's flashes of humor about the past are appealing. One character predicts that Wham! will be the next Beatles, and the 1980s wardrobe will cause wincing and chuckles.

Most of the time, Reunion traffics in pained glances, portentous dialogue and life-altering lies. That approach can be addictive, if done with flair. Reunion comes through on that score only sporadically.

The present-day scenes feel contrived and awkward. Detective Marjorino (Mathew St. Patrick of Six Feet Under) arrives at the funeral and questions Carla. The detective role is thankless, and Leigh's skill at playing older raises the question of whether her co-stars can pull off the tricky feat.

As Craig's meddling father, Gregory Harrison puts in a suitably oily appearance. A more lovable father can be found at Carla's house: Tom Irwin gives a touching performance as a widowed dad. Irwin's presence brings to mind My So-Called Life, a superb drama that he starred in and that had too brief a run.

The future for Reunion will be a struggle. Fox has installed it behind The O.C., which begins its third season Thursday. But the competition for Reunion will include the formidable CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

If Reunion fails, creator Jon Harmon Feldman promises to wrap up the mystery in 13 episodes. If the show succeeds, it will turn to a new group of characters in a second season. With that setup, Reunion probably cannot take off as Desperate Housewives did, but a few actors could make the first-season journey worthwhile.

TV SEASON PREVIEWS
“Reunion”: Breakfast Clubbed

By Tom Shales Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, September 8, 2005; C01

Fox crossed "The Big Chill" with the CBS hit "Cold Case" and got a two-ton frozen turkey. Actually, that weight estimate may be high, because "Reunion," a kind of nostalgic musical murder mystery, is lighter than air, but less substantial. The ill-fated actors go through their motions in a way that suggests hamsters spinning in a wheel or rats navigating a maze. They are trapped by, virtually enslaved by, the show's gimmicky gimmick: Each episode will be based in the present but will flash back to an earlier year in the lives of six dreary drips who vowed in high school to remain friends forever.

In the premiere, at 9 tonight on Channel 5 (following the season debut of "The O.C.," whose youngish audience is obviously "Reunion's" target), we attend the funeral of one of the friends in Bedford, N.Y., circa 2005. We are not told -- yet, anyway -- which of the gang has died, although a eulogy notes that the poor sap didn't just pass away but was "brutally murdered." A bit of bad luck, that.

Then comes the first flashback: to Graduation Day 1986, when pals Aaron, Samantha, Will, Craig, Carla and Jenna live through experiences that, unbeknown to them, are going to "change those six lives forever." Being brutally murdered is certainly a major life change, but there are plenty of subplots along the way. These complications give us a chance to get to know the characters and how they relate to one another -- definitely not the chance of a lifetime.

The second episode will flash back to 1987, the third to 1988, and so on, with the finale being the 20-year reunion of the Class of '86. If it all sounds tritely and tediously tidy, it is.

"May everything always stay as perfect as it is right now," one graduate says in a toast. The concept of appearing to be perfect is almost a theme of the premiere. "I'm a sucker for perfection," anxious Aaron (Dave Annable) says of the allegedly fantabulous Jenna (Amanda Righetti), after whom Aaron lusts longingly but listlessly.

Samantha (Alexa Davalos), having taken a home pregnancy test, complains it's "not exactly perfect timing" to have possibly become pregnant upon graduation, and her friend Will (Will Estes) repeats the "perfect timing" remark as if there'd been something witty about it. Anyway, it turns out that perfection is in no way a theme of the show, except to the extent that it could be the polar opposite of it.

As 1986 plods on -- to such fondly remembered hits of the era as Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time" and Madonna's "Papa Don't Preach" -- friendships are tested in big, big ways. Rich, smug Craig (Sean Faris), who looks so much like Tom Cruise that the resemblance is written into the script, smashes his Porsche into another car, suffering only a minor injury but finding himself facing arrest for driving while intoxicated. His super-swell honey-buddy Will, sitting in the passenger seat, had not been drinking heavily and so agrees to say that he, not Craig, was driving. But there's a big fat "oops" around the next curve: The driver of the other car dies, and Will faces a charge of manslaughter.

Lawyers work out a plea bargain arrangement that will let Will off with a community service sentence, but then -- like an anvil falling from the sky in a Road Runner cartoon -- another oops plummets. Mainly out of meanness, the judge throws out the arrangement proposed by the lawyers and sentences poor Will to 12 months in a county prison.

Now that could put a real strain on a friendship, eh? But wait. In a tired example of tit trumping tat, it turns out that all this time Will, Craig's addled ally, has been secretly dating Craig's fanatically beloved and possibly pregnant Samantha. Talk about your sticky wickets. One minor mystery, to supplement the major matter of who died and who the killer is, is what's up with Carla (Chyler Leigh). There are indications in the pilot that she may be attracted to a fellow female classmate, perhaps a provocative touch 10 years ago but pretty de rigueur now .

Being assigned to play vapid, torpid characters was hardly an insult to the six young performers who tread through the mish-mosh, but a very good actor, Mathew St. Patrick, has been reduced mainly to lurking in the background, emerging on occasion to ask questions about the murder. St. Patrick has suffered enough onscreen; previously he spent five seasons as Keith, the inexplicably loyal life partner of whining David (Michael C. Hall) on HBO's recently departed "Six Feet Under."

St. Patrick brought command and dignity to the role of Keith, and he tries to do that again as the cold-case opener on "Reunion," but it's the ultimate example of "to no avail." It's hard to imagine that viewers will be dying to learn which graduate kicks the bucket on "Reunion," mainly because none of them gives the appearance of being, or ever having been, alive.

TV SEASON PREVIEWS
A lukewarm welcome to 'O.C.,' 'Reunion'

Ellen Gray Philadelphia Daily News

FAMILIARITY DOESN'T always breed contempt. Sometimes it allows us to remain content with things that would otherwise drive us crazy.

Which is why you won't hear me complaining - much - about tonight's third-season premiere of Fox's "The O.C.," which, in typical "O.C." fashion, settles last spring's cliffhanger by hauling a big old ladder up from the beach and carrying all the principals down to safety, their arms wrapped tight around the show's broad, well-tanned shoulders.

Oh, and there's some kissing.

And really, it's all kind of silly, but I'm just so glad to have those crazy kids - and their crazier parents - back on TV that I wouldn't think of spoiling the episode by suggesting there isn't much of a payoff from last season's emotional finale.

There's plenty of time for that.

There may not be much time, though, for Fox's "Reunion," which debuts tonight.

A murder mystery that follows a group of six high school friends over 20 years, starting in 1986, "Reunion" is one of a number of new shows that demand more than a casual glance as they spin tales that aren't wrapped up each week.

I'm not sure this one deserves that much attention, though.

Reminiscent of Showtime's "Leap Years" - which itself never made the leap to a second season - "Reunion" requires most of its actors, including Will Estes, who's already done the period thing in "American Dreams," not only to play both younger and older than they are, but to wear some pretty silly clothing.

Meaning a good chunk of the show's target demo will be seeing those '80s Madonna wannabes for the very first time.

Philadelphia's Mathew St. Patrick ("Six Feet Under") presumably gets to stay in the 21st century - and, playing a cop, a role he's clearly comfortable in - as he tries to pry the name of the killer from the lips of his or her friends.

Yes, his or her. Because no one's telling the viewers who's dead, at least not in the pilot.

Maybe if I knew these people better, the way I now know "The O.C."-ers, this wouldn't annoy me. Then again, maybe it would.

St. Patrick's character, certainly, has the patience of a saint, listening as he does to one witness' recounting of the summer of 1986 with no indication that he'd like to crawl across the table and strangle her.

Yes, she. So there's one of the six who's not dead. Yet.

TV SEASON PREVIEWS
'Reunion', Fox drama, could prove addictive

By Charlie McCollum San Jose Mercury News

Fox's ``Reunion'' has the most innovative premise of any new series this season.

The drama, opens at the present-day funeral of a murder victim -- one of six longtime friends. (Which one was murdered, and why, will be revealed over the course of the season.) The story then flashes back to the group's graduation from high school in 1986, with each subsequent episode covering one year in their lives.

In a TV world of by-the-books police procedurals and predictable sitcoms, this is innovative stuff. Now the question is whether creator Jon Harmon Feldman (``Tru Calling'') can make the execution of the show as good as its premise.

Unfortunately, Thursday's opening episode doesn't quite cut it.

The main characters don't rise above cliche: Craig the spoiled rich kid (Sean Faris from ``Life as We Know It''), Will the nice blue-collar guy (Will Estes from ``American Dreams''), Jenna the sensitive sexpot (Amanda Righetti of ``The O.C.''), Aaron the nerd (newcomer Dave Annable), Samantha the high school queen (Alexa Davalos of ``The Chronicles of Riddick'') and lovelorn Carla (Chyler Leigh of ``The Practice.'')

There's nothing particularly fresh about the visual approach, the writing is only serviceable and the plotlines -- a pregnancy, a drunken-driving accident, love found and lost -- are straight out of TV Writing 101.

Yet the first hour gives the feeling that ``Reunion'' could rise to the level of addictive soap. The cast -- particularly Estes, Righetti and Leigh -- is appealing. The shifts from past to present are fun.

DirecTV Presentations

Both of these will be available via webcast at DirecTV.com. Some believe that word on upcoming HD strategy and plans as well as MPEG4 rollout schedules may be revealed.

The DIRECTV Group, Inc. at Merrill Lynch Media and Entertainment Conference (Live)
09/13/2005 at 11:10 a.m. PT

The DIRECTV Group, Inc. at Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research Communacopia XIV Conference (Live) 09/21/2005 at 1:20 p.m. ET

TV SEASON PREVIEWS
“REUNION”: FIRST FALL 4-STAR

By LINDA STASI The New York Post

If you have become to tally disgusted by low-life, real-life TV and its sibling low-watt, scripted-junk shows, take heart. There is hope on the horizon, and it's coming in the form of "Reunion," a show so unusual in its format and plot that it will rival both "Lost" and "24" in creativity and "The O.C." in its character development.

"Reunion" opens with a present-day funeral of one of six friends, all of whom graduated together in 1986. Problem is, we don't know which one of them is now a stiff!

The death, we learn, has been deemed suspicious, and is being investigated by Detective Marjorino (Mathew St. Patrick — yes — Keith of "Six Feet Under").

From that scene, we are transported back to 1986 and meet the six friends. We see how their lives get transformed within days of graduation when one of them goes to jail for vehicular homicide after he takes the hit for his drunk-driver best friend.

The drunk driver, Craig (Sean Faris), is a boy born of privilege, who is about to go to an Ivy League school with his girlfriend, Samantha (Alexa Davalos), who, in turn, gave up a chance to go to school in England to be with Craig.

The innocent kid who takes the blame, Will (Will Estes), does so to save his friend's future. Drunk drivers go to jail and sober drivers don't. Usually.

Besides which, the passenger in the other car had been released from the hospital, so there seemed no consequences. The next day however, the passenger in the other car dies of internal bleeding and Will is arrested. Should he confess to the truth and take a perjury charge instead?

The other friends include Jenna (Amanda Righetti), who is taking off for NYC to become an actress, Aaron (Dave Annable), the nerdy kid who secretly pines for her, and Carla (Chyler Leigh), the quiet girl who initially chooses not to leave home for college because she worries about her widowed dad.

Each week the story will advance by one year until we are brought back again to the present day and the funeral.

All we know right off is that the friend in the coffin is not Carla, because she's the first one that Marjorino questions.

Over the next 20 episodes, the deal will unfold, ending with their 20th high school reunion, which hopefully will be such a big deal that the stiff will show up a la "Six Feet Under" to have a dance.

Whatever happens, I promise you that my family will be glued to each new year. How could we not? After all, there are two big reasons to keep watching: First we must find out who got knocked off, and second, we are thrilled that Keith not only got a new gig, but that he's a cop again!

Hey now — show Keith some love!

TV SEASON PREVIEWS
New Fox Show `Reunion' Looks A Lot Like `The O.C.'

Roger Catlin Hartford Courant September 8 2005

Fox must figure the best thing to accompany a new season of "The O.C." (8 p.m.) is a kind of imitation, because "Reunion" (9 p.m.) is almost eerie with its copycats.

Will Estes, sprung from his role as the brother soldier on "American Dreams" not only looks like Benjamin McKenzie's blond, soft-spoken Ryan on "The O.C.," but he also has pretty much the same storyline: poor boy among the rich.

At least he's good at what he does, helping propel an ensemble of young actors with varying weak links.

But Dave Annable plays his nerdy, neurotic character as if he was cast to be Adam Brody playing Seth Cohen in "The O.C.," singing the praises of Wham instead of Death Cab for Cutie - this is the 1980s, after all.

Sean Faris has the most conventional role, as the rich kid who can't let anything get in the way of his success.

But it is the women who give "Reunion" most of its life. Alexa Davalos plays a heavily conflicted young woman with a problem, and ChylerLeigh is the first of the cast to show her versatility by playing both a naïve, optimistic high school grad and the sleek cynic questioned by police 20 years later.

That the police detective doing the questioning is Mathew St. Patrick, fresh from "Six Feet Under" adds some gravitas to the proceedings, otherwise colored with '80s fashions and a soundtrack courtesy of a-ha.

But the actor looks as frustrated and out of place as he was as Keith guarding pop star Celeste in "Six Feet Under."

It's tough to tell from a cheese-filled pilot - though one with a nifty crash scene - whether this will have enough traction to take us through the '90s, year by year, until the mystery is solved. But "Reunion," at the very least, is the first new show of September.

That it compares fairly well with "The O.C." may say more about how the older show, opening its third season, has lost its fizz. The cast looks as if they should be seniors in college instead of high school.

The main task of the first episode tonight is to clean up the mess from last spring's cliffhanger, when Marissa shot Ryan's brother Trey during another of the show's famous dust-ups.

But there's a lot to set up - and Caleb's will to be read! - before both shows pause a month for postseason baseball.

Verizon, SBC Move Toward Texas TV Service



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) signed a bill that will make it easier for Verizon Communications and SBC Communications to sell television service in the state. The laws scrap a requirement that forces the telephone companies to get local government permission before they can offer TV service. On his Web site, Perry said the law will create more competition for TV services.

Why all the Reunion reviews?

Why all the Reunion reviews?


It's not uncommon to see different reviews for a show in here... just like we'll get several obits when somebody dies or multiple versions of the same news story. It's always good to have several points of view IMO.

Why all the Reunion reviews?

Because there are dramatically differing points of view. I try to give a wide range, especially in areas of opinion.

The point is not to have you read items about shows I watch and enjoy, but to give you enough information to alert to to shows you might like.

For new programs, I will try to provide more reviews than for returning ones.

Wednesday’s network prime-time ratings have posted at the top of Latest News the first item in this thread.

TV SEASON PREVIEWS
'Reunion,' C for clever, E for egads
Writing in this Fox teen drama is laughably bad

By Steven Rosen medialifemagazine.com

You have to give Fox credit where it's due, and it's due for "Reunion,” a series that attempts to weave together threads of disparate hot TV series to create something quite original. Put simply, and perhaps way too nicely, "Reunion" reaches too far. In its innovative weaving, it sacrifices such traditional storytelling concerns as plausibility and credible characters.

What we end up with is a mess on the floor, and a laughable one.

"Reunion” cross-cuts between the lives of six privileged, small-town high school friends in 1986 and the killing of one in the present day. There are three boys, three girls. Each episode will carry those teens one year closer to their 20th reunion, along the way revealing which one was murdered and why.

But in rolling out this already complicated storyline, "Reunion” melds plot twists from elimination-round reality shows, the “Veronica Mars’” season-long murder-mystery format, and Fox's own teen melodrama, "The O.C."

The editing transitions are smooth and smart, giving the show a gleaming and sophisticated surface. But writer/executive producer Jon Harmon Feldman fails to deliver a story that comes anywhere close to realizing "Reunion's” grand ambitions. "Reunion” never rises above hoary, derivatively predictable teen-drama clichés.

No less troubling is the poor execution of the often tangled plot devices. The viewer is bounced back and forth between decades, and as the story unfolds some things are revealed while others are kept hidden. But it's all handled very poorly, leading to excessive head-scratching on the part of the viewer.

These ills become apparent with the opening scene, a funeral service set in the present. One mourner says, speaking to the assembled: “I never would have thought one of these six friends would have been brutally murdered by an unknown assailant.”

Notice here, no name. We don't even learn the victim's gender. Who ever heard of a funeral oration in which the departed one's name is never mentioned?

Similarly, a police detective (“Six Feet Under’s” Mathew St. Patrick) assigned to the case conducts his interviews without mentioning the victim's name.

Apparently the identity of the deceased will be revealed in the sixth episode. Until then, presumably, the survivors will be revealed one by one.

The first episode focuses on the first survivor, Carla (Chyler Leigh). She’s a sweet, pixyish girl-next-door in the 1986 flashbacks, like Kate Jackson in “Charlie’s Angels.” But in the present day she is shown to be a cynical, heavy-smoking femme fatale, as we learn during an interview with the equally hardened cop. It's a belabored transformation.

The scenes set in 1986 come off equally badly. For all the intrigue of the storyline, we never meet characters who are the least bit engaging or admirable or worth identifying with.

We have smug rich boy Craig (Sean Faris, looking like a young Tom Cruise) toasting his friends after graduation: “May everything always stay as perfect as it is now.” Then he gets drunk and crashes his red Porsche into a pickup and kills the other driver.

Craig then connives to have his best friend Will (Will Estes) take the rap. Will agrees to do so for a variety of reasons. He's more expendable (not as rich) and he feels guilty about having slept with Craig’s sensuous girlfriend Samantha (Alexa Davalos). Craig’s smarmy father works to have a lawyer get Will off with probation.

But through all this the other close friends seem oddly preoccupied. Carla spends much time encouraging the secretly pregnant Samantha to keep her baby, and we learn that she has a secret crush on geeky Aaron (Dave Annable). We listen to Aaron predicting that Wham! will be bigger than the Beatles, and we also learn that Aaron has a crush on sex goddess Jenna (Amanda Righetti), who often treats him like dirt.

Do we care? No.

The characters are so cloistered in their TV-fake world of self-absorption that nobody seems to really care that the car crash killed a human being. Someone was left dead on the highway.

As a result, “Reunion” never feels like life as experienced by real teens. It fails as storytelling when it's set in 1986, and it fails in the present. We have a dead body, one of six friends, but it doesn't really matter much who the victim was, or why that person was murdered. Because as characters, all the characters of “Reunion” are dead.

(After a holiday weekend delay) last week’s network prime-time ratings have been posted near the top of Latest News the first item in this thread.

Habla Espanol? Si
ABC Translates Prime Time Into Spanish

By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable

For the first time, ABC's entire prime time lineup will also be available in Spanish starting with the start of the fall season Sept. 19. ABC says it will be the first English-language network to deliver all its prime in Spanish.

Hit dramas Desperate Housewives and Lost will be dubbed in Spanish, and new sitcom Freddie (joining George Lopez, which has been dubbed since it launched in 2001), with the rest of the shows closed-captioned.

“We wanted to move beyond toe-dipping and really dive in,” said Mr. McPherson. “Almost half of the 41 million Hispanics in this country watch only or mostly Spanish language television, and we want to bring that audience to ABC.”

Toe-dipping has constituted Lopez, theatricals, and last year's Oscars.

The network will likely migrate more of the closed-captioned shows to dubbing.

The net is said to have tested Desperate Housewives and Lost with predominately Spanish-speaking audiences in L. A. and Miami, where they tested through the roof. Both are big hits internationally as well as domestically.

From the NY Times

CBS Botched Handoff When Match Ran Late

By RICHARD SANDOMIR
Published: September 9, 2005

Early in the fifth set of the Andre Agassi-James Blake match at the United States Open, the USA Network's Ted Robinson told viewers of the imminent switch to CBS. The witching hour was 12:37 yesterday morning, just as David Letterman was bidding adieu and as CBS's scheduled highlights program was to begin.

CBS rejected USA's request to continue to show the match, as it has the right to under its contract to carry the Open. But tennis viewers were not the winners.

The Agassi-Blake quarterfinal was widely anticipated, but it started at 10:16 p.m., a ridiculous time to start any major sports event, far later than Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association have ever started postseason games. But the day session ended late, and the first match of the evening session, Elena Dementieva's victory over Lindsay Davenport, lasted until 9:57 p.m.

What other sport's commissioner would let this happen? The United States Tennis Association schedules as many matches as it can in Arthur Ashe Stadium - as part of a balancing act to please spectators and its TV partners - rather than its sister building, Louis Armstrong Stadium.

But when matches run long, there is no option but to wait well beyond a decent starting time. A solution, which could cause some fan dislocation, is to make tough decisions that ensure that the early evening match starts at 7 p.m. Eastern time in Louis Armstrong Stadium and the marquee match start no later than 9 o'clock in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Under that scenario Wednesday night, there would have been a 17-minute overlap from the three-set Dementieva-Davenport match to the Agassi-Blake match; USA could have juggled both for a while, and been off the air by midnight.

The U.S.T.A.'s schedule Wednesday night said that Agassi-Blake would start no earlier than 9:15, which is no way to schedule or promote a match.

But the tennis association wouldn't - and didn't - do it another way. "We decided both quarterfinals should be in Ashe, as we have before," said David Newman, the U.S.T.A.'s managing director of marketing and communications. "Both delivered on drama. They're top names and both matches were epics." He added, "There's no predictability in tennis. Tennis has no time limits."

But better planning could have kept viewers from dozing during the epics. By the time CBS enforced its rights at 12:37 a.m., fans had invested more than two hours with USA watching Blake look unbeatable in the first two sets and Agassi stage a comeback in the next two. Robinson and John McEnroe were in a rhythm.

So at 2-2, not the time for a natural break or a network switch, CBS took possession. But before giving us tennis, it showed a taped, 15-second promo for CBS's "Late Late Show" starring its host, Craig Ferguson - and who embodies tennis in America more than he? - which is delayed during the Open.

LeslieAnne Wade, a spokeswoman for CBS Sports, said the Ferguson promo acted as a built-in, unavoidable cue that synchronized its stations back into a network following a local break. But in the service of promoting Ferguson, CBS missed a point. A better planned station I.D. could have been 5, not 15 seconds.

The cleanest transition would have been no transition at all - for CBS to have let USA continue its feed, or to take the USA feed and let the networks simulcast. But CBS isn't paying $30 million to carry another network's coverage. "We have to protect our affiliates," Wade said.

The inelegant transfer to CBS also led to a lesser broadcast, leaving USA's Robinson-McEnroe team, which was working from the Ashe Stadium booth, for CBS's Ian Eagle and Patrick McEnroe, who were faced with calling the match from a studio monitor inside the stadium.

Then came another disservice to viewers. Robinson promised that West Coast viewers would be able to continue watching USA's live coverage. But satellite dish customers watching USA on DirecTV or the Dish Network have access only to USA's East Coast feed, which left the Open for "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," so USA's satellite viewers out west were deprived of the last 32 minutes of the match.

"We're working on a fail-safe solution to be sure this doesn't happen again," said Robert Mercer, a DirecTV spoksman.

Channel capacity at DirecTV and Dish could have precluded adding USA's West Coast feed; with foresight, they might have planned for such a contingency, even if doing so satisfied a modest number of customers for a brief period of time. But Steve Caulk, a spokesman for Dish, said that, theoretically, it could have been done.

The lateness of the Agassi-Blake match surprised the programming department at WISH-TV, CBS's affiliate in Indianapolis, which is in the Eastern time zone but not on daylight savings time. It did not receive word that CBS would be carrying tennis live after a reluctant handoff from USA, so it carried Letterman's "Late Show," then televised the rest of the match on a one-hour tape-delay.

The best solution was still the one CBS rejected: let USA do what it wanted.

"J.D. of Rock Star: INXS tells viewers what to do"

I'm sure we'll all be hearing about this one in a few days, if anyone ever notices it that is. Took me a few seconds to see it:

http://www.tvsquad.com/2005/09/08/j-d-of-rock-star-inxs-tells-viewers-what-to-do/

Thursday’s network prime-time ratings have posted at the top of Latest News the first item in this thread.

Whom ever wrote the line in the article in the first post of this thread about Mischa Barton's acting was totally wrong! :) To paraphase, She's still as wooden as ever"! Too much! :p I thought she did a good job last night, but that's just me.

Turn off the sound and she get's MUCH better!

DirecTV Presentations

Both of these will be available via webcast at DirecTV.com. Some believe that word on upcoming HD strategy and plans as well as MPEG4 rollout schedules may be revealed.

The DIRECTV Group, Inc. at Merrill Lynch Media and Entertainment Conference (Live)
09/13/2005 at 11:10 a.m. PT

The DIRECTV Group, Inc. at Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research Communacopia XIV Conference (Live) 09/21/2005 at 1:20 p.m. ET

I sure hope they say something at one of those places.

But when confronted with a chance to tell their custom-install partners something of value, they were about as chatty as Calvin Coolidge.

TV SEASON PREVIEWS
“The War At Home”
Neither the Parents Nor the Kids Are All Right

By ALESSANDRA STANLEY The New York Times

Fox is good at finding the bad in people. "The Simpsons," "Malcolm in the Middle" and "Arrested Development" celebrate narcissists and neurotics without any need to reform them. Even "Married ... With Children," a far more old-fashioned and predictable Fox sitcom, had enough bile and bitterness to overcome the fatigue of the genre.

"The War at Home" is a lot like "Married," and not enough like "The Simpsons" and "Arrested Development," but it still has some bite. In an era when middle-class children are coddled, medicated and watched over like plutonium, there is still some satisfaction in seeing parents belittle and neglect their offspring. Roseanne Barr was great at it, and nobody has really filled her shoes since.

Michael Rapaport plays Dave, the ill-tempered, intolerant father of three children who give their parents no reason to be proud. He thinks his 16-year-old daughter, Hillary (Kaylee DeFer), is a sex-obsessed underachiever; he suspects his middle son, Larry (Kyle Sullivan), is gay; and he has no time at all for the youngest boy, Mike (Dean Collins), who is weird without being interesting.

He is married to Vicky (Anita Barone), a more cheerful, easygoing parent, who shares some of her husband's indifference but in a more jaunty, mocking way. Ms. Barone is the show's ace in the hole: a funny, bawdy actress who is charmingly offhand as a mother. In the pilot, Dave finds Vicky smoking indolently in the garage in her work clothes, unwilling to let her children know she is home. When he complains about her smoking, she counters that she doesn't object to his pornography collection. "The truth is, the porn doesn't really bother me," she confides with a sly smile to the camera in a monologue. "Frankly, it leaves me one less thing to do around here."

Dave also leaves the scene occasionally to deliver a hate-based monologue. Bemoaning how the two-career family has eroded male sovereignty in the home, he says: "Nobody's in charge. It's a mess. You know who I blame?" He picks up a picture of Mary Tyler Moore. "She was television's first career gal. She gave women hopes, dreams and aspirations." He pauses, then adds, "The bitch."

Dave gives vent to all the modern biases sitcoms use for easy laughs. He won't let Hillary date a college boy and is then appalled when she brings home a rapper classmate. Hillary is not quite as wild as she appears. In her monologue, she explains that she is a "technical virgin." Or as she puts it: "Could I be sacrificed to a volcano? Yes. Would I be the first choice to save the village? Probably not." Dave constantly needles Larry about his indeterminate sexuality, and the boy does spend a lot of time in his room trying on women's clothes. (He has his reasons.)

Dave is supposed to be an endearing bigot, but the show does not really aspire to Archie Bunker-style social satire. What makes Dave entertaining - and more amusing than the rather trite racist and homophobic jokes - is how quickly he accepts his children's choices as inevitable. Despite all his nostalgia for his father's era of not sparing the rod or the Scotches before dinner, contemporary mores have sunk into even him. A gay son is just another thing to get used to, like a creaky step on the staircase or a demanding boss at work. Not all the jokes are funny, but the characters are winningly unlovable.

Sitcoms are hard work, these days. Except for "My Name Is Earl" on NBC, there are few new approaches or genuinely funny conceits. Fox tried something new with "Arrested Development" two years ago and won critical acclaim but very few viewers. The network, commendably, has kept it on the air, hoping it will catch on with a broader audience. "The War at Home" is not innovative exactly, but it has a spark that most new sitcoms on other networks lack.

For NFL fans, highest-tech - at a price
The NFL Sunday Ticket package is the reason many football fanatics subscribe to DirecTV.

By Don Steinberg Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer

DirecTV's new NFL SuperFan package is a football nut's sugar-coated dream - and Comcast's scariest nightmare. It's the answer to the question, "What if you could invent a way to watch every football game every Sunday?" as answered by an 11-year-old who just visited Willy Wonka's candy factory.

With the ability to show eight live NFL games at a time on one screen, interactive statistical feeds, condensed-game replays, and assorted other mouthwatering overkill, it's the one thing the satellite-TV guys can offer that even the sports-crazy cable company can't.

That's because DirecTV left mouths hanging open last fall when it agreed to pay the NFL $700 million a year to keep exclusive rights to televise every Sunday NFL game. The NFL Sunday Ticket package is the reason many football fanatics subscribe to DirecTV instead of cable, so it brings in big money to Rupert Murdoch's empire, but - still - $3.5 billion over five years seems like a lot of money.

Now DirecTV is passing along the fruits of that ridiculous deal - and some of the ridiculous expense - to you, the football-obsessed consumer.

Any review of SuperFan has to start with the Game Mix channel, which puts live video of eight games at a time on one screen. It's like walking into a network control room somewhere, or into the secret bunker where commissioner Paul Tagliabue hides in case of emergency. This channel could serve as a food substitute for the serious football fan.

Using the remote, you can highlight any small box of video to select the game you want to hear the audio from, and you can blow up any game to full-screen by selecting it. You don't need a special TV set for this.

There also is a Red Zone Channel, which stays full-screen all the time, continually switching to the game where the most exciting stuff is about to happen.

An Enhanced Games element brings Internet features to TV, pulling up real-time statistics about the game being watched, or any other game, while the TV picture remains visible. There are game highlights "on demand," which aren't as extensive as those offered on digital cable systems, and also something called Short Cuts - condensed, commercial-free versions of games showing only the action. They take closer to 30 minutes than 60 (so you can watch more games).

All this filthy lucre will cost you. The Sunday Ticket package alone costs $239 for the season, with SuperFan an additional $99. Certain interactive features, like being able to navigate among eight games on one screen, require a special interactive receiver box, which costs $49 for each room you want one in.

And you need to subscribe to DirecTV (for CNN, MTV, all that other stuff) as table stakes to even get in the game. The entry-level package is Total Choice, 135 channels for $41.99 a month. There are special introductory deals, but ultimately, if you want to travel in style, you have to pay for the gas.

There is one downside, which, for people truly dedicated to unhealthy levels of football obsession, is not the price. The $99 SuperFan package includes 100 games in high definition and has become the only way to get high definition games with Sunday Ticket. Last year, they were available for no extra charge. (You don't need this package to watch national Fox broadcasts of Eagles games in HD.)

Moreover, DirecTV hasn't figured out how to make interactive receivers that also receive high-definition TV. So right now you would need two separate receivers, one for HD and one for interactive, attached separately to one TV, or to two separate TVs, to enjoy the highest picture quality and also interact digitally with the telecasts in 21st-century fashion.

Still, this is the technology men have dreamed about. It's a giant leap for mankind. Finally, after all those years of the American space program putting satellites into orbit, we're getting something back.

TV SEASON PREVIEWS
“The War At Home”
It's Time To Fumigate The House

By Tom Shales Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, September 10, 2005; C01

In "The War at Home," an unconscionably smutty new sitcom from Fox, a supposedly typical American father named Dave speaks directly into the camera at various intervals to comment on the action. Example: After introducing us to his wife, Dave asks, "Did you check out the rack? Nice, huh?"

Addressing himself to any boys who might at some future point find themselves dating his teenage daughter, Dave brandishes a simple threat: castration.

Such is the tenor of what's deemed proper Sunday night fare on the Fox network (Channel 5), where "The War at Home" premieres tomorrow night at 8:30. Fox's long-running hit "Married . . . With Children" aired on Sunday nights too, so an evening that once was a showcase for decent family fare has long since been tainted by Fox droppings. It's barely worth mourning now, and since "War" is intended as a "Married" for the 21st century, it naturally features filthier filth than its predecessor.

Michael Rapaport is the once-likable actor who, apparently having decided it's a waste of time waiting around for a good script or a respectable vehicle, accepted the starring role of Dave, a persistently mewling dirty-minded reactionary. In his opening monologue to the camera, Dave complains that his own father "had no idea how easy he had it" and that today's generation of parents "has no idea how this marriage and family thing really works."

Rob Lotterstein, who created and produced this show, has no idea what constitutes good comedy -- or, if he does, has taken a solemn oath to avoid committing it to tape.

Blabby ol' Dave, still talking about the American family, continues his rant -- "No one's in charge. It's all a big mess" -- inadvertently sounding like a critic of FEMA or some other embattled bureaucracy. Entertainment Weekly, meanwhile, has astutely noted the insensitivity of launching a series called "The War at Home" on the anniversary of 9/11, dawn of the age of terrorism. At Fox, though, insensitivity is a way of life. It's a given, a tradition, a byword. It's probably tattooed on Rupert Murdoch's fanny.

Much of the pilot deals with two of Dave's recurrent worries: one, that his daughter is dating African American men (his ugly racism is supposed to be cute, apparently) and the other that his fat-faced son Larry might be gay. Cut to a shot of Larry standing in front of a mirror in a long blond wig and red blouse singing along to "I Feel Pretty" from "West Side Story."

As it evolves, Larry is not gay, merely disguising himself as his mother so as to drive her car. What he really wants, he tells his best friend, is to impress girls and change his status from yearning virgin to "well-oiled sex machine." But if he goes to jail for underage driving, his friend warns, he could become a "well-oiled sex machine" of a different nature.

This isn't sick comedy, it's just sickening. Indeed, though the TV season won't start for a week, "The War at Home" stands a good chance of being the worst of all the new sitcoms. The problem is not just that it's crude and gross, but that its crudeness and grossness are so pathetically forced and contrived. Its vulgarity has no integrity.

All the characters are vile in spirit and objectionable in essence, though Anita Barone, as Dave's wife, tries to toss off her lines with something approaching a chipper glibness. Even though the show is farce, it's impossible to imagine this slightly savvy fun-lover would have married a lummox as loathsome as Dave.

During a discussion of daughter Hillary's possible African American boyfriends, Dave asks his wife if she ever dated a black man and is repulsed when she says yes. Is there any way to find this "funny"? Soon Dave has launched himself into an embarrassing discussion of rumors about African American men and their sensuality. "Is it true what they say about black men?" he asks his wife. "Because in the locker room, they're not exactly walking around in full potential."

Are today's American parents really comfortable sitting in front of a TV set and explaining jokes like that to their children? If so, we're in a lot more trouble than even Dave, in his imbecilic running commentary, would indicate.

If the season ahead has many shows as aggressively wretched as this lame loser, then the TV critics of the nation will have to demand substantial raises -- or full-time psychiatric care. Or transfer to the protective solace of, say, the gardening column or hints a la Heloise.

When teenage Hillary screams at her father "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you," she's not just stating a thoroughly logical opinion, she's expressing what any civilized viewer has to be feeling toward "The War at Home."

Friday’s network prime-time ratings have posted at the top of Latest News the first item in this thread.

TV SEASON PREVIEWS
'The War at Home'
FOX's latest sitcom -- surrenders to mediocrity

By MELANIE MCFARLAND SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER TELEVISION CRITIC Saturday, September 10, 2005

Those mourning the death of sitcoms last year may have already heard the proclamation that at last, we have clear, undeniable signs that the ailing half-hour genre is showing signs of a rebound.

It's important to mention that up front, because if you catch "The War At Home," premiering at 8:30 p.m. Sunday on KCPQ/13, you may wonder if the nation's television critics haven't all suddenly succumbed to our long collective battle with dementia, or seeking comfort, turned to crack.

No, no, no. I assure you, there are several gut-busting gems of hilarity on the fall television schedule, which we will run down for you next week.

"The War At Home" is not among them.

Understand, Fox has a habit of always trying to return to the show that put it on the map almost 20 years ago -- "Married... With Children," to be specific. Actually, "War" might have been mated beautifully with the Bundys in 1987. But that was then, and this is awful.

By the way, note the title, then the premiere date. Sept. 11.

Awkward.

"War" is another lame attempt at Fox to make family comedy edgy! And, irreverent! This time, we get Dave (Michael Rapaport) and Vicky (Anita Barone) freaking out about their teenage kids. Rebellious 16-year-old daughter Hillary (Kaylee DeFer) is, gasp, dating a black kid. Dave fears 15-year-old Larry (Kyle Sullivan) might be, oh dear, gay. That makes their videogame addicted 13-year-old (Dean Collins) the least of their problems.

Dave fumes about his trials in confessional asides taking place outside the action, which are supposed to be unfiltered and revelatory, spiced with the sort of made-for-TV prejudice that can be dismissed as un-P.C.

Funny?

The writers seem to have forgotten about that.

What's more tragic is that "The War at Home" joins "King of the Hill," "The Simpsons," "Family Guy" and "American Dad" on Fox's Sunday block. That means Rapaport's character is surrounded by four cartoon dads who come off as more appealing, entertaining and, if you're talking about Hank Hill, relatable -- and multidimensional -- than Dave does. "War's" a losing battle; Fox should just stick with its 'toons.

Emmy, she hopes, on 18th try
Angela Lansbury has played an important part in the history of TV but has never won that award

Hal Boedeker Orlando Sentinel Television Critic September 10, 2005

One of the most intriguing Emmy contests will be decided Sunday, a week before the live televised ceremony. Can Angela Lansbury, on her 18th try, finally win TV's highest prize?

The Murder, She Wrote veteran has become prime time's equivalent of Susan Lucci, the All My Children star who received a Daytime Emmy on her 19th attempt.

This time around, Lansbury is nominated for playing the affluent, overbearing mother of a rape suspect (Alfred Molina) in a plot that started on NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and concluded on Law & Order: Trial by Jury.

Law & Order creator Dick Wolf relishes the chance to help Lansbury win.

"I think it would be fabulous -- and what should I say? -- the least the academy could do," Wolf says. He adds that Lansbury's run as sleuth Jessica Fletcher makes her "probably the most important television actress in history."

Emmy expert Tom O'Neil says Lansbury probably won't have a chance to deliver an acceptance speech.

"Emmy's biggest loser will lose this year to Emmy's biggest winner," says O'Neil, who hosts the Web site Gold Derby.com. "She'll probably be beaten by Cloris Leachman, who's nominated for playing a grumpy old aunt on Joan of Arcadia."

Leachman has received eight Emmys in her career and is in the running for a comedy prize this year as well for Malcolm in the Middle. Both categories will be announced Sunday in a ceremony where 61 prizes will be presented. Viewers can see those contests in a two-hour special at 8 p.m. Sept. 17 on E! Entertainment Television. Results in 27 other categories will be announced live Sept. 18 on CBS.

In Lansbury's category this year, O'Neil says, Jill Clayburgh is another strong contender for playing a matron whose liposuction has disastrous consequences on FX's Nip/Tuck. The other nominees are Swoosie Kurtz for Showtime's Huff and Amanda Plummer for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Lansbury has a chance, O'Neil adds, but her performance is reminiscent of the scary mother she played in the 1962 film The Manchurian Candidate. Film buffs cite that as her peak in movie acting, but Lansbury lost the Oscar to Patty Duke of The Miracle Worker.

Lansbury, who is 79, has won four Tonys for Broadway musicals, such as Mame and Sweeney Todd. She has been nominated three times for the supporting-actress Oscar, but never won.

Her 17 previous Emmy nominations break down this way: 12 for Murder, She Wrote, two for variety performances on Tony ceremonies, one for her musical work in a telecast of Sweeney Todd and two for drama specials Little Gloria . . . Happy at Last and The Blackwater Lightship.

Last year, at a Los Angeles party, she discussed her Emmy losses. "What it proved to me is that the people in Hollywood never estimated the success of Murder, She Wrote," she said. "All of America watched it. No one in this town did."

Her Emmy history underscores the irony of prizes. Everyone acknowledges that Lansbury is one of the most talented actresses in Hollywood's history, but the Emmy categories have never broken her way. The awards frequently don't reflect the most valuable, enjoyable and durable work.

DVR Threat Gets Downgraded
Nielsen, ad groups study impact of digital video recorders
By Joe Mandese Broadcasting & Cable, 9/12/2005

Madison Avenue can breathe easy, at least for a while. New research suggests that the overall impact of digital video recorders (DVRs) may not be as bad as everyone thinks.

That seems to be the takeaway from separate studies that have quietly been circulating from Nielsen, a major media buyer and the ad industry’s leading trade groups. Their major shortcoming is that they are still largely guesswork, based on scenarios derived from crude data and assumptions about how people use DVRs.

For example, even Nielsen doesn’t know what the current penetration of DVRs actually is. In a massive report issued Aug. 31 to help major advertisers, agencies and networks prepare for the introduction of DVR households into its national TV ratings sample in January, the ratings giant estimates that the technology will be available in 8%-12% of U.S. TV households. It estimates that penetration will be 12%-24% by 2007.

Slower Growth Than Predicted

Last week, big media-buying shop Magna Global USA issued a similar report suggesting that the rate of DVR penetration has actually begun to ebb from earlier projections. The report, an update to a quarterly tracking study, forecast that DVRs will likely grow to represent only about a third of U.S. TV homes, about the same as the pay-TV universe.

“New data points suggest DVRs will not grow as fast as widely anticipated,” concludes the report, noting that only a small percentage of satellite- and cable-TV subscribers are signing up for DVR services and that the rates are beginning to moderate for major operators.

Early DVR adopters tend to be heavy subscribers of pay-TV services, something that could impact audience shares when Nielsen begins factoring them back into its national ratings sample in January. To date, Nielsen has been excluding DVR owners as part of a subset of “technically difficult” households it was unable to measure until this year, when it began installing TV meters capable of measuring digital platforms like DVRs and video-on-demand. Because it has been withholding those homes, some believe that ratings for pay-TV services have been artificially suppressed. Nobody on Madison Avenue complained about this because they don’t buy ads on pay-TV channels anyway.

But when Nielsen begins adding DVR homes back into the national ratings, some believe, it could trigger a ricochet effect, with pay-TV audience shares surging and commercial channels eroding. But Nielsen appears to have a solution.

In addition to the pay-TV–centric DVR homes it will be adding into the sample, Nielsen told its customers, it will add a corresponding number of “replacement homes”: DVR homes that are lower users of pay-TV services than the early DVR adopters.

Under its current plan, between 180 and 200 DVR households will be introduced back into the national sample each month for the first six months of 2006, with 125 DVR households added each month for the remaining six. Nielsen has not indicated what percentage of its sample will be ultimately represented by DVR homes.

One thing is clear from the way Nielsen is adding the homes back into its sample: The impact on national TV ratings will be gradual and moderate. “In short, the results suggest that the likely effect on viewing in 2006 will be small,” Nielsen says. But dig beneath the surface, and big changes may be in store for some people on the fringe of the ratings. The study suggests that cable networks and network fringe dayparts could be particularly impacted.

The Effect on Commercial Ratings

According to Nielsen’s scenario for July 2006 ratings, the effect of “live” plus playback-DVR ratings on some dayparts and genres is enough to give media planners pause. While the overall impact on TV ratings will be a 0.5% increase over July 2005 ratings, some dayparts will rise considerably above that. Those for early-morning broadcast TV, for example, will jump 1.5%. Household ratings for movies will jump 3.4%. On the opposite end of the spectrum, ratings for “music” programming—a genre that covers CMT, Fuse and MTV2—will decline 2.9%.

Of course, the Nielsen calculations do not address an even more insidious concern for Madison Avenue: the effect of DVR viewing on commercial ratings. Nielsen’s report does not address this, but a study also released on Aug. 31 by the American Association of Advertising Agencies and the Association of National Advertisers suggests that the overall difference between program and commercial ratings is worth a second look.

“Overall, about 5% of the reported audience to a program is lost at the time of national commercial positions,” the report says. While the ad associations do not consider that an alarming figure, probably not enough to significantly alter media-planning and -buying patterns, they note that the study was based on relatively crude Nielsen data: only 60-second ratings intervals for cable networks and syndicated TV shows, 30-second ratings intervals for the broadcast networks.

Most important, the study is based on 2004 data, before Nielsen adds DVRs back into its national ratings sample.

Niche Networks

Still, the report reveals some interesting patterns among networks, especially niche cable networks: “Some of the differences call for further investigation.”

As an example, it points out that Hallmark and TV Land lose the least of their 18-49 audiences at commercials, with less than a five-point drop. MTV viewers, the report says, are the most likely to switch out, causing drops of at least 15% in all studied demos. And, in total day, Fox News exhibited about half the drop-off of CNN.

Perry Lafferty, 87; Executive Behind Many TV Classics

By Valerie J. Nelson Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

Perry Lafferty, a network executive whose reputation in the television industry was as stellar as the landmark CBS shows that he brought to the small screen in the 1970s, including "All in the Family" and "MASH," has died. He was 87.

Lafferty died of prostate cancer Aug. 25 at his home in Century City, his family said.

His peers considered him almost the last of a breed, a network executive who came up through the ranks, beginning in radio show production before moving to TV to produce early drama anthologies.

"Perry was a hip father confessor who wasn't looking down from the mount," said Larry Gelbart, who co-created "MASH" and wrote many episodes of the Korean War comedy that aired on CBS from 1972 to 1983.

"You could say the network was beating up on you, and he acted as a very benign and positive kind of chief justice," Gelbart said.

Lafferty was "as good an executive as I've ever worked with," said Fred Silverman, who was in charge of entertainment programming at CBS and president of NBC when Lafferty worked at those networks. "He had great taste, good instincts and a sense of humor."

During Lafferty's 11-year reign as head of West Coast programming at CBS, he brought "quite a lineup" to the air, Silverman said, including such early 1970s series as "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "The Waltons" and "Maude." The network was consistently No. 1 in the ratings.

Putting the groundbreaking "All in the Family" on CBS in 1971 — a comedy unafraid of dealing with such issues as racism or drugs head-on — "was like putting a toe in the water to see how far we could go," Lafferty told Newsday in 2000.

In 1979, he went to NBC as a senior vice president of West Coast programs and talent. During the early 1980s, he was in charge of the network's movies and miniseries.

"He was that unique individual who was a great executive," Silverman said. "He believed in hiring good people and letting them do their thing."

At NBC, Lafferty's proudest achievement was "An Early Frost," a 1985 Emmy-winning TV movie that he developed and produced.

It tells the fictional story of a small-town couple's discovery that their son, played by Aidan Quinn, is dying of AIDS.

In the early days of the AIDS epidemic, TV executives deemed middle-class heterosexual America unready for dramas that confronted AIDS, Lafferty told The Times in 1991.

The syndrome had been the focus of only a couple of television shows, including a 1983 "St. Elsewhere" episode on NBC. "An Early Frost" went through 13 rewrites before it finally won approval from the NBC standards and practices department.

"It took a long time to get a script that wasn't a lecture on AIDS," Lafferty said.

The story reminded him "of the good stuff we used to do in the '50s — no car chases, no guns, no knives; just people relating to each other."

Perry Francis Lafferty was born Oct. 3, 1917, in Davenport, Iowa, and given his mother's last name, Perry, as his first.

As a child, Lafferty listened to the radio for the music — he was a proficient piano player by age 9 — but began tuning in for the live soap operas and dramas.

He earned a certificate in music in 1938 from Yale University, with an emphasis in Gershwin and Bach, his son said.

After heading to New York City to work in radio, Lafferty married Fran Carden, a radio actress, in 1943.

During World War II, he served in the U.S. Army Air Forces and produced live performances and radio shows for the troops.

When television arrived, he produced and directed such dramatic anthologies as "Studio One" for CBS and "Robert Montgomery Presents" for NBC.

After producing variety series for Arthur Godfrey and Andy Williams, he produced "The Danny Kaye Show," an Emmy-winning series that premiered in 1963 and got him hired in programming at CBS.

"In a world that operates at least 50% on fear, he was very confident," Gelbart recalled. "He had the strength of his convictions, and yours."

In "Smothered: The Censorship Struggles of 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,' " a documentary that aired on Bravo in 2002, Lafferty confronted the controversy that dogged the irreverent variety show, which was topical and sometimes in bad taste.

Of its fights with the censors, Lafferty recalled telling Tom Smothers, "The harder you push, the harder [CBS is going to] push back — and they're bigger than you are." CBS abruptly canceled the show in 1969, and ABC picked it up for the summer of 1970.

After retiring from television, Lafferty began writing mystery novels, including "Jablonski of L.A." (1991), the first of three whodunits that featured retired FBI agent Jack Jablonski, and an aviation thriller, "The Downing of Flight Six Heavy" (1992), which drew on Lafferty's experience as a pilot.

It was "no surprise," the Associated Press review said, that the 1991 book read much like a TV movie.

Lafferty's wife of 56 years died in 1999. His son, Steven, of Pacific Palisades is an agent at Creative Artists Agency, and his daughter, Marcy, is an actress-writer-producer who lives in Lexington, Ky. Lafferty is also survived by two grandchildren.

TV PREVIEW
TV docudrama captures horror, courage of 9/11 flight

By ERIC ROSENBERG Hearst Newspapers

Four years after the terrorist strikes of Sept. 11, 2001, the Discovery Channel will air "The Flight That Fought Back," a 90-minute program — part documentary, part dramatization — about United Airlines Flight 93, the passenger jet that crashed in rural Pennsylvania after passengers attempted to regain control from Arab hijackers.

This is the flight that generated the "let's roll" battle cry as passengers rushed the cockpit to reclaim the aircraft.

The program, which airs Sunday night at 9 PM ET/PT is a gripping depiction of one piece of the horrifying events of that beautiful autumn day, which dawned sunny and crisp and ended with the deaths of so many innocents.

"The Flight That Fought Back" sticks closely to the known facts, an attribute that may be lacking on some of the other Hollywood 9/11 offerings expected soon, including one directed by the factually-challenged Oliver Stone.

Most of the script relies on the report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, commonly known as the Sept. 11 commission, and interviews with the victims' family members, many of whom were in communication with passengers via the aircraft's onboard phones or cell phones.

When the program engages in conjecture — for example, about what specific roles passengers might have taken in fighting the hijackers — narrator Kiefer Sutherland lets you know that he's speculating.

"The Flight That Fought Back" works so well because it speaks quietly — Sutherland delivers the voice-over in a calm monotone — allowing the volume of the horror to emerge from the facts and the predicament faced by the 33 passengers and seven crewmembers aboard the Boeing 757 bound from Newark, N.J., to San Francisco.

Because it doesn't use Hollywood stars during the dramatized segments, there is a certain everyman quality that allows viewers to have greater empathy with the struggling passengers and crew.

Investigators believe that Flight 93 was to have been the crowning glory for the Saudi and Egyptian hijackers who were members of al-Qaida, the Islamic terrorist organization headed by Osama Bin Laden, scion to a wealthy Saudi family.

Where two other hijacked flights that day took down the World Trade Center and another destroyed a huge segment of the Pentagon, investigators believe the hijackers planned to fly Flight 93 into the U.S. Capitol or the White House.

The hijackers might have succeeded had not Flight 93 been delayed by 27 minutes in taking off from Newark because of heavy morning rush-hour air traffic.

The flight was scheduled to push back from the gate at 8 a.m. and take off by 8:15 a.m. but it didn't take off until 8:42 a.m., just about 4 minutes before the first airliner hit the World Trade Center. At around 9:03 a.m., the second passenger jet slammed into the World Trade Center.

Flight 93's first clue that there was something terribly wrong came shortly after 9:23 a.m. when a United Airlines dispatcher sent a text message warning the pilots.

"Beware any cockpit intrusion — two a/c hit the World Trade Center," the message read, which was received by pilot Jason Dahl.

Minutes later, as the jet cruised at 35,000 feet over eastern Ohio, at least three of the four hijackers donned red bandanas and forced themselves into the cockpit. The plane suddenly descended 700 feet as Dahl and First Officer Leroy Homer apparently struggled with the hijackers.

Either Dahl or Homer managed to transmit a "Mayday" radio distress call as the sounds of struggle also were recorded on the transmission. Some 35 seconds later, there is another transmission from the cockpit, with either Homer or Dahl yelling, "Hey, get out of here. Get out of here."

By 9:32 a.m., the plane is under the control of the hijackers. At this point, Dahl and Homer are either dead — the result of stab wounds — or otherwise incapacitated.

The hijacker pilot attempts to make an announcement to the passengers. "Ladies and gentlemen. Here the captain. Please sit down, keep remaining sitting. We have a bomb on board. So sit," he says, programming the plane to turn around and head east.

It is unclear whether the hijacker pressed the correct button to transmit over the intercom to the passengers, but his voice was captured by the cockpit recorder, later recovered.

According to passengers who made telephone calls to the ground, the hijackers kill an elderly passenger, apparently to heighten the psychological terror. They then chase the others into the rear of the jet.

At this point, passengers begin making telephone calls to friends, loved ones and colleagues. At least 10 passengers and two crew members make calls, describing the hijacking as it unfolded.

But they also learn crucial information about the flights that have slammed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The passengers figure out that the hijackers on their plane are planning a similar suicide mission and that they must either fight or face certain death.

At least five calls from the plane describe the intent of passengers to take back the plane. During one call, a passenger says they had voted to make the effort.

The program is at its best when capturing the desperation, the long odds of survival and the claustrophobia of facing death in an aluminum tube hurtling over 500 miles per hour. It also does a fair job of examining the flip side of desperation — hope and how ordinary people when pressed can do extraordinary things.

In one exchange, an anxious passenger calls her stepmother, who calms her by performing deep breathing exercises with her and directing her to meditate on the blue sky and wisps of clouds outside the plane's window. The juxtaposition of the serenity of the scenery with the violence inside the plane and on that day is powerful.

The program goes into conjecture mode when explaining how the assault to reclaim the jet might have proceeded about 25 minutes after the terrorists took control. It shows passengers grabbing the food service cart, pots of hot water, fire extingusihers and silverware.

"Everyone's running up to first class," one passenger says on a call. "I've got to go. Bye."

The cockpit recorder captured the sounds of the service cart battering the cockpit door in what the 9/11 commission called a "sustained" assault.

In response, the hijackers roll the airplane side to side in an apparent effort to throw the attackers off balance, but the assault continued. Two minutes into the assualt, the hijackers then violently pitch the nose up and down sharply.

The hijackers stabilize the plane and then one asks another, "Is that it? Shall we finish it off?" Another responds, "No. Not yet. When they all come, we finish it off." The assault continues outside the cockpit and the hijackers again pitch the nose up and down.

The cockpit recorder picks up a passenger shouting: 'In the cockpit! If we don't, we'll die."

The recorder also hears a hijacker: "Allah is the greatest. Is that it? I mean, shall we put it down?"

"Yes. Put it down and pull it down," says another hijacker in the cockpit as the assault continued.

A little more than five minutes into the revolt, with the sounds of battering still ongoing, the aircraft rolled on its back and slammed into an empty field in Shanksville, Pa., traveling at 580 miles per hour, only about 20 minutes flying time from Washington, D.C.

The terrorists apparently chose to crash the plane well short of their intended target in Washington but achieved their goal of avoiding capture.

While the hijackers never lost control of the jet, the 9/11 commission concluded that they believed they were about to be overwhelmed by the insurrgent passengers. The panel credited the passengers and crew with thwarting an attack on the nation's capital.

Some family members who have viewed the program praised it as a fitting tribute to the courage of the passengers and crew. But some criticized it for focusing only on the handful of people who made phone calls to the ground.

"Overall, I liked it. But you wish that they would have put more in there about other people as well," said Ken Nacke of Baltimore, whose brother Louis Nacke II died on the flight.

TV SEASON PREVIEWS
Legends of the Fall?

The Washington Post Sunday, September 11, 2005; Y06

Family feuds, lawyers who long to be sane and mysterious aliens are just a few of the elements that pop up in this fall's new broadcast series. You'll spot famous faces from films, along with a spate of newcomers.
Six series start this week, one (CBS's "Threshold") with a two-hour debut.. Now, let the shows begin.

"The War at Home"
Sundays at 8:30 p.m. on Fox
The tagline you’ll never see: The return of Al Bundy.
The basics: Dave (Michael Rapaport) is mad at the world, and he blames it all on Mary Tyler Moore's character in the classic sitcom. As explained in an opening rant (one of several he delivers in the episode), that perky career girl is responsible for the breakdown of the American family. Take, for instance, his family. He gets along fine with his wife, Vicky (Anita Barone), but then there's his obnoxious 13-year-old son hyped up on hormones, 16-year-old daughter of questionable morals who refers to herself as a "technical virgin" and 15-year-old son Dad thinks is gay. Turns out he's not, but he does get a kick out of trying on Mom's clothes.
The lowdown: Fox conjures up the spirit of "Married . . . With Children," one of the network's first major hits, which centered on the extremely dysfunctional Bundy family and often crossed the line of good taste. Whether viewers will be attracted to a reincarnation of the obnoxious clan remains to be seen. Fox hopes the show will fit in with its Sunday night block, which includes "King of the Hill, "The Simpsons," "Family Guy" and "American Dad," all of which focus on families dealing with their own form of dysfunction.
Reality check: A few chuckles creep into this otherwise mean-spirited show where the insults fly fast and furious. In the pilot, daughter Hillary screams "I hate you!" to her parents not once, but twice. Rapaport, who's done some memorable work on the big screen, plays the Angry Dad character ably enough as he tries to balance his old-fashioned tendencies with his tolerance of modern-day realities. But, unfortunately, the writers too often resort to obvious jokes that keep the humor level below par.
(By John Maynard)

"Bones"
Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on Fox
The tagline you’ll never see: It's like "Angel" without the interesting characters, smart writing or intriguing plots.
The basics: Based on the novels of real life forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs, Temperance Brennan (Emily Deschan-el), aka Bones, is an expert who solves baffling murders using an unorthodox methodology. While cracking the cases, she exchanges suggestive playful banter with FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth (the newly buff David Boreanaz of "Angel" fame). The one-hour drama is set in the District at the Medico-Legal Lab of the fictitious Jeffersonian Institution. Funding must be pretty good, because Bones and her colleagues -- played by Michaela Conlin, Eric Millegan and T.J. Thyne -- have some pretty nifty high-tech toys at their disposal.
The lowdown: Between the ripped-from-the-headlines plots (first up, a missing woman accused of having an affair with a congressman) and the "CSI"-like investigation, "Bones" is a tad too familiar. It's great to see Boreanaz sinking his teeth into a new series, but it's too bad he chose this bland, uneven drama as his first post-"Angel" project. At least his character is better-developed than the rest of the gang's. Jonathan Adams ("American Dreams") is barely seen as boss Daniel Goodman. And it's never a good sign when the pilot fills time with three musical montages.
Reality check: Thanks to those desperate housewives, this is the year of the woman in TV. But the lackluster Deschanel fails to pop off the screen. She keeps saying she relates better to dead people; perhaps we should take her word for it and leave her alone?
(By Amy Amatangelo)

"Supernatural"
Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on WB
The tagline you’ll never see: Gloomy "Ghostbusters."
The basics: The Winchester brothers ain't afraid of no ghosts. They just hate them a whole lot, and with good reason. When they were still in short pants, Mom was swooped away in a ball of fire while pinned to the ceiling of their house -- a scene you have to see to believe in the opener. Along with Dad, the boys pursued Mom's assailant (whatever it was) and, in the meantime, picked up some skills that turned them into ghost-hunting pros. Younger brother Sam (Jared Padalecki) grew tired of the chase and gave college a try. That's where we find him in the first episode, when big brother Dean (Jensen Ackles) shows up with the news that Dad's gone missing.
The lowdown: "Supernatural" is the first of several new fall shows dealing with things that go bump in the night. Networks hope they can duplicate the success of "Lost," ABC's paranormal series that delivered both ratings and critical raves last season.
Reality check: Some genuine bone-chilling moments will make this series appealing to those who enjoy a good scare. Beware: There's also a good amount of gore that adds to the horror level. The brothers Winchester are likable enough and, this being a WB show, are extremely easy on the eyes. Some good one-liners, are thrown in, although they come across a bit snarky at times. Sounds kind of like those smart-alecky kids from Fox's "The O.C." -- which just happens to share an executive producer (McG) with "Supernatural."
(By John Maynard)

"Head Cases"
Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on Fox
The tagline you’ll never see: A quirky little search for sanity.
The basics: Jason Payne's sole focus is being a hot-shot lawyer in a big firm. So he's blindsided when his wife kicks him out of their posh digs, even though he's long neglected her and their 8-year-old son. He's so shocked, in fact, that he has a breakdown, landing in a mental institution for three months. When he's sprung, it's on the condition that he buddies up with Russell Shultz, an oddball lawyer in therapy to control his explosive outbursts. The two decide to practice law together with the aim of tackling some crazy cases, all while keeping each other sane.
The lowdown: "Head Cases" is one of four new shows up against ABC's powerhouse "Lost," and viewers who care more about the abnormal than the paranormal just might want to watch this Fox show. Its lead-in -- "Stacked," with Pamela Anderson -- isn't likely to deliver the right kind of viewer for this oddball hourlong drama. On the plus side, Chris O'Donnell, a big-screen actor best known for movies such as "Scent of a Woman" and "Batman & Robin," brings considerable star power to his take on the angst-ridden Payne.
Reality check: O'Donnell effectively plays the straight man to Adam Goldberg's ("Saving Private Ryan") quirky and eccentric Shultz. The pair have good on-camera chemistry and are convincing in their roles. But it's doubtful whether this solid show can survive in its tough time slot.
(By Debra Leithauser)

"Twins"
Fridays at 8:30 p.m. on WB
The tagline you’ll never see: Twice as bad.
The basics: Dad (Mark Linn-Baker) is the brains and Mom (Melanie Griffith) is the beauty behind a successful lingerie business that they are turning over to their twin daughters. The kids are proverbial chips off the old block, with Mitchee (Sara Gilbert) as the brainy underwear designer and Farrah (Molly Stanton) as the beautiful model -- featuring such outstanding products as the "Butt-Pucker."
The lowdown: "Twins" joins WB's Friday comedy lineup as the lead-in to "Reba," and perhaps the network is hoping Melanie Griffith's star power will get more viewers to tune in. David Kohan (who is a twin) and Max Mutchnick, who gave us the NBC hit "Will & Grace," created and executive-
produced "Twins."
Reality check: Speaking to critics about her character, Griffith said, "Hopefully I'll be able to show other sides besides just being blonde and dumb. There's a lot of blonde people in America." But unless the characters develop substantially beyond flat stereotypes, it remains to be seen whether there are a lot of dumb people also.
(By Judith S. Gillies)

"Threshold"
Fridays at 9 p.m. on CBS; special two-hour premiere this week
The tagline you’ll never see: "CSI: Jupiter."
The basics: When a mysterious extraterrestrial space craft attacks a Navy ship, it's war of the worlds, TV-style. Molly Anne Caffrey (Carla Gugino) assembles her hodgepodge team of social outcasts (um, experts) who have a knack with otherworldly phenomena. Molly lives alone with her dog and is prone to eating prepared meals. And she's the authority on worst-case scenarios; she just never thought one of her contingency plans would come to life. Not even her team of crackerjack whizzes can figure out what the aliens want and why they're busy altering human genetic material. Don't you hate it when that happens?
The lowdown: This is one of the better sci-fi shows cropping up this season. The cast, including Peter Dinklage ("The Station Agent"), Brent Spiner ("Star Trek: The Next Generation"), and Charles S. Dutton ("Roc"), is top-notch, and the pilot ends with a gasp-out-loud moment. Not since "The X-Files" has a freaky Friday show been this good.
Reality check: Molly's dream sequences are eerie, but did she really need to be running around in a revealing nightgown? Women dressed like that usually die on CBS's crime dramas.
(By Amy Amatangelo)

Returning Series:
Sunday
• 8: The Simpsons, Fox
• 9: Family Guy, Fox
• 9:30: American Dad, Fox
Monday
• 8: Wife Swap, ABC
Tuesday
• 8: The Biggest Loser, NBC
• 8: Gilmore Girls, WB
• 9: House, Fox
Thursday
• 8: Survivor: Guatemala, CBS
Friday
• 8: What I Like About You, WB
• 9: Reba, WB
• 9:30: Living With Fran, WB
Saturday
• 11: MADtv, Fox

Saturday’s network prime-time ratings have posted at the top of Latest News the second item in this thread.

Cable Launches Fall Must-Carry Offensive

By Ted Hearn Multichannel.com

Washington— In the weeks ahead, Congress is expected to put a formal end to analog TV, forcing broadcasters to rely solely on digital transmission, starting as soon as 2009.

While simple-sounding in the abstract, the effort to complete a digital transition, now in its eighth year, has triggered the most acrimonious policy dispute between cable and broadcasting since the run-up to passage of the 1992 Cable Act.

The two camps are at odds over carriage of DTV signals. When a TV station today elects mandatory cable carriage, the cable system is required to carry just one programming service per station. Over cable’s objections, broadcasters want the carriage requirement expanded to include as many free digital programming streams that can technologically fit within a 6-MHz channel.

“Our position has been that as a policy matter, forced carriage of multicasting signals is bad policy,” National Cable & Telecommunications Association president Kyle McSlarrow told reporters last week. “The marketplace is the best place to decide those issues.”

ALL-OUT BATTLE

The NCTA and the National Association of Broadcasters are going all out to win. Pointed ads have been running in Capitol Hill newspapers, tough-sounding e-mails have been flooding inboxes and executives from both sides have been buzzing congressional offices to ply influential lawmakers with their latest economic studies and legal analyses.

Last week, the NCTA released a report by the law firm Cooper & Kirk, alleging that multicast must-carry would not only violate First Amendment free speech protections, but also Fifth Amendment protections against the taking of private property without just compensation.

In 1997, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the constitutionality of analog must-carry under the First Amendment. Fifth Amendment issues were not featured in the 5-to-4 ruling.

How much might Congress have to pay cable for a multicast must-carry mandates found to violate the 5th Amendment? According to another NCTA-funded study, the high-end number is an astronomical $116 billion.

As the fight advances this fall, cable isn’t going to hold back, McSlarrow said, because broadcasters have made it abundantly clear that they are intent on substituting government for free-market negotiations.

“The NAB is one of the most powerful trade associations in this town,” McSlarrow said. “They are throwing everything they have at this issue.”

Digital technology has prompted broadcasters to press for new must-carry rules. Unlike an analog signal, a digital feed can be subdivided several times. Today, five or six digital services fit in the amount of space taken by a single analog signal.

That advancement gives local TV stations a chance to experiment in the multichannel world. Powerful TV stations, like the affiliates of ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox, have the clout to gain multicast cable carriage. The NAB’s lobbying effort is geared toward weak stations that rely on must-carry and have no hope of gaining cable carriage of more than one programming service. Small stations, the NAB has said, won’t roll out multicasting services unless they can reach the vast cable audience.

The NAB is urging Congress not to let cable’s sophisticated constitutional arguments cloud what’s really going on — namely, if cable can limit competition from local stations, it’s going to do just that.

“NCTA’s monopolistic plea for less competition and reduced program choice for consumers rings hollow. We’re optimistic that Congress will reject the call of the monopolist and embrace more choice for local television viewers,” said NAB spokesman Dennis Wharton.

Actually, cable says it has a fairness message that one doesn’t need to be Oliver Wendell Holmes to understand: Every TV station in the country has access to viewers through over-the-air transmission. Cable networks, by contrast, need to access viewers over pay-TV networks. Congress, the NCTA has said, should not allow TV stations to hog dozens of cable channels that could be used by cable networks to offer programming that subscribers actually want to buy.

“It is unfair to them to give the broadcasters more than what they have today, which is must carry of the primary stream,” McSlarrow said. “They can occupy 6 MHz of our spectrum. They can keep other competitive networks off that space. That’s what’s going on.”

McSlarrow also said that NCTA’s reliance on market forces wasn’t just rhetoric. Cable systems, he said, voluntarily carry more than 500 digital TV stations and more than 200 multicast streams supplied by 136 stations, 40% of which are public stations. The U.S. has 1,747 full-power commercial and public-TV stations.

DOWNCONVERSION CONCERNS

Multicasting isn’t cable’s only concern. McSlarrow wants to steer Congress away from banning the headend downconversion of digital signals to analog after the transition. Without downconversion, 60% of cable subscribers would need set-top boxes to view local TV signals on analog TVs.

Downconversion costs would be about $100 million. The set-top box solution carries a $10 billion price tag.

“We’re not for that,” McSlarrow said.

Showtime's Perennial Struggle to Capture That HBO Aura
By GERALDINE FABRIKANT The New York Times September 12, 2005

When Viacom decided to split itself into two companies, Leslie Moonves, who had revived CBS, inherited one of its more troubled properties: Showtime, the also-ran pay television network that has long trailed its rival Home Box Office.

Neither Mr. Moonves nor Thomas E. Freston, who will run the cable network and movie studio half of Viacom, particularly wanted Showtime.

But now Mr. Moonves, who will become chief executive of the broadcast and TV production units of Viacom next year, hopes to do what no Viacom executive has yet been able to do: turn Showtime into a hit maker to rival HBO.

It remains to be seen if he can find the same magic for Showtime that he used to overhaul CBS and make it the No. 1 broadcast network.

So far, Mr. Moonves professes confidence in Showtime management, which has generated buzz for some shows. Yet Showtime has been unable to increase subscriptions significantly; its 13.5 million subscribers are dwarfed by HBO's 28 million.

"I am a huge admirer of what HBO did," Mr. Moonves said in a telephone interview. "For the first time in many years Showtime is beginning to play in the same territory."

Michael Nathanson, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Company, says he thinks Viacom has found the right home for Showtime.

"I have to think it is better having Les Moonves run it, given his programming expertise, than MTV executives who focused more on packaging, marketing and more niche demographics," Mr. Nathanson said.

Mr. Moonves said he was just now turning his attention to Showtime, and so far believed there was some reason for optimism. A new offering, "Weeds," is off to a strong start. The show, starring Mary-Louise Parker, is based on the adventures of a suburban mother who sells drugs to make ends meet.

In its first full week, the show generated a cumulative audience of 2.1 million viewers, 15 percent of all Showtime subscribers. In its second week, that figure fell 20 percent, to 1.7 million viewers. Since then it has held steady, indicating that so far, it has a loyal audience. It now attracts a bigger audience than "The L Word," which had been the network's most popular show.

Showtime "used to try and be bold," Mr. Moonves said. "Now it is being bold and commercial. 'Weeds' is about a woman who lost her husband, and is trying to support her children. But the plot has a twist."

Showtime, like HBO, a division of Time Warner, is clearly profitable, although the growth in its cash flow, like that of HBO, has declined since the mid-1990's, according to estimates by Kagan Research, which monitors the cable industry.

HBO has fared far better than its smaller rival. Media companies do not break out the performance of their individual networks. Kagan estimates, however, that HBO and its companion network, Cinemax, generated $799 million in cash flow last year; their cash flow grew 12.9 percent last year from 2003, compared with 18 percent growth in 1997 over 1996.

The cash flow for Showtime and its sister network, the Movie Channel, was $257 million, but its growth rate in 2004 was just 6 percent over 2003, compared with 16.5 percent in 1997 over 1996, according to Kagan.

In an era when the supply of films - on DVD, video-on-demand and digital downloading - is exploding, premium pay television services have little choice but to come up with something new. "A cable network has got to invest in original programming to differentiate itself," Mr. Nathanson said. "And it has to be agenda-setting programming, the way 'Sex and the City' was for HBO. Showtime has to catch up. I expect acceleration in original content."

Showtime, with a smaller revenue base than HBO's, has to watch its pennies. Showtime's president, Robert Greenblatt, who joined the network two years ago from his position as co-president of Greenblatt Janollari Studio, is scrambling to come up with original programming at reasonable prices.

"We are looking under every rock for money," he said. "I want to put every dollar I possibly can on the screen. I am taking the same basic resources I have worked with and redistributing them and putting all those resources into series."

For Showtime, being efficient means focusing on creating new series instead of made-for-television movies that require expensive marketing to attract viewers and do not necessarily create a loyal audience. And coming up with hit shows has become more challenging than ever.

"The days of being successful with a show just because the networks can't do it are over," said Matt Blank, the Showtime chairman and chief executive, who has run the network for a decade. "It is about the show: how compelling the drama is."

Mr. Greenblatt's frustration with Showtime's lack of hits in unmistakable. "What did they precede 'Entourage' with?" he asked of HBO. "Was it 'Six Feet Under?' I am clean with no lead-in," he said, referring to Showtime's lack of a library of strong hits he can use to draw viewers to the next show on the night's schedule. "I do not have the theatrical output strength that HBO has. It is a really competitive universe."

Other Showtime programs have generated advance interest, only to quickly die with audiences.

Mr. Greenblatt, whose track record includes production credits for HBO's "Six Feet Under," knows the syndrome. "Huff," a Showtime program based on a psychiatrist whose life becomes tumultuous after a teenage patient kills himself in the doctor's office, was acclaimed and received seven Emmy Award nominations, but it never developed a strong audience following.

"Those Emmy nominations mean more to HBO and Showtime than to CBS," Mr. Moonves said. "With our new team, I really think Bob is beginning to attract the kind of creative people we want." This year, with 17 Emmy nominations, Showtime nearly matched its record of 18 nominations.

Mr. Greenblatt said the series "Fat Actress" did more for Showtime than any other series, though it went off the air after seven weeks and he has not decided whether to renew it.

Among the issues are that the ratings dropped precipitously after the first episode, and its star, Kirstie Alley, eventually lost 50 pounds. Mr. Moonves said he saw the importance of creating "water-cooler shows" that people would talk about the next day. "Broadcasting is about ratings," he said. "At Showtime and HBO it is a different thing. You are there to sell subscriptions."

Mr. Greenblatt has his own metrics for judging a show's success. "Everybody heard about it," he said of "Fat Actress." "It was a success for us. It is better if it works, but it put the brand out there and it created buzz. That is a really important goal for us."

So far, Showtime's biggest series hits have been "Queer as Folk" and "The L Word," two shows about homosexual lifestyles.

"Queer as Folk" ended this month after a five-year run, and "The L Word" faces heavy new competition. "There are now two gay networks," Mr. Greenblatt said, referring to Logo from Viacom and Here, an independent cable network. "So suddenly, it is not unique."

Viacom executives say they think they may have had too much gay programming. "Diversity is one of our hallmarks," Mr. Greenblatt said. "I was worried that on one network you had all this gay programming. But it crossed over to a broader audience. Now 'L Word' holds that place. You have to be as broad-based as possible, even within our universe."

Coming to Showtime is "Sleeper Cell," a series based on an undercover Muslim federal agent who infiltrates a terrorist group in Southern California. It is to have its debut in December.

The New York Times Obituary
Chris Schenkel, 82, Versatile and Ubiquitous Sportscaster, Dies

By RICHARD SANDOMIR The New York Times September 12, 2005

Chris Schenkel, whose versatility and genial style made him one of the most important sports broadcasters from the 1950's to the 1970's, died yesterday at Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne, Ind. He was 82.

Mr. Schenkel had emphysema for many years and recently had complications from ulcer surgery, his wife, Fran, said by telephone.

Like many of his well-known contemporaries, Mr. Schenkel glided easily through many sports, including football, basketball, boxing, golf, horse racing, the Olympics and bowling, which he called for 36 years.

Mr. Schenkel came to prominence in 1952 as the television voice of the football Giants; his baritone became the vocal accompaniment to the team's loss to the Baltimore Colts in the 1958 National Football League championship game, a seminal broadcast in the league's history.

His time was one in which play-by-play announcers were usually less talkative than they are now and rarely critical, and they traveled with the players.

Frank Gifford, the Giants' Hall of Fame halfback, said yesterday: "We could talk with Chris about anything. You'd tell him to watch for something in the game, and you didn't have to worry that he'd tell that to someone with the Bears. He was part of the family." But, he added, "If there was one critique of him, as the business changed, it was that he was such a nice guy."

Mr. Schenkel, popular locally and nationally through calling the Giants, the Triple Crown horse races and the Masters golf tournament on CBS, had his profile enlarged after he was hired by ABC Sports in 1965.

"It was Chris Schenkel who put ABC Sports on the map," said Dennis Lewin, a former ABC executive. "It was Chris who gave us credibility."

Along with Curt Gowdy on NBC, Mr. Schenkel embodied the role of the big-game announcer, as ABC's primary Olympic anchorman and its top college football, National Basketball Association and bowling announcer.

Mr. Schenkel's career coincided with the rise of the color analyst, former players and coaches hired to provide greater insight into the games.

"I saw the need for someone with better depth than I," he told The New York Times in 1993, alluding to a roster of partners that included Bud Wilkinson on college football and Bill Russell on the N.B.A. "I got criticized that I was coddling these guys, but I had confidence in my own ability."

His career took a detour at the Summer Olympics in Munich 1972, when he was replaced as ABC's lead anchor by Jim McKay on the day Palestinian terrorists took hostage, then killed 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team. Roone Arledge, the president of ABC Sports, preferred Mr. McKay because of his journalistic past as a newspaperman.

"I was Roone's fair-haired boy for quite a while," Mr. Schenkel said in the book "Up Close and Personal," by Jim Spence, a former ABC Sports executive. But eventually, he said, "Roone downgraded me every time he got a chance," by removing him from one assignment after another.

Mr. Schenkel grew up on a farm in Bippus, Ind. The radio sportscasts of Ted Husing and Bill Stern fascinated him, but he also showed a musical bent, as part of a duo with his younger brother, Phil, that played live shows and performed on the radio. Mr. Schenkel sang and played guitar; in later years, he indulged his love of jazz piano with his friend Eddie Condon.

Mr. Schenkel earned a pre-med degree at Purdue University, a path that was inspired by his family doctor, but he still pursued sportscasting.

He is survived by his wife, Fran, a former June Taylor dancer; two sons, Ted and John; a daughter, Christina; and three grandchildren.

Mr. Schenkel was involved in American Indian affairs; in 1974, decades after Mr. Schenkel's father confronted bigotry against descendants of the local Miami Indians, the tribe's council made him an honorary chieftain, calling him Mo-Nu, which means speaker: one liked by all people.

Despite his varied career, Mr. Schenkel knew that he might be best remembered for calling the Professional Bowlers Association Tour, which he remained with until ABC stopped carrying it in 1997.

"I grew up with bowling," Mr. Schenkel said. "I never looked down on it. I've enjoyed it as much as anything except the Olympics."

A glimpse into the D* future?
Cost of My Sky DVR is sky high
Service will have connection fee, no monthly charge

By JOHN DRINNAN variety.com

AUCKLAND -- Rupert Murdoch's Sky Television in New Zealand has unveiled its My Sky personal videorecorder, which will be available for its 540,000 subscribers starting Dec. 1, in a pre-Christmas marketing push.

CEO John Fellet says My Sky will have a one-off connection fee of $NZ599 ($420), rather than a monthly fee, to avoid the administrative costs of churn. The hardware will remain Sky's property

Unlike other systems, including Tivo, My Sky does not let customers skip commercials. The key to marketing the new system will be its seamless integration with Sky's digital electronic program guide, which other PVRs don't have.

Showtime's Perennial Struggle to Capture That HBO Aura
By GERALDINE FABRIKANT The New York Times September 12, 2005

"Huff," a Showtime program based on a psychiatrist whose life becomes tumultuous after a teenage patient kills himself in the doctor's office, was acclaimed and received seven Emmy Award nominations, but it never developed a strong audience following.


Am I reading this right....this would seem to indicate that "Huff" has been canceled...?

Sunday’s network prime-time ratings have posted near the top of Latest News the first item in this thread.

Am I reading this right....this would seem to indicate that "Huff" has been canceled...?

Well that would be news .... As I recall, Showtime ordered a second season before the first one even aired.

A glimpse into the D* future?
Cost of My Sky DVR is sky high
Unlike other systems, including Tivo, My Sky does not let customers skip commercials. The key to marketing the new system will be its seamless integration with Sky's digital electronic program guide, which other PVRs don't have.

It's only a matter of time ... Should have seen this coming months ago ;)

Unlike other systems, including Tivo, My Sky does not let customers skip commercials. The key to marketing the new system will be its seamless integration with Sky's digital electronic program guide, which other PVRs don't have.Hmm. If you had a choice, would you rather manually enter your recording times (a-la VCR days) or be unable to skip commercials?

Since I don't use a program guide (no Internet access from my HTPC) with my current HD PVRs (MyHD and FusionHDTV), my answer is easy.

Xesdeeni

Please note if you are recording Supernatural this Tuesday, that it runs for 1:05 (or one source said 1:07). Somehow they are re-running it on Thursday in only 1 hr, either with fewer commercials (doubtful) or edited content.

Xesdeeni

HBO To Return to Rome
By Anne Becker Broadcasting & Cable

HBO picked up a second season of epic drama Rome, which debuted to solid ratings and critical acclaim Aug. 28. The 12-episode second season of the series, a co-production with the BBC, is slated to hit the pay cable network in fall 2007, with production beginning this March.

Rome’s premiere notched a 9.1 rating/13 share in HBO homes for its premiere episode Aug. 28. That made it the pay cable network’s highest rated program since the fourth season premiere of Six Feet Under in June, 2004.

Six Feet’s series finale the week before, however, earned more total viewers than Rome – 3.89 million to Rome’s 3.81 million.

HBO invested a hefty $100 million in the first season of the show and launched what the network called its biggest-ever campaign for viewers for a new series.

In June, HBO moved up the drama’s premiere date from Semptember – that way it debuted closer to a free preview the network is offering this weekend, which includes Rome’s first three episodes on HBO on Demand for all digital-cable customers.

New episodes of Rome’s current season premiere Sundays at 9 p.m.

In Aug., HBO has picked up a second season of Ricky Gervais’ entertainment industry spoof Extras, before even premiering the first season of the BBC co-production.

HBO will debut Extras’ first season Sept. 25 at 10:30 p.m., after the fifth season premiere of fellow entertainment industry parody Curb Your Enthusiasm.

DirecTV's Hill Predicts U.S. HD Boom

By Ken Kerschbaumer Broadcasting & Cable

David Hill, DirecTV Entertainment Group president, told an audience at the IBC tech conference in Amsterdam that the U.S. market will have a “massive” increase in HD set sales this winter.

DirecTV is counting on it. The DBS company is expected to greatly expand its HD programming lineup by 2007,looking to capitalize on that anticipated growth.

The company is expected to use next-generation MPEG4 AVC (Advanced Video Codec) compression technology early next year to begin offering local station HD signals into local markets, as well as more national HD networks.

“By 2007 we’ll be delivering some 1,500 local HD channels and at least 150 network channels,” Hill said in his keynote speech. “We firmly believe people will buy HD sets, ergo they’ll want to watch HD programs on the sets.”

DirecTV will use Tandberg encoding technology to get content ready for distribution via MPEG4 AVC. MPEG4 AVC allows for twice as many channels to be offered as current MPEG2 compression methods.

'Sopranos' fans at the point of no return

By Richard Huff New York Daily News TV Editor Monday, September 12th, 2005

Seems I'm not alone when it comes to not caring when - if ever - "The Sopranos" returns.

When I wrote last week that I lost interest in "The Sopranos" because so many other good shows had come along in its absence, I figured I'd either end up outlined in chalk or be bombarded with nasty letters.

Neither happened, at least not yet.

"Thanks for saying what many of us out there have been thinking for a while," wrote Gerry Michaels. "What you did fail to mention, however, was the long wait together with the quality of the writing slipping really makes me say 'Who cares?' Personally, I find the wait an insult."

Phew! And here I was buying bug spray for my unplanned trip to the Jersey swamps.

My issue with "The Sopranos" is that by the time the show returns to the network, it will have been two years since the most recent original episode was shown, giving viewers a long time to find - and maybe fall in love with - other shows.

"Finally!" wrote Dave Jordan. "Someone has the cojones to say what no one else will. I think it's downright cruel for network programmers to keep viewers in suspense by delaying a critical success like 'The Sopranos.' I, too, couldn't care less when or if it will return to its Sunday night time slot. I'm too busy watching the antics on Wisteria Lane and walking the corridors of ['Grey's Anatomy's] Seattle Grace Hospital."

In fairness to HBO programmers, the delay is not entirely their fault. Rather, it has to do with the productivity of the series' creator, David Chase.

No matter the cause, two years is a long time to wait for anything.

That said, not everyone agreed with me on this issue.

"You say now that you've forgotten and don't care," wrote Francine Witte. "I say it's denial and that come March you will instantly remember why you loved the show so much. I agree a lot of good shows have come on, but really none can touch 'The Sopranos.' ... 'The Sopranos' is the best thing ever on television, and if I have to wait, it's fine. It's worth it."

Here's the problem: It's been so long, I can't recall how the last season ended. I'd have to read an episode guide to catch up. That, my friend, is something I don't have to do with other shows that come on, oh, at least once a year.

"Aren't you curious how it will end?" wrote Anthony Bellantone.

At this moment, no.

Dominic Siclari suggested that as the other quality shows go into reruns, readers "no doubt have to suffer an article describing your angst about that" and HBO's ad blitz begins, my feelings about "The Sopranos" will change.

"Your blood will begin to boil, your heart rate will jump," he wrote. "And if you survive - it doesn't look like you're in great shape - you'll cave like the little girl you are and be watching that first episode like the rest of us."

Oh, come on, you hurt my feelings and now you made me cry.

DirecTV's Hill Predicts U.S. HD Boom

By Ken Kerschbaumer Broadcasting & Cable

DirecTV will use Tandberg encoding technology to get content ready for distribution via MPEG4 AVC. MPEG4 AVC allows for twice as many channels to be offered as current MPEG2 compression methods.

Ack! Note emphasis on more not better ... :eek:

HDTVChallenged: isn't that often the way? (Thinking of the VHS-Beta battle specifically.)

OBITUARY
Chris Schenkel 1923-2005
Sports broadcasting icon dies after battling illness

By Ted Green and Phil Richards Indianapolis Star September 12, 2005

Chris Schenkel, an Indiana icon and one of the founding fathers of sports broadcasting, died early Sunday at Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne after a long battle with emphysema. He was 82.

Schenkel's radio and television broadcasting career spanned more than 60 years and included virtually every major sports competition.

Known for his smooth, deep, baritone voice, he was the first to cover the Masters Tournament on television, in 1956; the first to call a college football game coast to coast on ABC, in 1966; and the first to serve as a live sports anchor from the Olympics, in Mexico City in 1968.

Across Indiana and beyond, Schenkel also was known for his charitable works, which were recognized in July 2003 when he was named a "Living Legend" by the Indiana Historical Society.

"The amazing thing about Chris was, even though he knew all the kings and queens of sport, just as important to him, even more, were the people from his Indiana roots," said John Short, assistant vice chancellor at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, who got to know Schenkel well over the past decade as they helped a mutual friend fight amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. "It was so overwhelming to see the measure of his character."

For many younger sports fans, Schenkel will be remembered as the voice of the Professional Bowlers Association, his primary assignment in the last stage of his career. But for a half-century, if there was a big sporting event, chances are, Schenkel was there.

He called gymnast Nadia Comaneci's score of perfect 10 at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, one of 10 Olympic Games he covered. He announced what many consider the greatest football game ever played, the 1958 NFL Championship between the Baltimore Colts and New York Giants. He befriended athletes from Jesse Owens to Muhammad Ali. Last year, he told The Indianapolis Star he used to tease ABC colleague Howard Cosell that "I knew Muhammad Ali when he was Cassius Clay."

Al Wester, a legendary radio announcer and friend and contemporary of Schenkel's, was hit hard by the news Sunday as he covered the Solheim Cup at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel.

"He was such a wisp of a guy. He was skinny but what a great voice he had," Wester, 82, said. "He was one of the beautiful guys. I don't ever remember anyone saying anything bad about Chris.

"I remember Chris for the many kind things he said about people. He would defend people at the drop of a hat: 'Now wait a minute. You don't know if he was up all night with a sick kid or his wife had problems.' He used to say he would never be critical of an athlete because you didn't know the extenuating circumstances."

Last summer, Jim McKay, who worked with Schenkel for many years at ABC, said of his partner: "Chris is one of the friendliest, nicest people you would meet anywhere. He likes people. He loves people. He's very forgiving about people even if anything happens in a bad way."

Schenkel was born Aug. 21, 1923, on a farm in Wabash County, one of six children. His parents, German immigrants, managed a feed and grain business.

He attended Bippus High School in Huntington County and later Purdue University.

He fought in World War II in the Philippines, then Korea, as an infantry platoon leader. After coming home, he found a radio job in Richmond, Ind., then moved into television in Providence, R.I. In 1947, he assumed television play-by-play duties for Harvard University football. Five years later, he began a 13-year run as the TV voice of the New York Giants.

Though he lived in Manhattan during those years, Indiana remained his home. In 1971, he and his wife, Fran, bought a home on Tippecanoe Lake, near Leesburg, where he lived until his retirement in 1997. As his condition worsened in recent years, he spent most of his time in Fort Wayne or Indianapolis.

Schenkel had a long association with the Indianapolis 500, including a scary moment. He, astronaut John Glenn and Tony Hulman, the late owner of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, were passengers in the Dodge Challenger pace car at the 1971 race when it skidded into a bleacher section full of photographers. Twenty-two people were injured, including Schenkel, though not seriously.

Schenkel's many honors include honorary doctoral degrees from Purdue and Ball State universities and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. He has been inducted into 16 halls of fame, including the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters and College and Pro Football halls, and he won an Emmy Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1993.

Recently, 50 letters were sent to President Bush nominating Schenkel for the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Among the nominators were Sens. Richard Lugar and Evan Bayh of Indiana, former Sen. Birch Bayh of Indiana, New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt, former Indiana University basketball coach Bob Knight and golfer Arnold Palmer.

All of the letters spoke of Schenkel's many philanthropic works in addition to his broadcasting eloquence. He was heavily involved with the Boy Scouts of America, Boys and Girls Clubs in New York and Chicago, and Catholic Charities, among other organizations. He was a supporter of the Indianapolis Museum of Art and one of the founding board members of the Eiteljorg Museum.

Many of the letters also cited Schenkel's work on behalf of American Indians, for whom he raised hundreds of thousands of dollars. Jack Thorpe, chief of the Kickapoo Indian Reservation and son of legendary athlete Jim Thorpe, wrote: "This great man has given so much to others, that it is time for us as citizens of the United States to honor My Chief, Mr. Chris Schenkel."

Steinbrenner wrote that Schenkel "is a man who despite all of his fame has never lost that boyish Indiana backwoods charm. . . . He is deserving of any medal this country could prescribe for him."

Figure skater Peggy Fleming, who covered the Olympics with Schenkel, wrote: "I believe much of his kindness and generosity comes from those simple roots."

Schenkel is survived by his wife, Fran Paige Schenkel; sons, Ted and John; daughter, Tina; sister, Florence; and grandchildren, Michael, Christopher and Katie.

Fran Schenkel told the Associated Press that she and their two sons were at her husband's bedside when he died. "He was a very, very sincere, loving man who loved what he did," she said.

The funeral will be at the Mishler-Eastlund Funeral Home in Syracuse, Ind. Arrangements are pending.

An Open Letter to DirecTV
By Ben Grossman BCBeat.com

Dear DirecTV:

Just wanted to give you my feedback from the first day of my beloved NFL Sunday Ticket package this year. I will start by saying I did not plunk down the extra $100 for the "Super Fan" option, as $200 a year is enough of a tariff to watch my miserable hometown Vikings, whose buffoonery on Sunday always ensures I will commence the ensuing week with the proper amount of cynicism and bitterness befitting a journalist.

Besides, I'm still trying to figure out how to sneak the first $200 through on my expenses. (Editor's note: We've got our eye on you, Grossman.)

Anyway, just wanted to tell you I absolutely love the idea of the new "Game Mix" channels that literally let you watch eight games at once. It's got all the advantages of being in a sports bar, but no one was there to make fun of me when I enjoyed a nice Shirley Temple and I didn't have to wait for the bathroom once.

Yet, I could not stay on the channel for longer than about 25 seconds at a time, and it was for one reason and one reason only: the music. While the ability to watch multiple games on one channel is perhaps the greatest development for couch potatoes like myself since gastric bypass surgery, the experience was completely ruined by the awful NFL team theme songs that blared incessantly. Every time I flipped on the channel, I was tortured by a different and increasingly-cheesy anthem. Trust me: if you are paying $200 to watch football, you don't believe in team theme songs.

So get rid of them. Now. Pump in some plain background music, or even better, just play the audio of the game that is the most interesting at the time (maybe when a team is in the red zone threatening to score).

The idea is great, but it’s all about execution. And in this case, leaving that channel on too long made me want to execute the people who wrote those songs...or myself.

Whom ever wrote the line in the article in the first post of this thread about Mischa Barton's acting was totally wrong! :) To paraphase, She's still as wooden as ever"! Too much! :p I thought she did a good job last night, but that's just me.
Who cares if she can act.Look at her!

Fredfa,
Any word when HBO will decide the fate of the Comeback for a second season?
Thanks.

Well that would be news .... As I recall, Showtime ordered a second season before the first one even aired.
Well, I hope you are right. The way that statement is written it refers to Huff in the past tense, which would lead one to think it was gone.

'Sopranos' fans at the point of no return


You can count me as one of these fans, if it comes back, fine...if not, so what..I long ago lost the intensity and anticipation I had for this show...all I can say is it better be dang good when it does return.

Fred, I have a question for you. There is a this show on Showtime that I just discovered called Weeds. I found myself watching the first five eps this past weekend. Is this a new show for Showtime and do you know how long it's been on the air?

Thanks buddy!

Fred, I have a question for you. There is a this show on Showtime that I just discovered called Weeds. I found myself watching the first five eps this past weekend. Is this a new show for Showtime and do you know how long it's been on the air?

Thanks buddy!
Yes it is new. Started on 8/7 and if you have seen 5 eps you seen all of them to date. Elizabeth Perkins is literally stealing the show...

I love this show, it's hilarious........which means it probably won't be around for another season... :rolleyes:

Weeds (www.sho.com/site/weeds/home.do)

Yes it is new. Started on 8/7 and if you have seen 5 eps you seen all of them to date. Elizabeth Perkins is literally stealing the show...

I love this show, it's hilarious........which means it probably won't be around for another season... :rolleyes:

Weeds (www.sho.com/site/weeds/home.do)


I like the show as well. I think Perkins is definitely stealing the show but Alexander Gould, the young kid, is right behind her. I love Mary Louis Parker. She does a good job is I'm totally hot the 41 yr lady.

keenan beat me to it with all the "Weeds" info, AFH....although I mjust admit that I am not a fan of the show.
But Mary Louise Parker is (always!) great.
She is sorely missed on The West Wing, IMO.

CBS Renews PGA Championship
HD Coverage Part of the Deal

By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable

CBS will tee up the PGA Championship through at least 2011.

The network last renewed the contract in June 1997 through the end of 2005. The new extension will take it through its 20th year of televising one of the four major jewels in golf's crown.

CBS will air several PGA features each year, as well as five hours of HD coverage for each of the final two rounds, with a maximum of eight minutes of commercials per hour.

CBS Renews PGA Championship
CBS will air several PGA features each year, as well as five hours of HD coverage for each of the final two rounds, with a maximum of eight minutes of commercials per hour.

Am I reading this right? HD for every event? (P.S. I only watch golf occasionally[only in HD]).

You would have to be very cynical to think this hiring by Time Warner could have anything to do with the proposed multi-carry legislation pending in Congress – against which Comcast and Time Warner are leading the fight.
Thankfully, none of us is that cynical. 

Time Warner Hires DeLay's Chief of Staff for Policy Post

By Doug Halonen TVWeek.com September 12, 2005
Time Warner has hired Tim Berry, chief of staff to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, to serve as VP for global public policy, sources said.

But in a statement, Jeff Chester, executive director of the watchdog Center for Digital Democracy, said: "Time Warner's aligning itself with the right-wing DeLay machine should send shudders at [Time Warner's] CNN and HBO. Time Warner wants DeLay insurance so it won't have to face cable ownership safeguards, a la carte rules and broadband nondiscrimination policies."

Said Rep. DeLay in a statement: "Tim Berry is widely regarded as a complete professional. His dedication, integrity, work ethic and vast experience have served me well during his ten years of working with me in the House of Representatives. While Tim's leadership in the Office of the Majority Leader will be missed, I wish him and his family the warmest congratulations and future success in his new professional endeavor."

http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=8513

HBO Tops at Creative-Arts Emmys

By Linda Haugsted Multichannel.com

Home Box Office topped all networks at the creative-arts portion of the annual Emmy Awards Sunday night, earning 20 statuettes, including six for the night’s most honored program, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers.

Several HBO programs were multiple winners, including Deadwood with five; documentary Death in Gaza with three, including an honor for exceptional merit; movie Warm Springs with three; and cultural series Classical Baby with two.

Cartoon Network won seven Emmys at the Los Angeles ceremony, including the award for best animated series longer than one hour for Star Wars: Clone Wars. Nickelodeon and Showtime won two each, and A&E Network, Comedy Central, Discovery Channel and Hallmark Channel earned one apiece.

Comedy’s controversial South Park finally won some respect from voters, who chose it as the best animated series, one hour or less.

In all, cable networks got 35 awards at the ceremony, which will be cablecast Sept. 17 on E! Entertainment Television. By comparison, broadcasters earned 37 awards, led by ABC with 10. PBS won nine, NBC eight, CBS six and Fox four.

In a nod to the evolution of delivery platforms, engineering awards were presented to MobiTV and Sprint PCS Vision, services that stream content to cell phones.

Cablevision Systems Corp.’s iO: Interactive Optimum product and the all-access Internet platform supporting the TV Land Awards each won Emmys for interactive services.

Well, I hope you are right. The way that statement is written it refers to Huff in the past tense, which would lead one to think it was gone.

Not to worry, it'll make it through another season (at least.) Per Showtime's web site, as of Aug 2, Huff season 2 is in production ... although I couldn't find a premier date for season 2. Season 1 starts replaying on Showtime/On-Demand soon.

If you are just starting to pay attention to the new TV season, here is a quick crib sheet:

TV SEASON PREVIEWS
Best of the season
Which TV shows to see, which to skip

By Ellen Gray Philadelphia Daily News Television Critic

I'M NOT SURE "Watching TV so you don't have to" should be the motto of television critics everywhere, but we do see more of what goes on the tube than any reasonable person has time for.

Never is this truer than in the fall, when in a few short weeks, the broadcast networks dump most of the new series they've been working on for months, or even years, into a schedule that's already packed tight with new episodes of returning shows, many of them in new time slots.

It's a wasteful process that every year delivers a quick death to a few deserving series that just can't get heard above the din. This is why ABC has some of its best shows waiting in the wings for midseason, and Fox, which also had a good development season, is once again staggering its schedule.

We know you're busy. We know you may just want to know where to find "Boston Legal" this year (as you can see from our grid, it's moved to 10 p.m. Tuesdays). And we know that there would be plenty of good stuff to watch on TV this year even if you never saw one new show.

So here's your cheat sheet:

The 5 best new shows

If you only sample a handful of new series, they should be:

UPN's "Everybody Hates Chris." 8 PM ET/PT Thursdays. Chris Rock narrates this trip back to his Brooklyn, N.Y., childhood starting in 1982, the year Chris (Tyler James Williams) turns 13 and is sent, at his parents' insistence, to a predominantly white school two bus rides away. Laugh-out-loud funny but with a sweetness that makes it a "Wonder Years" for the 21st century (though I don't remember Kevin Arnold having to deal with the n-word). Premieres: Sept. 22.

Fox's "Prison Break." 9 PM ET/PT Mondays. The best drama pilot of the season, about an engineer who gets sent to prison hoping to save his brother from Death Row, has turned into a thrill ride. Fox has been rerunning episodes frequently, so there's still time to catch up to this one. Premiered: Aug. 29.

Fox's "Kitchen Confidential." 8:30 PM ET/PT Mondays. Loosely based on the memoirs of celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, this single-camera comedy from Darren Star ("Sex and the City") follows the adventures of a newly sober chef, played by Germantown Academy grad Bradley Cooper ("Alias," "Jack & Bobby"). Lots of racy fun and some cooking tips, too (such as, try not to leave your fingertips in the entrees). Premieres: Sept. 19.

NBC's "My Name Is Earl." 8 PM ET/PT Tuesdays.Jason Lee stars as a ne'er-do-well who resolves to do better after a lottery win. Premieres: Sept. 20.

ABC's "Commander In Chief." 9 PM ET/PT Tuesdays. Geena Davis stars as the president of the United States, and if that just makes you giggle, you've wandered into the wrong show. But while "Commander In Chief" sometimes makes "The West Wing" look like a documentary, it also manages to capture the optimism of that show's early years in a way I found appealing in spite of myself. Premieres: Sept. 27.

The best of the rest ...

If you have a little more time, you might want to check out:

Fox's "Bones." 8 PM ET/PT Tuesdays. Finally, a forensics show for people who'd rather be watching character-driven dramas. Emily Deschanel plays Dr. Temperance Brennan, a forensic anthropologist and novelist (a character loosely based on the life of forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs, who writes novels about Temperance Brennan). "Angel's" David Boreanaz, the son of longtime WPVI (Channel 6) weatherguy Dave Roberts, co-stars as an FBI agent who admires Temperance's brains but doesn't think "squints" like her belong in the field. His character may not know much about biology, but he and Temperance have pretty good chemistry. Premieres: tomorrow.

CBS' "How I Met Your Mother." 8:30 PM ET/PT Mondays. Cleverly written ensemble series about young people in New York looking for love. (Really, stop me if you've heard this before.) Good cast, including Neil Patrick Harris and Alyson Hannigan ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer"). Would have made my Top 5 if not for a twist at the end that took the series in a direction I may not be willing to go. Premieres: Sept. 19.

CBS' "Close to Home." 10 PM ET/PT Tuesdays. Jennifer Finnigan, the charming whack job from last season's NBC sitcom "Committed," hasn't changed much more than her hair to play a prosecutor and new mother in this engaging new Jerry Bruckheimer drama, and yet she's virtually unrecognizable. (I think this is called acting.) Anyway, while I continue to have reservations about just how many Bruckheimer shows one network can sustain, this should be a good fit for some of the viewers displaced by the cancellation of "Judging Amy." Premieres: Oct. 4.

Fox's "Head Cases." 9 PM ET/PT Wednesdays. Chris O'Donnell plays a big-time lawyer recovering from a nervous breakdown who ends up in partnership with an ambulance chaser (Adam Goldberg) who suffers from "explosive disorder." Some people are already offended by this show, though I'm not sure they've actually seen it. Premieres: This Wednesday.

NBC's "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart." 8 PM ET/PT Wednesdays. Haven't seen it, am tired of "The Apprentice" and am only slightly more interested in Martha Stewart than I am in Cybill Shepherd's portrayal of her in the upcoming "Martha Behind Bars," but this could be the perfect match between celebrity and "reality" TV. Or it could be a train wreck. Either way, it's worth a look. Premieres: Sept. 21.

NBC's "Three Wishes." 8 PM ET/PT Fridays. CBS may think it'll scoop up all the remaining "Joan of Arcadia" fans with "Ghost Whisperer" while picking up a whole new, younger audience, but they might want to keep an eye out for the angelic Amy Grant, whose impossibly schmaltzy "Three Wishes" could prove irresistible to the crowd that made ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" a hit. Premieres: Sept. 23.

Fox's "The Loop." 9:30 PM ET/PT Wednesdays. Bret Harrison ("Grounded for Life") plays a recent college grad who's the first of his crowd to get a real job. Premieres: January.

NBC's "Inconceivable." 10 PM ET/PT Fridays. Think "Nip/Tuck," but with fertility doctors, not plastic surgeons (and maybe a few more nice people). Jonathan Cake, the gladiator from ABC's "Empire," does the whole Dr. Christian Troy thing as a smooth-talking Lothario who sells couples on the hope of being parents. "ER's" Ming-Na is his nice, level-headed partner. Premieres: Sept. 23.

UPN's "Sex, Love & Secrets." 9 PM ET/PT Tuesdays. Ensemble drama about the entangled lives of twentysomethings in California. Found it more intriguing than that might sound, but it's in an impossible time slot. Premieres: Sept. 27.

ABC's "Invasion." 10 PM ET/PT Wednesdays. Probably the best of the alien-invasion shows this year (and it's following "Lost"). Starts out with a hurricane that's likely making ABC nervous. Premieres: Sept. 21.

CBS' "Threshold." 9 PM ET/PT Fridays. Carla Gugino stars as the one woman in the world our government expects to know what to do when the aliens arrive. (Maybe she could head FEMA in the meantime?) Premieres: Sept. 23.

The WB's "Just Legal." 9 PM ET/PT Mondays. Jay Baruchel ("Undeclared") and Don Johnson star in what could have been "Doogie Howser, Attorney at Law" if not for Johnson's role as the irresponsible mentor to an 18-year-old lawyer. Johnson may just be playing himself here, but it kind of works. Premieres: Sept. 19.

UPN's "Love, Inc." 9:30 PM ET/PT Thursdays. Mount Airy native Holly Robinson Peete plays the founder of a dating agency who's going through a divorce. The rest of the ensemble - her employees - seems a little too aggressively quirky, especially Busy Philipps ("Freaks & Geeks"), who replaced Shannen Doherty in the role, but the concept of a dating service that provides guys with a "wing woman" offers some promise. Premieres: Sept. 22.

The WB's "Supernatural." 9 PM ET/PT Tuesdays. Jared Padalecki ("Gilmore Girls") and Jensen Ackles play brothers caught up in the family business - ghost-busting - fueled by a desire to know why the women in their lives keep ending up on the ceiling, on fire. Premieres: tomorrow.

... and the rest

I wouldn't lose sleep over:

CBS' "Out of Practice." 9:30 PM ET/PT Mondays. Like last season's "Center of the Universe," this sitcom from two former "Frasier" producers brings together some fine actors - including Stockard Channing, Henry Winkler, Paula Marshall and "Jake 2.0's" Christopher Gorham - and just makes them annoying. Gorham plays a psychologist who's the only non-M.D. in his brilliant and dysfunctional family. Could do well following "Two and a Half Men," but unless it improves from the pilot, it doesn't deserve to. Premieres: Sept. 19.

CBS' "Ghost Whisperer." 8 PM ET/PT Fridays. There's a lot of viewer buzz about this drama about an attractive young newlywed who uses her psychic abilities to help dead people who can't move on. But while I'd never underestimate the powers of Jennifer Love Hewitt, psychic or otherwise, this show feels fake to me in all the ways that NBC's "Medium" feels real. And no, I'm not just sulking because it's replacing my beloved "Joan of Arcadia." Premieres: Sept. 23.

CBS' "Criminal Minds." 9 PM ET/PT Wednesdays. A few months ago, I'd have told you I'd tune in to see Mandy Patinkin read the phone book. But that was before I saw "Criminal Minds," the straw that broke this camel's back, anyway, in terms of law-enforcement drama. Patinkin plays a profiler who - like half the guys on TV right now - gets inside the minds of people like serial killers. What can I say? It's really dark in there. And not nearly as interesting as dark needs to be. Premieres: Sept. 22 after "CSI" before moving to regular time slot the following week.

The WB's "Twins." 8:30 PM ET/PT Fridays. Sara Gilbert and Molly Stanton play far-from-identical twins trying to keep their family's lingerie business together as their equally mismatched parents - played by Melanie Griffith and Mark Linn-Baker - decide it's time to let go. Premieres: this Friday.

Fox's "Reunion." 9 PM ET/PT Thursdays. I've already panned this '80s nostalgia-driven murder mystery involving six friends who in the course of the season will interact over 20 years, but some may find the hairstyles amusing. Premiered: last week.

Fox's "Killer Instinct." 9 PM ET/PT Fridays. Serial killers everywhere will want to tune into this one to think of creepy new ways of dispatching their victims, but I can't think of one reason - other than the scenes of San Francisco - why anyone else should want to watch yet another damaged cop investigate such horrors. Premieres: Sept. 23.

Fox's "The War at Home." 8:30 PM ET/PT Sundays. Michael Rapaport and Anita Barone star as the parents of yet another crudely dysfunctional Fox family. And sadly, this one's not as funny as many of the others (especially the ones with only four fingers per hand). Premiered: Last night.

ABC's "Freddie." 8:30 PM ET/PT Wednesdays. Freddie Prinze stars as a bachelor chef who somehow ends up living with his sister, niece, sister-in-law and grandmother. Premieres: Oct. 5.

ABC's "The Night Stalker." 9 PM ET/PT Thursdays. Fans of the original may want to play "Where's Waldo?" with the Darren McGavin cameo, but otherwise this is a different show altogether. Premieres: Sept. 29.

ABC's "Hot Properties." 9:30 PM ET/PT Fridays. If you still think ABC's Friday nights are some "TGIF" safe zone for your kids - and that "American Dreams'" Gail O'Grady couldn't possibly do anything to shock them (or you), then "Hot Properties," a tarty-but-tired sitcom about real estate agents who seem more interested in selling themselves than homes, should finally kill that idea. Premieres: Oct. 7.

NBC's "E-Ring." 9 PM ET/PT Wednesdays. Turns out that not everything Jerry Bruckheimer touches turns to TV gold - which could be why this one's on NBC, not CBS. Benjamin Bratt and Dennis Hopper hang out together at the Pentagon. You'd think that could be great fun, but somehow, it isn't. Premieres: Sept. 21.

NBC's "Surface." 8 PM ET/PT Mondays. Lake Bell ("Boston Legal") stars in the least interesting (at least so far) of the season's sci-fi dramas. Strange critters from the deep turn up in a series whose title was changed from "Fathom," no doubt for fear that people like me would write, "I couldn't fathom what was going on here." Premieres: Sept. 19.

Still waiting to see ...

The WB's "Related." 9 PM ET/PT Wednesdays. Described as a "comedic ensemble drama" about four adult sisters, this hourlong show comes from Broomall's Marta Kauffman, who co-created "Friends," and therefore isn't expected to send screeners out to critics months in advance the way everyone else does. Whatever. The synopsis, at least, suggests this is another example of the WB's recent attempt to broaden its target demographic beyond the very young, thus rewarding the over-35 set that helped make shows like "Gilmore Girls" and "Everwood" successful. Premieres: Oct. 5.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/television//12625243.htm

re: Marcus Carr:

No, as I understand it, just HD for five hours of the final two days of the PGA Championship (although I assume UHD -- or some outlet -- will continue to provide HD coverage on Thursday and Friday).

TV SEASON PREVIEWS
“Supernatural”, “Bones” and a note on "House"
In WB and Fox premieres, timing is almost everything

Kay McFadden Seattle Times TV Critic

A show's quality is only part of its success. To grab a poker metaphor, the cards depend on when you play them.

That brings us to the schedule challenges facing "Supernatural," which debuts at 9 p.m. tomorrow on The WB, and "Bones," launching at 8 p.m. over on Fox.

"Supernatural" is an entry in this fall's bulging category of spooky shows. It's a classic paranormal investigation setup with a "Route 66"-style framework.

The series follows two brothers (Jared Padalecki of "Gilmore Girls" and Jensen Ackles of "Smallville") who track the undead across America.

This being The WB, the Winchester siblings also must wrestle with family demons. Their woes are made pretty clear in the opening flashback sequence, when Mom and the house burst into flames.

Dad subsequently devotes himself to ghost-busting binges that take him on the road. One brother grows up to be an itinerant; the other is in graduate school. This contrast disappears when they're asked to follow in their father's footsteps.

For sheer heart-thumping value, "Supernatural" is worth checking out. The solid direction, soundtrack and special effects maximize scariness, even if the characters are standard-issue.

But you have to wonder why on earth it's slotted right after the loquacious and hyperventilating "Gilmore Girls," whose female audience is not going to suddenly shift gears to watch a horror series in which the women die and romance is nil.

Far better to have paired "Supernatural" with "Smallville" or "One Tree Hill." As things stand, the combined hunk appeal of Padalecki and Ackles can't offset the gruesome stream of girls being laid to rest or sent to the ceiling on fire — and not figuratively.

Fox's new series "Bones" will have to conquer timing plus unfavorable comparisons to its superb 9 p.m. running mate.

This crime-solver teams a forensic anthropologist (Emily Deschanel) and FBI agent (David Boreanaz). It's on at 8 before "House," and I guess the vaguely common theme of medical inquiry justifies an otherwise odd pairing.

But here's the bigger problem: By mid-season, "American Idol" will take over Tuesdays. The well-established "House" will take its following to a different night and, more pertinently, "Bones" will have to have earned a place elsewhere.

That seems unlikely.

To begin, "Bones" is pretty unoriginal. It may be based on a book by real-life forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs, but any TV show with cadavers on the table falls in the "CSI" copycat pile unless there's a compelling new reason to watch.

The pilot of "Bones" instead offers ancient ripped-from-the-headlines material by recycling the disappearance and death of congressional aide Chandra Levy. Even at that, the storytelling is often incoherent.

The dialogue darts hither and yon striving to be hip instead of building interest and suspense. The poorly sketched supporting characters who make up the forensics team speak in babbling non sequiturs that suggest cut sequences from an MTV reality series.

Most excruciating, however, is the nonstop bickering between the two main characters. It's meant to be flirtatious but instead highlights the sad fact that Deschanel and Boreanaz have zero chemistry — together and separately.

You have to wonder what the creators were thinking. They've made Deschanel's heroine into a snotty brat with a chip on her shoulder, while Boreanaz's G-man comes across as a subdued baby-sitter.

The result is a major misfire. Despite a casual (and perhaps hopeful) reference to "The X-Files" in tomorrow's pilot, there's no mistaking what "Bones" really gives us: Moldy and Sullen.

Still angry after all these months

Not long ago, a reader expressed concern that Fox would blunder into redeeming Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie).

After seeing the opener, I think we can rest easier. Not only is House the same cranky, pill-chugging antihumanitarian, "House" overall has gotten a shade darker. And the cast dynamics are reaching a new height of brittle, rhythmic interaction.

Tomorrow, LL Cool J guest stars as a prison inmate who collapses after hallucinating. "Death Row Guy," House says with relish. "I want the case."

Meanwhile, he briskly rejects a young girl who's dying: "I love children. So filled with hope."

That's our complicated boy.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/television/2002488119_kay12.html

TV SEASON PREVIEWS
"Bones": dark, fun forensics

By Joanne Ostrow Denver Post Staff Columnist

Temperance Brennan is a serious-minded forensic anthropologist who gets angry when a young assistant refers to damaged human remains as "crispy critters." She has respect for the bones and reverence for the lab.

She knows the bones have stories to tell. And she'll camp out in the lab all night reassembling skull fragments so that she can gain clues from the "architecture of a face."

In "Bones," premiering at 7 p.m. Tuesday on Fox (KDVR-Channel 31), the character of Brennan is based on best-selling author and forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs, whose books have seen protagonist Tempe Brennan through all manner of international forensic sleuthing.

The science illustrated in the lab - notably holographic images re-creating victims' faces - is authentic too. "CSI" has nothing on the video tricks and imaginative camera work used here.

Brennan, played by Emily Deschanel, clearly has an easier time relating to inanimate body parts than to living, breathing humans. She slams the door on her ex-boyfriend and builds psychological barriers against the man who could, someday, be a more promising love interest.

That man is FBI special agent Seeley Booth, played by David Boreanaz, with whom she's teamed to solve cases. He doesn't have much use for science or her "holographic crystal ball," claiming the lab geeks don't know anything about the real world.

Similarly, she has little use for him or his reliance on gut feelings. Their interactions range from toxic to hot. Call it chemistry: Sparks fly with the frequency of the old Scully-and-Mulder days. Once again, he's the warm and fuzzy one, she's the toughie verging on cold.

As the prickly scientist insists on following the determined cop into the field, the dialogue rises to sophisticated repartee.

The first episode concerns the discovery of a body that turns out to be that of a senator's intern. The references to a real Washington, D.C., murder mystery are chilling as the camera takes in landmarks from the Botanic Gardens to Arlington National Cemetery. The clues accrue as usual, but the banter indicates this series aims higher than the standard TV procedural.

Deschanel and Boreanaz are interesting physical specimens on camera,

neither classically pretty nor model perfect, each powerful in close-ups. You might say the architecture of their faces is compelling. She has intense, despairing eyes and a hint of a cleft chin; he has that prominent brow, deep set eyes and long face. Together they keep us guessing.

"I hate when you make paranoia plausible. It's like sliding off a cliff," she tells one of her eccentric lab geniuses. They're a well-defined and fun group, even when they're not drinking cocktails out of lab beakers. And the expansive lab set, lined floor-to-ceiling with bones, is inviting.

Executive producers Barry Josephson ("Hide and Seek," "Like Mike") and Hart Hanson ("Joan of Arcadia," "Judging Amy") have created a smart, dark and flirty drama that deserves a wide sampling.

"I hate psychology," Brennan says. She doesn't approve of what she calls soft science; she's into the hard stuff. Like bones. Her antipathy to introspection invites us to analyze her further, of course. Orphaned at a young age, she has a bundle of defenses. Did we mention she's also trained in martial arts and an ace with a gun?

Brennan ("Don't call me bones") is going to be one wonderfully tough case to crack.

"Bones" is well paired on Tuesdays with Fox's other high-end drama, "House." The second-season premiere, Tuesday at 8 p.m. on Channel 31, features the irascible Dr. House (Hugh Laurie) taking on the case of a death-row inmate, played by LL Cool J in a memorable guest turn. Difficult to say which one is more obnoxious, the doctor or the patient. It's a typically complex hour that proves, like "Bones," that complicated, flawed, even off-putting heroes are most interesting.

http://www.denverpost.com/portlet/article/html/fragments/print_article.jsp?article=3018482

TV SEASON PREVIEWS
What to do?
Night after night, your favorite shows are on at the same time, different channels

By Tim Goodman San Francisco Chronicle Monday, September 12, 2005

You hear it every season, normally from a sweet old lady. "I don't watch much television. And I only like two shows -- but they're on at the same time. Why do they do that?"

Answer: Counterprogramming. It's a (bad word).

While there's certainly an enormous amount of network jockeying in May, when the fall schedules are set -- and yes, the old ruse of counterprogramming is sometimes used for evil purposes -- the fact is, most networks create a schedule based around "flow." What shows work well together. What flows in and out of our existing shows in some ethereally meaningful way that will keep you watching.

First option: self-preservation through betterment. Second option: kill your rival.

See, if you can create a nice lead-in, then a better lead-out, you take care of your own business. If that methodically concocted flow also crushes the competition, life is beautiful.

But no matter how well played that may be in bloody business terms, it doesn't do viewers any favors. Two shows -- hell, three shows -- on the same night and at the same time, is a VCR/TiVo nightmare. (Not to mention how you'll have the time to watch it all even if you can figure out the technological logistics.) To help you through the quagmire, here's a rundown of the biggest battles: what to watch, what to TiVo and what to skip, night by night.

-- Monday: West Coast football fans who also like comedy are in for some trouble. "Arrested Development" gets a new night and time (8 p.m.). It's the easy choice over other comedy and drama competition, but since we TiVo every episode (perfect for third viewings) until the DVD box arrives, watching "Monday Night Football" live makes sense. (Do NOT do this if you're a Nielsen family. Don't kill a good sitcom over the Kansas City Chiefs.) The tough decision comes from two excellent freshman comedies at 8:30 p.m. Go for "How I Met Your Mother" on CBS and TiVo "Kitchen Confidential" on Fox.

-- Tuesday: Ooooh. Brutal. In the 9 p.m. slot, it's just carnage. You've got three good dramas in ABC's new "Commander in Chief," Fox's "House" and WB's "Supernatural." You've got one of the best and most popular reality shows with CBS' "Amazing Race," plus the funniest new sitcom of the season, "My Name Is Earl" on NBC. Solution: More recording devices? Barring that, watch "House" and tape "My Name Is Earl" and the second season of "The Office." At 10 p.m., there's another logjam with "Law & Order: SVU" on NBC, "Boston Legal" on ABC and newcomer "Close to Home" on CBS. Solution: "Nip/Tuck" on FX is better than all three combined.

-- Wednesday: Also packed at 9 p.m., but less complicated. Watch "Lost" on ABC for the watercooler necessity. Tape "Criminal Minds" on CBS -- excellent new police procedural. Until "E-Ring" on NBC improves, and you can't rule that out, don't worry. But underdog buzz show "Veronica Mars" on UPN is worth a peek. More woes at 10 p.m. Newcomer "Invasion" on ABC is intriguing and a great lead-out from "Lost" (flow!), but you may be entrenched with "Law & Order" on NBC or a revamped "CSI: NY" on CBS. Solution: There's still five more episodes of FX's brilliant "Over There" in the same time slot.

-- Thursday: Easy calls later, trouble from the get-go. At 8 p.m., powerhouse reality show "Survivor" on CBS is still the best of the lot in that genre, but there's "Alias" on ABC to consider and, if you're skewing younger, Fox's "The O.C." vs. WB's "Smallville." What remains? Only one of the fall's biggest buzz shows, "Everybody Hates Chris" on UPN. Solution: Believe the hype. Watch "Chris," tape "Survivor."

-- Friday: Is there life still in Fox's "Bernie Mac" and "Malcolm in the Middle," both new to this night? Do you secretly get tips from ABC's "Supernanny"? Watch out for a tear-jerking reality entry, "Three Wishes," from Amy Grant, which may own this time slot outright in two weeks. Ah, that's all manufactured drama. This is really simple. Go for the laughs from 8 to 9 p.m., then switch to CBS for "Threshold" at 9 p.m. and "Numbers" at 10 p.m.

-- Saturday: How about paying attention to your family? Plus, nobody watches TV on Saturday night. It's television's graveyard.

-- Sunday: Not as bleak as Tuesday, but close. "King of the Hill" at 7:30 p.m. Done. "The Simpsons" at 8 p.m. It's just un-American not to watch. But if you need a drama at 8 p.m., do you go for "The West Wing" or "Cold Case"? Solution: Until the election gets boring, "The West Wing." Though the rest of the country is going to be watching "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" for a good cry. Another watercooler necessity pops up at 9 p.m., ABC's "Desperate Housewives," but those hooked on HBO's "Rome" have a full nine episodes left. Solution: Record "Rome," watch "Desperate" and catch the reruns of "Family Guy" on Fox. At 10 p.m., it's drama vs. comedy. Last midseason's hit, "Grey's Anatomy" is back, but so is "Curb Your Enthusiasm" on HBO, followed by the new buzz comedy "Extras," starring Ricky Gervais. Solution: Come on. Hospital dramas are 10 to the penny. "Curb" and "Extras" are an absolute life necessity.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/09/12/DDGB4EKPKA1.DTL

TV SEASON PREVIEWS
Laurie getting used to House calls
Veteran actor makes splash in unlikeliest role

By ELLEN GRAY Philadelphia Daily News

Hugh Laurie would be the last person to tell you that he's following in his father's footsteps.

His late father, after all, was a real doctor.

Laurie merely plays one on TV, the tormented — and often tormenting — Dr. Gregory House, the unlikely and yet not unlikable focus of one of last season's most unexpected hits, Fox's House .

There are parallels

But for the Oxford-reared, Eton- and Cambridge-educated comic actor, who at 46 finds himself with a whole new image as an unshaven, Vicodin-popping misanthrope — and an American, at that — thanks to a role that's light-years from Blackadder's Prince Regent, P.G. Wodehouse's Bertie Wooster or Stuart Little's father, the parallels are there.

His father, a general practitioner, "didn't actually qualify as a doctor till his mid-40s," Laurie said.

"He spent 20 years in Africa as a — you have no equivalent of it here, and God bless you for not having an equivalent — he was a colonial administrator, when the Sudan was a British territory. He was a district commissioner in the Sudan," where Laurie's two older sisters were born.

'Amazing thing'

"So he came back at 40 ... with a science degree, thinking, 'Well, what am I going to do now?' and with two kids, he enrolled in medical school with a lot of 19-year-olds," Laurie said, calling it "an amazing thing."

As amazing as an actor who by his own admission had "played a lot of stupid people" and "clowns" finding himself not only suddenly cast as a brilliant doctor — a role that has him up for an Emmy — but also becoming, almost overnight, a sex symbol?

Laurie's an affable enough guy (especially compared to his character), but he's not one of those actors who'll twist himself into a pretzel to give some reporter somewhere to spread some mustard. At a press conference, he recently told someone seeking stories of his own visits to doctors, that he was a person "to whom anecdotes don't happen."

But asked if his own midlife adventure, which he'd described as having a "second bite of the apple," weren't akin to his father's experience, he relented a little.

'In a tiny way'

"I hadn't thought of that, yes, I suppose I am. It's true, it is about the same time, in a tiny way, compared to the change he made," he said.

"I hadn't thought of that. So if you don't mind," he added, smiling, "I'm going to think about that later."

For now, he's content to talk about his father, who was "a total hero to me," he said, though not exactly the foundation on which his House is built.

Gentle, patient

"He could not have been more different to House. A very gentle man, a man who would take any amount of time with patients. But nonetheless, he gave me a certain amount of reverence for the medical profession," he said.

"He was my doctor, even though he wasn't, really. But of course, there's a doctor in the house, so if I put my hand through a window, you know, he was the guy who put the stitches in. And he was wonderful," he said.

Even, apparently, when Laurie "set off a petrol bomb on my leg," burning his leg "very badly."

"How did I do that? It's a long story. You know, kids, boys, explosive things. It will happen," said Laurie, whose own three children, two sons and a daughter, are 16, 14 and 11.

Though his father may have been more like Marcus Welby than House (not that Laurie ever saw Marcus Welby, M.D. growing up in England), the actor's quick to defend his character, a brilliant diagnostician who goes to sometimes absurd lengths to avoid contact with actual sick people.

'In search of truth'

"This may be my deficiency, but I don't think of him as great (expletive) at all," Laurie said.

"To me, he's a hero. ... He's not polite, he's not someone you want to take home to meet your mother necessarily, but he is in search of truth. This is a guy in search of truth, and incidentally, that truth one day could save your life, or the life of someone you love, and that's a heroic thing.

"And he's given up a large chunk of his own chance at happiness. He's surrendered his contact with other human beings, he's surrendered a normal social life ... in order to be the uncompromising seeker after truth that he is," he said.

Not easy to pigeonhole

Shorthand descriptions of House seldom do the character justice, perhaps because even viewers who never saw Laurie on such PBS imports as Jeeves and Wooster — or who would never have recognized him from Stuart Little — sense the comic that still lies inside the leading man.

"There's the clown in House, there's an adolescent in him, a child, a playful side. There's also a tormented self-destroyer, as well. I get the best of all possible worlds," Laurie said.

TV SEASON PREVIEWS
“House”: Caustic role on savvy show makes British actor into surprise TV star

By Charlie McCollum San Jose Mercury News Posted on Mon, Sep. 12, 2005

BEVERLY HILLS - Actor Hugh Laurie claims he doesn't have a lot of good stories to tell.

``I'm very conscious of the world being divided into people to whom anecdotes happen and to whom anecdotes don't happen,'' Laurie says. ``I just belong to the non-anecdotes part of the world.

``Some people go and fetch dry cleaning, and they get 20 minutes of stand-up out of that. It just doesn't happen to me.''

His protestations aside, Laurie has one whale of a tale to tell. It's the story of how a series about a brilliant but caustic, pill-popping doctor with absolutely no bedside manner became one of last season's surprise hits. And how the 46-year-old British actor who plays him has unexpectedly become a star, a sex symbol and an Emmy nominee.

When Laurie's ``House'' (which returns 9 p.m. Tuesday, Chs. 2, 35) was first announced for Fox's schedule last fall, the general reaction was: interesting premise, hard sell, wrong network.

Its protagonist, Dr. Gregory House, was far removed from your standard-issue TV doctor: an acerbic diagnostician to whom the disease was more important than the patient. (One of his early lines: ``Humanity is overrated.'') House saved people by unraveling medical mysteries, but he was gruff, often condescending and more than a little difficult.

The character -- and the show -- simply didn't look as if they would appeal to the younger viewers coveted by Fox.

But much to surprise of Fox, Dr. Gregory House and ``House'' became a hit, a very big hit. Even though it started off slowly, the series eventually averaged an audience of 13.3 million. By the end of the season, it was a top-15 show, drawing 18.4 million viewers a week.

In part, its success was driven by Fox's decision to air it behind ``American Idol,'' a ratings juggernaut. But other shows have failed behind ``Idol,'' and ``House'' has repeated very well over the summer without the talent show as a lead-in.

`` `American Idol' was obviously very good to us. The numbers certainly changed after we were following it,'' admits David Shore, the show's creator and executive producer. But, he adds, ``people have come to watch it and people have stayed.''

Shore and the show's other producers go out of their way to stress the importance of the ensemble cast, which features such fine actors as Robert Sean Leonard (a Tony winner on Broadway) and Lisa Edelstein (``The West Wing'') and will add Sela Ward (``Once and Again'') this season as Stacy Warner, House's former lover.
But when pressed about the series' appeal, they -- and the cast -- are quick to point to House and Laurie.

``He gets to say all of the things that everybody wishes they could say,'' says Ward, who appeared as a guest star at the end of Season 1. ``There's an irreverence to the character -- and he is gorgeous.''

All of which bemuses Laurie no end, especially the part about being sexy. (``What I am is a profoundly unsexy person playing a sexy character,'' he says.)

The actor even admits that when he was first asked to read for the part of House, he thought the character was a ``sidekick'' to the more conventional Dr. James Wilson (played by Leonard). The actor was filming the remake of ``Flight of the Phoenix'' in Africa when he was sent just four pages of the script to read.

``I thought Wilson was the main character,'' Laurie recalls. ``He was the sort of clean-cut hero who would save lives and do battle with evil generally, and I would be the sort of irritable but softhearted sidekick.''

Instead, Laurie -- whose best work was in such British TV series as ``Black Adder'' and ``Jeeves and Wooster,'' seen by only a few Americans -- finds himself one of television's hot stars and an Emmy nominee for best actor.

``I'm rather enjoying the whole process of reinvention,'' Laurie says. ``I came here as a faceless new person.''

The appeal of House can probably be best explained by Laurie's ability to deliver even the most caustic lines with a wry wit. The comic touch makes House more of a human being than he might have been in the hands of a different actor.

``It's great having somebody that can deliver the humor,'' Shore says. ``I'll write something and think, `That's hysterical, but does it work?' But Hugh will pull it off, and it will still remain a dramatic, emotional scene with this incredibly funny line in the middle of it.''

Laurie himself says that ``there's the clown in House, there's an adolescent in him, a child, a playful side.'' But, he adds, ``there's also a tormented self-destroyer as well. I get the best of all possible worlds.''

For Laurie -- whose late father, William George Mundell Laurie, was a general practitioner -- House is definitely ``a hero'' -- in his way.

``He's not polite, he's not someone you want to take home to meet your mother necessarily, but he is in search of truth and incidentally, that truth one day could save your life, or the life of someone you love,'' Laurie says.

``He's surrendered his contact with other human beings; he's surrendered a normal social life. He's given up a large chunk of his own chance at happiness in order to be the uncompromising seeker after truth that he is.''

TV SEASON PREVIEWS
“Bones” HD Tuesday, Fox 8 PM ET/PT Premieres Sept. 13th

Premise: Dr. Temperance Brennan reads clues left behind in a victim's bones.

Cast: Emily Deschanel, David Boreanaz, Michaela Conlin, TJ Thyne, Eric Millegan

Our 2¢: Real-life forensic anthropologist and novelist Kathy Reichs inspired this new drama. It's not 'CSI: Los Angeles.' It's all about them bones. Like that other crime show, it does have gross scenes, cool gadgets and camera tricks, but the producers hope you'll notice Boreanaz doesn't have fangs.

TV SEASON PREVIEWS
'Supernatural': A little horror movie every week

It’s a loud, believably unbelievable ghost story, a different ghost from classic lore guest-starring each week
By Paul Brownfield Los Angeles Times Staff Writer September 13, 2005

( TiVo, VCR and DVR note: The premiere episode of “Supernatural” (Tuesday, Sept. 13th at 9 PM ET/PT will run 1:07. So, if you need to, set your recorder accordingly.)

It isn't going to be a very good fall for mommies on new sci-fi shows. ABC's "Invasion" has one "smelling different," probably due to proximity to aliens, and on the WB's "Supernatural" there's a mother pinned to the ceiling above her child's crib, engulfed by hellfire.

"Supernatural" uses the image to establish its horror-movie bona fides, to elicit waves of disturbance and pleasure in said disturbance. Network TV is clear on certain issues of sexual content (you can't show a nipple, we know that), but there's more ambiguity around horror-movie violence. Can you show a woman pinned to the ceiling like that? "Supernatural" looks like it'll push things; that introductory scene is certainly a "gotcha" moment promising more.

The show has a quorum of executive producers around it with Hollywood box-office credibility, including Eric Kripke, whose screenwriting credits include "The Grudge" and "Boogeyman," and music video auteur turned filmmaker McG ("Charlie's Angels"). McG knows loud. "Supernatural" is a loud, believably unbelievable ghost story, a different ghost from classic lore guest-starring each week. Bloody Mary. The man with a hook who haunts Lovers Lane.

To untangle our protagonists: When the Winchester boys, Dean (Jensen Ackles) and Sam (Jared Padalecki) were little, the boogeyman (unspecified) came to get their mother (aforementioned, on ceiling). The event sent the boys' father (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) on a lifelong, obsessive quest (is there any other kind on TV?) to find the evil spirit that perpetrated the episode. Now he's missing on a "hunting trip," and all-grown-up Dean enlists about-to-enter-Stanford-law-school Sam on a mission to find him.

The brothers, as characters, are neatly divided into the renegade, Dean, and the reluctant, sensitive renegade, Sam. The way we know they're brothers is that they punch each other a lot, and when Sam complains about Dean's driving music, a collection of heavy metal tapes, Dean says: "Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cake hole."

Between brothers, that tears an argument. As much as it is a ghost story, and a "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" descendant, "Supernatural" is also a road movie, the brothers tooling back-country roads in Dean's '67 Chevy.

Their first stop is a town called Jericho, Calif., where they have goth chicks and a library. While visiting, Dean and Sam catch the scent of their father and confront the Lady in White, a dead hitchhiker who picks up rides from horny guys and then offs them.

It's a horror-movie convention — foreplay followed by gruesome death — and the makers of "Supernatural" are smart to kick things off this way, smart to signal that they will be aping evergreen moments of the horror genre.

Because this establishes the show as a little horror movie each week. "Supernatural" isn't breaking any ground (it's treading all over already tread ground, in fact), but it has all of its linear ducks in a row, the Pavlovian scare tactics and the rugged-cute guy leads and the cartoon themes. It's like a show raised not by wolves but by the WB

"Supernatural" is about battling evil spirits but also about coming to terms with loss, forcing ghosts to confront their own demons and realizing one's inexorable connection to family.

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-supernatural13sep13,0,6093687.story?coll=cl-tv-top-right

TV SEASON PREVIEWS
Hotties on a 'Supernatural' ride

BY DIANE WERTS Newsday Staff Writer September 13, 2005

Spontaneous combustion, anyone? Gorgeous ghosts who put the pedal to the metal in sports cars? A trunk full of weapons and a wanderlust to kick some paranormal posterior?

Have we got the show for you. "Supernatural" knows what it wants, and goes out and kills it. Two studly 20-something brothers rejoin forces in tonight's WB premiere to find their missing dad, who's hit the road on another "hunting trip" for fierce phantoms. One of them took out the brothers' mom, a nasty bit of business with which the pilot's very first (flashback) sequence declares the series' intentions. Icky apparitions. Spooky music. Shock editing. Motherless kids.

Who, this being The WB, grow up into hunks who can't get into the groove of that "normal apple pie life." Determined Jensen Ackles ("Smallville") works hard to recruit would-be law student sibling Jared Padalecki ("Gilmore Girls") to brood beside him in the family's '67 Chevy, stocked with fake police badges, forged credit cards and serious firepower. What would you expect from boys who were raised melting silver into bullets?

The credit card scam is an unsympathetic misstep - hey, that's why interest rates are astronomical! - but spelling out sources of income isn't a high priority in a pilot teeming with occult exposition. The job here is explaining how devils, sirens, witches and the infamous Woman in White "are borne out of violent death." Our heroes promise "no chick flick moments" as they seek to stomp those wicked ghouls' corpses 'til they're dead, dead, dead. And hopefully find Dad along the way.

It's a romp and a half, created by "Boogeyman" writer Eric Kripke, stylishly staged and filmed by ace director David Nutter ("Dark Angel," "Smallville," "Without a Trace"), all low angles and concentrated pacing. The special effects are fine, but not so overwhelming as to upstage the eerie dreaminess of our hot young teen idols (mature enough to serve as fantasizing-mother magnets, too). This first hour has a lot happening, which is likely to chill a bit now that the pilot has been picked up and its subsequent series budget sliced. (Spare-no-expense pilots always look flashier than their weekly progeny.)

Many plot points are preposterous. But then this is a show that only uses them to advance toward its next violent vision or moody view of our angsty stars. Did I mention they were hot? That's what counts, along with the pilot's zestful presentation of its far-out contrivances. You could do a lot worse among this fall's flock of fantasy shows that "Lost" wrought.

TV SEASON PREVIEWS
'Gilmore Girls'
Does he?

By Alan Sepinwall Newark Star-Ledger Monday, September 12, 2005
The WB has gone out of its way to publicize the extra length of that "Supernatural" pilot, mainly because they torqued so many people with last spring's "Gilmore Girls" finale, which, unannounced, ran a minute long, so viewers who were TiVo'ing or taping missed the climactic moment where Lorelai (Lauren Graham) proposed marriage to Luke (Scott Patterson).

The sixth season premiere (Tuesday, Sept. 13th, at 8 PM ET/PT, WB), should start and end on time, but don't come late, because Luke's answer to the proposal (no hints as to what it is) comes about an eyeblink into the episode. After being accused of dragging out romantic stories in the past, "Gilmore" creator Amy Sherman-Palladino clearly isn't wasting time on this cliffhanger.

Sherman-Palladino hasn't lost her gift for combining matters of the heart with hits to the funny bone. While Lorelai is still heartbroken over daughter Rory's (Alexis Bledel) decision to quit Yale and move in with her grandparents, she takes a small measure of revenge by siccing snooty hotel manager Michel (Yanic Truesdale) on her imperious mother Emily (Kelly Bishop), in a verbal battle of the grand dames the likes of which haven't been seen on TV since Joan Collins used to make fun of Linda Evans' shoulder pads.

TV SEASON PREVIEWS
'Supernatural'
Recycled sci-fi

By Alan Sepinwall Newark Star-Ledger Monday, September 12, 2005

"SUPERNATURAL" (Tuesday at 9 PM ET/PT) is a WB mash-up, combining bits and pieces from throughout the network's lineup to create a show that feels oddly familiar and yet entertaining in its own way.

Jared Padalecki from "Gilmore Girls" and Jensen Ackles from "Smallville" play brothers Sam and Dean Winchester, whose mother died in an unearthly fire when Sam was an infant. Their father, obsessed with finding and killing whoever or whatever killed his wife, raised the boys on a steady diet of weapons training and tales of the paranormal. Sam has rejected the family's strange calling in favor of law school when the series begins and Dean shows up to tell him that dad has gone missing while "hunting."

So take two hunks from pre-existing WB shows, have them chase monsters in a format that's served the network well with "Buffy," "Angel" and "Charmed," add the noisy '67 Chevy Impala they drive cross-country, and you have a work that could really only come from the production company of "Charlie's Angels" director McG, who already gave television "The O.C." ("Beverly Hills 90210" meets "Karate Kid" meets the collected works of John Hughes) and the short-lived "Fastlane" ("Miami Vice" meets "21 Jump Street" meets "Grand Theft Auto").

(To make the whole WB's Greatest Hits approach confusing, on "Gilmore Girls," Padalecki played Rory's square-jawed boyfriend Dean, but here Ackles is called Dean, while Sam has a girlfriend named Jess -- the name of the guy Rory dumped Dean for. Are they trying to make my brain hurt?)

Tonight's pilot, which will run an extra 10 minutes (which is actually more like five minutes of show and five minutes of ads, thanks to the joys of "super-sizing"), was written by Eric Kripke and directed by David Nutter. Nutter is an "X-Files" veteran, and he knows exactly when to sneak up behind the audience and yell "Boo!" The brothers investigate a ghostly woman in white who stands by a road and asks men to drive her home, then kills them, in a story that's quintessential B-movie horror, cheap but effective.

There's not as much humor as there probably should be -- most of it coming as the brothers bicker over the "mullet rock" tape collection Dean keeps in the car -- but there's potential here. The pilot name-checks a bunch of familiar urban legends (including Clifton's Gates of Hell, referred to here as "The Devil's Gates"), and there's certainly no lack of material to sustain an updating of "Route 66" by way of "The Twilight Zone."

With the shotguns, muscle car and heavy metal soundtrack, it's more testosterone-y than the WB's usual sci-fi/fantasy shows, but just familiar enough that fans will feel they're getting what they want, if not what they need.

Some more informed opinion, this time with predictions about whether the shows will make it to a second season or not.

TV SEASON PREVIEWS
The new fall shows, from first to worst

By AARON BARNHART The Kansas City Star

THE BEST SHOWS

Everybody Hates Chris” (7 p.m. Thursdays, UPN). Chris Rock’s sardonic look back at his childhood — living among crackheads in Brooklyn and attending an all-white school — is the one don’t-miss show of the fall. It’s a sparkling old-school mix of Bill Cosby and “The Wonder Years,” as spun by our generation’s biggest and brightest comic. If Rock continues to pour his energies into this show, it won’t merely be the No. 1 comedy on UPN.
Forecast: Renewed for two years.

“My Name Is Earl” (8 p.m. Tuesdays, NBC). Earl (Jason Lee) has just had an epiphany: Maybe my life wouldn’t be such a drag if I were nicer to people. From that premise (duh!) begins what I hope are many seasons of comic redemption. What the show lacks in pl