Saw Friday Night Lights
I am far too invested
It Deserves Emmys
Cultural News Bytes: 30 Rock Renewed, Peabody Awards
This will be quick, I swear (So don’t judge me):
– 30 Rock has been officially renewed for a 2nd Season. Yay! We do not yet know the fate of Scrubs, although chances are we’ll be seeing it on ABC before NBC next season considering this move.
– Friday Night Lights’ renewal is looking more and more likely, as it is one of three NBC series to be awarded with a Peabody for entertainment programming. The other two series (‘Scrubs’ and ‘The Office’) join ABC’s Ugly Betty amongst primetime candidates.
That’s it. Seriously.
Filed under 30 Rock, NBC, Scrubs, Television
Another Leave of Absence
Hey folks,
It’s against my better judgment (Assuming of course, that said judgment would rather blog than write essays), but I’m going to have to take yet another hiatus from blogging for awhile. Essay progress is looking good at this stage (Yay!), but I don’t think it’s quite to the point where I can start blogging. So, in the meantime, enjoy Wednesday night’s TV (Lost looks great: I’ll be watching, not blogging), and I’ll be back on Friday with some Cultural Catchup.
Myles
Filed under Uncategorized
How ‘Wedding Crashers’ Could Cancel Your Favourite NBC Drama
One of the things that has always been quite perplexing about Lost has been its inability to provide a solid lead-in for any shows. Both this season (‘The Nine’) and last (‘Invasion’), ABC attempted to build new series in the 10/9c timeslot to no avail; Lost just wasn’t providing the right lead-in audience for either show to thrive enough to be worthy of renewal. In fact, ABC got so tired of it that they moved Lost into the timeslot to give newscasts a strong lead-in and to boost 18-49 numbers in the time period. But, it looks like the mystery has been solved: Sci-Fi fans don’t like to stick around for the rest of the network’s offerings. Because, as the season nears its end, the post-‘Heroes’ slot on NBC is about to get its third occupant.
NBC Invites ‘Crashers’ to the Party – Zap2it.com
“The Real Wedding Crashers,” a hidden-camera show based on the hit 2005 movie…will debut at 10 p.m. ET Monday, April 23, following the return of “Heroes.
“…A group of five improv performers will take to the churches and reception halls or our fair nation, posing as guests or cater-waiters or other attendees to disrupt the proceedings, presumably to make sure that the happy couple never forgets their wedding day…One catch: The bride and groom know what’s coming. They’re in on the joke and will help the “crashers” reveal the hoax at the end of each episode.”
Now, I won’t speak to the reality show in question, as that’s an entirely different issue altogether. However, from a programming perspective, this has quite a few ramifications for NBC:
A ‘Black Day’ for the ‘Donnelly’ Brothers
It’s a tough break for Paul Haggis and company, as the show is more or less dead at this stage. The show opened to meager returns to begin with, and has continued to fall over the past few weeks. While the show appears to have stayed on fairly good ground creatively, it reminds me of the debut of Daybreak in the fall: the show wasn’t the problem, it just lacked the marketability of other hit shots. Of course, Daybreak was taking over for a hit show; the Black Donnellys had the biggest watercooler show as its lead-in, and should have been able to take better advantage of it.
The Fate of the Black Donnellys? Chances are the remaining episodes will be available online at NBC.com over the summer.
Lights Remain Out at ‘Studio 60’
It’s somewhat less than surprising that NBC isn’t quick to move Studio 60 back into a timeslot where it struggled to find an audience, but it’s still yet another sign of indifference to Aaron Sorkin’s drama. It’s very clear at this point that the show won’t be renewed for a second season, but considering the star power involved chances are that NBC is looking for a place to burn off the rest of the series. Its ratings were actually above what the Black Donnellys was averaging, so we should be returning to Studio 60 at some point before summer hits.
The Fate of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip? Chances are that it will take over for Raines on Friday nights at 9/8c once it finishes its 8-episode run (Or sooner if its ratings fall substantially)
Bad Luck for ‘Jordan’, says ‘Medium’
I’m stretching for titles here, but the fact is that two of NBC’s returning dramas are currently fighting it out in tough time periods on Wednesday, and each could have used a reprieve. ‘Crossing Jordan’ has moved from its safety on Sundays into a battle against ‘American Idol’ and ‘Criminal Minds’ on Wednesdays at 9, while ‘Medium’ finds itself against ‘CSI:NY’ and ‘Lost’ at 10. Mondays at 10 is Medium’s old timeslot, and any chance of the drama regaining its past ratings success has more or less been lost with this decision. Similarly, after struggling against ABC and CBS on Sundays and failing to improve on Wednesdays, Jordan is officially out of options.
The Fate of ‘Crossing Jordan’ and ‘Medium’? They’ll be riding out their remaining episodes in their current timeslots, and chances are that NBC will be looking for some new dramas next season. That said, Medium has the best shot at renewal.
The Bigger Question:
What is the Fate of Non-procedural Drama at NBC?
Filed under Crossing Jordan, Heroes, Medium, NBC, Television, The Black Donnellys
Why I Stopped Watching Prison Break, and Why You Should Do the Same
It was the summer of 2005, and the most buzz-worthy show of the year was Fox’s gritty new drama ‘Prison Break.’ Debuting in August, the show garnered fairly substantial audiences for the period and became a success for FOX on Monday nights. As someone who tends to watch the opening episodes to any show, I found Prison Break to be quite an intriguing premise. Tuning in, I found that there was something oddly compelling about the show.
It wasn’t star Wentworth Miller (Michael Scofield), who can’t act to save his life. It wasn’t Dominic Purcell (Lincoln Burroughs), whose character lacked any real motivation. No, it was rather two elements which intrigued me. First, the premise itself held a great deal of promise; while other shows have featured prison dynamics in a grittier sense (‘Oz’), Prison Break was its network equivalent. Plus, whether it was far-fetched or not, the entire escape plan was uniquely compelling.
Second, I enjoyed Robert Knoepper’s portrayal of T-Bag, one of the most delightful TV villains in quite some time. His interactions with Abruzzi and Michael and everyone else were a true highlights of the show, and it kept things interesting while they spent time in the clink.
And, through the first season, these two elements were enough to keep me watching. There were other redeeming elements (Michaels’ relationship with the Warden, with Tancredi), but on the whole those two pillars got me through the bad times. Said bad times included the entire conspiracy plot, the constant near escapes foiled by unexpected roadblock construct, and in general a lack of originality. And yet, I stuck through until the very end.
It was with great apprehension that I viewed the show’s first season finale, for it left things ever so open for the second season. They were literally running off into the woods, their plane plan ruined, with seemingly nowhere to go. They had broken out of prison, fulfilling my initial interest in the show, so the decisions made by producers at this point would make or break my future viewership.
Filed under Prison Break, Television
Talkin’ Junos: Live-Blogging Extravaganza
It’s time for the annual celebration of popular Canadian Music, no matter how counter-intuitive that statement may sound. I’ll be cutting in on occasion during the pre-show, but I’m quite likely to be ignoring Tanya Kim’s hair and eTalk @ The Junos.
7:00pm: Ben Mulroney informs us about something quite silly, and then Tanya Kim has some stars of Corner Gas…and Gabrielle Miller is wearing some sort of bizarre odd thing that is part shorts, part dress, and part…I don’t even know. Oh Gabrielle Miller.
7:03pm: Chris Murphy makes me mildly happy for existing, at this particular point, and his presence at the awards and the fact that the Rock Album award will be presented live bode well for his chances.
7:05pm: George Canyon and Carolyn Dawn Johnson…and Canyon makes a hockey reference, and gets an annoying cheap pop. His head is huge.
7:08pm: Tanya Kim most certainly just kind of let herself bhee mobbed for tickets by Grayson Williams, it was fairly entertaining. There was also JackSould in there, and now Colin James is there. This is supposed to be exciting? Continue reading
Filed under Award Shows, Junos, Music
Juno Awards Preview and Early Winners – Liveblogging @ 7pm AST
The Junos are tonight, and even though I have essays to write I am in a liveblogging mood. So, at 7pm AST (6pm EST) I’ll be here liveblogging away through the 2-hour telecast. However, if you want to be up to snuff, The Elder has a preview of the awards, the major ones anyways, up at McNutt Against the Music. That’s really all you need to know, but for those curious, here are the winners of the awards announced on Saturday Night at a non-broadcast event. Some of them (Alternative Album, Pop Album, Artist of the Year) boggle my mind that they were not announced on-air. This makes me think that the winner of two of those statues (Ms. Nelly Furtado, the evening’s host) might be walking away with Album of the Year guaranteed.
Anyways, here’s the list, and I’ll see you this evening at 7!
International Album of the Year: “Taking the Long Way” (Dixie Chicks).
Artist of the Year: Nelly Furtado.
New Group of the Year: Mobile.
Songwriter of the Year: Gordie Sampson.
Country Recording of the Year: “Somebody Wrote Love” (George Canyon).
Rap Recording of the Year: “Black Magic” (Swollen Members).
Adult Alternative Album of the Year: “The Light That Guides You Home” (Jim Cuddy).
Alternative Album of the Year: “Sometimes” (City and Colour).
Pop Album of the Year: “Loose” (Nelly Furtado).
Vocal Jazz Album of the Year: “From This Moment On” (Diana Krall).
Video of the Year: “Bridge to Nowhere” (Duplex).
Rest can be found here: The Globe and Mail
Filed under Award Shows, Junos, Music
Box Office (3/30-4/1) – Friday Estimates, Weekend Projections
Box Office Estimates and Projections
‘Blades’ achieves Box Office ‘Glory’
Friday, March 30th (Boxofficemojo.com)
1. Blades of Glory – $12,065,000
2. Meet the Robinsons – $7,630,000
3. 300 – $3,380,000
4. Shooter – $2,525,000
5. TMNT – $2,520,000
Will Ferrell’s comedy vehicle ‘Blades of Glory’ easily skated away with the Friday box office battle, unsurprising considering the current lack of competition in the teen laugher category. Tracking higher than this year’s ‘Norbit’, the film looks to rack up a fair chunk of change. Disney’s ‘Meet the Robinsons’ is certainly not a bomb, looking to gross fairly well at the box office, but it is growing increasingly clearer that Disney just doesn’t have the same clout it used to. Meanwhile, the continued success of ‘300’, the decent 47% drop of Shooter, and the disastrous 71% drop for TMNT round out the Top 5. Projections are below.
Weekend Projections
1. Blades of Glory – $37.7 Million
2. Meet the Robinsons – $27.4 Million
3. 300 – $12.3 Million
4. TMNT – $9.5 Million
5. Shooter – $8.2 Million
Filed under Box Office, Cinema
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.
Filed under Grey's Anatomy, Lost, Television, The Office, Ugly Betty
Why NBC (Unfortunately) Needs to Cancel ‘Andy Barker P.I.’
[Editor’s Note: Andy Barker has officially been cancelled by NBC, and it’s final two episodes will air this Saturday, April 14th on NBC.]
Well, we’ve now had the opportunity to view three episodes of NBC’s midseason replacement comedy Andy Barker P.I., and it’s rather unfortunate that the show has absolutely no chance at a future. At the end of its five episode run (One episode will remain online-only), the show will undoubtedly be shelved and never seen again barring some form of Conan-fellatio by the good folks at NBC. This has been a foregone conclusion from the very beginning; while a similar six-episode order was what ended up resulting in ‘The Office’, Andy Barker just hasn’t had the same level of cultural impact or creative prestige to justify renewing it in spite of its low ratings.
And, in the end, I think that this is rather unfortunate. While it is not the smartest comedy on television right now, it is a triumph of strong casting, self-indulgent writing (this is a good thing) and attention to detail. Its premise of an accountant turned private eye is perfect for star Andy Richter, and the writing has done well at satirizing detective show cliches as much as physically possible. Co-star Tony Hale has relished in yet another supporting role which often overshadows the lead, and the rest of the cast round out a universe in which one imagines someone like Andy Barker living. Even though it uses all sorts of sitcom constructs (Lunch at Wally’s, Bedtime with Andy and Jenny), it all seems like one giant homage to what was once so prevalent in television comedy.
However, considering how positive I’m speaking about Andy Barker, you’d think that this would be a positive ‘Save this Show’ post or something of the sort. Considering I’m willing to sacrifice ‘Scrubs’ for ’30 Rock’, you’d think that I’d be more than willing to sacrifice something else in favour of a show I genuinely like. And, well, you’d be partially right. However, the reality is that NBC has a problem right now, one which no one could have foresaw two years ago: after losing ‘Friends’ and ‘Will & Grace’, and the failure of ‘Joey’, NBC has nonetheless found itself with too many comedies.
Filed under 30 Rock, Andy Barker P.I., NBC, Scrubs, Television, The Office
Cultural Learnings 