People of Earth:

In the last few days, I've been getting a lot of sympathy calls, and I want to start by making it clear that no one should waste a second feeling sorry for me. For 17 years, I've been getting paid to do what I love most and, in a world with real problems, I've been absurdly lucky. That said, I've been suddenly put in a very public predicament and my bosses are demanding an immediate decision.

Six years ago, I signed a contract with NBC to take over The Tonight Show in June of 2009. Like a lot of us, I grew up watching Johnny Carson every night and the chance to one day sit in that chair has meant everything to me. I worked long and hard to get that opportunity, passed up far more lucrative offers, and since 2004 I have spent literally hundreds of hours thinking of ways to extend the franchise long into the future. It was my mistaken belief that, like my predecessor, I would have the benefit of some time and, just as important, some degree of ratings support from the prime-time schedule. Building a lasting audience at 11:30 is impossible without both.

But sadly, we were never given that chance. After only seven months, with my Tonight Show in its infancy, NBC has decided to react to their terrible difficulties in prime-time by making a change in their long-established late night schedule.

Last Thursday, NBC executives told me they intended to move the Tonight Show to 12:05 to accommodate the Jay Leno Show at 11:35. For 60 years the Tonight Show has aired immediately following the late local news. I sincerely believe that delaying the Tonight Show into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting. The Tonight Show at 12:05 simply isn't the Tonight Show. Also, if I accept this move I will be knocking the Late Night show, which I inherited from David Letterman and passed on to Jimmy Fallon, out of its long-held time slot. That would hurt the other NBC franchise that I love, and it would be unfair to Jimmy.

So it has come to this: I cannot express in words how much I enjoy hosting this program and what an enormous personal disappointment it is for me to consider losing it. My staff and I have worked unbelievably hard and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of The Tonight Show. But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction. Some people will make the argument that with DVRs and the Internet a time slot doesn't matter. But with the Tonight Show, I believe nothing could matter more.

There has been speculation about my going to another network but, to set the record straight, I currently have no other offer and honestly have no idea what happens next. My hope is that NBC and I can resolve this quickly so that my staff, crew, and I can do a show we can be proud of, for a company that values our work.

Have a great day and, for the record, I am truly sorry about my hair; it's always been that way.

Yours,

Conan

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Zachary Levi Talks Chuck Season 3

Zachary Levi, the star of one of our favorite shows Chuck, talks about the new episodes in which we see an upgraded Chuck. Now that he's downloaded lots of new skills into his mind, Chuck can be an expert in everything from martial arts to mariachi. Season three debuts this Sunday night with a two hour episode on NBC. Take a look:



Posted on January 7, 2010
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Kevin Alejandro Joining Cast of True Blood

True Blood's Layfayette may be getting a new love interest. Southland's Kevin Alejandro, who also starred in the ill-fated series Drive, has landed a gig on the HBO vampire drama. According to The Hollywood Reporter Alejandro will be a series regular.

Alejandro, expected to appear in almost every episode of the HBO series' upcoming third season, will play Jesus, a Latino orderly who is taking care of Ruby Jean Reynolds (Alfre Woodard) at her care facility and becomes involved with her son, Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis).

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On "Blood," he joins such other new additions as Denis O'Hare, Marshall Allman, Theo Alexander, Grant Bowler, Joe Manganiello and Lindsay Pulsipher.

Alejandro will stay on Southland, which has moved to TNT. He's going to be a very busy guy, shooting two series at the same time.

Posted on January 4, 2010
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Golden Globe Nominations Announced

The Golden Globe nominations were announced yesterday. The nominees for Best Picture (Drama) are Avatar, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, Precious: Based On The Novel Push By Sapphire, and Up In The Air. Meryl Streep was nominated for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical for both Julia and Julia and for It's Complicated. Sandra Bullock was nominated for Best Actress in a Drama for Blind Side and for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical for The Proposal.

Nine did very well with five nominations, including Best Actress for Marion Cotillard and Best Picture (Musical or Comedy). You can see the full list of nominees here.

Posted on December 16, 2009
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Beyonce and Taylor Swift Lead Grammy Nominations

Beyonce has garnered ten Grammy nominations. Taylor Swith has eight nominations.

Pop/hip-hop unit The Black Eyed Peas, R&B vocalist Maxwell and rapper Kanye West all hauled in six nominations, announced by the Recording Academy on Tuesday night. A handful of nominees were revealed during a special show broadcast live in the east from L.A.'s Club Nokia. Winners in 109 Grammy categories, voted on by members of the Recording Academy, will be announced Jan. 31 at the annual ceremony at L.A.'s Staples Center.

Facing off for album of the year honors are Beyonce's "I Am.Sasha Fierce," Swift's "Fearless," Gaga's "The Fame," the Black Eyed Peas' "E.N.D." and the Dave Matthews Band's "Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King." Competing for record of the year are Beyonce's "Halo," the Peas' "I Gotta Feeling," Kings of Leon's "Use Somebody," Gaga's "Poker Face" and Swift's "You Belong to Me."

Nominees for song of the year -- a writer's award -- are Beyonce's "Single Ladies" (written by Thaddis Harrell, Terius Nash, Beyonce Knowles and Christopher Stewart), Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" (by Lady Gaga and RedOne), Maxwell's "Pretty Wings" (by Musze and Hod David), Kings of Leon's "Use Somebody" (by band members Caleb, Nathan, Jared and Matthew Followill) and Taylor Swift's "You Belong to Me" (by Swift and Liz Rose).

This should be an interesting Grammy Awards in January. Kanye, Beyonce and Taylor Swift will all be there once again. Will Kanye even show? Will he behave himself? We'll have to tune in to see.

Posted on December 2, 2009
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Ugly Betty Moving to Wednesdays

After being marooned on Friday nights in a terrible timeslot this season, Ugly Betty has a glimmer of hope: ABC is moving the show to Wednesday nights, just after Cougar Town. Variety reports:

"Ugly Betty" fills the void left by "Eastwick," which was not picked up for a full season. Scheduling move shifts "Betty" from what had been a lonely Friday night slot, sandwiched between the reality series "Supernanny" and the newsmag "20/20."

Airing in that rough slot, "Ugly Betty" had been a Nielsen also-ran -- most recently, during the holiday weekend, posting just a 0.9 rating/3 share among adults 18-49. With "Ugly Betty" moving off Friday, ABC plans to return to a completely non-scripted lineup on the night, replacing the 9 p.m. hour with the reality series "Shark Tank."

Betty will make the move in January. This season's writing has been outstanding, but unfortunately no one has seen it since ABC dumped the show into the Friday Night Graveyard. Is it too late to save Betty? We certainly hope not.

Posted on December 1, 2009
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GE Pushing Forward With Deal to Sell NBC to Comcast

Variety reports that General Electric is going to buy 20% of NBC Universal. The 20% stake is currently owned by French media company Vivendi SA. After that purchase is completed, GE will then turn around and sell 51% of NBC Universal to Comcast, the U.S.' biggest cable company.

An agreement was supposed to have been announced weeks ago, but GE's talks with Vivendi have been taking longer than expected. Vivendi knew it had a strong hand -- GE wants to sell part of NBC Universal to raise money after suffering losses in its GE Capital unit. Meanwhile, Comcast wants to beef up its programming assets with a marquee name at a price it could handle -- around $5 to $7 billion cash plus contribution of its cable networks to a joint venture that would house the new NBC Universal.

Vivendi also could use the money. Two weeks ago, it invested $4.2 billion to take control of Brazilian telecom operator GVT. However, a Vivendi executive had said the company might decide not to exercise its annual window -- which ends Dec. 10 -- to sell its stake in NBC Universal. Vivendi hoped to get more than $6 billion for its NBC Universal holdings but $6 billion was GE's ceiling, the person said. The Wall Street Journal has reported that GE would pay $5.8 billion for the stake.

Comcast's agreement with GE is set and won't be affected by whatever price GE ends up paying Vivendi. Comcast wants NBC Universal largely for its lucrative cable channels. NBC Universal spans the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks; cable channels such as Bravo and CNBC; the Universal Pictures movie studio and Universal theme parks.

Comcast has said it will make lots of changes at NBC, including charging people to watch shows on Hulu.com. That is going to make a lot of tv viewers very angry.

Posted on November 30, 2009
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USA Renews Psych and Burn Notice

USA Network has renewed two of our favorite shows: Burn Notice, which will have a fourth season, and Psych, which will now have a fifth season. Variety reports:

"Burn Notice," which stars Jeffrey Donovan as a Miami-based spy, was a key driver of USA's strong perf this summer. Cabler ran nine episodes and will air the remaining seven in January. USA's fourth-season order for Fox Television Studios series comes on the heels of Monday's fifth-season pickup for "Psych."

The split seasons are really weird, but we're going with it. By far the worst split season idea has to be what ABC is doing with V. After four episodes, the show is on hiatus until March.

Posted on November 27, 2009
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Video: Conan Apologizes to Levi Johnston, Shatner Rides Again

Conan O'Brien was forced to apologize to Levi Johnston for having William Shatner read Levi's tweets as freeform poetry. Levi didn't post those items on Twitter, an imposter did. So Conan made his mea culpas to Levi, then promptly brought out William Shatner again to read some of Levi's writings. Only this time, Shatner used only verified quotes that Levi made to the media in various interviews. It's still hilarious. Take a look:



Posted on November 6, 2009
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Vampire Diaries Gets Full Season



The CW's freshman drama The Vampire Diaries has earned a full season pickup.

While "Melrose" has been a letdown, "Vampire" has turned into a bona fide hit for the netlet. Both shows, which launched before the season started, also manage to do quite well with DVR playback.

Six episodes have already aired of both. "Vampire" to date averages a 1.8 rating and 5 share with adults 18-49, and 3.9 million viewers overall. Among women 12-34, the show usually wins or is a contender for the timeslot win, averaging a 2.8/10.

Vampire Diaries, which is based on the bestselling book series of the same name by L.J. Smith, stars Nina Dobrev, Steven R. McQueen, Ian Somerhalder, Paul Wesley, Sara Canning, Katerina Graham, Candice Accola, Zach Roerig, Kayla Ewell and Michael Trevino.

Posted on October 21, 2009
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Joss Whedon to Direct Episode of Glee

Joss Whedon will be directing an upcoming episode of Glee. We just couldn't be more excited. We loved the Buffy musical episode, "Once More With Feeling" and "Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog." So how did this happen? Michael Ausiello explains:

Turns out, the genius who gave us not only the "Once More, With Feeling" musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer but also Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is a big fan of Ryan Murphy’s new phenom. So when Twentieth (the studio behind Glee) approached him about the gig, pretty much his only reservation was scheduling.

"Joss directed one of the great musical episodes in the history of television on Buffy," gushes Murphy, "so this is a great, if unexpected, fit. I'm thrilled he’ll be loaning us his fantastic groundbreaking talent."

We just cannot wait for this. Now, let's talk guest stars. We're thinking Sarah Michelle Gellar needs to get a babysitter and get to the Glee set. Or James Marsters -- he has his own rock band. Or Neil Patrick Harris? Better yet, how about all three of them?

Posted on October 19, 2009
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Putting a Stop to Loud TV Commercials

Super loud commercials may soon be a thing of the past. So why are they so loud? So that you will still hear them if you leave the room. How will they be stopped? Two ways, The FCC already mandates that commercials can't be louder than the loudest part of the program they interrupt. If you're watching an action movie, that's no help at all.

But this approach has serious limitations. An action show that climaxes in a burst of gunfire is one thing; a commercial that's as loud as a gun going off from start to finish is another -- especially if the lead-in to the commercial is relatively quiet. And in addition to making their commercials as loud as the FCC lets them, marketers also use various technological tricks to make them sound even louder than they are, like packing more sound energy into midrange frequencies, the ones that the human ear is most sensitive to.

To close this loophole, Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) introduced a bill in the House of Representatives last year, the Commercial Advertising Loudness Mitigation Act. CALM would charge the FCC to enact regulations prohibiting commercials from being "excessively noisy or strident." The House Energy and Commerce Committee will hold a hearing to consider amendments on the bill Thursday.

And a parallel effort within the TV and consumer-electronics industries may also bear fruit soon. The Advanced Television Systems Committee, a nonprofit whose membership includes broadcast networks, cable operators, and electronics manufacturers, has been working to develop voluntary standards that will let broadcasters measure and effectively modulate the volume of commercials.

We say: we don't care how you stop them, just stop them. We hate loud commercials and always mute them. We wouldn't mute them if they weren't so loud and annoying, so really it's in the advertisers' best interested to tone it down.

Posted on October 16, 2009
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Fox Reality Channel to be Shuttered

News Corp has decided to shut down the Fox Reality Channel. The channel will go dark in March, 2010. There is no word yet what will replace the channel, but News Corp denied that it was being replaced by a comedy channel. Variety reports:

News Corp. is mum on what will replace the channel, now available in almost 50 million households, after that. According to the Wrap, which first wrote about the shutdown, a complete channel rebranding is in the works and may include a new partner outside of the Fox Cable Networks group.

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Fox Cable Networks released a brief statement on the shutdown: "With the changing cable landscape we've made a strategic decision to shift some resources and refocus on emerging channels. However, Fox Reality Channel will remain on our lineup for at least the next several months."

Fox Reality Channel aired such original shows as American Idol Extra, Gimmie My Reality Show! and Reality Remix, along with repeats of popular reality shows.

Posted on October 14, 2009
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FlashForward Gets Picked Up



The ABC drama FlashForward has received a back nine pickup, which is great news. The order has been extended from 22 to 25 episodes.

Move is not unexpected as drama from ABC Studios has been a solid ratings earner at 8 p.m. Thursday, challenging CBS reality stalwart "Survivor" in the timeslot. "FlashForward" is one of the top new dramas of the season in adults 18-34.

Over the show's three weeks' live plus same-day average, skein is drawing 10.7 million viewers, with a 3.6 rating/11 share in the 18-49 demo. New DVR numbers reveal the Joseph Fiennes starrer picked up 2 million viewers for a total of 14.5 million in its Sept. 24 premiere. Rating increased from a 4.1 to 4.9. Numbers have settled down since the launch, but that is to be expected in a serialized show such as "FlashForward."

Joseph Fiennes and John Cho are both doing fabulous jobs with their characters on the show, and we can't wait until Dominic Monaghan (Charlie from Lost) joins the cast.

Posted on October 12, 2009
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NBC's Chuck May Make Early Return



Michael Ausiello reports that Chuck may make an early return to NBC. The hit show may return as early as late October.

“How much sooner” you ask?

As early as late October, my moles tell me. And while it remains unclear whether the little show that could (and has and shall again) would return to its Monday timeslot or find itself a new perch, NBC insiders who’ve seen the first four episodes are calling this season the best yet.

Michael Ausiello says an early return makes it more likely that Chuck will get additional episodes beyond the 13 NBC initially commissioned. We love Chuck so the show returning early with a good chance of more episodes sounds good to us. We just hope they don't put it up against one of our other favorite shows as the networks so often like to do.

Posted on October 10, 2009
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Cougar Town Gets Early Pick Up, Southland Gets Surprise Cancellation

ABC has given an early pickup to Courtney Cox's Cougar Town, Modern Family and The Middle. The series all got picked up for nine more episodes.

Courteney Cox's "Cougar Town," which like "Modern Family" has aired three times, came out strong too. More than 11.2 million viewers tuned in to the Sept. 23 premiere, which earned a 4.4 rating/11 share in 18-49. Through three airings, ABC Studios' "Cougar" is averaging a 3.8/10 in the demo and solid 9.5 million viewers overall.

ABC is showing faith in Warner Bros.' "The Middle." Sitcom, which garnered mostly favorable reviews, is averaging a 2.4/7 in 18-49 and 7.8 million viewers overall in the 8:30 p.m. slot, building in its two airings by half a ratings point over "Hank," the new Kelsey Grammer starrer.

In other tv news, Ben McKenzie's supposedly renewed cop show Southland just got axed by NBC. The cast and crew has already filmed six episodes of the second season, so the news is coming a quite a shock.

Rumors say that NBC execs were shocked at how dark the six episodes are, but we're not buying it. Southland executive producer John Wells issued a statement saying: "I am disappointed that NBC no longer has the time periods available to support the kind of critically acclaimed series that was for so many years the hallmark of their success." He said he is going to shop the show to another network. It's a good show and hopefully another network will pick it up.

Posted on October 8, 2009
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24 Director John Cassar to Direct Feature Film

John Cassar, co-executive producer and director for 24, is inking a deal for his first feature film. The film is called Motorcade and is being produced by DreamWorks. Ryan Reynolds is rumored to star in the secret service thriller.

The studio hopes to get the picture into production by late summer or early fall 2010, and DreamWorks is eyeing Ryan Reynolds to play the disgraced Secret Service agent who happens to be in the wrong place at the right time when the U.S. president is kidnapped in New York.

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The drama has been a priority for DreamWorks and was one of the projects Tom Cruise seriously considered when "Live Free or Die Hard" helmer Len Wiseman was attached. Reynolds, who will next star in the Martin Campbell-directed "Green Lantern" for Warner Bros. next spring, has not signed on at this point.

The script is being revised by Billy Ray. Ryan Reynolds' career is super hot right now; we think an action thriller would be perfect for him. Although we loved him in The Proposal. He is so great at comedy.

Posted on October 6, 2009
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Bones Set Shut Down Due to Swine Flu

Michael Ausiello reports that the swine flu has shut down the production of the tv show Bones starring David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel.

Bones has abruptly shut down production due to a possible outbreak of swine flu, the show"s creator, Hart Hanson, announced via Twitter. "First time in Bones history we are shut down from production," Hanson tweeted. "Damn swine flu! That's gonna cut into Christmas hiatus."

A show spokesperson confirms that among those sidelined is leading man David Boreanaz, although it's unclear if he actually has the H1N1 bug. "David is out with the flu and the show shut down today since he was in every scene," says the rep. "We hope to resume production tomorrow."

Hanson later clarified via Twitter that "there is no indication that Boreanaz has swine flu. We expect him back tomorrow. I'm now going out to get swine flu myself in atonement."

We wish everyone good health on the set -- whatever is going on there.

Posted on October 5, 2009
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Vampires Diaries is a Hit for the CW



The CW has a hit on its hands. Last night's debut of The Vampire Diaries was the highest rated debut in the channel's history. Based on a series of books by author L. J. Smith (the first title was published in 1991, long before Twilight) the show revolves around a high school girl who is being courted by two ancient and very different vampire brothers.

"The Vampire Diaries" -- the CW's last best hope for a new fall show to deliver a breakout number -- delivered. "Diaries" (4.8 million viewers, 2.1 preliminary adults 18-49 rating, 3.0 women 18-34) is the CW's most-watched series premiere ever.

In the adult demo, it's the CW's best series debut rating since last fall's "90210." Since "90210" scored a very close 4.7 million viewers, the "most-watched ever" claim could change when the nationals come in later today. As posted last night, "Vampire Diaries" scored high on broadcasters' latest internal tracking "intent to view" polling among the new fall shows.

We watched the premiere and were pleasantly surprised. The "evil" brother is played by Ian Somerhalder from Lost and easily steals every scene he's in. We'll tune in for episode two, for sure.

Posted on September 11, 2009
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Maura Tierney Withdraws From Parenthood Role for Cancer Treatment

Maura Tierney has had to pull out permanently from the much buzzed new series dramedy, Parenthood. Maura is battling breast cancer and is not able to return to the series, as was the original plan.

NBC had already pushed back the series from a planned fall debut to midseason to give the star time to undergo treatments. On Thursday, the Peacock said that while Tierney is expected to recover, her treatment plan was conflicting with the production sked for the Universal Media Studios dramedy.

"While we are saddened that Maura Tierney won't be able to continue in her current role in 'Parenthood,' our main concern is for her quick and full recovery. Our thoughts and best wishes are with her," the Peacock said in a statement.

NBC plans to recast Tierney's role, which was the cornerstone of the ensemble show revolving around a large family in Northern California.

What terrible news for her: she had originally planned to continue filming, but clearly the treatment regimen is more strenuous than was originally thought. We wish Maura a full and speedy recovery.

Posted on September 10, 2009
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Janet Jackson to Open VMAs With Tribute to Michael

TMZ reports that Janet Jackson is working hard on a special tribute to her brother Michael to be performed at the MTV Video Music Awards this Sunday.

Ms. Jackson is set to put on a huge MJ-honoring performance featuring 20 backup dancers -- which is being put together by some of the best choreographers in the world, including Frank Gatson and Travis Payne.

According to Kryiss Grant, one of the dancers involved (who was also an usher at MJ's burial), some rehearsals have lasted 15 hours a day. Once Janet is finished honoring her brother, Grant tells us "there won't be a dry eye in the house."

The Video Music Awards will be held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City and Janet is expected to open the show with her tribute.

Posted on September 8, 2009
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TNT Wants More Leverage



Variety reports that TNT is renewing Leverage for a third season, which will have 15 episodes. The series has gained viewers in its second season.

The drama from Dean Devlin's Electric Entertainment averaged 3.9 million viewers in its first season and 4.1 million in season two (both figures include live-plus-seven DVR usage).

Cabler has ordered 15 episodes for the upcoming season, up from the 13 ordered for seasons one and two.

Leverage is a great series that manages to deliver both humor and thrills. It also has great cast led by the brilliant Timothy Hutton. TNT offers full episodes online.

Posted on August 27, 2009
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Paula Abdul to Host VH1's Divas



Paula Abdul tweeted that she will be hosting this year's VH1 Divas on September 17th.

Hi guys! im really excited 2 announce ill b hosting this year's "Vh1 Divas"! The show will be live on Sept 17th @ 9 pm EST

This year's VH1 Divas show will honor Adele, Kelly Clarkson, Jordin Sparks, Leona Lewis and Miley Cyrus -- I am so excited!!

It sounds like a great lineup.

Posted on August 25, 2009
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Project Runway Premiere Breaks Records at Lifetime

The premiere of season six of Project Runway premiered on Lifetime last Thursday and it was a ratings hit. The show was the highest-rated series premiere in the history of the Lifetime channel. Variety reports:

Runway drew 4.2 million viewers -- the largest crowd for any reality competition series preem on cable this year -- and a 3.2 rating among women 18-49, the demo the network covets. That number was 32% higher than the show's fifth-season premiere on Bravo.

The rating for the couture competish was also the highest for a series premiere in Lifetime's history in women and adults 18-34. "I've never heard more excitement and laughter in the halls here at Lifetime," network topper Andrea Wong told Daily Variety in reaction to the debut. "We'll keep the pedal to the metal in terms of promotion."

We watched the premiere and it was fabulous. We think Lifetime is doing a much better job of promoting the show than Bravo ever did. The graphics are better and you can actually watch episodes online at Lifetime's website: Bravo never has anything for viewing later on. If you miss it, you miss it.

Posted on August 24, 2009
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Padma Lakshmi Talks Top Chef, Emmy Nomination

Padma Lakshmi appeared on The Today Show to talk about the new season of Top Chef which premiered last Wednesday. If you missed it, it's being repeated a few times on Bravo. Season six is in Las Vegas and it looks like the skill level of the chefs is high. Padma has been nominated for an Emmy for her hosting duties. She cooks one of her favorite easy recipes from her cookbook for Matt Lauer. Take a look:



Posted on August 22, 2009
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Jerry Seinfeld, Rihanna to be Jay Leno's First Guests

Jerry Seinfeld will be Jay Leno's first guest on his new prime time talk show, according to Variety. The Jay Leno Show premieres on September 14.

Seinfeld also is expected to do standup. Also appearing on the first show will be Jay Z, Kanye West and Rihanna. Leno is taking the 10 p.m. slot Monday through Friday, a move that may make financial sense for the network but has rankled many in the creative community.

Seinfeld will also appear on HBO later this year as he and the rest of the "Seinfeld" troupe will appear on "Curb Your Enthusiasm." In addition, he has reality show "The Marriage Ref" set for NBC in midseason.

This will be Rihanna's first interview since the Chris Brown battery case. Will she talk to Jay about it? It's going to be hard for him to avoid asking questions about the subject.

Posted on August 14, 2009
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Courteney Cox is Going to Cougar Town

Courteney Cox talks about her new show Cougar Town. Courtney says she is a cougar herself. We hate the name of the show. But we like Courteney. Take a look:



Posted on August 11, 2009
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TNT Renews Jada Pinkett Smith's Nurse Drama

Nurse dramas are all the rage these days. The Hollywood Reporter says that Hawthorne - a nurse drama starring Jada Pinkett Smith - has been renewed for a second season.

During its first season, "Hawthorne," which anchors TNT's Tuesday original-programming block at 9 p.m., is averaging 3.8 million viewers, a 69% improvement in the time slot.

"'Hawthorne' has been a great addition to TNT's lineup of original series, and Jada Pinkett Smith's performance has been a tremendous draw with viewers," said Michael Wright, executive vp and head of programming at TNT, TBS and TCM.

Created by John Masius, "Hawthorne" stars Pinkett Smith as Christina Hawthorne, a compassionate and headstrong chief nursing officer at Richmond Trinity Hospital.

Showtime's Nurse Jackie was also renewed and NBC has a nurse drama caled Mercy coming this fall. They probably can't all be hits but two out of three getting renewed already shows the tv execs like what they see.

Posted on August 10, 2009
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Burn Notice Summer Finale is Tonight

The summer finale of Burn Notice is tonight on USA Network at 9:00 p.m. Central time. We like the way the season is progressing so far, and we can't quite figure out where the writers are going with it. Will Michael Weston (Jeffrey Donovan) ever get his job back? That would be most interesting, we think.

In tonight's episode, a dangerous man from Fiona's past resurfaces in Miami after years of hiding, with deadly intentions. Michael teams up with Fiona's ruthless brother to save her -- but will it put his career in jeopardy? Here's a clip from tonight's episode:

Posted on August 6, 2009
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Video: New Preview From The Prisoner Starring Jim Caveziel

A nine minute preview of the new series The Prisoner starring Jim Caveziel was shown at Comic-Con and it looks marvelous. The AMC show is a remake of the 60s classic British television show that starred Patrick McGoohan as a British spy who is kidnapped and ends up in "The Village" where he is only referred to as Number 6. This time around the village is in the desert instead of the seaside, but it looks just as intriguing. Ian McKellan is the head of the Village who seems quite intent on making Number 6's life quite intolerable. Take a look:



Posted on July 28, 2009
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Jennifer Garner Inks Production Deal With ABC

Jennifer Garner is returning to ABC, but unfortunately for Alias fans she's not reprising her role as super spy Sydney Bristow. Instead, Jennifer has inked a production deal. Michael Ausiello reports:

Ex-Alias superstar Jennifer Garner has inked a fresh development deal with her old network, sources confirm to me exclusively. What are the specifics of the pact? And does it involve the words "Alias" and "movie"? Keep reading for all the deets...

ABC declined to comment, but I'm told the deal calls for the four-time Emmy nominee to develop projects via her Vandalia Films production shingle (that's tradespeak for "office space on studio lot"). There are no plans for Garner to act in any of said projects (apologies for the shameless Alias tease earlier), but as one Alphabet insider says, "If Jennifer wants to make a guest appearance no one is going to stop her."

The deal -- coming three years after Garner ended her five-season run as Sydney Bristow on Alias -- marks a big turning point for Garner's fledgling production company, which so far has dabbled mostly in independent film.

We don't understand this at all. We want to see Jennifer in front of the camera chasing bad guys. Still, kudos to her for landing the production deal.

Posted on July 15, 2009
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Neil Patrick to Host Emmys

After doing such a fabulous job of hosting the Tony Awards, Neil Patrick Harris is now in negotiations to host the Emmy Awards. The awards show will air on September 20 on CBS and executives are eager to improve ratings from last year's disastrous show which featured five different reality tv hosts. It was awful.

The "How I Met Your Mother" star (whose character, Barney Stinson, is known for his liberal use of superlatives like "legendary" and "awesome") was a no-brainer of a choice for the Eye after he earned rave reviews as host of the June 7 Tony Awards, which also aired live on CBS. (He also hosted last year's Creative Arts Emmy Awards.)

Having Harris front and center on the kudocast will amount to a promo boost for "Mother," which is set to move into the 8 p.m. anchor slot of the Eye's Monday comedy block the night after the Emmys.

We love Neil Patrick Harris. If he hosts, we'll watch.

Posted on July 2, 2009
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On TV: All Michael Jackson, All the Time

After Michael Jackson died, tv stations have rushed to air tributes to the King of Pop. In fact, it's pretty much been wall to wall Michael Jackson coverage lately.

BET's Sunday night "BET Awards" will now take on a different tone, as the kudofest opens with a tribute to Jackson. It took the death of Jackson, meanwhile, for MTV to do something it hasn't done in years: Run music videos all day long. The cabler, which came of age during the "Thriller" era, started pre-empting its programming Thursday night with wall-to-wall Michael Jackson music videos, concert performances and other footage, and continued to do so right up until 6 p.m. on Friday.

After that, the net premiered a new hour-long special, "A Celebration of Michael Jackson on MTV." Then at 7 p.m., it planned to run a repeat of "Randy Jackson's America's Best Dance Crew" that featured all Jackson hits. MTV2 also planned to continue running Jackson-themed programming.

ABC planned another "20/20" tribute on Friday night at 9 p.m., "Michael Jackson: The Man and His Music," anchored by Elizabeth Vargas. "20/20" also planned more Jackson coverage in its normal 10 p.m. slot. Over at NBC, the net's "Dateline NBC" put together a new special, "Michael Jackson: The King of Pop," to run Friday at 10 p.m., behind a repeat of the two-hour Fawcett doc "Farrah's Story." CBS planned no Jackson special on Friday. Fox plans to pay tribute by airing its first-ever "American Idol" repeat on Monday, June 29. That episode, which aired earlier this year, featured the competish's 13 finalists as they performed songs from Jackson's catalog. MyNetwork TV has scheduled a rebroadcast of the World Music Awards, featuring a tribute to Jackson, for Wednesday.

Other just-announced specials include CNN's "Michael Jackson: Man in the Mirror," which will run several times over the weekend, starting on Saturday at 8 p.m. TV Land plans to run the 1992 miniseries "The Jacksons: An American Dream" on Sunday at 2 p.m. And E! Entertainment TV has lined up the news special "Michael & Farrah: Lost Icons" on Saturday at 10:30 a.m., and the special "Michael Jackson" on Wednesday at 10 p.m. It will also run the singer's "True Hollywood Story" edition throughout the weekend.

TV execs believe that the onslaught of Michael Jackson programming will substantially boost viewership this weekend.

Posted on June 27, 2009
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When Steve Martin and Paul Simon Were Young

Steve Martin and Paul Simon both were guests on The Jimmy Fallon Show and they recalled the time when they considered working together. Paul wanted to be a comedian and Steve, well, he wanted to be a poet and a one man band. Take a look:



Posted on June 3, 2009
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Freddie Prinze Jr. Joins 24

THR.com reports that Freddie Prinze Jr. is joining the cast of 24 and he will be playing a character very similar to Kiefer's Jack Bauer character. Freddie's character's background is similar to Jack Bauer's, only younger.

On the real-time drama, whose upcoming eighth season started production Wednesday, Prinze joins fellow new cast additions Anil Kapoor, who plays a Middle East leader; Chris Diamantopoulos, as the president's new chief of staff; and John Boyd as a CTU systems analyst. All of them are regulars, while Jennifer Westfeldt has come aboard as a recurring, playing a a journalist.

The role could potentially give Freddie Prinze Jr. a shot at taking over the series if Kiefer Sutherland was to leave the show.

Posted on May 27, 2009
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Surprise 9th Season For Scrubs

ABC Scrubs was supposed to end by the show is being renewed for a 9th season.

The show, which stars Zach Braff, wrapped up earlier this year with an episode called "My Finale", which resolved several ongoing storylines.

The series had seen low ratings after moving from NBC to rival network ABC and Braff, who plays Doctor John "JD" Dorian announced he was leaving.

But ABC says the show will continue - with Braff returning for six episodes.

Zach Braff will return for six episodes before handing the show over to a new cast that will include several regulars: Donald Faison (Dr Turk), John C McGinley (Dr Cox) and Neil Flynn. Actress Sarah Chalke (Dr Elliot Reid) may also return for the six transitional episodes.

Posted on May 16, 2009
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MTV Movie Awards: Slaughter Shack Fight Scene

The MTV Movie awards are approaching, so MTV has released a number of film clips of the nominated movies. This clip from Slaughter Shack is is nominated for Best Fight. Andy "Barry" Samberg and Will "Eagleheart" Arnett go toe to toe in an epic duel to the death. Then, Bill Haders arrives on the scene....and he's looking for vampires. Take a look:



It's not a real movie. But it's not worse than some of what's come out in the past couple of years.

Posted on May 12, 2009
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CW Bailing Out of Sunday Programming

The CW network is giving up entirely on Sunday nights and will no longer air programming.

The web confirmed late Monday it is in advanced talks with its affils to give up five hours of network time, 5-10 p.m., on Sunday, which has long been a weak spot for CW and its WB Network predecessor. CW said it decided to make the move in order to focus all of its programming resources on its Monday-Friday slate.

CW said backing out of Sunday entirely would be good for the network as well as for its affils. The low Sunday numbers drag down the net's weekly and season-long ratings averages, while affils are stuck with being off the primetime radar on the night and saddled with a weak lead-in to late newscasts. Although local TV advertising sales have been hard hit by the economic downturn, stations would still rather have more control over the Sunday program lineup and the ability to keep more of the advertising time rather than be saddled with low-rated network fare.

It's understood that most CW affils are in the process of cutting deals for an expansive movie package from MGM on a barter advertising basis. That means stations pay no money upfront and will be able to hang onto as much as six to eight minutes of the 14-15 minutes of ad time in each hour, compared with three minutes of time in the network-supplied movie. And the titles in the package for the upcoming season are said to be a higher caliber of pics than the titles CW has been supplying affils.

In a statement, CW said the Sunday shuffle "would provide a new revenue opportunity for the stations, while at the same time expand upon our successful weekday strategy from this year, which resulted in ratings growth among our target audience."

It will be up to the local affiliates to fill the airtime. If the movie deal goes through, then there will most likely be MGM movies available on Sunday nights.

Posted on May 5, 2009
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Milo Ventimiglia Discusses His New Production Company

Milo Ventimiglia stars as Peter Petrelli on Heroes. But he is also very serious about his production company, Divide Pictures. Milo talks about directing, acting and the new projects his company is working on. He's very passionate about his new venture. Take a look:



Posted on April 21, 2009
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YouTube Inks New Programming Deals

YouTube just inked deals with Sony, Lionsgate, BBC, Starz, Discovery and National Geographic in a bid to increase its premium content offerings. YouTube will offer full length-movies and television shows for free on its site to compete with Hulu. But, unlike Hulu, users won't actually watch the movies on YouTube. Instead, they get sent somewhere else.

Pact isn't considered a traditional content licensing deal because in order to watch the videos, users will be directed to separate destinations operated by the partners. For example, Sony will offer a selection of movies to YouTube. But when users click on the pics, they’ll be sent to Crackle.com, the studio's branded destination for movies and TV shows, which are free to view. Site makes its money from selling ads.

Sony has 60 movies currently on Crackle but will provide YouTube with only a dozen pics. "It's all about driving traffic to Crackle," said a source close to the deal. Content from other partners will similarly send viewers to their owners' proprietary websites.

We don't see how this competes with Hulu.com, which is a great site we use all the time. Why go to YouTube at all, when you can just go straight to Crackle?

Posted on April 16, 2009
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Amanda Bynes is Canned

Amanda Bynes is starring in a new ABC comedy pilot called Canned, in which Amanda plays a naive midwesterner who is taken advantage of by her boss.

"Canned" revolves around a group of friends who are all fired on the same day. Kevin Etten created the show and exec produces, while David Rosenthal and Peter Traugott are also EPs.

*****

She joins a cast that also includes Tim Peper, Stephanie Lemelin and Baron Vaughn.

We like Amanda Bynes: she's very funny. It will be interesting to see how many more workplace comedies network audiences are in the mood for.

Posted on March 23, 2009
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A Major Death on Lost is Coming

Kristin de los Santos of E! says that there will be a major death coming on Lost. And Kristin is never wrong. She won't say who it is, of course, other than it's not Kate.

Here's what I can tell you about this death:

* A current series regular is getting killed before the end of season five.
* The character who will die is someone who is much-loved by many of you fans.
* This is a real leaving-the-show death, à la Shannon or Charlie, not a quick-fix time-travel death like Jeremy Bentham/John Locke.
* The character getting killed off is not, I repeat, not Evie's character Kate Austen.

And a source close to the show tells me that the person who's being killed off just learned of their character's fate late last week, and the news hit hard. "Unfortunately, [he or she] found out after the script treatments were sent out to some of the crew on the set," says my source. "So it wasn't the best timing."

We have no idea who it is, but Lost is so amazingly good this season we really don't want anyone else to be killed off.

Posted on March 11, 2009
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Dancing With the Stars Ratings Hold Steady

Dancing With the Stars was a ratings hit for ABC last night.

One week after the rejuvenated "The Bachelor" franchise wrapped its highest-rated season in years, the net's "Dancing With the Stars" -- with an assist from "The Bachelor" -- opened surprisingly well.

Now in its eighth edition and lacking any real big-name stars this time around, "Dancing" nonetheless bowed with its second best premiere demo rating to date (6.1 rating/15 share in 18-49) while drawing its largest overall aud for a premiere (22.83 million), according to Nielsen.

Though Fox's "American Idol" draws stronger demo ratings than "Dancing," the hoofing hit's overall premiere aud wasn't too far behind what "Idol" averaged last week. And excluding the Oscars, it's the Alphabet's most-watched telecast in 16 months.

Interest in "Dancing" may have been heightened due to late cast changes, as auds were curious to see who would replace Jewel and Nancy O'Dell, both of whom were sidelined with dancing-prep injuries. In a bit of casting genius, "Dancing" was able to recruit recently jilted "Bachelor" contestant Melissa Rycroft as a substitute.

Reality TV continues to be a money maker for ABC.

Posted on March 10, 2009
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