Upfronts: shows live, shows die, shows move – The Week in Clack
The big news of the week was, of course, the upfronts. ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and The CW all unveiled their new lineups, and in doing so killed According to Jim, Cupid, Deal or No Deal, Everybody Hates Chris, The Game, Life, My Name Is Earl, Privileged, Reaper, Samantha Who?, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Without a Trace and The Unit.
- The CW moved Smallville to Fridays and is launching Twilight The Vampire Diaries in its slot. Also, Fox 1992 called and it wants its Wednesday lineup back.
- Fox is bringing SYTYCD to the fall to keep Idol’s timeslots warm until January, moving Fringe to take on CSI, and thinks a better Dollhouse lead-in is a couple of comedies; and one of them is ‘Til Death.
- CBS is spinning off NCIS: LA and bringing back Moonlight’s Alex O’Loughlin in a new medical show. They also stole Medium from NBC and are sticking it after Ghost Whisperer on Fridays.
- NBC has Jay Leno on… every night. More SNL Weekend Update on Thursdays, and timeslot-sharing shows, like Heroes Mondays at 8 in the fall, before making room for Chuck (YAY!) in January.
- ABC sticks with Scrubs, and a Wednesday with four new comedies and four old faces: Hank (Kelsey Grammer), The Middle (Patricia Heaton), Cougar Town (Courteney Cox Arquette) and Modern Family (Ed O’Neill).
- Even more not famous former Illinois governor Rod’s wife Patti Blagojevich is joining NBC’s I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here.
- Shawn Johnson made the Olympic DWTS championship alumni association a trio.
- Despite being canceled, Earl is twit-titioning to save its life, and TBS may be interested in saving it.
- Reaper is seeing if they can go syndicated to stay alive. And with Tyler Labine starring in the picked-up Sons of Tucson, if it works things could get interesting.
- Kara DioGuardi showed up “bikini girl” on American Idol by outsinging her and out-looking-hot-in-a-bikini-ing her.
Ode to shows past, addendum May 2009
A few months back, I took cursor to digital paper and wrote an ode to shows that I’ve lost over the years. With yet another network television season complete, I believe it’s time to revisit that list, and add an addendum cataloging the massacre that accompanies the close of each season.
For all of you still out there fighting the good fight for these shows, this should in no way be seen as final. I’d love to come back and correct myself. So, keep sending those watches, bulletproof vests, lottery tickets, live butterflies, pitchforks, or whatever else you can think of. But, if this is the end, I figure now’s as good a time as any to pay my respects. And, if you’re wondering why the following’s light on the jokes … the fresher the wound, the deeper the hurt.
I’ve already written about the plight of The Unusuals. A lot of people have applied the show’s title to the conceit, and either used it as a pro or a con for what they see as different or ordinary, respectively. The only thing “unusual” about the show was the following: it was great from the get go. Sure, each character had a quirk, and there was an otherwise infrequently seen mix of excitement and comedy to the scripts, but what stood out the most for me was honestly how enjoyable an hour it was to spend in front of my television. I’d absolutely love to see it live to air another day (beyond closing out the episodes already in the can), but if it’s not to be, at least it went out as great from beginning to end. Read the rest of this entry »
My Name is Earl – Love it, or leave it?
Not an easy question, my friends.
You know, we love to reminisce about the wonder that once was NBC’s Must See TV Thursday, but I don’t know if they ever gave us four consecutive comedy powerhouses in the eight to ten slot. To be honest, I think the issue is less about consistency, and more about how great the cornerstone shows are.
Not since 1987 have there been four great shows on, one after another: The Cosby Show, Family Ties, Cheers, and Night Court. The constant shuffling of the schedule has provided some cheers, and some jeers (1997’s Friends, Union Square, Seinfeld, and Veronica’s Closet was a bit of a stinker sandwich).
Like I said, it’s really an overall strength that makes or breaks the night. The Office? Not there yet on the audience side, but it can definitely stand amongst the greats as far as humor goes. 30 Rock I have some issues with, but I’ll concede to the fact that it rises far above the pack, although not to the top quite yet. The 8:30 slot is still falling on its face, and even with the renewal, Parks and Recreation is not long for the scrap yard. But, what about My Name is Earl?
Ratings Clack – A Dollhouse drop makes things interesting
(2/15 – 2/21)
Ya know, it would be great if I could sit down to my beloved Model M keyboard and type about the fantastic ratings that Dollhouse was getting. 10 million viewers… a demo in the 4s… already picked up for the fall… Great, but probably not as interesting as the actual numbers are turning out to be. Despite CBS being in repeat mode Friday night, Dollhouse still suffered the expected week 2 decline. And those lower numbers make the whole situation all the more dramatic. They make the coming week feel very much like the one that just passed. The numbers really need to go up, the sooner the better. Elsewhere, good news for The Bachelor and Lost, bad news for Chuck and Heroes, and some puzzling results for the OG CSI. Read the rest of this entry »
Don’t watch Bones this Thursday night
Or Ugly Betty, Smallville, My Name is Earl, or any other show that airs at 8:00 p.m. on Thursday nights. That’s because, most likely, they won’t be on the air with new episodes. That’s thanks to none other than President Bush.
The outgoing President has decided to use one of the busiest nights and time slots of primetime television to say “so long, and thanks for all the fish” to his fellow Americans. This is probably the umpteenth time the President has interrupted a heavy night of television with a silly address about the economy, the war in Iraq, or his “near death” experience with a pretzel. Obviously, the man does not watch a lot of television. It’s not like he’s the leader of the free world or anything.
Week in Clack – Firsts, interviews and controversy
Week of January 4 to January 11
Clever, insolent, creative, irreverent; even a little twisted. I speak of the writers here at CliqueClack, and the unique posts they churn out day after day. How could we let seven days go by without highlighting some of the week’s gems?
TV’s back, baby, and so are we! Sure, we had some great content during the winter hiatus, but with actual new programming on this week, we were utter clack-a-holics.
It was a week of firsts, which I suppose is fitting with the new year and all.
- We broke the news first on the Internet, folks … the successful The Librarian mini-series franchise is coming to the big screen, hopefully to be shot later this year.
- Jason reviewed the first two back-to-back episodes of Scrubs on ABC, and had some good things to say about the transition. What did you think?
- Scott debuted his BBC Babble column, about all things British and on TV, of course. US shows have been greatly inspired by their British counterparts, to say the least….
- Annie debuted her Gossip Girl Virgin diary — OMG!
- Kona debuted Diary of a Weeds Virgin, shedding a whole new light on suburbia for her.
- Damages season premiere was splendidly reviewed by Jane; so glad this show is back and still intriguing!
- My Name is Earl came back, and Bill not only reviewed it, he illustrated his post. You don’t want to miss his take on Jason Lee (or The Odd Couple, for that matter).
- Psych’s first episode of the new year debuted to Brett’s favorable review.
Why did Jane Seymour design a testicle necklace?
How can I write a post about something that leaves me speechless, you ask? I wondered that very thing. But as I watched the commercial for Jane Seymour’s Open Hearts necklace, I realized I was going to have to find a way to overcome the cat that had my tongue, because this was too good to pass up.
I guess this necklace has been around for a while, but I only recently saw the ads (thank you, DVR) while watching a show live, a rare thing in my household. Heck, even Joy from My Name is Earl coveted the, um, unique design, in what has been criticized as blatant product placement. Though, if I may be so bold as to say that if any character from My Name is Earl touts something as fashion, you’d really want to think twice about owning it yourself.
On, now, to the design of the necklace in said ad, and a video for you to enjoy if you haven’t yet had the pleasure ….
Most Commented (Past Week)