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May 2007
No More Rosie-Colored Glasses for The View
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If you missed Rosie O’Donnell’s off-the-charts performance on Wednesday’s episode of “The View,” too bad. That was her swan song.
ABC has just announced that O’Donnell is ending her run on the addictive daytime women’s chat show a little under a month early. And if you believe ABC and Rosie, it’s all her decision (ABC we’re not afraid to doubt a little bit in print….Rosie, well, that’s an entirely different story).
“We had hoped that Rosie would be with us until the end of her contract three weeks from now, but Rosie has informed us that she would like an early leave,” Brian Frons, president of Disney-ABC Daytime Television Group said in a just-released statement. “Therefore, we part ways, thank her for her tremendous contribution to ‘The View’ and wish her well.”
Translation: “Please don’t yell at us, Rosie.”
In her own statement, O’Donnell said, “I’m extremely grateful. It’s been an amazing year and I love all three women.”
Translation: “Please don’t make me share oxygen in the same studio with Elisabeth anymore.”
In case you’ve spent these past two days under a rock — or IN Iraq, completely cut off from modern communication — here’s what happened on Wednesday’s show in a nutshell. O’Donnell was doing some of her usual heartfelt “The war is a mistake and the president’s a bigger mistake” schtick, while co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck was doing some of HER usual heartfelt “America is always right and evildoers are right now trying to paddle to our shores” schtick, when it got … how best to put it? Heated. Personal. Out of control. So out of control that co-host Joy Behar actually whimpered, “Didn’t this show used to have commercials?”
The particular bone of contention was over O’Donnell’s contention that right wing critics have been twisting one of her earlier statements — “650,000 Iraqi civilians have died. Who are the terrorists?” — to say that she was calliing U.S. troops terrorists. Hasselbeck said Rosie should clarify her statement. Rosie said Elisabeth should speak up in her (Rosie’s) defense. On and on it went with screaming and finger-pointing and all those other things that on the one hand make women look kinda bad, but on the other hand was a refreshingly honest and open discussion on the airwaves of an issue — Iraq — that has split Americans into two increasingly angry opposing camps.
We were all dying to see what happened next, but on Thursday, President Bush’s press conference preempted “The View” (when O’Donnell had already been schedueld to be off) and Friday’s episode had been pre-taped pre-blowout earlier in the week. So the Serf’s calendar was already marked for next Tuesday’s fresh, live episode. But now Rosie’s gone for good, ahead of her original June 20th quitting date.
And now we’re worried we’ll never hear from her or Elisabeth ever again.
Translation: Don’t make me laugh.
Lost recap: Charlie, Hurley save the day
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The regular season is over and very last finale that will count toward the Nielsen ratings is “Lost.” (The finales of “House” and “Boston Legal” will air next week.)
Channel Serf was again sweet enough to cede some blog turf for me to write about the “Lost” finale. It was deeply satisfying. The first hour started a bit slow but the second hour had great twists, wonderfully emotional moments, both happy and sad. And that final scene! Wow! I am not a true Lostie. I’m curious to see what the true obsessives think!
It’s been an interesting year for “Lost.” The first six episodes last fall were innately frustrating because they were more of a teaser, focusing too much on the Jack-Sawyer-Kate triangle. And then the show disappeared. The TV critics at the January Television Critics Association session in Pasadena complained to the “Lost” producers, who seem well aware of the viewer frustration. And they mostly addressed them with the final 17 shows, the Nikki/Paula and Jack tattoo episodes notwithstanding.
While there are still a mess of unanswered questions, we now know why Locke was in a wheelchair, we know how the Others learned so much about the crash survivors, we learned that everyone in the outside world thinks they’re dead (which raises more questions, of course.). We learn Charlie is a brave, brave man.
Of course, Charlie is a stupid blabbermouth in the Looking Glass hatch, finking out Juliet and even explaining why he was there. Gee, thanks!
And we learn tonight the long absent Bernard is a tattletale who wasn’t willing to sacrifice his own life for the good of the others (but rather, for the Others.). I don’t even think his wife Rose would appreciate what he did once she finds out. That won’t be a pretty scene!
The second hour picks up the action big time. The scenes in the Looking Glass are great, the twist with Mikhail having to kill the loyal Ben followers Bonni and Greta inside the hatch. Ben is very clear that he needs the jamming continued so everybody would stay on the island. And he didn’t care that Bonni & Greta were loyal. So Ben orders Mikhail to kill them! He gets one of them and the other blurts out the code to disable the block after Desmond harpoons Mikhail. We get Charlie to type in the Good Vibrations song to turn off the block. He gets to talk to Penny and we discover Naomi is not connected to her, as stated by Ben. (Who knows when he’s telling the truth or not?) And Charlie sacrifices himself when Mikhail escapes and blows up part of the hatch. Loved that scene. Bye Dominic. We enjoyed ya while you were with us!
The confrontation between Ben and Jack was priceless. Jack tries to call Ben’s bluff. His men supposedly kill Sayid, Bernard and Jin but for reasons I’m not clear about, they don’t. And they die to regret it because Juliet and Sawyer (now that’s a strange combo!) check out the beach with no arms. Then our favorite Hurley saves the day in his VW van. I was cheering during that scene! Hurley the hero! The producers foreshadowed it in a sense but I still didn’t see that coming. And Tom, a key Other who never got any back story, finally dies, thanks to Sawyer. I agree with Sawyer that there’s no way to trust that man.
And the producers threw us for a loop at the very end — in a good way. All along, we think this is a long Jack flashback but it’s actually a time AFTER they get rescued. They never say who died that caused Jack to try to commit suicide. (We assume it’s Sawyer.) We don’t know who Kate is dating. (Maybe it’s Sawyer?) Jack is indeed truly miserable, post rescue, just as Ben predicted, popping pills and referencing his dead dad as if he were still alive. And that’s where we stand going into season four and 48 more episodes to go.
We still have questions—like how did Locke recover so quickly from the gunshot wound. And why was Walt telling him to get up? Walt, of course, is now three years older and looks it. Where’s his dad? Was that an apparition? Huh?
And did Penny learn anything from that brief connection with the hatch?
And what’s up with Naomi and the supposed rescue? Obviously, the flash forward implies that Kate and Jack, at least, do get off the island eventually. Does that mean we can assume over the next three seasons they won’t die?
Ah… plenty to mull over the next nine months until February, 2008 rolls around and we get our 16 episodes in a row. (No more full 22 or 23 episode seasons for “Lost.” Somehow, ABC negotiated three seasons of 16 each instead of two more seasons of 22 or 23 episodes.)
All Hail Apolo
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
And the coveted (?) mirrored disco ball trophy goes to … Apolo Anton Ohno.
Along with his partner, Julianne Hough, the Olympic short track speed skating champ added to his trophy room Tuesday night when he was declared the winner of the fourth season of “Dancing with the Stars.” They beat out former NSyncer Joey Fatone and his partner Kym Johnson.
The Serf was very pleased with this result, and not just because Fatone insisted on repeating his bee-zarre Star Wars-themed tango in his last competitive dance number in the show’s first hour. Anything that brings the word “Chewbacca” to mind automatically gets dancing demerits in my book.
Meanhile, Week One in this space I’d predicted the prestigious title (well, more prestigious than the “I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here” Season 2 crown) would go to either Ohno or female world middleweight boxing champ Laila Ali. This totally wipes out my “Dukakis by a landslide” call back in 1988.
The announcement came at the end of a two-hour show that at times felt as unnaturally streeeetched as Billy Ray Cyrus’s hamstrings during a gawky mambo. But a couple of lighter moments more than made up for it: An old Master P clip from Season 2 (let’s just say, he made Billy Ray look like Baryshnikov). Another hilarious “Dance at Home” segment featuring ABC late night host (except in Atlanta, sigh) Jimmy Kimmel, his partner/parking lot security guard Guillermo. Even a Clay Aiken sighting (albeit on tape, and in a fake moustache, as part of Kimmel’s segment!) Meanwhile, over “on another network,” as they say, “American Idol” was going on, presumably Aiken-less.
As for the losers, well, there were no losers according to Laila Ali. Sort of. Snicker. The last woman celeb standing was the first to be eliminated Tuesday, a mere one hour and 10 minutes into the show. Personally, I think the world boxing champ was robbed to finish third. It’s arguably harder for the female celebs to win (the dances naturally focus on the ladies), and her final mambo Tuesday was brilliant. Mostly, though, she knew how to leave on the proper sappy, sassy note. After being relegated to third place, she said all the right things about loving her fellow contestants, the fans, even the folks who did her hair on the show. Then came the knockout punch. Turning towards Fatone and Ohno, she reassured them they were both winners, no matter the final result.
It’s all about the fans,” Ali said. “It doesn’t mean anything, no matter who wins. Especially because I didn’t!”
You gotta love her honesty. And even if you don’t agree with the final result, you gotta love this show that’s not only put the sexy and elegant back into ballroom dancing. With Ohno following in the cleat-steps of Season 3 winner Emmitt Smith, I think we can pretty much lay to rest the idea that dancing is for geeks and sissies.
That can only mean one thing: Get working on your waltzing, Shaq…
We DO Know Jack … Maybe Too Well
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
So, will Jack jump?
Don’t count on it.
“24” wrapped up its sixth and arguably most frustrating season Monday night with a typically frenetic two-hour episode that ended with a long shot of Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) poised on the edge of a cliff in the dead of night. Below him, the sea churned furiously — mirroring his roiling guts and emotions, one presumes. He’d just saved the day and America — AGAIN — and apparently lost the woman he loved — AGAIN. On top of all that, Audrey’s (Kim Raver) father, Mr. Tough-Talking Defense Secretary (William Devane), had just delivered him a stinging lecture, which essentially boiled down to this: You’ll never change. You’re just a big ole action hero who hurts the people he loves most just so he can keep the world from blowing itself to bits. So, no, you can’t take my daughter to the prom.
Or something like that. Basically, viewers were left with the notion of Jack at a precipice — should he accept who he really is and return to CTU to fight more baddies? Or should he just jump into the unknown, maybe wash up on a beach somewhere near Barbados, where he can open a sub shop and pretend he doesn’t know nothing about fightin’ terrorists?
We know what’s going to happen. And maybe that’s the problem. Even as you felt for Jack Monday night as pretty much everything could and did go wrong for him personally — he essentially let his evil father blow up on an oil platform (though, Serf says, count on HIM rising from the dead even faster than gas prices), while he barely managed to save his teen nephew from the same fate (there’s a boy who’s gonna have some issues) — you kinda knew he’d come through it OK, along with the fate of the democracy. Things didn’t always end so predictably. Why, just last season, all appeared hunky-dory for Jack, Audrey and the good old USA, when he was suddenly jumped, blindfolded and literally sent floating off on a slow boat to China. As savvy viewers, we knew he’d somehow find his way back the followiing January, just in time to join “American Idol” in resurrecting Fox’s flailing ratings.But we didn’t know HOW it would happen.
Now, we just know it’s going to happen. Fox shot itself in the foot last week when it went ahead and announced “24” had been renewed for two more years. Since Sutherland’s the show’s executive producer, only someone as dumb as one of those sitting duck-for-terrorists CTU security guards would think he wouldn’t be back to battle the baddies throughout Day 7, too. Methinks it would’ve been better if the network had just let the suspense build through the summer and fall about when — or even if — “24” might come back next year.
If ratings and buzz were down for “24” this season (and they were), it’s almost because the show’s done its job too well. In pulling out all the stops to make Jack Bauer into a tortured superhero and show us how evil lurks in the heart of so many other men (well, men who have access to nukes and the Oval Office, anyway), they almost had nowhere else to go this year. Perhaps that’s why the two-hour finale, while still as thrilling as ever, tried to shuffle things around in ways we hadn’t seen before. Rockjawed CTU head Bill Buchanan got tossed from his job — AGAIN — but this time, he didn’t just sit around whining, “What do you want me to do Jack?” Who knew Bill was an ex-ace helicopter pilot who could navigate on and off an exploding oil platform in the middle of the inky black night — and lasso Jack in a daring mid-air rescue besides? Meanwhile, all those bad things we’d been thinking about Mike Doyle (Ricky Schroeder), the seemingly blackhearted head of CTU’s strike force team? All wrong, supposedly. As he lay there near the end of the episode, a heroic defender of the U.S., potentially blinded by an evil terrorist and obviously pining for acting CTU head Nadia, you almost felt you were watching Jack Bauer’s replacement audition.
And then there were the women. This was the most “personal” season of “24,” and while that might have started off as an interesting consideration of Bauer family dysfunction, by the end, it had devolved into a glorified Lifetime “women in peril” movie. Tell me I’m wrong. With less than an hour to go in Season 6, Nadia was suddenly running CTU and looking like she was going to cry everytime she had to make a tough decision; Karen Hayes was the deposed National Security Advisor who sat passively in her jail cell, waiting for a male White House chief of staff to figure out a way to spring her; Audrey lay immobile in a seemingly drugged-out stupor in her daddy’s house; and Chloe, who previously seemed like the type who ate puppies for breakfast, fainted because it turned out she was pregnant. And didn’t know it. Oh, how like a silly girl!
Not to go all Gloria Steinem here in Serf-land, but what happened to all the tough strong women on “24?” In fact, what happened to our tough, unpredictable “24” in general? I still love watching to see which ludicrous way they’ll find next to get Jack in and out of unbelievable danger, but frankly, the show needs a new bag of tricks. Or maybe it just needs fewer tricks, and better characters again. Fox knows it needs to do something to make viewers hungry again. In a conference call with TV reporters last week, Fox entertainment president Peter Liguori admitted they needed to “reboot” the show for next year. He said he knew what the producers had in mind, and while he couldn’t share any details, “they really have a greater high wire act for next season.” He promised it would be “the most audacious swing at the plate ever with ‘24.’”
So what will it be? The resurrection of the dead President David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert)? A woman president of the United States (bring back Jean Smart!), who’s immune to Jack’s charms AND makes him sign out the helicopters before he steals them? Jack in that sub shop in Barbados?
Who knows? But you know what? Even though this year was a bit of a disappointment, I’m already eagerly awaitiing next season. Maybe even more so than ever. Maybe that was the show’s clever plan all along. As Jack might say, “Damn it Chloe! How did this happen?”
The “Heroes” finale: Family ties that bind
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Channel Serf can’t watch “Dancing With the Stars,” “24” and “Heroes” simultaneously, leaving it to me, her loyal colleague (who’s normally wandering the land of “American Idol”) to blog about the “Heroes” finale.
The most talked about new show of the season, “Heroes” took an often niche genre and made it palatable to folks who aren’t necessarily into science fiction. The magic formula: great characters (Hiro, Horned-Rimmed Glasses Guy, the invincible cheerleader, Sylar), relatable themes about loyalty and family, heart-pounding action and enough twists and turns to draw us to the finale. The question: can the “heroes” save New York from a human bomb?
Unfortunately, the writers throughout the season raised the bar so high for an incredible last hour of the season, they made it almost impossible to jump it. The problem partially was how the ringleaders (including the now dead Linderman and the still-alive Petrelli matriach) weakly justified the bomb as a way to turn Nathan into a “hero” of sorts in exchange for the deaths of millions of innocent people. And while trying to give the show more weight, it actually gets weighed down by cliched dialogue and the blatant over-use of the word “hero.” (I’m already guilty of that in this blog, aren’t I?)
One of my favorite moments is Peter going back in time (or just dreaming?) about Charles, the man he took care of in his dying days but happens to know Peter’s mom and the bomb plans. Peter finds out his mum was in on it and wasn’t exactly confident in Peter’s abilities to do anything about it. But then Charles tells him, “Your heart has the ability to love unconditionally. Like I told you, in the end all that really matters is love.” It’s a great scene struck down by Charles going all Hallmark-Moulin Rouge on us.
I did genuinely enjoy the moment of deep friendship between Hiro and Ando. After Ando confronts Sylar (rather stupidly), Hiro saves him and sends him back to the Japan away from mayhem.
“You have shown me what bravery is,” Hiro told Ando.
“Your whole life you talked about your favorite stories,” Ando said. “Star Wars, Star Trek, Superman, Kensei. All the heroes you wanted to be. One day people will tell the story of Hiro Nsakmura.”
It’s a nice way to tie together one of the best plotlines of the first season.
And naturally, Hiro gets his chance to be the killer of Sylar (No, I won’t use that word that sounds like Hiro. Not this time!). That particular portion of the final showdown didn’t quite work for me. Maybe it’s because the last words out of Sylar’s mouth is as mundane as “You’re actually the villain, Peter. I’m the hero.” (He said it, not me.) The scene in Isaac Mendez’s comic book showing the scene ahead of time also blunted its impact when it actually happens.
Moments later, when Claire grabbed the gun from her injured stepdad and feels she has to shoot Peter to save the world, I did get a lump in my throat.
And in a bit of a surprise, her biological dad Nathan flies in and truly saves the day. His decision to sacrifice himself to save New York by flying Peter far, far away, was noble, who overcame his political ambitions for the sake of those innocent people. Interestingly, the actor who plays Nathan, Adrian Pasdar, strongly implied in a recent press conference that he lives to see a second season so we’ll see how they pick up those (his?) pieces. And we can assume Peter can regenerate so he should return in some way, shape or form.
Plus, it seems we haven’t seen the last of Sylar, since it looks like he crawled into a sewer. And if that’s the case, why didn’t any of the other characters (or those ever watchful cops) notice the blood trail or Sylar’s absence? Huh?
Another random observation: when is Manhattan as unpopulated as it is during this show? The only people that seem to be walking the sidewalks are “Heroes” characters! Maybe it was just really, really late at night!
And what do you all think of the teaser to season two? I’m not sure what to make of it. Although Hiro is shot back four centuries (by Sylar?) to 1671 in the middle of a battle just as a solar eclipse is happening, couldn’t he just use his powers to go somewhere else?
For those of you who find this nugget too uncaloric to last the next four months, there are going to be some original “Heroes” webisodes this summer to keep show addicts satisfied.
Dancing’s “Fight” to the Finish
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Whew! That’s the first time I ever felt like I needed to pay a cover charge and get my hand stamped to watch a TV show. Seriously, was there a two-drink minimum for Monday night’s “Dancing with the Stars” finale?
(Note to the Evil Overlord, aka the Serf’s editor: Yes, I know that technically speaking, it wasn’t the finale-finale. That comes Tuesday night, when they reveal the winner of the coveted shiny disco ball trophy on the so-called final Results Show. But Monday was very dramatic, because it was the dancing finale…or so we thought until host Tom Bergeron informed us the three remaining couples would do one MORE final dance on the results show, where the judges scores will count, but viewers can no longer call in votes. So confusing … my head hurts … maybe I should’ve had those two drinks after all.)
So what happened? Well, it was a great show, emphasis on the “show” part. I don’t know about you, but by the time all three couples finished their two dances apiece, I felt like I had been granted access to some hip, late-night club where everyone was breakdancing and bustin’ moves and … well, why struggle for the words myself when Mr. English-As-A-Second-Bizarre-Language himself, judge Bruno Tonioli, managed to put it so much better. Bruno, after a Cha Cha in name only, performed by Joey Fatone and Kym Johnson: “It was strangely odd.” Yes, exactly. If, by “strangely odd” you mean it had me rooting through my closet, wondering what had happened to the pair of Electric Boogaloo parachute pants I’d left back somewhere in 1987.
If you tuned in Monday night expecting elegant waltzes and graceful rhumbas, you were sorely disappointed. But if you viewed it as a fight-to-the-finish, pull-out-all-the-stops competition, well, it was weirdly satisfying. Especially when they got to the freestyle number, which the couples apparently took as carte blanche to unleash the dancing demons that had been suppressed inside them for weeks. It was strangely revealing — and I’m not just talking about that white shirt Laila Ali ripped off her partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy’s rippling chest, making him stand there like the poor man’s Fabio while they waited for the judge’s comments.
Apparently Laila, a world champion boxer, had been waiting 10 weeks to come out in a pair of white fringed hot pants and teensy white gloves so she could push her partner around the ring…er, the dance floor. It was graceful in its own athletic way, but I have to agree with the judges that it didn’t show her off at her most elegant best. They’re in third place going into Tuesday’s finale-finale.
Meanwhile, Apolo Anton Ohno and Julianne Hough were like the cute little couple atop a hip-hop wedding cake with their incredibly confident and clever breakdancing routine. How confident? Well, at one point they pulled down their headbands over their eyes and danced side-by-side blindfolded! It was clever all right. I’m not exactly sure it was ballroom dancing, but the judges gave them perfect 10’s and they’re the current leaders.
As for Joey and Kym, who wound up in second place,let’s just say that for me, it all went downhill when they ripped off their sophisticated black evening wear and started doing a weird hybrid of Mr. Roboto and ‘N Sync moves in gold lame. It’s clear to me now that Joey’s dream in life is to be a Solid Gold Dancer. Unfortunately he’s come along about three decades too late. But he sure knows how to mug and suck up to the voters at home (I swear, if he mentioned one more time how much he likes getting e-mails from viewers ….) so they’ll probably win.
In sum, it was all very entertaining, even if I did get the feeling that Arthur Murray was turning over in his grave. It helped immeasurably that Bruno and fellow judge, old crankypants Len Goodman, nearly engaged in fisticuffs over the latter’s slamming of Apolo and Julianne’s first dance. I kept expecting Laila Ali to rush out from the wings and teach one of them how to throw a proper uppercut, but alas, Bergeron separated the two 98-pound weaklings before it got that far.
So now it’s on to Tuesday’s Results Show, which will clock in at a modest two hours. That’s a lot of s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g, and I don’t mean among the dancers. My money’s on Apolo and Julianne to win, but I wouldn’t be at all distressed if Laila turned out to be doing the dance equivalent of her father’s patented rope-a-dope move and came roaring back to win. As for Joey, well …. never mind. I’ll send him an e-mail.
CW network aims for hip with gossip, devilish drama
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
One year after cobbling together a lineup from mostly old and borrowed programming, the CW changed its tune Thursday. The network, a combination of the old WB and UPN, announced a 2007-08 schedule that includes six new shows. Much of its lineup is aimed at young, hip viewers.
Only one series is purposely getting “older,” and it wasn’t the one nearly everyone expected. Veteran drama “One Tree Hill” will return in early 2008 with the story line magically advanced by four years and the major characters having graduated from college. Ironically, that was one scenario that the producers of “Veronica Mars” were tinkering with in hopes of extending the life of the low-rated, cult-hit drama about a coed who’s also a private investigator. Instead, “Mars” was canceled.
So, goodbye girl detective, hello “Gossip Girl.” Based on the popular young adult novels about teens at a posh Manhattan prep school, that catty drama will air at 9 p.m. Wednesdays, after “America’s Next Top Model.” On Tuesdays, it’s “Reaper,” a “devilish new drama” about a 21-year-old slacker who learns his parents accidentally sold his soul to the devil (“24’s” Ray Wise) before he was born.
Monday’s comedy lineup will largely remain intact, although “All of Us,” is gone. In its place comes “Aliens in America,” a potentially provocative sitcom about a 16-year-old boy whose family hosts an exchange student — who turns out to be a Pakistani Muslim. It will air at 8:30 p.m., right after “Everybody Hates Chris,” where co-creator/executive producer/narrator Chris Rock will make his first-ever guest appearance.
Other developments:
• “CW Now,” a lifestyle and celebrity gossip magazine show, and “Online Nation,” a show devoted to Web videos, will air 7-8 p.m. Sundays. They’ll be followed by “Life Is Wild,” a new family drama filmed entirely in South Africa.
• The nation’s moral fiber remains secure: “Friday Night Smackdown!” returns for two hours every Friday. And come midyear, there’ll be a second season of “Pussycat Dolls Present.”
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Fox spins off ‘Idol,’ revs up new season
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Move over “American Idol.” Fox has decided to add some more big names to its airwaves — including another version of “American Idol.” Almost.
“What ‘American Idol’ did for individuals, ‘The Search for the Next Great American Band’ will do for musical groups,” Fox trumpeted Thursday about the new reality show from “Idol’s” producers. Scheduled to air at 8 p.m. Fridays, it’s one of 10 new shows coming from Fox in the 2007-08 season.
Six will debut in the fall, when Fox has to work around schedule disruptions caused by its Major League Baseball postseason games. Most intriguing, perhaps, is “K-ville,” a police drama set in New Orleans two years after Hurricane Katrina, when the city is still in chaos and many cops have quit the force. Starring Anthony Anderson (“The Shield”), it will air at 9 p.m. Mondays, after “Prison Break.” And feature film director Lasse Hallström is the executive producer of “New Amsterdam,” a new drama about a New York homicide detective with a big secret: He is immortal.
More traditionally, “Back to You” reunites stars of two of the longest-running, most successful sitcoms in recent years. Kelsey Grammer (“Frasier”) and Patricia Heaton (“Everybody Loves Raymond”) star as former TV news co-anchors with conflicting personalities who are forced to re-team on- and off the air. It will air at 8 p.m. Wednesdays, leading into “‘Til Death,” the sitcom starring Heaton’s “Raymond” castmate, Brad Garrett. Despite a poor debut last fall, Fox renewed “Death” Thursday largely because its ratings improved this winter when it was given a prime post-“Idol” slot.
The four other new shows will premiere in early 2008, when Fox can be heavily promoted during its airing of the Super Bowl and the return of “Idol.” Two sitcoms have big-name producers: “The Return of Jezebel James,” created by “Gilmore Girls” mastermind Amy Sherman-Palladino, stars Parker Posey and Lauren Ambrose (“Six Feet Under”) as estranged sisters who reunite so one can carry the other’s baby. And movie madmen the Farrelly brothers (“There’s Something About Mary”) are producing “The Rules for Starting Over,” about newly single friends starting their personal lives over in their 30s. It stars Craig Bierko and Rashida Jones, lately of “The Office.” Looks like she’s leaving Dunder Mifflin.
Other Fox developments:
• Emmy winner Julianna Margulies (“ER”) will star as a rebellious defense attorney in “Canterbury’s Law,” debuting in January.
• The popular female character from the “Terminator” movies gets her own show. “The Sarah Connor Chronicles” is set to debut next spring, following Fox’s animated comedy block on Sundays.
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CBS’s Fall Schedule, AND some “24” News
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Fox won’t announce its new fall schedule until Thursday, but it jumped the gun a bit and went ahead and revealed that it has extended the Emmy-winning “24” two additional years, through the 2008-09 season. Better take a vacation now, Jack, while you can….
But Wednesday belonged to CBS. Here’s the story:
Jessica Fletcher has definitely left the building.
Forget homespun fare like “Murder She Wrote.” Even “CSI” seems downright drab compared to CBS’s new fall schedule announced Wednesday.
Gone are predictable sitcoms like “The Class” and that run-of-the-mill nuclear holocaust drama “Jericho.” In are vampires, wifeswapping and a mystery drama where the characters sometimes break out in song and Tony winner Hugh Jackman makes occasional appearances.
“We approached our development this year with a specific goal in mind — to be daring and different,” said CBS Entertainment president Nina Tassler.
Indeed, CBS has the fewest schedule holes and potentially the most to lose by altering its game plan. Its solidly predictable lineup of military-oriented dramas and procedurals — including three versions of “CSI” — brings it consistently high ratings, if not lots of buzz.
The network didn’t exactly go crazy, announcing just six new series, including one for midseason. Among its veteran shows, CBS cancelled the Friday legal procedural “Close to Home” and renewed former Mariettan Eric Haney’s Special Forces drama “The Unit,” which will to continue to wage Tuesday night war against “Fox” and “House.” Meanwhile, “Without A Trace” and “Shark” will flop places, with the latter moving from the cushy Thursday post- “CSI” slot to 10 p.m. Sundays.
It’s with its four new dramas where CBS is breaking taboos and taking chances. Biggest among them may be “Viva Laughlin,” the 8 p.m. Sunday saga of a freewheeling businessman (Lloyd Owen), who tries to open a happenin’ casino in rundown Laughlin, Nev. But first he has to deal with a murdered partner and approach his archrival (Jackman) for help. And the characters sing. Right after Andy Rooney signs off each week on “60 Minutes.”
A better, more biting, fit may come on Fridays, when the new drama “Moonlight” will follow “Ghost Whisperer” at 9 p.m. While the latter’s Jennifer Love Hewitt helps the dead cross over, “Moonlight’s” Mick St. John (Alex O’Loughlin) is an “undead” private investigator who uses his “acute vampire senses” to protect the living.
“Cane” is a somewhat more traditional drama starring Jimmy Smits as the head of a large Cuban-American family and an extremely successful rum and sugar business in South Florida. The stellar cast includes Rita Moreno, Hector Elizondo and Nestor Carbonell. And if it’s untraditional drama you want, just wait ’til midseason, when CBS promises to unveil “Swingtown.” Set in the 1970s, it follows a married couple to an affluent Chicago suburb where the sexual and social revolution is playing out in full, swinging fashion.
Other CBS developments:
“The Big Bang Theory” will air Mondays at 8:30 before “Two and a Half Men.” The sitcom from “Men’s” creator is about two genius type guys (including “Roseanne’s” Johnny Galecki) who are social dunces.
“The Amazing Race” and “The New Adventures of Old Christine” both will return at midseason.
“Survivor” returns at 8 p.m. Thursdays. CBS announced one other new reality show, “Kid Nation” (8 p.m. Wednesdays), in which 40 kids have 40 days to build a new world in a 19th century ghost town.
Other returning shows not already mentioned above: “How I Met Your Mother,” “Rules of Engagement,” “CSI: Miami,” “NCIS,” “Criminal Minds,” “CSI: NY,” “CSI,” “NUMB3RS,” and “48 Hours Mystery.”
ABC’s New Fall Schedule
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Cavemen are coming! The Cavemen are coming!
We predicted it in this space on Sunday, and now ABC has just confirmed it. In a very early morning press conference (seriously, where’s the Serf’s serf to toothpick her eyeballs open?) to announce the Fall 2007 schedule, ABC entertainment president Steve McPherson said that those Neanderthals we’ve all come to — choose one — love or loathe in the Geico commercials would star in a Tuesday night sitcom.
“Cavemen” will air at 8 p.m., leading into another new fairly-self-explanatorily-titled sitcom, “Carpoolers.” The good news here is that that means “According to Jim” has finally been put out of all our miseries (it’s also bye-bye to “George Lopez”). The pitch for “Cavemen” has been that the Stone Age trio finds themselves somehow plopped down in 2007 Atlanta. The show description juust handed out by ABC refers to them living in the “suburban South” (would that be Country Club of the South? Hmm….). I’m in the process of confirming it will still be based here; judging by McPherson’s comment, it sure sounds like they’re coming to Atlanta:
“If we were just going to do a sketch about cavemen, it wouldn’t work at all” said McPherson, adding that what made the sitcom appealing was the ability to “look at through this odd lens the idea of racial relations and minorities in America. It’s an opportunity to offend everyone but offend no one but the cavemen themselves.”
Offend everyone? Odd lens? Us? G’wan, you sweet talker.
In all, ABC announced 12 new shows (one of them’s reality, so that doesn’t really count) — eight of them to debut during the fall. As befits the network that has had such success with soapy dramas (“Desperate Housewives,” “Grey’s Anatomy”), eight are drama series and I’d say at least half of them qualify as soapy dramas. One of them, “Private Practice,” practically qualifies as “Grey’s Anatomy,” given that it’s the much talked-about spinoff that finds Dr. Addison Shepherd (Kate Walsh) relocating to L.A. It will air at 9 p.m. Wednesdays, smack in the middle of an all-new drama night on ABC.
At 8 p.m., it’s “Pushing Daisies,” about a guy who can bring people back to life. Quoth McPherson: “It’s a procedural, a love story, a forensic fairy tale, it’s romantic and comedic. And it’s closed-ended week-to week. You have to really see it to understand it.” No kidding. Much easier to understand is “Dirty Sexy Money” airing at 10 p.m. Wednesdays. It’s about a family with a lot of money, where people act sexy and play dirty. It stars Peter Krause (“Six Feet Under”), Donald Sutherland, Samaire Armstrong (“The O.C.,” “Entourage”) and many more.
The other big change comes at 10 p.m. Thursdays, when “Big Shots” gets the coveted post-“Grey’s Anatomy” time slot. It’s the story of four (male) friends “at the top of their game” business- and professional-wise, until they get all mixed up with women. It stars Michael Vartan (“Alias”), Dylan McDermott (“The Practice”), Joshua Malina (“The West Wing”) and according to McPherson, it more than fulfills ABC’s goal of finally coming up with a “male ensemble” show that’s “truthful about male relationships, with some comedy and dysfunction, that’s truthful about our lives.”
Translation: “Desperate Houseboys.” Why, it sounds exactly like “Cavemen” … NOT!
Here’s the other new ABC shows: Dramas: -“Women’s Murder Club” (10 p.m. Fridays): ABC’s attempt to launch a successful procedural, four female professionals join forces to solve crimes. Stars Angie Harmon. -“Cashmere Mafia” (premieres after “Dancing with the Stars” and “The Bachelor” conclude): From “Sex and the City” creator Darren Star, the story of four female friends, trying to balance their successful business and personal lives. Stars Lucy Liu, Bonnie Sommerville, and yes, it sounds a lot like “Lipstick Jungle” announced Monday by NBC. -“Eli Stone” (also later in the year): A lawyer suffers a brain aneurysm and after experiencing hallucinations, wonders if he has a higher calling in life. Higher than a lawyer? Impossible!
Comedies: -“Sam I Am” (9:30 p.m. Mondays): Christina Applegate stars as a woman who suffers amnesia, and in the process of rediscovering who she was, finds out she wasn’t very nice. -“Miss/Guided” (later in the year): Judy Greer stars in this Ashton Kutcher-produced sitcom about a grown woman who returns as gudiance counselor to the high school where she was once a geek — and discovers that life is still pretty much like high school.
Shows returning this fall: “Dancing with the Stars,” “The Bachelor,” “Boston Legal,” “Ugly Betty,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Men in Trees,” “20/20,” “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Brothers & Sisters.” ABC also announced that “Notes from the Underbelly” and the filmed-in-Atlanta “October Road” would return, after “Dancing with the Stars” and “The Bachelor” complete their fall runs.
Talk About Your Whack Jobs!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Michael Imperioli is scheduled to be on Letterman tonight (Tuesday), which brings us to a very important point: Did you watch “The Sopranos” when it aired Sunday night?
No? Well, then did you TiVo it, DVR it or otherwise record it so you could watch it a few hours later? Have you caught up with it on On Demand by now? Had a traveling minstrel troupe act out the key moments for you?
If you answered “No” to all of the above, too bad. I’ve given you a whole day to catch up on the most stunning plot twist since Uncle Junior turned out to have a brain as scrambled as a pan of leftover lasagna, nearly blew Tony to smithereens and then ran upstairs and hid in the closet:
Tony killed Christopher (played by Imperioli). Which we all kind of expected might happen, but maybe not so soon. And not in this way, with “Chrissy” obviously weakened by an auto accident, but clearly not about to expire in the driver’s seat of the SUV. Until Tony reached over and — well, how do I put this? — pinched his de facto son’s nose shut until he suffocated.
What? No garroting in a dark alley? No taking him out on a boat in the middle of the ocean and shooting his brains out like a man? Well, like a Big Pussy, anyway. Even crazy Ralphie got to go out in true, glorious gangland style, decapitated and cut up on a kitchen floor and then stuffed inside a bowling ball bag. Talk about your 8-10 Split, sigh….
So, what was up with this? Clearly, Christoper had been in Tony’s sights since this season’s first episode, when the former called the latter to wish him a belated “Happy Birthday” and was rewarded by being hung up on. So was Tony just waitiing for the right opportunity, and a roadside accident proved the perfect excuse? Or did something happen during that SUV ride that made him snap? And does this even qualify in the Mob Handbook as being wacked?
I have to admit that when Tony hightailed it out to Vegas later in Sunday’s episode and was seen dining alone, playing craps alone, being alone in his hotel room, I had a flashback — back to the beginning of last season, when Tony was in a coma (thanks to Uncle Lasagna Pan) and dreamed he was a mild mannered traveling salesman schlub named Kevin Finnerty. Finnerty also was often alone in hotel rooms, at dinner, at the bar, etc….
Is Tony really Finnerty? Nah, they wouldn’t do that to us after seven tumultuous, throw-out-all-the-TV-rules seasons. But is it possible he’s never going back to Jersey? That last scene, where he was out in the desert with his latest squeeze, throwing his arms up in the air and screaming “I did it!” sure got me thinking: A little earlier, in the casino, Tony had succumbed to a giggling fit, gasping “He’s dead.” At first I’d figured he was talking about Christopher. But maybe he meant Tony Soprano, whom he’d left behind for good …?
Not for nuthin’, it’s just a thought. As Dr. Melfi would say, “I’m more interested in hearing what YOU think.”
NBC’s New Fall Schedule
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Here’s one song they’re NOT singing at NBC today: “We don’t need another Hero.”
Unveiling its fall 2007 schedule in New York this morning, the fourth-ranked broadcast network made clear that it thinks it knows what’s working among its shows — and that it’s not afraid to give us way more of it.
To wit: Get ready for THIRTY — that’s right, 30 — “combined” episodes (whatever that means) of NBC’s only breakout hit this year, “Heroes” and a sorta spinoff called “Heroes: Origins.” The spinoff, which will air along with the mothership show in its unchanged 9 p.m. Mondays timeslot will introduce a new character each week. Viewers can go to the “Heroes” web site on NBC. com and vote for characters they like and by the end of the year, a new Hero will be chosen to join the permanent cast in Season 3.
There’ll also be 30 new episodes of the Emmy-winning sitcom “The Office” — five of them one hour long. Guess that puts to rest any thought that star Steve Carell’s budding movie career might put a crimp in “The Office’s” plans.
And speaking of things that worked before, NBC is bringing back the orginal 800-pound gorilla of its comedy heyday, Jerry Seinfeld. As the lead voice in the upcoming Dreamworks film, “Bee Movie,” he’ll create and star in 20 “minisodes” about his “behind-the-scenes antics” making the movie. NBC says the “minisodes” will air during prime time this fall, when, one imagines, both the network and the movie need publicity the most. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
In all, NBC will offer viewers five new drama series, one sitcom and two new “alternative” series. Among series that had been on the bubble for renewal, those returning are “Friday Night Lights” (which will move to Friday nights, duh!), “Law & Order” (which NBC will hold iin reserve until January, when it will air at 8 p.m. Sunday in the vacated “Sunday Night Football” slot) and “Scrubs.” Gone are “Crossing Jordan,” “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” and — somewhere Rosie O’Donnell is smiling — “The Apprentice.”
(Both “Law & Order” and “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” had been thought to be on the cancellation chopping block. But over the weekend, a deal was made to keep all three on the air in the NBC Unversal family, with “Criminal Intent” sliding over to the USA network where all new episodes will air and then — here’s something different — repeat on NBC!)
Here’s the seven new series, and their time slots, coming from NBC: Dramas:
“The Bionic Woman” (9 p.m. Wednesday); “Chuck (9 p.m. Tuesday), a comedic spy thriller about a computer geek who accidentally becomes a government agent; “Journeyman” (10 p.m. Monday), about a newspaper reporter who inexplicably begins time-travelling and altering people’s lives “Life” (10 p.m. Wednesday), about a cop who comes back to work after serving jail time for a crime he didn’t commit “Lipstick Jungle” (10 p.m. Sunday, beginning in January 2008), about three high-powered business women, based on the Candace Bushnell book
Comedy:
“The IT Crowd” (unscheduled as yet), about two misunderstood techies who toil in the IT department of a large corporation
Alternative:
“The Singing Bee” (8 p.m. Friday, sharing time with “1 vs. 100), a karaoke showdown where contestants have to keep singing the lyrics even after the band starts playing “World Moves” (currently unscheduled), a contest where teams compete in dancing, co-executive produced by “American Idol” judge Randy Jackson and the creators of the World Hip Hop Championship
It’s a Modern Stone Age Atlanta …. !
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Cavemen, Meet the Cavemen …
Whoda’ thunk it? A rumor that has been gathering strength in the TV industry during the past week now appears to be true. The extremely reliable trade publication “The Hollywood Reporter” is saying that ABC has given a series order to “Cavemen” for next year.
(In industry parlance, to “order” a show means assuring it a place on its schedule. The fall TV schedules will be announced at the glittering “upfronts” presentations in New York beginning Monday. NBC goes first, followed by ABC on Tuesday, CBS on Wednesday, and Fox and the CW sharing Thursday).
“Cavemen” is a sitcom starring those misunderstood men from the Stone Age whom we first met in the Geico commercials. But this is no “Flintstones,” set in the Wayback Machine era when dinosaurs roamed the earth. No, the sitcom will take place in present day Atlanta. Yes, Atlanta, where SUV’s, Dawgs and pollen roam the earth.
The Serf is thrilled by this news, since, no matter how much those slick Hollywood types like to look down their resculptured noses at the South, they can’t help making us appear modern and with-it compared to the Stone Age. Right? RIGHT? Meanwhile, I’m sure our gracious city will roll out the red carpet for the Cavemen. Just so long as they don’t show up bragging about having invented fire. We still have bad memories of fire down here in Atlanta, y’all hear?
An Achy Heart-Breaky Result
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Billy Ray Cyrus lost his valiant campaign to star in the world’s longest-running self-promotional program when he was bounced from “Dancing with the Stars” Tuesday night. Throughout the unbelievable EIGHT weeks The Man With Three Left Feet lasted on the program, two things stood out: His seemingly genunine likability (though the Serf is convinced that the “Aw shucks I’m just a Hillbilly” shuffle is pretty much an act now for the guy who’s gone Hollywood enough that he co-stars with his teen idol daughter in a hot Disney Channel sitcom.)
And the other thing that stood out? The way Billy Ray managed to get Billy Ray’s interests into everything, whether it was dancing to one of his own songs one night, regularly namedropping his new CD (due out in August, as we now all know) and uttering the name of the sitcom, “Hannah Montana,” so much, I began to think she was actually a fourth judge on the “Dancing” panel.
Last night, when he got the boot, Billy Ray was true class, thanking the Lord, his partner and the voters many many times. But he also gave such obvious shoutouts to ABC, the Disney Channel, that host Tom Bergeron — gently poking fun — said, “What about the CD, Billy Ray? Don’t forget the CD.”
And Billy Ray, being immune to gentle fun-poking, thanked Tom for reminding him and gave us the title and drop date of said CD.
All kidding aside, we’re gonna miss the big lug. It was like watching a St. Bernard try to learn to waltz. And if you’ve been wondering how he managed to stay around as long as he did, one answer might lie in the info the Serf managed to extract from the good folks at Yahoo. It turns out the most-searched contestant on the entire “Dancing with the Stars” show is Laila Ali. No surprise there, she’s still iin it to win it. And who’s No. 2? That’s right, Mr. Billy Ray Cyrus. If so many people (the most come from Kentucky and Virginia, followed by Pennsylvania, Missouri and Texas) are going on Yahoo to search his name, think how many of them probably voted for him each week. Now think about how many more of them might watch him on “Hannah” or buy his new CD.
Never mind. Billy Ray’s already thought of it.
Nancy Grace to end Court TV show
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Oh now, relax. You’re still going to get to see TV’s snarkiest legal beagle foaming over with indignation on the airwaves. It’s just that the Macon-bred missy has decided to rocket away from her Court TV launching pad for good. But she’ll still be around opinion-ating and pinning folks to the wall with her prosecutorial style of questioning on her highly-rated CNN Headline News show each weeknight .
Variety reports that “Nancy Grace: Closing Arguments” will air through the summer, then wave bye-bye. That should be right around the time that Star Jones Reynolds lands on Court TV’s schedule with HER new talk show, hmm….
In a statement, Grace said, “After ten wonderful years at Court TV, I have decided to leave the network to focus on my Headline News program and my charitable endeavors.”
Court TV had already announced that “Closing Arguments,” which currently airs from 3-5 p.m. weekdays, would shrink to an hour to accomodate the Amazing Shrinking Star’s as-yet unnamed show at 4 p.m. Uncharitable types (i.e. not Nancy Grace) might think that had something to do with her decision to leave.
Pennington apologizes for ‘lapse’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
[Updated with statement from Pennington below}
Did Mr. “Extreme Makeover” behave a little too extremely over the weekend?
That’s what celebrity gossip web site extraordinaire TMZ.com is reporting. In what it labels an “exclusive” (for about a nanosecond, we imagine), they say that superstar carpenter Ty Pennington, who left lil ole Atlanta a couple of years ago to hammer, saw and bullhorn-yodel his way to fame on “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” was arrested early Saturday morning in L.A. “on suspicion of being under the influence of alcohol and drugs while driving.”
TMZ says Ty was arrested at 12:35 a.m. and released two hours later after posting $5000 bail. The Associated Press later confirmed the information, reported that Pennington was arrested on the misdemeanor charge and is due back in court on June 4, according to inmate information posted on the county Sheriff’s Department Web site.
The Serf wishes only the best for Pennington, who was here this winter helping rebuild the home of a Waleska family that — in that only on “Extreme Makeover” way — resulted in a lot of much-needed publicity for the subject of organ transplants. Maybe he’d be better off spending even more time here, where nobody looks at you funny if you drink three times your weight in Sweet Tea.
Late update at 4:10 p.m.: Pennington sent a statement regarding the incident to the TV show “Extra,” saying “I made an error in judgment. We all make mistakes, however this is about accountability. Under no circumstances should anyone consume alcohol while driving. I could have jeopardized the lives of others and I am grateful there was no accident or harm done to anyone. This was my wake-up call. I also want to apologize to my fans, ABC Television and my design team for my lapse in judgment and the embarrassment I have caused.”
“High School” Frenzy 2 … Arriving Any Minute!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
OK, more like August. But that’s barely enough time for America to prepare for the arrival of the teen tsunami known as “High School Musical 2.”
The Disney Channel just announced the premiere date for the sequel to “High School Musical” — as it was named before anyone ever knew there’d be a need for a “2” (kinda like World War I was originally just called “The Great War”). At 8 p.m. on August 17, we can finally find out whatever became of Troy (Zac Efron), Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens), Sharpay (Ashley Tisdale) and of course Chad (Corbin Bleu) and Taylor (Monique Coleman). In fact, the entire cast that made “HSM” the most successful kids TV movie and soundtrack since like the Stone Age (aka, before there were iPods) is back.
But that’s not all. Beginning Friday (May 4), fans can go to DisneyChannel.com/HighSchoolMusical2 and start “unlocking” the poster for the sequel. On May 18, the full poster will be available for printing.
And if you have to ask who Sharpay is, well, you’re just not groovy. Or whatever it is the kids are calling it these days.
NBC Rides Barbaro …
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Serf feels so bad. Last Sunday would’ve been Barbaro’s fourth birthday, and she forgot all about it. But not NBC, which created a presumably gushy special, “Barbaro: A Nation’s Horse,” which it planned to air after the conclusion of its Stanley Cup playoff coverage. But then the Sabres-Rangers game went into double overtime, and faster than you could say, “Hey, we’ve got the nine millionth episode of ‘Dateline’ to air,” they overlooked our supposed love affair with the nation’s nag and stabled the special.
Until this Saturday, when they’ll try, try again. In prime time, no less. If you’re one of the millions who got caught up in last year’s brief, magic-turned-tragic saga about the underdog horse (to mix metaphors in a way that would shock my high school English teacher) who won the Kentucky Derby and then eventually had to be euthanized after being injured in the Preakness, you can catch it at 8 p.m. Which should be only about an hour after that very same NBC concludes its live coverage of the Kentucky Derby.
That’s known as unintentional synergy. Or is it a case of beating a dead you-know-what? Whatever. At least it ain’t another “Dateline” …
