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TV Shows Get Meta on Facebook

Some really loyal fans of classic shows like Hogan’s Heroes, Mash, Bonanza, and Highway to Heaven made Facebook accounts that are written as though the fictional characters are real people. It gets bizarre, but is also really funny at times.

On Colonel Robert E. Hogan, the following message was posted today.

“Newkirk just told me that the actor who portrayed him on the show about our missions, Richard Dawson, passed away yesterday at the age of 79. R.I.P Mr. Richard Dawson. A truly great actor.”

Don’t think about how meta that is because your brain will hurt. However, I will miss Richard Dawson. He was in a lot of things I grew up watching in reruns, but I digress.

So far Corporal Peter Newkirk is the only other Hogan’s Heroes character that has a page. Other characters that have pages are: (Those with asterisks are regularly updated as are Hogan’s page and Newkirk’s page.)

From M*A*S*H:
*Capt. Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce

From Bonanza:
Joe Cartwright
Carmen Sierra Cartwright

From Highway to Heaven:
*Jonathan Smith

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.

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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.

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CBS Wants You to Have a Good eBag

CBS is giving away episodes of 9 popular shows as a way to say “Thank you for continuing to make CBS America’s Most-Watched Network.” The shows offered are Blue Bloods, CSI:NY, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, The Good Wife, NCIS: Los Angeles, Hawaii Five-O, and Survivor as well the classic Job Switching I Love Lucy episode and The Twilight Zone episode “Eye of the Beholder”. You can download these shows through iTunes, Amazon, or Vudu.

A thank you video featuring LL Cool J, Neil Patrick Harris, and Pauley Perrette can be found on the CBS website.