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MSN TV BlogJuly 02 July TV CalendarHappy Independence Day weekend, everybody! For those of us who are still dependent on our small screens, here are some of the relevant premiere dates for new and returning shows this month, along with a few thoughts. All times are Eastern/Pacific. July 7 At 8 p.m. NBC launches "Great American Road Trip," which sounds like it's an "Amazing Race" take-off with families competing against each other. Since it continues the fine tradition of reality shows sticking "America" or "American" in the title to seem more appealing, we'll see how it goes. SyFy (God, it irks me to write that new name) has "Warehouse 13" premiere at 9 p.m. The show's about a super-secret government warehouse with all sorts of secrets and the government investigators who put things there. July 9 The latest incarnation of "Big Brother" touches down at 8 p.m. on CBS. July 10 "Eureka" returns for more quirkiness at 9 p.m. on SyFy. July 11 Two shows will have their last episodes on a Saturday: CBS's murder mystery "Harper's Island" at 9 p.m. and ABC's lawyer dramedy "Eli Stone" at 10 p.m. July 12 "Entourage" is back for another season of A-list fun at 10:30 p.m. on HBO. The season is going to have guest appearances from Matt Damon, LeBron James, Tom Brady, 50 Cent, Kanye West, William Fichtner, Zac Efron. Plus it's going to have more of E's sometimes-girlfriend Sloan, so I can't wait. And NBC kicks off its miniseries "Meteor" at 9 p.m. Because there's more ground to be covered on the subject of looming disasters caused by heavenly bodies than "Deep Impact" and "Armageddon" did. But hey, this stars Jason Alexander and Christopher Lloyd. July 15 At 9 p.m., TNT has its resident gang of con artists return on "Leverage." "Leverage" is, by the way, a perfect summer series: fun, intelligent, light-hearted, with just enough action to keep things moving. If you haven't watched it, check it out. At 10 p.m., TNT has its new cop show "Dark Blue" debut. It stars Dylan McDermott as the head of a group of undercover cops. And it's from Jerry Bruckheimer of "CSI" fame, so you'd figure there'd be a lot of glitz and eye candy and not so much on complexity. July 17 Canadian SWAT drama "Flashpoint" returns to CBS at 9 p.m. July 18 "The Bill Engvall Show" debuts its third season at 9 p.m. on TBS. ABC begins burning off episodes of "Dirty Sexy Money" at 10 p.m. July 20 "Dating in the Dark" on ABC debuts at 10 p.m. on ABC. The concept is that people have to judge their potential matches by their conversations and not their looks. Anyone have a sense of when it'll be lights out for this series? Meanwhile, BBC America begins airing the miniseries "Torchwood: Children of Earth" at 9 p.m. It'll be good to see everyone's favorite bisexual practically unkillable alien hunter. July 21 At 8 p.m., "Hell's Kitchen" is back for another season of overdone Wellingtons, raw chicken, prolific and inventive cursing from Gordon Ramsay and general incompetence from many of his contestants. July 28 Big people need loving too, and some of them gets a shot at it in the new FOX reality show "More to Love." It starts at 9 p.m. July 30 "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" returns for another heapin' helping of Southern hospitality at 10 p.m. on Bravo. - posted by Raoul June 30 Anyone Else Sick of the MJ Coverage?Because I am.
Don't get me wrong. I appreciate Jackson, and was shocked at the news last week. I can understand the media treating the death as a big story.
That doesn't mean I wanted news about him to crowd just about everything else in the world.
Amidst two wars, a financial meltdown, a proposed change in the country's health care system, various Supreme Court decisions, the Iranian election and so much more, stuff about the King of Pop pales in comparision. Especially since we don't have really any detailed answers.
- posted by Raoul Porn Is Parodying TV ClassicsVariety has a story about how Hustler has started a line of pornos that spoof such shows as "Gilligan's Island," "Star Trek" and "The Partridge Family."
I haven't -- and won't -- be checking these out. But it seems like the concept is a little dated. Most porn these days is just about the action and not about the plot window dressing...or so I understand.
Like Variety, I'm not clear on who the target audience is. I don't know a lot about the porn business, but it seems like the people I'd presume would be the biggest consumers of porn would be more interested in X-rated versions of shows that have been in first-run sometime in the last decade.
And it seems like even Baby Boomers will have been able to use their imagination to settle Mary Ann versus Ginger long before now.
- posted by Raoul BET Awards Break Broadcast Records Saturday night's BET Awards drew 10.7 million viewers. 10.7! That absolutely shatters the numbers from earlier years. BET gives all the credit to Michael Jackson since the broadcast ended up being almost a full-scale tribute to the recently deceased King of Pop. From the press release: "'The number of viewers who tuned in to see the BET AWARDS '09 is a testament to Michael Jackson's far-reaching and long-lasting influence and legacy,' said Debra L. Lee, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, BET Networks. 'We're thankful to everyone who played a role in the show, both on stage and behind the camera, and it meant so much to all of us to be there for our audience at this emotional time. Above all, we extend our love and prayers to the Jackson family and are honored that Joe and Janet Jackson were in attendance.'" - Posted by Kate Melissa Rycroft Engaged...Not to Bachelor Jason, Obviously "DWTS" powerhouse and "Bachelor" dumpee Melissa Rycroft has agreed to marry her boyfriend Tye Strickland, a Dallas insurance agent. People.com has the whole story: "Strickland, who was a frequent audience member during Rycroft's season eight Dancing stint, popped the question to the Dallas beauty at White's Chapel in Southlake, Texas. The couple later joined their respective parents for a celebratory meal at the Brio Tuscan Grille before heading out later in the evening to a reception with more family and close friends. No wedding date has been set. "He is a great home-town boy," Rycroft's DWTS partner Dovolani told PEOPLE of Strickland. "He will love her endlessly." Well you know if Tony Dovolani likes him it's a match made in heaven. Seriously, though, it's pretty appalling to get dumped like that on national TV and Melissa handled it really well. Any man in the world would be lucky to have her. - Posted by Kate June 29 Tonight: 'Dance Your Ass Off' You guys know that I'm not a huge fan of reality shows, but "Dance Your Ass Off," which is basically "Dancing With the Stars" meets "The Biggest Loser" sounds pretty intriguing. There are 12 dancers, all with some weight to lose, who are paired with professional dancers. Each week they'll do a routine and weigh in, and the person with the lowest combined total dance score and pounds lost will be sent home. At first blush this seems like a system that will heavily favor the men in the competition, but we'll see. I hope this show will manage to avoid the really negative fat-bashing and emotional BS that characterize "The Biggest Loser." I definitely think dancing is a more promising way to publicly lose weight than getting yelled at in a gym. Will it be as effective? Well, the "Dancing With the Stars" contestants certainly lose weight, so why shouldn't regular people. You can catch the show at 10:00 on Oxygen. - Posted by Kate A Little Bit More 'Pushing Daisies' No, the show isn't coming back. Bryan Fuller, the show's creator, has revealed what would have happened if he'd had another season or two. I won't include any details in case any of you want to stay "pure." It's a pretty interesting read, actually. I think it will surprise you.I'm wondering if the post-mortem interview will become a new trend. What would have happened on "Reaper"? "Veronica Mars"? (Never mind that FBI flash forward, that was practically done at gunpoint.) "Lipstick Jungle?" (Story via PopCandy) - Posted by Kate June 28 Link Time With network TV ratings on the decline, Buzz wondered if you — yes, you! — are watching less TV this Summer than usual. (BuzzSugar)
This week, Sandie interviewed Rutina Wesley who plays Tara on HBO's True Blood. (Daemon's TV) Scooter pays tribute to Michael Jackson. (Scooter McGavin's 9th Green) Other than So You Think You Can Dance, Vance didn't have much time to watch TV last week because he was out in the park watching Twelfth Night starring Anne Hathaway, Raul Esparza (Pushing Daisies), Audra McDonald (Private Practice), Hamish Linklater (New/Old Christine) and more. (Tapeworthy) This week, Jace offered an elegy for ABC's canceled The Unusuals and offered advance reviews of FOX's Virtuality and the first four episodes of HBO's Hung. (Televisionary) After this week's episode of Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List, Sara has the irresistible urge to become BFFs with Kathy and Paula Deen. (TiFaux) Eric is so glad that Lafayette is back for season two of True Blood and even happier to find out how he gets out of imprisonment this week. (TV Fanatic) This week, the TV Addict took a closer at the CW's unexpected midseason treat, LIFE UNEXPECTED (The TV Addict) June 26 Remembering Michael Jackson On the Small Screen I don't have too much to add to Raoul's tribute to Michael Jackson, so I'm just going to quietly pass along the details on various TV specials dedicated to the King of Pop in the coming days.Tonight: 6:00 - MTV, "A Celebration of Michael Jackson" 7:00 - MTV, "America's Best Dance Crew" (Jacksons' hits) 9:00 - CNN, "Larry King Live: Tribute to Michael Jackson" 10:00 - NBC, "Michael Jackson: King of Pop," hosted by Ann Curry Saturday: 10:00 - E!, "Michael and Farrah: Lost Icons" Sunday: 8:00 - BET - The "BET Awards" will honor Michael Jackson - Posted by Kate 'Virtuality' Could Have Been a ContenderFOX today (Friday) is airing "Virtuality," what was supposed to be (and may still, if the stars align) a pilot for a series from Ron Moore, one of the honchos behind "Battlestar Galactica." "Virtuality" is about a crew on a deep-space mission with huge potential implications for the human race.
FOX is billing this as a two-hour telemovie, and being mum on whether it's just burning off something that they happen to have in the can, if they are going to for sure bring the concept back in some form, or something in between. Having watched a preview of it, I do hope Nielsen families out there give it a try.
The trouble is that the "Virtuality" pilot is, at the end of the day, a pilot. No matter how good it might have been (and there are definitely areas where it needed work), it's not going to have the same beginning, middle and end that even a subpar movie will have. And without that completeness, "Virtuality" feels like it's wanting. I almost wish they had recut it to give it more of feeling of wholeness.
In the two hours, we get introduced to a dozen crewmembers: the commander, his second-in-command, his pilot, the ship's doctor, the ship's psychiatrist, a computer programmer, a botanist, and others. The premise is that Earth is running out of resources and has launched a mission to a distant galaxy to figure out if colonization is possible. (Maybe it's the Browncoat in me, or its's that the episode starts with Civil War stuff and is about an Earth that's all used up, but it seems like it's in a sense trying to have a homage to "Firefly.")
Because travel will take so long, the ship is equipped with virtual reality tech. The idea is that crew members would go stir-crazy stuck in a big metal tube with one another and problems would fester. So instead they can slap on some goggles, lie down and find yourself in all sorts of fictional settings and meet all sorts of fictional people.
The pilot has crew members re-enacting the Civil War, mountain climbing, participating in a crime-fighting singing group, resolving personal crises about their families and engaging in virtual affairs with one another. But in the midst of this, there's a mysterious figure who sometimes interrupts the virtual scenarios violently.
Who or what is he, and what is his agenda? Obviously, this would have been grist for speculation in a series. So I don't consider it much of a spoiler that it's not resolved here.
There's a lot of other things that get touched on that would have been interesting if developed further. For starters, "Virtuality" refers to a Consortium that has a lot of clout. There could have been a lot of commentary on how that came about and how that is analogous to today. It also has a subplot that the crew is recording a reality show which apparently would have resulted (or will result) in webisodes if the show had gone to series. Some of the characters seemed like they would have been at least different from the standard TV fare. Two of the crew members are gay (albeit closeted), and that's one of the first times I can remember regular characters in a sci-fi series being portrayed in an ongoing homosexual relationship. The second-in-command is disabled, making his involvement with the virtual landscape more profound. And ultimately, it would have been good to explore tensions in such areas as technology versus humanity, loneliness and privacy versus intimacy and a group setting, imagination versus reality, and the need for diversion versus the need to be focused on a crucial task.
Because I trust Ron Moore, I have a feeling that the show could have rivaled "Battlestar Galactica" in being that sort of intelligent sci-fi that gets critical acclaim from across the board.
Which, of course, is not to say that there's not about 100 things I would nitpick about it. For starters, the ship in question is called the Phaeton. Phaeton in Greek myth was the son of Apollo. He asked dad for a chance to pilot his sky chariot, but couldn't control it and ended up burning to death. So someone calling a spaceship "Phaeton" would be like calling an ocean liner "The Titanic." It's just not going to happen.
For another, I thought that the fantasies were relatively and generally uninspired. Compared even to the anything-goes nature of the virtual club in Moore's "Caprica" -- where people engaged in fights to the death, human sacrifice and orgies, we didn't really get to see people push any boundaries with what they could do in this virtual world. And it seems foolish to have a virtual affair with an actual crew member (and risk discovery) when you can have VR sex with a simulated copy of that crew member (and for that matter, with an additional half-dozen partners of your choice).
For a third, people seemed to be underwhelmed by the notion that an entity who shouldn't have been there was shooting them, pushing them off cliffs or worse. I know if that happened to me, I would a) told everyone on the ship about the glitch and b) stayed the hell away from the technology until I had some assurance that the glitch was fixed. But with one exception, there didn't seem to be much urgency to what was going on in the virtual world. Maybe that's just me; I've seen enough "Star Trek" episodes to know that malfunctioning holodeck=bad medicine.
For a fourth, there's not much action in the first episode. As I watched, I kept half-remembering some sci-fi writer criticized "Star Trek" for having too many plots depending on the holodeck. He said essentially if you're a writer and you have a series set in space and you have to rely on holodecks for plots, you're in the wrong business. I kept wondering if he had a point.
And finally, it seems like with as many characters as there were, people are going to tend to come off as flat and people are going to get shortchanged in their development. I think the series easily could have condensed the cast to six, which would have given enough room for everyone to breathe.
With those and other flaws, I can understand why "Virtuality" got (or may have gotten) shelved. But that doesn't mean I have to like it.
- posted by Raoul
June 25 Michael Jackson Has Also DiedIt's being reported that Michael Jackson has also passed on at the mere age of 50, which stirs up a lot of mixed feelings for me.
Of course, this is still a TV blog and not a music one. But Jackson has had a singular effect on the small screen, both through his groundbreaking music videos and providing constant fodder for tabloid TV shows.
As a child of the 80s, I remember watching and singing along to videos like "Thriller" and "Beat It" when they came out and wishing I could be that cool, that graceful, that talented. And of course, we all watched in the 90s and so forth as his career started declining and he became better known for his odd -- to be generous to the recently dead -- habits, like having young children sleep over or dangling his kids out of hotel windows.
I have to come to grips with the evidence that he ended up so very twisted. But for today, I'm going to try to remember the more positive aspects of his personality and legacy.
- posted by Raoul The Reality Casting Call PlaybookThe Chicago Tribune has a piece about the strategies used by casting call directors when trying to line up "characters" for reality shows.
Much of it's probably what anyone who's ever watched a reality show would suspect, plus some interesting lingo from the biz.
Not entirely surprisingly, reality shows want "devils" -- people who stir up conflict. They also want "pushovers" -- people who are slightly unstable and who can become an hot emotional mess.
Still, wouldn't it be interesting if some brave casting director decided to throw out the playbook and just cast -- gasp -- real people instead of "characters"?
- posted by Raoul Remembering Farrah Fawcett I'm sorry to report that Farrah Fawcett has died at the age of 62. As you probably know, the actress had been waging a very public battle with cancer. Accordingly, NBC plans to re-air her special "Farrah's Story" tomorrow night at 9. Tonight they'll air a special tribute to her during "Dateline NBC." From the press release: "In addition to a look at Farrah's life and her battle with cancer, the hour-long tribute will share recent interviews with Ryan O'Neal, Alana Stewart, her dad, sister, fellow "Charlie's Angel" Kate Jackson, and never before aired parts of a 1997 interview with Stone Phillips." - Posted by Kate Finally Bravo Gives Me One I Don't Have to Throw Back Bravo's official programming strategy of late has been "Find desperately insecure people, film, edit, air!" But is it really fair (or becoming) to pick on one of those poor New Jersey housewives? Nope. They've got enough problems. Same goes for the exploited children on "NYC Prep." I'm not gonna touch that one! But last night, Bravo sent me a nice big fish: Ludo Lefebvre.The French chef was all kinds of angry on "Top Chef Masters", and it was very entertaining. (Even if both of last night's challenges sucked.) My favorite part was when Ludo decided that Rick Bayless had "stolen his idea" because he was making beef tongue tacos and Ludo was making pig ear quesadillas. Yeah, Rick Bayless, the most famous Mexican chef/cookbook writer this side of the Rio Grande, totally ripped off your quesadilla idea! Find me a child that is just tall enough to reach the stove burners, then tell that child to make something. It will either be quesadillas, pizza or mac 'n cheese. Quesadillas are a total no-brainer...except that it seemed like Ludo had never made a quesadilla before. Or eaten street food before. Oh, wait, I forgot the part where Ludo told the cameras that he really wanted to beat Rick with his quesadilla because Rick is "a famous Mexican chef." Then he laughed like the bad guy in a terrible cop movie. He totally freaked out and couldn't plate his stuff on time. Even though he's already been on "Iron Chef America." He had to get the other chefs to help him. Then he freaked out at the waiters for forgetting to serve his boats of beet juice. It's kind of too bad that he lost and we'll never see him again, eh? Until Bravo gets the idea to do a spin-off called "Top Chef Disasters." - Posted by Kate Wedding Bells for 'Idol' Judge Kara DioGuardi is goin' to the chapel with boyfriend Mike McDuddy - soon! The "American Idol" judge will wed in less than two weeks! She told Regis and Kelly that she and McDuddy had neighboring houses in Maine and met when she went over to complain about all the noise he was making. This is the stuff of romantic comedies, no? DioGuardi is being cagey about the details of her nupitals, and no wonder. Let's wish Kara a happy, paparazzi-free wedding and leave it at that. - Posted by Kate June 24 'NFNS' Gets a Re-Up Not a huge shock since it's pretty much the only buzzy show on the Food Network, but "The Next Food Network Star" has been renewed. But there's more! The net is already casting for next season. Think you've got what it takes? Here's the vital info:July 8: Phoenix, AZ Embassy Suites Phoenix/Scottsdale 4415 East Paradise Village Parkway Phoenix, AZ 85032 10AM to 4PM July 12: Chicago, IL Affinia Chicago Hotel 166 East Superio Chicago, IL 60611 10AM to 4PM July 17: Austin, TX Hyatt Regency Downtown 208 Barton Springs Road Austin, TX 78704 10AM to 4PM July 26: San Francisco, CA W San Francisco 181 Third Street San Francisco, CA 94103 10AM to 4PM July 31: New York, NY CBS 530 W. 57th Street New York, NY 10019 10AM to 4PM August 10: Los Angeles, CA Saddle Ranch 8371 West Sunset Blvd. West Hollywood, CA 90069 10AM to 4PM August 17: San Diego, CA W San Diego 421 W. B Street San Diego, CA 92101 12PM to 5PM August 24: Atlanta, GA W Atlanta Midtown 188 14th St. NE Atlanta, GA 30361 10AM to 4PM Good luck - and drop us a line if you do decide to try out. - Posted by Kate Weird - Or Not - Facts About How We Watch TV Nielsen Media (you know, the ratings people) has released a new report about Americans' TV viewing habits. For some reason these reports kind of fascinate me. Here's the short version: "Every month, the average American watches 153 hours of television — that’s up 1.2% from last year. Americans with a mobile video plan watch more than 3 hours of video a month on their phones. Multitasking: Almost a third of the time spent online is accompanied by viewing live television. “Power Moms” (women 25-54 with at least one child) make up 10% of all online video viewers. Teens aged 13-17 who watch video on their cell phones watch an average of 6.5 hours." Cell phone videos? Really? I admit that I watched a couple movies on my iPod on a long flight recently, but most of the time that 2.2 inch screen isn't gonna cut it. I plead guilty to the multitasking, though. How do you guys watch? DVR? Online? On your phone? The old-fashioned way? (Couch, snack, bathroom breaks during commercials.) - Posted by Kate June 23 'Superstars' Super BoringJust finished watching ABC's new "The Superstars." Somehow this new reality series manages to be really dull, despite dishing out all the cheesecake and beefcake anyone could want.
I spent most of the premiere trying to figure out why it was so bad. The best I could come up with is that it tries to treat itself as an uber-serious competition. Unlike, say, the late, lamented "American Gladiators" or "Wipeout," there's no joking around, no wink-wink, nudge-nudge acknowledgement of its own inherent ridiculousness.
My wife offered that it just was tooslow paced to be any good, and I think she may have something there.
About the only worthwhile moment in the whole show was when supermodel Joanna Krupa bitched at her partner Terrell Owens for his pathetic performance. You go, Joanna!
- posted by Raoul Get Ready for the Real-Life Gossip Girl Tonight marks the premiere of "NYC Prep," Bravo's "in-depth" look at the real teen princesses (and princes) of the Upper East Side. We'll follow two youngsters, PC, an 18 year-old aspiring photographer, and Jessie, a would-be fashion designer. We'll meet their friends and foes and watch their foibles. You know the drill! This is "Gossip Girl" meets "The Hills" with a very large dollop of "The Real Housewives of NYC, Jr." thrown in to tease us. I haven't seen this yet, so I'll be just as surprised as you are - or not - to see what the kids are up to these days. Start the popcorn popping around 9:57, because the show is starting at ten. - Posted by Kate Remembering Ed McMahon Ed McMahon, most famous for his long-running gig as Johnny Carson's sidekick on "The Tonight Show," has died at age 86. His death occurred early this morning at a Los Angeles hospital. There's no word yet on his cause of death.In the years following his retirement from "The Tonight Show" McMahon was known first as the face of the Publishers' Clearinghouse Sweepstakes then as the "new" face of foreclosure. (Donald Trump reportedly purchased the comedian's home for him.) This is obviously very sad news. - Posted by Kate
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