Category Archives: Grey’s Anatomy

May 19, 2007 · 6:50 pm

The Three Most Disturbing Trends of the 2007/2008 Upfronts

Each year, the Upfronts create a series of trends which show what the networks are really thinking for the following year. They take what was successful the year before, and they decide that they should just copy all of that into their own schedules. For example, Lost’s success led to three different sci-fi copycat shows the following season: Invasion (ABC), Surface (NBC), and Threshold (CBS). Similarly, after the success of Prison Break, networks switched to serial conspiracy/action dramas like Vanished (FOX), Kidnapped (NBC), and Smith (CBS). This season has seen a variety of different trends, and some of them actually seem quite good on the surface. However, I think that there is actually a number of bad precedents being set which we should all remain aware of as next season begins.

The Three Most Disturbing Trends of the 2007/2008 Upfronts

3. The Procedural Nature of Television Drama

I’ve expected it from CBS for many years, now: all of their dramas are unlikely to have any sort of serial aspect, choosing instead to stick to procedural structure. Law & Order really started it off, CSI picked up the ball and kept running, and there is surely to be a new franchise waiting in the wings with time. It’s a quality which the networks love, since it means people can just sit back and watch a single episode without getting too caught up in the previous week’s action. And, I like some of these dramas: they can be compelling and fun to watch, and they repeat well for the purpose of syndication. However, I don’t want to see all procedural and nothing but procedural dramas.

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Filed under ABC, American Idol, FOX, Grey's Anatomy, Heroes, House, My Name is Earl, NBC, New Amsterdam, Private Practice, Reality TV, Sarah Connor Chronicles, Survivor, Television, The Amazing Race, The Apprentice, The CW, The Office, Upfronts, Veronica Mars

Tagged as CBS

May 17, 2007 · 12:45 pm

‘Lost’: Recap Show Tonight at 10pm EST, CTV Finale Scheduling

Although we’re still in the middle of Cultural Learnings’ Upfronts Extravaganza, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t other news to worry about. For example, today brings news regarding the upcoming finale of Lost that I figure people should be made aware of:

Lost: “The Answers” [10pm ABC]

– Tonight (May 17th) at 10pm on ABC, after the Grey’s Anatomy finale, ABC is going out of its way to try to pull back some viewers who have strayed from their other hit drama: Lost. In preparation for its finale next week, Lost airs a new recap show which will fill everyone in on what’s gone down in the island since they abandoned it in the Fall. For those who fall into this category: you’re in for a wild ride. There’s been only a few lukewarm hours since the show returned in February, and we’re heading towards a wild finale.

CTV Schedules the Lost Finale

For us Canadians, we’re often a bit spoiled with Lost. We usually get to see it two hours earlier than Americans thanks to CTV airing both it and American Idol. However, as much as we’ve enjoyed this in the past, it looks like we’re about to pay for it.

Thanks to NeoGAF user Olivier for alerting me to the fact that CTV is, for the Eastern and Western Time Zones, splitting the Lost finale into two halves and airing American Idol between them. Yes, that’s right: Lost begins at 7pm EST, American Idol airs from 8pm to 10pm, and then Lost returns to finish its finale. I swear, it’s right out of Alice in Wonderland, but “Through the Looking Glass” will be torn apart for its CTV airing in those timezones (And, therefore, in High Definition). For people in the Atlantic or Central Time Zones, the show will air uninterrupted (by other shows, anyways) from 7pm to 9pm.

This is an unsurprising move (Otherwise, it would have had to have been on at 6pm EST), but it’s still very frustrating because I’ll have to choose one of three options:

– Watch in Standard Def in Atlantic time zone.

– Watch in High-Definition split up

– Watch in High-Definition starting at 10 on ABC, and missing Idol’s 2nd hour to watch the unbroken version.

I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. For now, anticipation takes over.

Network Upfronts Extravaganza: ‘ABC’ Fall Schedule 2007/2008

Well, ABC’s schedule is official, and there’s not much in the way of changes for the network. In fact, to be honest, the schedule is downright boring.

Reminder: Cultural Learnings’ ABC Fall Preview Schedule

– Private Practice, the Grey’s Anatomy Spinoff, will be slotting in at 9pm on Wednesdays, the spot currently occupied by underperforming comedies. It will be sandwiched by two new shows: Bryan Fuller’s Pushing Daisies and Greg Berlanti’s Dirty Sexy Money. This means three new shows in a single night, which is a departure from the stability found in Lost (Which is now officially held back until February).

– Thursday’s only change is that Big Shots, a male-themed CEO drama, is inheriting the post-Grey’s spot. Why, exactly, this show has the spot over the female-themed Cashmere Mafia (Held until midseason) I don’t really know. I guess because Dylan McDermott and Michael Vartan bring sex appeal? Seems to be the only logic I can think of.

– Dancing with the Stars goes to an hour and a half full time on Mondays as Sam I Am, the Christina Applegate amnesia comedy, fills in between the reality show and The Bachelor at 10. The network’s other two comedies, Cavemen and Carpoolers, fit in at 8pm on Tuesday (Where no other comedies are, good choice), but then lead into an hour-long Dancing with the Stars results show. ABC, the show doesn’t deserve that much of your schedule, cut it to a half hour and slot in another comedy.

– The other new show, Women’s Murder Club, leads out of Men in Trees on Fridays as the latter moves to the opening slot at 8pm. It’s a tough one, against Ghost Whisperer, and we’ll see what momentum the show has after a shortened first season.

– Meanwhile, Notes from the Underbelly and October Road will be headed for midseason.

For the full schedule (It’s really this boring, I swear!), continue on.

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Filed under ABC, Brothers & Sisters, Dancing with the Stars, Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, Lost, Private Practice, Ratings, Television, Upfronts

May 13, 2007 · 11:19 am

Network Upfronts Extravaganza – ‘ABC’ Preview

ABC is in a unique situation this year when it comes to pilots. On one hand, the network has seen some success this year and in past years, and the network has remained a solid demographics performers even with dips in viewership for its flagship shows like Lost or Desperate Housewives. However, outside of shows like Grey’s Anatomy the network actually saw a series of failures over the span of the year with both dramas and comedies. Judging from its pilot order, ABC is going with what I’d like to call a shotgun approach, something which is both good and bad for the network’s future. Either way, next season will be a test for the ABC brand: is there a cohesive image which can unite wildly different shows together under one banner?

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Filed under ABC, Brothers & Sisters, Cavemen, Dancing with the Stars, Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, Lost, Private Practice, Ratings, Sex & The City, Television, Traveler, Ugly Betty, Upfronts

May 10, 2007 · 12:12 pm

Thursday Night TV Club Memo: NBC Supersized, 10pm Guests

This is just a quick note for what promises to be a hectic Thursday evening. Thanks to some unfortunate circumstances, I am faced with a very large dilemma: there’s way too much TV on tonight, and I’m not going to be able to watch it all within the next day since…my “VCR” is out of commission. *Cough* Ahem.

As a result, I’m going to have to choose carefully what I choose to watch.

ABC

ABC’s got a fairly strong lineup, to be honest; Ugly Betty (8pm)is heading towards its finale with some momentum behind the Betty/Henry romance, Grey’s Anatomy (9pm) is certainly dramatic with its George/Izzie issues, and the new drama Traveler is something to consider…but at the same time there’s nothing pressing about watching these particular shows. I already watched Traveler (10:01pm) last summer, Ugly Betty is unlikely to be spoiled for me, and Grey’s has been far too annoying recently considering I still think this George/Izzie thing is just plain stupid.

CBS

CBS has a unique schedule as well, tonight, with a former friend occupying the 10pm slot. However, it starts at 8pm with the penultimate episode of Survivor: Fiji. I’ve been following the season, and feel obligated to see it through to the finale this time (I missed the finale last season). It’s nothing too interesting, but it’s also the most likely to be spoiled for me tomorrow. CBS then loses my interest, but gains the interest of others with a new episode of CSI at 9pm, followed by the return of Without a Trace at 10pm on Thursdays for its 5th Season Finale. Considering that recent timeslot occupant Shark is likely to depart the timeslot, could it be moving back full time? It’s possible.

NBC

Here’s where the real problem lies, because NBC is once again going with a Supersized lineup this evening. My Name is Earl’s 2nd Season Finale runs from 8:00pm EST to 8:40, and then The Office runs from 8:40 to 9:20, followed by Scrubs from 9:20 to 10:00pm. They close the night with the rapidly declining ER (Hitting Grey’s last week was not good for the show), but it’s a real scheduling conundrum regardless of what airs at 10pm.

If I watch the NBC comedies (Well, The Office and Scrubs) I’m watching less TV than I could if I watch Survivor and Grey’s instead. Heck, think about how awful it would be if I was not appalled by FOX’s “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” and wanted to watch its two back-to-back episodes where someone attempts the Million dollar question? Or, if I was addicted to Supernatural and Smallville, airing new episodes on The CW (I totally almost wrote fresh episodes, damn you The WB! *Shakes Fist*)?

It’s quite a night for the Thursday Night TV Club…I’ll check in later with details on what I watched, but if you have any suggestions please let me know. And, for the love of all things good, don’t forget that The Office is supersized and miss any of it when TiVoing!

Everything You Want To Know About the Grey’s Anatomy Spinoff

While there was some stuff about Cristina’s wedding, and about Meredith and her father, let’s face it: we were watching tonight’s episode of Grey’s Anatomy, “The Other Side of This Life,” for a preview of Addison (Kate Walsh) and her spinoff (Tentatively titled ‘Private Practice’) which currently has a really good shot of making ABC’s lineup in the Fall (Although the Grey’s stuff got REALLY heavy at the end, I’m still choosing to ignore it). But, the thing is…is it any good? Is the show really worth a spot on ABC’s schedule? Let’s evaluate and find out.

The Premise

Addison takes a trip down to Santa Monica to visit some old med school friends who are running a doctor’s cooperative on the sunnier part of the West Coast. She arrives at Oceanside Wellness Group with one thing in mind: having a baby (which proves to be a difficult goal). The clinic is also currently lacking an OBGYN, after theirs had a little run-in with one of the partners, so there’s an empty office just asking for Addison to step in to fill the void.

The show basically operates like Grey’s Anatomy with a greater focus on different medical conditions. It’s got its procedural structure of cases of the week, in this case a surrogate situation gone wrong and a man with low sex drive. To what extent this would develop differently once picked can only be speculated upon. For now, it’s Grey’s Anatomy dealing with psychiatric cases and more OBGYN aspects.

The Characters

Any good spinoff, really, has to be able to create memorable characters that we’re willing to accept as part of the show’s universe. This means establishing archetypes that are different from what we see on the original series, and creating performances that are distinct and memorable. And, in my view, I’d say that this particular spinoff has done a fairly good job of this.

The Best Friend – Naomi (Merrin Dungey)

Where you’ve seen her before: She played Francie on “Alias”.

She’s the friend for Addison, an old Med School buddy who is going through some problems on her own. She brings a nice parallel to the table in terms of Addison’s goal of having a child and her past relationship issues, and as the clinic’s fertility doctor she clearly factors directly into Addison’s plan to have a baby. On the whole, I’d say she’s a successful addition to the show’s universe, and she doesn’t come across as similar to any existing characters.

The Male Divorcee Struggling with Singlehood – Sam (Taye Diggs)

Where you’ve seen him before: He played the titular character on UPN’s “Kevin Hill” and ABC’s “Daybreak”

On the surface, Jackson is a little bit like McDreamy, but in reality he’s more of the anti-McDreamy. Although he was recently divorced, he is certainly not reacting by sleeping with random interns; instead, he’s remaining single and owns a small little dog and working alongside his ex-wife (Naomi). He’s got a successful book (Dr. Feelgood is his other name, apparently), but you have the feeling that he could snap at any moment and just go wild. It’s a complex character, and it’s kind of interesting.

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Filed under ABC, Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, Television

April 28, 2007 · 11:54 pm

Dear Television: Enough with the Metaphors.

It’s now officially May Sweeps (It started on Thursday evening), which means that all serial dramas are heading into their final storylines leading into their season finales. This means that they’re working overtime to make sure that everything is lined up perfectly, and that we as viewers are along for the ride. And, trust me, I understand why they do this. However, for the love of all things holy, quit it with the blatant metaphors and anvil-heavy examples.

Get it? It's a maze!

I know that Gilmore Girls is heading into its final series of episodes in what could still potentially be its last season (More on this at some point in the coming weeks, methinks), but does it need to be designed entirely based on metaphorical situations to place its characters in. It began two weeks ago with the hay maze. You see, you can’t go around the maze, you have to confront it. Just like Lorelai and Luke need to confront their mistakes in the past, instead of just going around it. Because it’s faster that way. And then Rory and Logan were going into the maze, and there was two directions to go in, and they went in the same one. Get it? Because he’s totally on her side, because the maze told me so! I honestly felt fairly stupid watching it, as if the show didn’t feel that I, as a viewer, was capable of figuring it out without an anvil-like metaphor.

And then they did it again a week later! I know that even Amy Sherman-Palladino (Creator and former showrunner) used metaphors to get across her points, but it never felt so blatant. In this episode, Lorelai and Luke tried to reconnect. In the same episode, Lorelai’s car breaks. Now, she goes car shopping with Luke, but she doesn’t enjoy it or the cars she sees. You see, she doesn’t want a new car, she wants her OLD car. Just like she doesn’t want this new awkward Luke relationship, but rather her OLD banter-filled, dented relationship with the diner-owner. Do you get it? Because Luke is just like her car.

And yet, its popped up elsewhere as well.

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Thursday Night TV Club – April 19th, 2007

I really don’t have much to say about last night’s episodes, to be entirely honest with you. While I watched everything that was new, I honestly felt that every single show just treaded water outside of one. That one, surprisingly enough, was the one show which seems to be falling off the cultural radar.

While I gave 30 Rock credit last week for continuing storylines over multiple episodes, this week was…just the same as last week. It’s disappointing to see Floyd leave, really, but at least it keeps the show from becoming complacent. This episode was exactly the same as last week’s, in most ways, except this time we had a small dose of Jenna (And yet even the writers seemed begrudging about it, keeping her out of most key storylines and dissing her ability to carry the show in Tracy’s absence). I thought some of her lines were funny, but then they had her trying on underwear and falling down. The character is simply out of steam. Jack’s relationship with Phoebe is frustratingly dull, and the only character currently surviving is Tracy, mainly for the Black Crusaders portion of his storyline. And even then it was fairly low on the comedy scale outside of Gordon from Sesame Street being one of its inner circle. Liz’s trip to Cleveland was cute, but it was all wrapped up in the same cloth as last week’s episode.

Scrubs was on the same boat, as it was one of their annoying “Let’s have other people do the voiceovers” episodes. I think that it wasn’t a half bad episode of Scrubs based on this season’s standards, but I’ve been watching Season One on DVD recently and I can’t help but compare. I do not care about Elliot and Keith, stripper pole or no stripper pole. Ted is fairly boring, and him standing up to Kelso felt dated. Jordan has lost much of her character depth since the intense botox treatments, and I don’t think she really demands our attention. And, while I love The Todd and felt that his internal dialogue was by far the most interesting (and actually funny), it still wasn’t much of a real storyline. All three of the focused-upon characters are never going to actually become anything important, so why bother spending so much time on them when it will all be forgotten by next week?

Speaking of forgotten, I was woefully bored with this week’s episode of Ugly Betty. I enjoy the show, but this episode just did absolutely nothing for me. Wilhelmina seducing Bradford just isn’t entertaining to watch, and Daniel sleeping with a 16-year old is decidedly regressive (moreso than it really needs to be). The show was rolling at a really good clip dramatically for awhile, but this episode dropped the major component of this: Henry. Christopher Gorham’s likable accountant was the thing that kept Betty on track, and watching her fall off the rails wasn’t good television in the least. The show lacked the charm of the rest of the season, and its darker turns don’t seem like the right step forward for the show…and the less said about the terrible Ignacio storyline the better.

For details on Grey’s and the best episode of Survivor in a long time: Continue reading →

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Filed under 30 Rock, Grey's Anatomy, NBC, Scrubs, Survivor, Television, Ugly Betty

Tagged as Thursday Night TV Club

March 30, 2007 · 2:16 pm

The Ratings Clout of the College Crowd

Mediaweek had an interesting piece of statistics yesterday which reports on a change made by Nielsen in terms of how they track ratings. While last year saw the introduction of TiVo viewings into the ratings system, starting in January Nielsen started measuring something called “out-of-home viewings” by college students.

Mediaweek – ABC Benefits From Out-of-Home College Viewers (March 29, 2007)

Yesterday, the results for the first three months of the year were revealed in terms of their effect on the 19-24 age group. And, unsurprisingly, the change is fairly substantial in many cases.

For ABC, the big winner was Grey’s Anatomy, which since January has seen enough growth in the 18-24 ratings group that its entire 18-49 rating has gone up a full point. This makes sense, really; it’s the kind of show that large segments of college populations will gather around the TV to watch on a regular basis, and it appeals to pretty much every gender/social group within campuses.

However, surprising to me at least, Lost was not included in the list of shows with at least 17% growth in the 18-24 age range. Considering the amount of support which I see for Lost at the university level, I find this very hard to believe, and it seems like Nielsen families have really lame college students. This is further evidenced by the ratings increase for FOX’s ‘Til Death, which was actually fairly substantial.

Other shows gaining ground include Ugly Betty, Men in Trees (ABC), America’s Next Top Model (The CW), and House (FOX). However, these are all very abstract figures, and to an observer it may seem as if they really don’t matter in the least. And, while you’re right on many counts, I think that this is actually somewhat important.

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Filed under Grey's Anatomy, Lost, Television, The Office, Ugly Betty

March 26, 2007 · 10:02 pm

Cultural Catchup: March 21st-26th

While I may yet do some CUSID related blogging, I figure that I should at the very least acknowledge that my absence has not coincided with a stoppage of television-related news and events. Considering the fact that I’m currently recovering from some pressure-related troubles from the flight home, as well as a lack of sleep/nutrition resulting in relative illness, I’m not quite in the business of writing up individual posts of great length in regards to some of the week’s events. So, let’s do a little bit of Cultural Catchup.

Wednesday March 21st

Survivor: Fiji

While it was certainly not the show’s most eventful episode, it was at the very least a recognition that things needed to be shaken up a little bit in terms of the show’s dynamics. I think that this shuffling of the teams actually accomplished quite a lot; by shaking up some alliances, some individuals (Like Boo) became far more endearing. His performance in the challenge was a sign of leadership, something which Moto never seemed to worry about before. He showed an ability to step up, perhaps more than any other individual, without seeming like a complete asshole in the process.

Meanwhile, while the episode was redeeming for some, it did little for the men of the new Ravu tribe. And, I think this goes both ways; the manly men for their treatment of Anthony, and Anthony for being so darn self-defeatist and clueless about it. I don’t get his attitude; he’s a nerd, so he just accepts that he can’t do these things? His self esteem may have been challenged in the past, sure, but he seemed more than capable of assisting them in collecting word or starting a fire. His ostracization by the rest of his tribe was unfortunate, but I would place at least a majority of the blame on his own attitude. As much as we nerds have to stick together, I can’t justify his reaction without wondering how he could be so clueless.

Also, small note: the preview for next week is just the first of two “Person falls down and it’s funny” segments on CBS this week. And I found it far too funny, especially since I like Michelle.

Thursday March 22nd

Ugly Betty

The battle between Alexis and Daniel heated up this week, and…well, I felt like the show was reverting back to weeks past without recognizing the tangible change in these characters’ relationship. They haven’t been truly at odds for weeks, and I found it more than a little convenient to just ramp up their actions. If this storyline shall remain central, and it appears it shall, I can only hope that the contents of Daniel’s letter get out into the open. And soon.

That said, the rest of the episode brought some nice moments. Betty posing as Marc’s girlfriend was charming, and the moment with Henry was absolutely heartbreaking. The writing continued to be sharp in terms of dialogue, and it’s good to see a positive side to Marc’s character again. The show is still searching, I feel, for its drive forward to a finale, and I’m hoping that next week could help in this endeavor. Henry + Betty needs to happen, dangit. Also, as some google searches foretold, the episode featured the arrival of Max Greenberg (‘Veronica Mars’, ‘The O.C.’) as Alexis’ new assistant.

Andy Barker P.I. and Scrubs

The 2nd week for Andy Barker P.I. was a fairly good one, and I would consider it to be a success on the whole. Nicole’s transfer into Andy’s office was incredibly well-handled, and it was good to see the comedic and melodramatic detective drama/action meld together so well. The show is forming an identity, which could be bittersweet when the axe likely falls come May.

As for Scrubs, as I noted in a comment to my post regarding its possible cancellation, I think that this week’s episode was good. I was incredibly frustrated by the way Dr. Cox and Laverne had their discussions regarding faith. One of the problems I’ve had with Scrubs lately is that these moral discussions seem very forced. Dr. Cox becomes a complete jerk in these conversations in order for his episodic shift to feel more powerful. It’s rather manipulative, and forgets a lot of character development in past seasons. That said, the episode’s emotional conclusion was quite powerful, which is a feat for the show at this point.

Grey’s Anatomy

I hereby refuse to discuss this show until George and Izzie somehow go back in time and not have sex. Continue reading →

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Filed under 24, Grey's Anatomy, Reality TV, Scrubs, Survivor, Television, The Amazing Race, Ugly Betty