Category Archives: Network Television
Previewing CBS’s Fall Season- Part 2
If any network is good at finding hits, it’s CBS. It renewed 19 shows for the Fall season and only has four new shows on its schedule. CBS has a way of defying the unpredictability and inconsistency of television. When it finds a hit drama, such as CSI, it can spin the show off into multiple shows and make those last as well. When CBS finds a hit sitcom like Two and a Half Men, they can make it last even after the disgraced star is forced to leave and the title makes no sense. CBS has managed to keep multiple shows on the air for a decade or longer all in the same time frame. Even though the new options for this season are limited, I’m always excited when a classic is found. CBS seems to have the best chance given their history.
Vegas
Vegas is a drama taking place in the 1960s. It stars Dennis Quaid as Sheriff Ralph Lamb. In the 60s, Las Vegas was evolving from a “rough and tumble town” to the city it is now. According to Quaid in the preview, Lamb became sheriff somewhat reluctantly. His straightforward personality and no-nonsense methodology may lend itself to exciting conflict. Michael Chiklis also stars as Vincent Savino, a man in the Chicago crime family. Lamb and Savino fight over who gets to develop Las Vegas into a large city.
Whose Line is it Anyway? UK
This week I’m going to introduce my fellow American’s to a new British panel or comedy show everyday.
There’s not much to say about Whose Line is it Anyway?. Most of you are probably familiar with the American version, which ran on ABC for 8 seasons and was hosted by Drew Carey. The British version ran on Channel 4 series from 1988 to 1998. It was hosted by Clive Anderson. There is quite a bit of overlap between panelists on both shows and if you’re a fan of one you’ve definitely heard of the other.
The majority of clips on YouTube do not have an all British cast, so here is a sketch that features Colin Mochrie and Ryan Stiles.
If you want to see every episode ever created of both Whose Line is it Anyway? versions, Whose Line Online has you covered.
Previewing CBS’s Fall Season- Part 1
As much as I love new television, it’s such a gamble. Frankly, I’m not sure what CBS is trying to prove. They are one of the most storied network in the history of television, and as it boasts, it is “America’s Most Watched Network.” Now, it seems to be as strong as ever. Two And A Half Men is its most sustainable show and since it could survive the Charlie Sheen controversy, I don’t think it’s going to end on any terms other than its own. The American public is incredibly hard to please when it comes to entertainment but over the past decade CBS has had several hits. In an age where both copious amounts of television and the ability to publicly complain is readily available, this is impressive. Given their history, CBS may be equipped to find another hit.
Partners
The show is not going to work at all. Partners is a sitcom from the creators of Will & Grace. It revolves around two men, one straight, one gay, who work together as architects. They’ve known each other for years and act like a married couple. Things supposedly get complicated when their “bromance” is tested after Joe, the straight guy, gets engaged to Ali.What happens when your friend tries too hard to be supportive of you? Will your relationship ever be the same? How will your “bro” affect your relationship with your fiancee? Apparently these things are supposed to be funny.
Jay Leno Lives Off His Stand Up Money
Once again, Jay Leno declares that he lives solely off the money he makes from stand up comedy. This time he made the claim in The Seattle Times, even though the story can be found online at the Boston Herald’s website. At least, Leno didn’t repeat that he has never touched his Tonight Show money.
Despite being a David Letterman and Conan O’Brien fan, I don’t completely hate Jay Leno because I don’t know him personally. However, when Leno makes comments about how he lives off of the money he earns from doing stand up comedy, I want to scream.
We get it Jay. You’re rich. I’m sure comedy clubs are paying you more than the struggling comics barely making a living. You’re the host of the freakin’ Tonight Show. It sounds impressive when someone says “Jay Leno performed here last week” because millions of Americans watch you every night. You probably make several thousand of dollars per stand up gig because of it. No one thinks you’re struggling to get by on your stand up money. Besides, you have an obscene number of cars, so shut up.
Another thing Leno needs to stop saying is “I’ve always looked at TV as a temporary job.” It is for some people. As Team Coco can attest, he’s not one of them. He managed to lose The Tonight Show, bomb in primetime, and then get The Tonight Show back. He makes 32 million dollars a year from television and apparently doesn’t spend any of it or spends it all on cars. I don’t know which one. Either way, if he loses The Tonight Show tomorrow, it’s not like he’s going to be standing on the welfare line because his stand up alone makes him wealthier than most people.
America’s Got Talent Visits St. Louis
Issac Brian Brown
I had some faith that Tuesday’s episode of AGT would be better than Monday night’s, simply because the odds are they would start to find better talent. I was mostly right. They had never visited St. Louis prior to this season, which sort of surprised me. Regardless, St. Louis’ first audition show two weeks ago was also a good showing. It makes some sense that this show would be good too.
America’s Got Talent begins every episode with a feature story. It’s normally a tossup as to whether it would be a terrible act that happens to be entertaining or an act of genuine talent. When “Imagination” from “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” started playing at the beginning of the guy’s feature, I knew that this wasn’t going to be a good act. When the contestant said he was a puppeteer, I was positive it wasn’t going to be good. Aside from the fact that this type of act is immensely unlikely to be worthy of 1 million dollars, the viewer quickly discovered he wasn’t even a good puppeteer. Nick Cannon promptly turned to the camera with a sock puppet in his hand and said, “I’m a better puppeteer than this dude.” Despite the complete lack of potential this act had, I was still entertained. The contestant had very high energy and the judges’ spirits seemed very high. This was going to be a captivating hour.
America’s Got Talent: Not that Inspiring
This early in the season, there’s a lot of novelty in America’s Got Talent. I try to look at these acts with a critical eye and not simply take pleasure in America’s failure. During the show’s tenure, there has been a lack of success in finding a sustainable “star.” There could be many reasons for this, but AGT is a talent show with absolutely no parameters. Perhaps, it’s got to come to terms with the fact that America hasn’t been that good. There’s still plenty of audition shows left, but the country has a lot to prove.
Monday’s episode was enjoyable, but not overly impressive. Some acts were good, but I sincerely doubt I saw one with a serious shot at winning the competition. Conversely, some acts were bad, but I don’t think the public will be talking about them or that their performances will spread around YouTube for the sake of hilarity. It was just an hour that did an adequate job of holding my attention.
This episode opened with a singing and dancing troupe called Inspired, which is also a non-profit organization with a focus on the inner-cities. They told the judges they have been referred to as “the urban Glee.”
As cynical as this sounds, it is at this point where the show gets less entertaining. I’m all for sentimentality, but one would expect that at least one act with a troubling or “inspiring” background would not make it to the next round because they just aren’t talented enough. I do not remember a single instance of that happening in any competition show, especially AGT. I suppose, on shows like AGT, everyone needs a good story, but I didn’t appreciate knowing that Inspired would go through before I saw them perform. They inevitably were voted through to Las Vegas. I would tolerate this better if they were a spectacular act, but their rendition of “Lean On Me” wasn’t anything exciting.
Weekly TV Update: May 28
Each week we bring you stories from around the Internet that you might have missed.
Don’t know what TV shows to look forward to? Here is a list of upcoming shows.
Robin Thicke apparently thinks he’s not famous enough to win ABC’s Duets. Then again, he is competing against Kelly Clarkson and John Legend.
History has a new miniseries about the Hatfields and the McCoys. It will star Kevin Costner.
Mediaite’s Sarah Devlin has an article about Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner’s Woman Problem.
Will the musical Rags be riches for Nickelodeon? The New York Daily News reviews the latest Nickelodeon Original Movie.
Previewing FOX’s Fall Season- Part 2
There’s a lot of risk in creating new television. The months or sometimes years invested may go unappreciated or completely unnoticed. Fox has taken those risks. It is the youngest broadcast television station, having only been in operation since April 1987, and its hits have been groundbreaking .
In the very beginning, Fox broke in with Married…With Children and it lasted 11 seasons. For all its inappropriate humor, it made the standard sitcom family a dysfunctional one and that point of view is not going anywhere. Fox’s next hit was The Simpsons, which debuted in December 1989 and ushered in a new generation of primetime animation. It is still as strong as ever to this day.
Fox’s has not been so lucky in the drama department. FOX seems to be a lighthearted network. With House on its way out and 24 still missed by its millions of fans, the network has to take risks again by going out of their comfort zone. Serious dramas are a bigger gamble as there is no way to really “love to hate” them. They have to be genuinely good. FOX knows its challenges. They’ve come to expect a struggle finding a new hit show.
Fox only has one new drama premiering in the fall, so they are leaving themselves a lot of breathing room for midseason. Now that one of their few hit dramas is gone, they have to have some faith in their new shows.
TV Shows You Should Know: The Tonight Show Starring Steve Allen
Before The Tonight Show debacle of 2009-2010 starring Conan O’Brien and Jay Leno, there were three other hosts of The Tonight Show: Steve Allen, Jack Paar, and Johnny Carson. If you’re over 30, you probably think of The Tonight Show as Johnny Carson’s show. However, Steve Allen was the first host of the show. He hosted it from 1954 to 1957.
As the first host of a national late night talk show, Steve Allen directly influenced David Letterman. Letterman has influenced Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, and Jimmy Fallon, so some of Allen’s attitude and antics can still be seen on current late night talk shows.
Previewing FOX’s Fall Season-Part 1
FOX is notorious for shows with incredibly short tenures. Whether it was reality shows with absurd premises or just really bad sitcoms, a lot of its shows over the past decade lasted less than a season. In some ways, I almost anticipate most of their shows getting cancelled, even if I tend to like them. I know what’s done well and I know what’s not. I just don’t always like what’s done well. The fact is, network television is a rare and coveted entity.
New television excites me, though. It’s a new opportunity for a critical eye, whether my sentiment is “I like this,”, “I hate this,” or “I love to hate this.” The variables of FOX will most likely make this season very enjoyable.
The Mindy Project
I like Mindy Kaling and I don’t really have a concrete reason why. Her character type seems somewhat simple. She said in behind the scenes segments of The Office to basically be an exaggerated version of herself. The character of Kelly Kapoor is a caricature. She’s very over dramatic, immature, and lacking emotional development. Despite all this, she’s still charming to watch. Kelly went from an auxiliary background character to one worthy of an episode’s focus. She made me laugh, especially concerning her relationship “drama” over the course of the show. When I heard about The Mindy Project, I knew that I would have to give it a chance.
Kaling stars as Mindy Lahiri, an OB-GYN, who while a very competent doctor, has a lot of trouble with friendships and dating. The trailer was interesting and made me laugh, but I couldn’t tell much about the show’s premise. Lahiri seems to have a lot of the same mannerisms as Kapoor, especially concerning her fixation on men. The trailer also detailed her being charged with public intoxication. Her complaints about men and her struggle with alcohol could get old, but it might not matter so much if the episodes are funny.
Regardless, the show’s premise isn’t very much established in the trailer and self-contained shows do not impress me as much as shows with recurring arcs. Either way, I’m not sure what kind of show this is going to be. If The Mindy Project becomes a show about various neuroses Lahiri has to endure with her “guy of the week,” I don’t know if it can sustain itself. If it becomes a show about the delicate balances between her career and the discoveries of what (and whom) she really needs out of life, that seems a bit more promising. I just couldn’t tell. However, out of loyalty to Kaling, I would have checked this out regardless of what the trailer told me and I will watch at least a few episodes. I just hope it shows Kaling’s potential, even though I will miss her on The Office.
Wait! What's A Dial? 