Tag Archives: CBS

December 9, 2007 · 10:24 pm

The Amazing Race – Season 12, Episode 6

“Cherry On Top of the Sundae That’s Already Melted”

December 9th, 2007

This will be briefer than in past weeks, but tonight’s episode of The Amazing Race was just so all over the place I feel the need to try to dissect some of it. You see, we are left with six teams at this point which are interesting because there is not a single alpha-male team in the bunch. Mind you, there were none to begin with, but it is specifically interesting in the context of an episode like this one. Some physical tasks which could have resulted in some fundamental shifts in the race ended up being largely irrelevant, and the whole thing was decided by some missteps with flights. But, anyways, some thoughts after the jump.

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December 3, 2007 · 8:36 pm

‘Jericho’ to Return to CBS on February 12th

It was a long road for fans of CBS’ Jericho this past summer, but the end of that road is officially in sight. CBS announced their Spring schedule today, and Jericho will be airing its 7-episode second season at 10PM EST on Tuesday Nights starting on February 12th.

From Zap2it.com:

Let’s get the important business out of the way: Rescued from cancellation by an outpouring of nuts, “Jericho” will begin its seven-episode second season on Tuesday, Feb. 12 at 10 p.m. ET, airing in the time slot where “Cane” is currently struggling.

What does this mean for the series?

Competition: Law & Order SVU and Boston Legal – both shows have shown some slight decreases this year, although it didn’t help previous occupant Cane which could never gain traction in the time slot.

Lead-In: The show will be following a Spring Season of Big Brother, which was widely anticipated considering the Writer’s Strike. This could be postponed if the writers return in the very near future, which I think would benefit the show – while Big Brother is important to Jericho, it serves what I believe to be a considerably younger audience than the average Jericho fan. The Unit, the show usually in the timeslot, speaks better to some of the show’s more difficult serial elements. Still, at the very least the timeslot ensures that even if the Writer’s Strike continues, Jericho will be following new programming.

Schedule: By this schedule, Jericho’s episode would likely run out at the end of March. This would mean two straight months of Jericho episodes, with half of them occuring during the all-important February Sweeps period.

In case you were wondering, there are only 71 days remaining until Jericho returns to the airwaves. While this particular premiere date falls smack dab in the middle of my thesis deadlines, I will do my best to make sure there is plenty of coverage to drum up the show’s return.

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December 2, 2007 · 10:27 pm

The Amazing Race – Season 12, Episode 5

“We’ve Really Burned Bridges, For Sure”

December 2nd, 2007

Okay, so this week it seems that the teams are falling apart at the seams after the U-Turn pretty much tore their very fabric of reality apart. I don’t really buy this: we’ve seen certain bitterness before, and by and large the changes are isolated within a single team. Shana and Jennifer may have opened the door for bickering and sniping last week, but they appear to be the only ones fully willing to go through it.

The other drama is really nothing abnormal: Nicholas has issues keeping his head in tough situations, unable to talk himself out them, while Ronald’s bickering at Christina was as present as it’s always been. This week, though, these teams and others faced their first bunching in a while, and it seemed that their stir craziness finally broke them down. However, most of the bridges burned seemed to be within, not between, teams.

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November 25, 2007 · 10:02 pm

The Amazing Race – Season 12, Episode 4

“Let’s Name the Chicken Phil!”

November 25th, 2007

Most importantly, this week’s episode of The Amazing Race brought a new twist to this particular race, a new setup which appears to be replacing the oft-maligned Yield. I remember hearing that the Yield was ending, but I wasn’t aware it was being replaced by…well, more or less exactly the same thing. That being said, the U-Turn does have its advantages.

It’s still annoying in many ways, but it is now far more entertaining to watch – as opposed to watching someone sit at a mat for 15 minutes, they are forced to repeat the second Detour task. Nicely, Shana and Jennifer were kind enough to actually use the U-Turn, so we got to see how it works. Unfortunately, it was also largely irrelevant to the leg: the team who was U-Turned was, largely, never in contention anyways.

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November 19, 2007 · 9:49 pm

How I Met Your Mother – “Slapsgiving”

“Slapsgiving”

November 19th, 2007

Well, this was it. After over 115 days of waiting, the Slap Bet Countdown posted by CBS in July has finally been brought down to zero. At one point in the episode, Barney pleaded with Marshall to cancel the slap, saying that knowing about it ahead of time only made the suspense and fear grow. Similarly, perhaps you could argue that there was greater fan interest as a result of the countdown (Based on hits to this post explaining the Slap Bet here at Cultural Learnings, this is in fact that case).

However, I actually thought it took away from the slap itself. The episode was really more to do with Robin and Ted than it was with the Slap Bet, and while it provided a great coda to the episode (Complete with a fantastic piano ballad featuring backup vocals from a recovering Barney) I really didn’t feel like it had the impact that our first surprise slap did. And, while I perhaps was more likely to tune in knowing it was going to happen, it seems to have been an issue of quality promotion over quality comedy…and that’s kind of disappointing.

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November 18, 2007 · 10:31 pm

The Amazing Race – Season 12, Episode 3

“Please, Lord, Give Me Milk”

November 18th, 2007

You know, the title of this episode really doesn’t evoke the level of insanity which Lorena poured into it. It was much more desperate, pleading even, than you could possibly imagine. In short, Lorena went into full-on emotional breakdown mode in this episode. And while I know that this characterization is perhaps a bit quick, she really is an equivalent to the ill-remembered Flo of Season Three (Fulfilling, further, Erin’s belief the season might head in this direction).

As for the remainder of the teams, this wasn’t an episode for personal triumphs or anything of that sort. Rather, a number of teams quite literally broke down at the roadblock, and the tightness of the leg kept any team from coming back from any sort of deficit. That said, the episode did end up with two teams fairly darn close to one another at the detour, although methinks there was some tricky editing afoot.

And yes, Lorena eventually got her milk; but, as Kate and Pat said last week, I don’t think the Lord had anything to do with it.

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November 11, 2007 · 10:30 pm

The Amazing Race – Season 12, Episode 2

“I’ve Become the Archie Bunker of the Home”

November 11th, 2007

After last week’s episode resulted in the two most frustrating teams battling it out for last place, we should have known that it wouldn’t last. This week, while the show certainly did not devolve any great deal, we did see a team that deserved to stick around longer get beaten down by mostly just plain fatigue. It’s not that they didn’t earn their departure, but rather that I would have liked for the race to accomodate their pace just a little longer.

It wouldn’t have been so bad if the other, less likable teams hadn’t also had a pretty good leg as they traveled from Ireland to Amsterdam. It was actually a leg in which we saw the worst in one team, and no one really stepped up to show us anything we didn’t expect…well, outside of a bit more of Donald than I personally expected to see at this stage of our television relationship.

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November 4, 2007 · 10:39 pm

Season Premiere: The Amazing Race – Season 12, Episode 1

“Donkeys Have Souls Too”

November 4th, 2007

The first episode of every season of The Amazing Race features a great deal of bunching, necessary to keep the teams close together. However, for all of that effort, I can’t remember a single opening leg that is particularly memorable, mainly because they’re all the same: they drive, they fly, they task, they bunch, and then they arrange themselves as they wish. Really, there’s nothing that one can be surprised by in a premiere (As purely anecdotal evidence: not a single premiere made TWoP’s Top Nine Episodes List).

However, I consider this premiere to be one of the most memorable…or, if you will, least objectionable. The team who went home were rather annoying, the significant other-related drama was generally well-handled, and they managed to cover a wide territory of tasks in the span of only a single hour. Was it brilliant? No: all premieres lack the emotional connection we will eventually make with this teams. But, in short, this episode had soul, and that’s really what counts.

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October 28, 2007 · 3:11 am

Guiding Principles for the Return of CBS’ “Jericho”

For those who may have been curious as to what I’ve been doing for the past two weeks that has resulted in a rather alarming lack of blog postings, I’ve been busy with a variety of school-related activities surrounding the faculty strike currently affecting my campus. As part of this, our students’ union released a set of guiding principles which the administration and faculty will ideally follow within this setting.

Perhaps proving I’m forever incapable of forgetting about Jericho, my mind immediately turned to what I would write for today, Jericho Digg Day. Terocious at Jericho Junction was kind enough to organize this, and I wanted to provide something with real value for Jericho fans to think about. As a result, I have decided to craft a series of guiding principles that CBS and fans should follow when Jericho finally returns to television at some point in the next number of months. I believe that, if these guidelines are followed, the show has a great chance of success, and that the fans have the potential to get the 3rd season they deserve.

Guiding Principles for the Return of “Jericho”

Jericho Digg Day – October 28th, 2007

Before the Date is Announced:

  • CBS should be in close contact with fan communities in order to recapture the grassroots elements of the initial campaign to save Jericho.
  • The DVD set should be advertised through traditional and new media in a way that reflects its importance to the campaign.
  • Fans should attempt to overcome the rifts growing between certain populations in order to present a united front.
  • CBS should be responsible for keeping the series in the public eye, not just the fans; however, fans should continue to digg, read and comment on stories to keep their momentum alive.

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October 22, 2007 · 12:04 pm

A Home for ‘Jericho’?: Could Replace ‘Viva Laughlin’ on Sundays

[Edit: CBS now confirms that, for better or for worse, Jericho will not be taking the place of Viva Laughlin. Instead, The Amazing Race will reinherit the timeslot at some point in the future. At this point it will be replaced with CSI repeats. Looks like Jericho is waiting until at least TAR finishes its season, if this is the timeslot they’re destined for.]

After a disastrous Thursday preview, Viva Laughling didn’t magically improve when it debuted in its timeslot last night. The series dipped even further, with downright embarassing ratings in every account. The beneficiary could be fans of CBS’ almost-canceled series Jericho.

From PIFeedback.com:

But CBS has sprung a major leak at 8 p.m., with the time period-premiere of musical drama Viva Laughlin at a mere (and fourth-place) 6.77 million viewers and a 1.2/ 2 among adults 18-49. Comparably, year-ago occupant The Amazing Race 10 averaged 10.89 million viewers and a 3.8/ 9 in the demo (on Oct. 22, 2006), with retention out of lead-in 60 Minutes (Viewers: #2, 11.14 million; A18-49: #2, 2.2/ 7 at 7 p.m.) of just 61 percent in viewers and 55 percent in the demo. Viva Laughlin also dipped in the second half-hour by 1.60 million viewers (7.57 to 5.97 million) and 29 percent in the demo (1.4/ 3 to 1.0/ 2). My prediction is that CBS will pull Viva Laughlin off the schedule either this week or definitely next week.

Now, since CBS is likely to cancel the series soon, this is going to be their first timeslot to open up in which benched Sophomore series Jericho can rise again. It makes sense for a variety of reasons:

  • Jericho has only seven episodes in its second season, which would be perfect for the network as it would allow The Amazing Race to return to the slot in January.
  • Jericho skewed older than a lot of shows, which makes it a decent leadout from 60 Minutes.
  • If they don’t start airing Jericho soon, the show will lose all of its momentum which is slowly leaking away despite the efforts of fans.

However, it also reflects a lot of the concerns that Jericho fans have: it’s still an early evening timeslot, it has tough competition in the form of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and it would mean rushing the show to air likely without the proper advertising campaign.

Either way, fans should prepare: there’s a good chance Jericho might return to the air during November Sweeps.

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