Now Here's some good TV news for local viewers: Baltimore is featured prominently in the premiere episode of Season 3 of AMC's Mad Men, last year's winner of the Emmy as the best drama on television. Mark your calendars for 10 p.m. Aug. 16.

In sending out the screener, the producers asked that plot points not be revealed. With the web being the web someone is sure to violate that request. But it won't be me. I love the series and like the writer-prooducers too much. This is one of the few dramatically rich viewing experiences left on TV, and I don't want to spoil one bit of viewer pleasure.

But I can talk a bit about the Baltimore stuff. At the heart of the season opener is a business trip Don Draper (Jon Hamm) and Salvatore Romano (Bryan Batt) take to Baltimore to do a little hand holding with one of their clients, the father and son running London Fog. The episode is titled "Out of Town," and it is written by series creator Matthew Weiner, who spent part of his childhood in Baltimore and attended Park School. (Robin Veith, an Emmy-nominated writer on the series, was promoted this season to executive story editor. She grew up in Baltimore.) Photo courtesy of AMC

Continue reading "AMC's Mad Men: Don Draper is coming to Baltimore" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 9:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)
Categories: Coming Soon to TV
        

Remember the old conventional wisdom about summertime as a time of reruns -- "doldrums" of the TV season, as the cliche-gang used to say?

In today's era of tumultuous media change, that thinking is about three cycles behind reality. The most recent cycle found top cable channels like TNT taking advantage of network dinosaur-think to counterprogram with many of its best series like The Closer in the summer. 

And now with their reality changed, the networks are back in the summertime game. As Jeff Zucker, the CEO of NBC Universal said last week, with 60 percent of his company's profits coming from cable, he now thinks of NBC at its "core" as a cable company, not a network. And so, NBC is programming the summer with gusto, starting tonight at 8 with a two-hour premiere of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here.

Continue reading "Summertime TV kicks into gear tonight - I'll be there" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 10:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Coming Soon to TV
        

In what could prove to be a new kind of celebrity-citizen journalism, Farrah Fawcett and NBC are promising viewers a behind-closed-doors, video-diary look at the one-time TV star's ongoing battle with cancer.

Using Fawcett's own narration and images shot by her and friend Alana Stewart with Fawcett's video recorder, the documentary will air from 9 to 11 p.m. May 15 under the aegis of NBC News. Fawcett and Stewart are co-producers of the film, titled Farrah's Story.

Continue reading "Farrah Fawcett to tell her own cancer story on NBC" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 1:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (16)
Categories: Coming Soon to TV
        

Here is some good news to brighten a rain-sopped, soggy, gray Monday: AMC's Mad Men went back into production in Hollywood Monday with a starting date of August set for the debut of season three.

A few weeks ago, I called HBO's In Treatment the best drama on TV, and several readers took me to task asking when it was that I shifted my allegiance from Mad Men. The answer: never. As much as I love In Treatment, Mad Men is by far TV's best drama. But I didn't think of it as being on TV when it was off the air and out of production.

Continue reading "AMC's Mad Men goes back to work for August return" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 11:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (13)
Categories: Coming Soon to TV, Scripted Series
        

Keeping faith with its pledge last year not to get caught up in outmoded rituals of seasonal programming and planning, NBC jumped its own upfront presentation scheduled for May 19th in New York to announce most of its schedule for the fall TV season.

Despite lukewarm receptions last month, The John Wells' cop drama, Southland, and Amy Poehler's sitcom, Parks and Recreation, will be back. Also, returning will be the expensive and increasingly less popular serialized drama Heroes.

Continue reading "Risky business: NBC names new, returning fall shows " »

Posted by David Zurawik at 10:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Coming Soon to TV, NBC
        

It must be the season for former Republican candidates to hit cable TV. Last week, former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin showed up on TLC's American Chopper. Now comes word that presidential candidate John McCain will host AMC's Memorial Day Movie Marathon starting at 8 a.m. May 25.

Of the two, Senator McCain's TV appearance certainly seems to be the classier one.

Although how hard would it be to top Palin's appearance last week that featured her sitting on a bearskin and telling a guy who made motorcycles what a great patriot he is.

Continue reading "John McCain to host war heroes film marathon on AMC" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 10:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Coming Soon to TV, TV and Politics
        

So many ways to see more TV, but so few new shows worth seeing.

That's what I was thinking this weekend when NBC and MTV announced a "groundbreaking" and "innovative" partnership starting June 1.

Here's the plan: On weeknights during the summer, NBC will air episodes of the reality TV show I'm a Celebrity... Get me Out of Here. Then on weekends, MTV will air a marathon of those episodes along with interviews with the stars and outtakes from the show. 

Continue reading "NBC, MTV offer twice as much of a second-rate show" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 1:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Coming Soon to TV
        

Lifetime Television announced that Project Runway will make its debut on the cable channel at 10 p.m. Aug. 20, followed by a companion series, Models of the Runway, that will take viewers backstage at the reality TV series.

Heidi Klum, Tim Gunn and judges Michael Kors (fashion designer) and Nina Garcia (fashion director of Marie Claire magazine), will guide 16 contestants as they demonstrate their design skills this season.

Models of the Runway will air at 11 p.m. beginning Aug. 20, following Project Runway. According to Lifetime: "Each 30-minute episode will give fans a behind-the-scenes look at the reality competition – from the models’ perspective."

(Above: Associated Press photo of Tim Gunn and Heidi Klum at last year's finale by Richard Drew)

Posted by David Zurawik at 1:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Coming Soon to TV, Reality TV
        

There are some fine performers on display in a couple of made-for-TV movies Sunday night. And then, there's Kate Gosselin in the Jon & Kate Plus 8 Go Green special on TLC.

Some of the very best work you can see Sunday is that done by Anna Paquin (pictured) in The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler, a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie airing at 9 on CBS.

It is easy to take the Hallmark Hall of Fame franchise for granted. After all, this is the 236th presentation. But few TV franchises have presented such consistently fine and socially-conscious movies over the the years. The Courageous Heart is no exception in its harrowing and sensitive look at a young Polish social worker (Paquin) who defied the Nazi authorities to smuggle Jewish children out of the Warsaw ghetto during World War II.

Continue reading "TV tells stories of Irena Sendler and Natalee Holloway " »

Posted by David Zurawik at 9:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Coming Soon to TV
        

Baltimore Orioles Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. is going to be doing some national TV hosting on April 25 in what seems like a match made in baseball and television heaven.

Ripken will serve as host on AMC for a showing of the 2002 film, The Rookie, starring Dennis Quaid. As host, Ripken will "talk candidly about the film, his love of baseball and his record-breaking career" in segments that were taped at the Cal Ripken Baseball Complex in Aberdeen, according to the movie channel.

In the film, Quaid plays Jim Morris, a former pitcher whose career was ended by injury, now trying to resurrect his major league dream.

The Rookie premieres at 8 p.m. April 25.

(Above: Sun photo of Cal Ripken Jr. filming his segment by Amy Davis)

Posted by David Zurawik at 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Baltimore Television, Coming Soon to TV
        

Isn't reality TV great? Fox is going to make a show out of people getting fired in the recession. Spike TV is going to "hunt" pirates with the U.S. Navy. And now comes disgraced former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich hoping to join the D-list cast of I'm a Celebrity...Get me Out of Here.

Blagojevich has reached tentative agreement with the producers of the reality show to be a contestant in episodes that would air starting June 1.

Because the show is scheduled to be filmed in Costa Rica, Blagojevich, who is under indictment, on 19 counts of corruption, needs permission to travel. His lawyers sought that permission in court Tuesday  where Blagojevich pleaded not guilty to the corruption counts as well as seeking permission to go to Costa Rica, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Continue reading "Blagojevich headed for reality TV -- where else?" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 7:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Coming Soon to TV, NBC, Reality TV, TV and Politics
        

One thing you have to respect about reality TV: Its practitioners see an event or movement in the larger culture, and they try to find a way to make it into television as fast as they can. These folks are on the case -- journalists should be this plugged to shifts in the social fabric.

Last week, Fox announced a new reality game series that will play off corporate downsizing with contestants deciding who should be laid off and kept on as a company "gets smaller" and shrinks its staff.

And now, today, comes Spike TV with a reality-doc series about modern-day pirates -- just like the ones who have be front page news the past week after kidnapping the captain of an American ship off the coast of Somalia. It's called Pirate Hunters: USN.

Continue reading "Spike TV gets real about modern-day pirates" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)
Categories: Coming Soon to TV, Reality TV
        

Leonard Nimoy, the legendary actor who played Star Trek's Mr. Spock, will guest-star on an upcoming episode of the J.J. Abrams' drama, Fringe, the Fox network announced today.

According to the network, "Nimoy will appear as pivotal person of interest William Bell as the series approaches its first season finale" on May 12th.

Nimoy will be revisiting his role as Spock in the Star Trek feature film that Abrams, co-creator of Fringe, is directing. That's the connection between the director and actor.

I did a long interview on-air interview with Nimoy for a radio show on WYPR that I used to host, Media Matters, and I found him to be one of the most fascinating, multitalented and wisest performers I ever met.

I have tuned out Fringe, but I will be tuning back in to see Nimoy. I think that's the kind of response Fox and Abrams are hoping for with this bit of casting.

(Above: Associated Press photo of by Leonard Nimoy Tom Dodge)

Continue reading "Leonard Nimoy will be trekking over to Fringe on Fox" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 9:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: Coming Soon to TV, Fox, Scripted Series
        

But NBC Universal Wednesday issued the following statement:

NBC Universal, The Weinstein Company and Lifetime have resolved their disputes. The Weinstein Company will pay NBCU for the right to move Project Runway to Lifetime. All of the parties are pleased with the outcome. Harvey Weinstein added, "I want to personally congratulate Jeff Zucker and NBCU on their success in the litigation and thank Jeff for resolving this in a professional manner. We look forward to working together on our ongoing projects.”

Heidi Klum, Tim Gunn  & Co. are back in the prime-time fashion and reality TV business after the nasty spat that hurt their fans more than any of the three show-biz entities involved.

Continue reading "Lifetime cleared to air season six of Project Runway" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 4:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Coming Soon to TV, Reality TV
        

Mike Darnell (right), Fox TV's mad monk of reality programming, is launching a new show based on the premise that millions of viewers are tired of looking at magazine-cover beautiful young people fall in love -- and want instead to look at dating show contestants that look more like themselves.

The idea is to replace the beautifully sculpted contestants of shows like The Bachelor and The Bachelorette with an overweight guy looking for a plus-sized woman to love.

Darnell is a whiz at creating new reality TV concepts and not only making ratings magic with them, but also making it sound as if the series are going to make the world a better place for all of us to live in. The results are usually more along the lines of his Joe Millionaire creation. But it is fascinating to see him probe and try to exploit social reality and the national psyche.

Continue reading "Overweight is the new skinny on Fox reality TV series" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 10:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Coming Soon to TV, Fox, Reality TV
        

Staying locked in the Barack Obama buy-my-economic-plan-please TV tour, I will be writing about the President's interview on 60 Minutes right after it airs Sunday, so please make sure to stop back.

The interview with Steve Kroft was taped Friday, but so far, no major parts of it have leaked out (or been leaked by CBS). Kroft was given unusual access by Team Obama during the election campaign, and his most recent interview with the President was seen by more than 24 million viewers in November. Kroft is scheduled to be a guest on CNN's Reliable Sources show where he will be interviewed by host Howard Kurtz Sunday at 10 a.m. (EDT).

I have a column in Sunday's Sun about Obama's unprecedented TV blitz and the controversy of him spending so much time working the tube, while Washington burns with indignation (and confusion) over the AIG bonuses. The question I pose: We know he is a great media campaigner, but now that Obama is president, is he effectively governing, or spending too much time on TV talking about governing. There is a difference between governing and playing someone who governs on TV.

So read the column, post any comments you have about it here, and stop back to Z on TV Sunday before you call it a night for the latest analysis of TV Obama.

Posted by David Zurawik at 8:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: CBS, Cable and Network News, Coming Soon to TV, TV and Politics
        

Continue reading "Sopranos creator David Chase to do HBO miniseries" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 1:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Coming Soon to TV, HBO
        

While most pilots never see the light of a network's prime-time schedule, there's one that began filming today in Baltimore that looks like a strong candidate to make the Fox lineup next season.

The reason for the optimism: the pilot for the as-yet-untitled series about reincarnation is the work of a writer of quality drama, and the series seems to fit with what some network programmers see as the next big theme.

The pilot, which follows a team of investigators who use the concept of reincarnation to solve present-day problems in their clients' lives, is being directed by Deran Sarafian (House) and features actors Kelli Giddish (All My Children), Nic Bishop (Home and Away) and Ravi Patel (Scrubs). But the name that matters most in this production is that of David Hudgins, who wrote the script and serves as executive producer. Hudgins most recently worked as writer and supervising producer of the NBC drama Friday Night Lights.

(Photo of Kelli Giddish)

Continue reading "Reincarnation pilot filming here has good shot at Fox" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 11:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (27)
Categories: Baltimore Television, Coming Soon to TV, Fox