This week kicks off the real fall season with more premieres than we could possibly list here. Even more intriguing is The Jay Leno Show, kicking off Monday and every weeknight at 10pm. Will it work? I’m sure it’ll launch huge, just like Conan did over on The Tonight Show. But will it last?

If it does, will this spell the slow decline of expensive quality scripted fare on television? And what about expensive less-than-quality programming like ‘Til Death and Brothers? These shows need homes on the schedule as well … for some reason. Read the rest of this entry »

With the news that Ellen DeGeneres will be keeping the fourth judge’s chair warm on the upcoming season of American Idol (read Deb’s take on it here — I agree, Deb; it’s brilliant), I couldn’t help but ponder how Ellen and Paula Abdul are similar … or not … let’s break it down….

Hooker-Wear vs. Normal-Wear. They’re both cute as a button, but with Paula’s propensity for low-cut duds and giant earrings, I sometimes wondered if she was heading out to the nearest corner after the show. I’ll look forward to Ellen’s more normal attire … you know, like the rest of us out here wear.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dear American Idol Powers That Be:

Thank you for your stroke of brilliance in appointing Ellen DeGeneres as your new fourth judge. You’ve just taken a huge step to make your show not only a fun singing competition, but a hilarious one. I’m not talking about Paula Abdul hilarious. We’ll be laughing with this new judge, not at her.

Picture this: instead of laughing at the trickle of drool shimmering down Paula’s chin, or the dancin’ crazy antics that she sported, even for the ballads, viewers will be chuckling along with Ellen’s jokes. Yep, she’s going to be irreverent, and she’ll be making fun of the contestants. But therein lies the beauty.

Read the rest of this entry »

Michael Jackson’s still making news, this time ensuring that his death was a tragedy. The official report out of the LA coroner’s office was that Jackson’s death was a homicide, brought on by the mixture of drugs he was being prescribed for his sleep disorder. So he very well may not have been too frail for those London concerts … but we’ll never know.

• In related news, A&E is going forward with the Jackson family reality show. Exploitation or honor? You decide!
• The passing of Ted Kennedy brought all kinds of specials honoring this last of the dynasty. Read the rest of this entry »

Round and round and round she goes, but where Paula will land, nobody knows. Maybe she can be a zombie on AMC’s forthcoming series.

• The best news ever of the week was that AMC is working on a television adaptation of The Walking Dead. The ongoing comic series is far and away the most compelling “zombie apocalypse saga” I’ve ever seen.
• TNT announced that Saving Grace would wrap with a nine episode run in 2010, because they’re too cheap to produce a full fourth season for the monster hit.
• Comedy Central, on the other hand, yanked Reno 911 after the fact, meaning it’s done and gone.
• The Apprentice’s Omarosa is going to be a minister, and somewhere suddenly cold, Satan is chalking up another win for the home team.
• In a sign that we’ve let this reality TV crap go way too far, Kim’s sister Kourtney Kardashian’s surprise pregnancy is scandalous news.
• Paula Abdul might work on Dancing With the Stars, Ugly Betty, So You Think You Can Dance, something in Australia, a local Wendy’s, or any number of jobs. She’s keeping her options open.
• Meanwhile, Victoria Beckham helped out on American Idol during early audition rounds, and may be lobbying to join the show permanently. And with all that money they saved by not rehiring Abdul, FOX re-upped Simon Cowell for three more years.
• Apparently, the networks are burning through their ’80s and ’90s DVD collections, as now they’ve greenlit a series based on St. Elmo’s Fire. Goonies, anyone?
• Speaking of ’80s and ’90s — toy-themed cartoons proved a hit at the box office again, as G.I. Joe took the top spot at the box office, meaning that I might get my Sectaurs revival sooner than I thought … maybe?
• I refuse to mention a single thing that happened to anyone involved with the Gosselins. But if that saga isn’t train-wreck enough for you, FOX is giving airtime to Octomom.
• HOLY CRAP! STEWIE IS GAY?!?
• Oh, and now the Emmys will be live. All of it. So you’ll have to add six hours to the end of your DVR scheduled recording of it … you know, just in case.
• We get a sneak preview of the future career of Hannah Montana as little Miley Cyrus danced on a stripper pole at the Teen Choice Awards.

With the big TCA presentations going on, it’s been a pretty big week for TV news. However, all of the talk about what we can look forward to in the fall was trumped by one short little burst on Twitter, from Paula Abdul. She chose that unconventional venue to announce that she’s leaving American Idol. What does that mean for the show? With any luck, the beginning of a steady decline that ends in cancellation. Until we are visited by those glorious days, it looks like it will be business as usual.

Kara DioGuardi will be back. According to Mike Darnell, president of alternative at FOX, “Kara’s spitfire personality and sharp musical sensibility infused American Idol with a new energy last year.” Well, one man’s “spitfire personality” is another’s “bitchy haranguing.” Paula will be replaced during the auditions by a collection of pop stars. So far, that includes Katy Perry and Victoria Beckham.  I like that idea, but I hope they’re ready. Those are some awfully crazy shoes to fill. It’s unclear what will happen once the competition begins.

Lots of non-Idol news, after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

• Starting at 8 PM, as a tribute to the recently departed Michael Jackson, FOX is rerunning the American Idol episode from earlier this year that featured his music.
• Also at 8 PM, The CW is airing an episode from Gossip Girl’s second season, NBC has an episode of Law & Order, and CBS starts airing How I Met Your Mother earlier, with the episode called “The Fight,” where Ted and Barney went on about a tall tale of bravado, followed by an episode of Rules of Engagement at 8:30.
• At 9 PM, Lifetime’s airing last week’s episode of Army Wives, which left Aryeh pretty confused. NBC has an episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, The CW has an episode of One Tree Hill, and CBS continues the funny with Two and a Half Men and then the episode of The Big Bang Theory that brought a bunch of the guys to Las Vegas, at 9 PM.
• Finally, at 10 PM, Lifetime is re-airing last night’s episode of Army Wives, and CBS has an episode from CSI: Miami’s seventh season.

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