The Week In Clack – Paula quits, Paris on Supernatural, and Anna engaged
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 »
CSI doesn’t need Gil Grissom
or: how the creators of Crime Scene Investigation managed to mend a sinking ship.
Sebastian’s back Guest-clacking for us again, taking a break from his Friday Night Lights commentaries.
Quick flashback: two years ago, Jorja Fox left the show due to her inability to reach a settlement in her contract negotiations. Everybody expected her to die under that car wreck of the miniature killer. Then, seven months later, in April of 2008, Gary Dourdan got busted in Palm Springs for drug possession. On top of that, William Petersen only appeared in a reduced amount of episodes. Then the news came that he would leave the show altogether in 2009, after about half of the ninth season. His replacement: Laurence Fishburne. “Morpheus” of all people.
Which pill would you have taken at that moment? Would you have given up and accepted your fate? Or did you believe?
CSI with Fishburne scores big ratings, and is kind of dull
Did you see it? It’s got wings! Wait, that’s something completely different. What I was getting at was the big debut of Laurence Fishburne on CSI. It’s an interesting time for the show because if any one character is the show, it’s William Petersen’s Grissom.
We’ll learn over the next few episodes whether or not the CSI faithful are willing to exchange that for the offerings of Raymond Langston. The early verdict is yes, they are. ABC was kind enough to give the show a free ride for the launch, airing a repeat Grey’s. That led to 20.61 million viewers and a 5.8 demo. You can’t complain about those numbers, but the episode itself was kind of dull at the start.
Tonight on the tube: Laurence Fishburne joins CSI
Spotlight Show of the Night
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (CBS, 9:00 p.m./8:00 p.m. Central) – A new murder leads to a connection with an infamous serial killer. This, in turn, leads Grissom to the class of criminal pathologist Dr. Raymond Langston, or Laurence Fishburne as he’s known to you and me.
As we all know, William Petersen is leaving the show and Fishburne is slated to replace him. This episode is where that process goes down, so this is big stuff in the nine-year history of this show. It’s also a test for the CSI franchise. Can these series survive a major cast change in the lead role? Law & Order proved that it could years ago, so CBS is hoping. If not, this ratings juggernaut could show signs of weakness that the other networks could exploit. Except NBC. They’d probably just expand Jay Leno to two hours.
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