Someone has to set the record straight, and I guess it's my turn on this one.

Advertising Age published a story  online Monday about a new sketch comedy show set to debut Wednesday on Comedy Central. The report highlights the way in which the two stars of the show are planning to do live commercials within the show. The program is called Michael & Michael Have Issues, and the stars are Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter.

Here's what the Ad Age story says: "In what is believed to be a first for a scripted series, "Michael & Michael" will feature live commercials during six of its seven episodes, as Messrs. Black and Showalter humorously wax poetic about the virtues of products including Unilever's Klondike, Dunkin' Donuts, Mike's Hard Lemonade and Palm Pre."

And now comes TV Week online linking to the story under the heading, "Here's a first." Well, it is not a first -- not by a long shot.

Continue reading "Sorry Michael & Michael: You're not the first" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 8:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Scripted Series
        

There are spoilers here, so stop now if you haven't see the sorry season finale of 24.

To all those readers who were mad at me for making fun of the melodramatic Jack-is-dying story line the past few weeks, is there one of you who in his or her heart of hearts can honestly say that wasn't one lame ending Monday night? There's Jack in a coma, and here comes Kim arriving to volunteer for the highly risky "stem cell procedure" that could bring him from sure-to-die, one-man biological time bomb back to life. But will it work?

The only thing they didn't do is have Jack's vital signs monitor flat line in the final seconds. Oh wait, they did that last week on Grey's Anatomy.

Continue reading "What a sorry season finale for Jack Bauer and 24" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 10:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (45)
Categories: Fox, Scripted Series, TV Review
        

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
        

There will be spoilers, so if you have not yet seen Monday night's 24 stop reading.

But, I have to say, there isn't much left in 24 to spoil, is there?

If you are still watching 24 regularly, you might also want to stop reading, because what I am going to say is not going to make you happy. And while I do not want to upset the very nice fans of 24 who commented here last week on my coverage of the WBFF "technical difficulties," I have to ask sincerely: Why are you still watching this show? Isn't your intelligence insulted by what it has become and the way it tries to exploit your feelings?

I vowed I would write this denunciation Monday night at 9:58:17 when Jack Bauer was ludicrously flopping around on the ground in the throes of a supposed seizure. My one thought: "Kiefer Sutherland, you used to be a pretty good actor. Aren't you ashamed of yourself doing this kind of hambone junk? Money really does corrupt, doesn't it?"

Continue reading "Let's face it, 24 has become a pathetic parody of itself" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 10:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (72)
Categories: Scripted Series
        

Here's a developing business deal that bears watching -- YouTube looks like it's about to get into the business of showing TV network series and major studio films without violating copyright restrictions. The key is that advertising revenues will be shared with content providers. Could a viable business plan for old-media content providers be in the making?

Here's what AP is reporting Thursday night:

Continue reading "Will top TV shows legally be on YouTube soon?" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 7:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Scripted Series
        

WBFF (Channel 45) has set a time for the replays of the Monday night episodes of House and 24 that were disrupted by problems in transmission.

House will air Saturday at 1 p.m. followed by 24 at 2 p.m., according to Bill Fanshawe, general manager of the station. The House replay is a bit of a victory, because normally episodes are delayed eight days even online. Fanshawe had to get permission from Fox and the Writers Guild of America for the Saturday replays.

"Again, we apologize to viewers," Fanshawe said Wednesday in an interview. "And we are grateful and excited that Fox and the Writers Guild are allowing us to air the shows Saturday."

(Right: Fox photo of Hugh Laurie as House by Nigel Parry)

Posted by David Zurawik at 10:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (12)
Categories: Baltimore Television, Fox, Scripted Series
        

WBFF, Baltimore's Fox affiliate, offered an explanation and apology to fans of House and 24 who had their Monday night viewing interrupted.

Bill Fanshawe, general manager of the station, Tuesday morning said he is in the process of asking the Fox network for permission to re-air the two episodes.

Furthermore, Fanshawe said he is seeking clearance from Fox for permission to put  House online immediately so that viewers can see the Monday episode without the normal eight-day delay. Fanshaw said he would have a link at his station's Web site by 1 p.m. Tuesday offering viewers a chance to go online and see Monday's full episode of 24. 

Here's the statement from Fanshawe followed by further details from our interview as to what happened Monday night to cause viewers to miss 15 minutes of House and 24 minutes of of 24. The statement is also followed by details as to how CW fans can see the Monday night episodes of Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill, which were also affected.

Continue reading "WBFF offers apology and explanation on House, 24" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 11:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (24)
Categories: Baltimore Television, Fox, Scripted Series
        

Some area viewers who were hoping to find out how the doctors on House were going to deal with the suicide of Dr. Kutner were in for deep frustration Monday night when the medical drama disappeared about 8:45 p.m. only to be replaced by Gossip Girl without the audio.

Could it be worse?

Yes, the screen went entirely dark on WBFF at times during a foul-up that appears to be the fault of WBFF (Channel 45) and WNUV (Channel 54), which are owned and managed, respectively, by Sinclair Broadcast Group.

As if all of that was not maddening enough, the first 20 minutes or so of 24 were also lost on Channel 45. Good luck trying to join 24 after the first 20 minutes and figure out what is going on.

Continue reading "Baltimore viewers miss parts of House and 24 on WBFF" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 10:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (48)
Categories: Baltimore Television, CW, Fox, Scripted Series
        

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
        

Southland, the new John Wells drama premiering Thursday night on NBC, is a first-rate cop drama. The question is whether prime-time network TV needs another cop drama right now given the fact that viewers are far more focused on the economy than big-city crime these days.

Another question might be whether readers need a preview from me given the fact that NBC seemed to have shown virtually every frame of Thursday’s night pilot last week during breaks in the finale of ER. Was not the relentless intrusion of promos for this series incredibly annoying? I wonder how many potential viewers NBC drove away with its overkill for the show that would replace ER this week in its Thursday night time period.

The series is set in Los Angeles, but it could be Baltimore or New York – only with smog and more sunshine.

Continue reading "NBC's Southland: Is there life left in the cop drama?" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 9:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (18)
Categories: NBC, Scripted Series, TV Review
        

Let me cut right to chase on Harper’s Island, the new CBS drama premiering Thursday night: There’s human blood in the water at the start, and the pilot closes on a character losing his lower torso in a slow and grisly fashion to the hack, hack, hack of a killer’s blade.

And that kind of horror-movie violence might be the very thing that makes this series a rating winner.

Mind you, I am not predicting such success – there are too many flaws in the ointment of this series for me to confidently do that. But I’m just saying that Hollywood makes tens of millions of dollars in movie theaters with inexpensive feature films that rely on the same formula of beautiful young people getting savagely butchered while on some kind of outing that was expected to be a happy event, so why not TV?

Continue reading "Harper's Island -- there's blood in the water on CBS" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 7:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: CBS, Scripted Series, TV Review
        

Amy Poehler earned my undying admiration for her work during the 2008 election on Saturday Night Live – particularly the Sarah Palin rap she delivered from the Weekend Update desk along with that fabulous chorus line of dancing moose. Because of her work during this monumental election, I will go to my grave singing her praises.

I need to say that because the preview of her new NBC series, Parks and Recreation, which premieres Thursday night at 8:30, is going to seem like a mixed one based on my reluctance to predict success for the show despite its several winning elements. 

With all the pre-air hype and snippets that NBC has shown during other prime-time shows everyone knows that it is intended to be a companion piece for The Office, another mockumentary workplace sitcom featuring a mid-level manager with a wildly inflated self-concept. It is created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur, executive producers of The Office, and it will debut Thursday night sandwiched between two episodes of NBC’s most successful comedy. Nice launch if you can get it.

Continue reading "Amy Poehler has heavy lifting in new NBC sitcom" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 6:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)
Categories: NBC, Scripted Series, TV Review
        

Continue reading "Kutner's suicide on House -- an exploitative TV death?" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 8:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (33)
Categories: Dead on TV, Fox, Scripted Series
        

If you have HBO, tonight is the night to see Aaron Shaw, a 12-year-old actor from Baltimore County, make his debut in a featured role on the premium cable channel's acclaimed drama In Treatment.

The second season of the series started Sunday night with Golden Globe winner Gabriel Byrne back as psychologist Paul Weston and Emmy Award winner Dianne Wiest as his Maryland-based therapist. 

Those who tuned in Sunday night met two new patients of Dr. Weston's played with edge and bite by Hope Davis and Alison Pill. Tonight, they will meet two more -- John Mahoney as a CEO losing control, and Shaw as a child patient with eating and body issues complicated by the abandonment he feels as his parents go through divorce. Shaw, who never had a formal acting class, is terrific.

Continue reading "12-year-old Baltimore actor debuts on HBO tonight" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 12:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Baltimore Television, HBO, Scripted Series
        

NBC's medical drama ER ended its 15 year run on a strong ratings note Thursday night attracting an audience of 16.4 million viewers, according to Nielsen figures supplied by NBC. 

It was the biggest audience for the final epsiode of a drama series since Murder, She Wrote ended its CBS run in 1996, the network says.

By way of comparision, the CBS newsmagazine, 60 Minutes, has been averaging 15 million viewers a week this season. So, while ER's numbers are good, they are not through the roof.

Posted by David Zurawik at 4:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: NBC, Scripted Series
        

I stopped watching ER after the first five years, but I decided to give the finale a try after the spirited replies I received to my Thursday post about ER not being the equal of St. Elsewhere. While I was far from dazzled, I have to say creator John Wells took the series out with a respectable finale.

I especially liked the final scene with the ER team suiting up and standing ready to respond in the courtyard to the arriving fleet of emergency vehicles loaded with victims of an industrial explosion. Perhaps, it was one last tweaks at the critics who said the pilot looked more like a feature film and would never make it as a TV series -- because it was definitely a movie ending.

There were no brilliant or original threads in the finale, but I also liked the story line of Dr. Greene's daughter visiting with a group of prospective medical students. I wish, though, that Wells had cast the part a better. The actress playing Greene's daughter didn't do much but smile. A better performance by the young actress would have added a lot more emotion to the last shot we saw of her running into the hospital after Dr. Carter.

Continue reading "ER ends on a respectable note -- but nothing special" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 11:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (34)
Categories: Scripted Series, TV Review
        

It is a national day and night of celebration and mourning for fans of the long-running ER. 

I realize how dangerous it is to say anything less than gushing when fans are grappling with separation anxiety as they are today. But the truth is that St. Elsewhere was a more important and better medical drama. It was far more innovative, with much better writing. It was also groundbreaking in its handling of adult subject matter, and I dare anyone to come back here after the final credits roll and tell me that tonight's finale was better than the brilliant ending of St. Elsewhere. Remember the child and the snowy globe?

ER was a medical drama that wanted to be a soap opera, St. Elsewhere was a medical drama that wanted to be a Samuel Beckett play.

Still, ER was a great drama in terms of its cast and 15-year run, if nothing else, and tonight's finale does mark the end of an era.

Here's what I said in a piece on the finale at cnn.com, and I believe history will bear me out.

Continue reading "Go ahead and weep for ER, but it is no St. Elsewhere" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 7:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (27)
Categories: NBC, Scripted Series, TV Review
        

Guiding Light, the longest-running show in TV history, will end its epic 57-year run in September, CBS and the show's producers announced Wednesday. CBS decided not to renew the landmark daytime series for another season.

Here's the statement from the network:

Guiding Light, the longest running show in broadcast history, will complete its final season on the CBS Television Network in September. The daytime drama was not renewed by CBS for the 2009/2010 broadcast season, marking the end of its 57 year run on the Network.

Continue reading "After 57 years and 69 Emmys, Guiding Light will end" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 3:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: CBS, Scripted Series
        

Friday Night Lights, the widely-praised but lowly-rated drama about a high school football team in Texas, will be around for at least two more seasons.

DirecTV and NBC announced that it has ordered 26 more episodes, which will air in two arcs of 13 each. Following their showing on DirecTV, the episodes will air on NBC.

While it looks as if these will be final 26 episodes of the series, which has been on ratings life support almost since its debut, neither DirecTV nor NBC has confirmed that.

Posted by David Zurawik at 4:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: NBC, Scripted Series
        

What do you make of this fact: Lost scored its lowest rating ever for an original episode with this week's episode?

Do you think it might be the end of expensive, serialized, scripted drama in network prime time? Or is Lost losing its grip on a mass audience?

I hate to say it, but ABC could make more money with cable channel TLC's Jon and Kate Plus 8, a loved and hated reality show about the everyday lives of a super-sized family. The demographics are better, and it costs less then 10 percent what Lost costs to make. (Read about Jon and Kate topping Heroes and 24 in young female demographics here.)

Say goodnight to the nights of of large ensemble dramas. Say hello to Jay Leno and shows like Jon and Kate -- as the downsizing of network prime-time TV accelerates.

Posted by David Zurawik at 7:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: ABC, Ratings, Scripted Series
        

You know what game I am not going to play this year? The which-one-of-our-favorite-TV-characters-will-die-in-a-shocking-season-finale game.

I mean it. I have had it.

I believe in the reality of my favorite TV characters as much as anyone -- unfortunately, probably more so. And for more than two decades, I have been arguing that the best prime-time drama is as good as anything described in university syllabi as literature. In fact, I based my professional life on that proposition. And for a long time, I had no reason to question it.

But in recent years, prime-time economics and hustler producer-writers who have killed off characters left and right for shock value in an effort to paper over their failures as dramatists have cheapened the medium (cable channels like HBO included) to the point where it is a sea of cheap thrills and empty storytelling come season finale time.

Continue reading "Let's NOT play the who-will-die? TV characters game" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 11:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (17)
Categories: Dead on TV, Scripted Series
        

The Reincarnationist pilot for an hourlong Fox drama series that started filming in Baltimore yesterday is part of a larger Hollywood trend in the way that TV shows are produced these days.

Yesterday, I wrote about the way the drama about a team of investigators that uses the concept of reincarnation to solve problems in their clients' present day lives fits thematically with an emerging pattern of new prime-time procedural dramas. But in a business sense, the production is also part of a wave of pilots that are being filmed outside of California thanks to tax breaks and incentives provided by forward-thinking states like Maryland hoping to bring new jobs to the states.

Here is a bite from a story in the trade publication Variety today exploring the trend from a dollars and sense standpoint. It looks like Maryland was on the side of good sense with its support for incentives.

Continue reading "Reincarnationist pilot : Baltimore wins as LA loses" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 9:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: Baltimore Television, Fox, Scripted Series