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Wednesday, January 17, 2007
No “Scrub”-ing This Mission
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For six years, medical comedy “Scrubs” has been the quintessential “cult” show: middling ratings, constant schedule changes and critical raves, yet always on the verge of being cancelled.
But something changed this year. Ratings, while still middling at about 8 million viewers a week, are up from recent years and are pretty good for a comedy in this day and age. And it’s doing decently against two of the biggest shows on TV, “CSI” and “Grey’s Anatomy.”
Bill Lawrence, the boyish executive producer, told TV critics Wednesday that he is considering a seventh season and NBC appears amenable. The network even allowed them to do an over-the-top musical episode, which airs Thursday, and cost twice as much as a typical show.
The cast spent a week in rehearsal and he brought in a vocal coach with Broadway experience. “I’m still having fun doing the show,” Lawrence said, who loves musical theater, especially “Les Miserables.”
But Lawrence did note that unlike his past show “Spin City,” “Scrubs” never became that huge hit so he always has to cater to the core fans and the critics. That means, for instance, having stars Zach Braff and Sarah Chalke do podcasts online and interact directly with the fans, as well as attend sessions to schmooze with media.
“I’m truly here hoping to keep “Scrubs” relevant even though it’s been on six years,” he said.
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“Oprah On the Case”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
What’s that? You’ve got questions about those two Missouri boys who were allegedly kidnapped by the same man and then found over the weekend? Well, fear not, because America’s own version of Agatha Christie-meets-Mother-Teresa is going to get to the bottom of things for us Thursday.
The families of Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby both will be featured on Thursday’s edition of “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” The e-mail announcement just landed in the Serf’s humble in-box, with the words “All-New & Exclusive” bandied across the top in letters big enough to attract, well, even the attention of all those folks who couldn’t find Shawn hidden practically under their noses for four years.
Even as I type this, a CNN correspondent is reporting that the Hornbecks are in Chicago today taping the interview, and that the belief is that Shawn won’t take part because both boys “on the urging of police have said very little.” Well, there’s the police, and then there’s Oprah. Quoting from the Winfrey show’s release, “in his first interview, Shawn Hornbeck talks openly about reuniting with his family after more than four years missing.”
All kidding aside, this will be an extraordinarily interesting interview to watch, as Winfrey has to navigate a fine line. On the one hand, nobody wants to make life harder for a 15-year-old whose undergone Shawn’s four-year ordeal. On the other hand, a lot of tough questions still need to be asked and answered about this horrible event.
Heroes, Earl, Office, SVU will be back next year
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With football gone and rival “American Idol” hitting the stage, NBC’s spring may not be quite as fruitful as their fall. NBC entertainment president Kevin Reilly even joked to TV critics Wednesday that the season is now officially over for the network.
More seriously, he gave four shows very early green lights for the 2007-08 season: breakout hit “Heroes,” two comedies “My Name is Earl” and “The Office” and steady player “Law & Order: SVU.” After an okay performance this past December in a test run, the game show “Identity” will get seven more episodes in March.
And Reilly said an improv-based show will debut later in the spring, an import from Australia, called “Thank God You’re Here.” Improv artists will be dressed up and placed in situations they aren’t aware of until that phrase is uttered. David Alan Grier will host and Dave Foley will be the judge of sorts, he said. This sounds kind of like ABC’s former “Who’s Line is it Anyway?”
Overall, he feels NBC has turned the corner after a few dark years thanks to the likes of “Heroes” and “The Office.” He believes the network is one hit show away from hitting its stride.
He also said he’s confident ‘Heroes,” which returns next Monday, will hold its own against “24.” “We’re not going to blink on that or move that show or run,” he said.
Reilly also expressed confidence on three shows with problematic ratings: “30 Rock,” “Studio 60,” and “Friday Night Lights.”
And he knows the network has to just get by with “Idol” in the way. “You have to rope a dope there a bit” with “Idol” in the way, he said.
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Today gets a fourth hour
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
NBC’s massively successful moneymaker “Today” is adding a fourth hour this September at 10 a.m. It would be focused on entertainment and lifestyle. NBC News president Steve Capus wouldn’t say who would be the hosts. USA Today surmised that regulars Natalie Morales and Campbell Brown are expected to have roles, along with ex-Giants running back Tiki Barber. It’s unclear how much Matt Lauer, Ann Curry or Al Roker will do in the fourth hour.
Meredith Vieira, because of her hosting of “Who Wants to Be a Milliionaire,” already is not allowed to be on “Today” after 9 a.m. EST so she certainly won’t be on the fourth hour.
WXIA general manager Bob Walker said Wednesday that he just found out the day before and wasn’t sure yet what this means for its current 10 a.m. occupant “The Martha Stewart Show” or its local TV show at 11 a.m. “Atlanta & Company,” with hosts Holly Firfer and Ryan Cameron.
“We’re going to have to explore our options and see how it impacts Martha Stewart and our own show,” he said. WXIA recently gave Stewart a green light for a third season but there’s no word yet on the future of “Atlanta & Company.”
In 2000, “Today” added a third hour, which has done well, but ratings do drop off sharply after 9 a.m. when a bulk of people leave for work. Lauer, in a “TV Week” magazine interview, said he had “mixed emotions” about the move and might dilute the very lucrative brand.
Locally, “Martha” came in third among households this past November. The competition at 10 a.m., if the other networks don’t switch shows come fall, include typically top-rated “The Montell Williams Show” on WSB-TV, a double dose of “Judge Hatchett” on WAGA-TV (ranked No. 2 this past November), “The People’s Court” on WGCL-TV (ranked fifth) and “Jerry Springer” on MyNetworkTV (ranked fourth).
The soap “Passions” in the meantime will be snuffed out by the fall. This leaves NBC with only one soap on its lineup, “Days of Our Lives.” Locally in November, “Passions” came in third behind “One Life to Live” on WSB-TV and “As the World Turns” on WGCL-TV but ahead of other competitors such as Christina’s Court, Steve Harvey and Greg Behrendt.
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On the set of 24
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Rodney Ho, reporting from Los Angeles:
The dark, cramped coldness that emanates out of the set of “24’s” Counter Terrorism Unit is, of course, an illusion.
The actual studio set is actually bright, open and just plain cool. TV critics got to check out Jack Bauer’s home away from home Tuesday, marking the spot where Edgar died from nerve gas last season, the meeting room where Chloe tearfully watched him die and the interrogation room where Jack threatened Audrey.
Jon Cassar, a director and producer, gave us a giddy grand tour. He noted that the camera shots always stay tight on the characters to keep the feel of the scenes deliberately claustrophobic. They use a foreboding blueish tint on screen allows for quick transitions and cues to the viewer that they are at CTU.
He showed how the single interrogation room can become a second one by simply swapping a door and a wall. A secret side room where Chloe and others often go to pow wow is actually in a rather open area. He noted that what appears to be concrete all over CTU is merely hollow wood with painted plaster. He even pointed out the exact spot where a fictional terrorist placed the nerve gas that killed off 40 percent of the CTU staff last season.
And he happily showed us the computer equipment and the fact the phones are actually operational so when actors are talking to each other, they are doing it for real. The phones had the date January 23, 2012 on them but Cassar said he had no idea. “We avoid date and time references as much as possible,” he said. “We’ve learned not to say, ‘We’ll be back in three minutes’ and just say, ‘We’ll be back soon.’ “
Two actors who haven’t shown up yet on screen were at the set. Rick Schroeder (NYPD Blue, Silver Spoons) said he’s going to play a tough CTU operative working with Jack starting at 6 p.m., or the 13th episode. Starting with the sixth episode, Emmy winning actor Chad Lowe will be a deputy to the chief of staff who wants to tighten up civil liberties to help stop terrorism.
As for the shocking nuclear bomb that went off in Valencia in Monday night’s episode, actor Kiefer Sutherland said they had to let something really catastrophic finally happen to prove that Bauer can’t stop everything. He also noted that obsessives on the Internet surmise that CTU is near where the bomb occurred but it’s doubtful CTU will be affected.
