Goodbye!

This week there are a number of shows that will be A) Ending their season or B) Ending their life on network television.

First, a few shows have already ended their season:

1. America's Next Top Model: Krista White was named America's Next Top Model. Quite honestly Krista was the most interesting in appearance and personality - happy to hear that she won.

2. Celebrity Apprentice: Brett Michaels was announced the hired Celebrity Apprentice. We are thrilled that Brett won - he's a great guy all around. Now then, we do want to see Brett without all of the makeup, hair extensions, bandannas, fake tan, and all of that Arizona man jewelry.


Now, for the shows that have ended their life (Really, it's about time):

1. 24 (Fox)
2. Lost (ABC)
3. Law & Order (Dick Wolfe)


Meanwhile and speaking of Scripted Drama, the latest installment of The Bachelorette (ABC) began this week (Sort of) and so far, we can say that this season's offerings (The men) are somewhat generic and unappealing (Not as cute as Jake).

Where are the models on this fake dating show?! Also, on a special note to the casting department: Where is the diversity - very disappointing.

Not So Fly - Fly Girls

The CW Network Debuts Virgin America Branded Entertainment Vehicle called Fly Girls.

The "show" is The CW’s newest reality show that follows five female flight attendants who also happen to be roommates at “the crash pad” in Los Angeles working and living together.

First, this mindless bender (Better known as a 44 minute ad for Virgin America - guess minority share owner Branson's Reality Apprentice knock-off (The Rebel Billionaire) did not work, so time to try a different approach that might make us (As in Virgin America) look hip) is not to be confused with the PBS historical feature, American Experience: Fly Girls, nor the classic Fly Girls dance group once featured on the 90's hit show, In Living Color.

Ha, but the show does have something in common with the before mentioned as it also appears to be a familiar Blast from The Past (As in tired), filled with throw back cliche even right down to the 90's moniker title "Fly" (Seriously, who in modern society uses the word 'Fly' in conversation anymore?!).

Critics and views have already lambasted the show stating that it is chock full of the stereotypical characters (The Schemer, The Mature, The Sassy, The Cornfed, and the Airhead) doing stereotypical things in stereotypical situations. Straight out of the reality show characture playbook. We say, tired, tired, tired...Buh Bye.

TV Casualties Of Summer 2009

Speaking of pressing matters, the Networks 'Nets' have been busy canceling shows over the past few months of summer. In fact, this entire action of mass cancellation had occurred while most of you were basking poolside (Well, at least the ones in which I am aware).

Assuredly, I have been watching and keeping track of every detail and after all my line of work is largely: Buying, Creating, and Selling TV - ah, that's my newly condensed occupational mission statement; I am sure you appreciate.

We have taken the liberty to compile a list (We have detailed stats, but I will refrain from sending you into oblivion with such over speak...This time).

Here is what we have so far:

ABC

• Cupid: Aired for a season: Canceled in June.
• Dirty Sexy Money: Aired for a couple of seasons: Canceled in August.
• Eli Stone: Aired 2 seasons: Canceled in July.
• In the Motherhood: Aired 1 season: Canceled in July.
• Pushing Daisies: Aired 2 seasons: Canceled in June.
• Samantha Who?: Aired 2 seasons: Canceled in July.
• Surviving Suburbia: Aired 1 season: Canceled in August.
• The Unusuals: Aired 1 season: Canceled in June.
  

CBS

• Eleventh Hour: Aired 1 season: Canceled in April.
• Harper's Island: 1 season: Bye Bye in July.
• The Unit: 4 seasons: Canceled in May.
• Without a Trace: 7 seasons: Canceled May.
• Worst Week: Aired 1 season: Canceled June.
  

FOX

• King of the Hill: Aired 13 seasons: Canceled in September.
• Prison Break: Aired 4seasons: Canceled in May.
• Sit Down, Shut Up: 1 season: Canceled in November.
• Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: Aired 2 seasons, but canceled in April.
  

NBC

• Crusoe: 1 season: Canceled in April.
• Kath & Kim: 1 season: Canceled March.
• Kings: Aired 1 season: Canceled July.
• Knight Rider: 1 season: Canceled March.
• Life: Aired 2 seasons: Canceled in April.
• Lipstick Jungle: Aired 2 seasons: Canceled in January
• Medium: Aired 1 season (Went to CBS): Canceled in June.
• My Name is Earl: Aired 4 seasons: Canceled in May.
  

The CW

• Everybody Hates Chris: Total of 4 seasons: Canceled in May.
• The Game: 3 seasons: Canceled in May.
• Privileged: 1 season: Canceled in February.
• Reaper: 2 seasons: Canceled in May.
• The Beautiful Life (TBL): Barely 1 season: Canceled in same month.
  
  

FX Network

• The Riches: Aired 3 seasons: Canceled in June.

USA Network

• The Starter Wife: Aired for 2 seasons: Series Canceled in June.

Now then, some of you may have ideas of either A). Sending your concerns directly to the Network responsible for demise of your favorite (Remember, Jericho) and/or B). Take the liberty of expressing your grief of the canceled with Yours Truly.

One of the before mentioned is a completely futile attempt and I will leave to you to determine which method. Alright truth be told, they are both indeed futile, but why spoil all of your fun...

Talk soon.

Out With The Old In WithThe Fall...

Greetings Friends!

We are about to start another GREAT week and I am just wrapping up an extensive vacation. It has been a remarkable time and I have a new business venture underway as we speak. For you see, this is what happens when I take vacation, I return with even bigger and more outlandish ideas - can't wait to tell you more - stay tuned!

Thank you for your thousands of emails (Literally). Although I am unable to personally read and respond, I am thinking of one email in particular that read, "...Can I (As in me) please hurry up and get back from vacation because my comments are despiratly (The writer misspelled desperately) needed!" - touching. As my friend in Hawaii would say, "I Get Tons!".

Anyway, there have been a number of outlandish events that have recently transpired and without further delay, let's launch right into the recap.

Today's Blog is in the popularly requested format: Statement of fact followed by my thoughtful commentary, now let's have one last go around as summer is now officially over (Ordered from most important to least important):

1. Jay.

NBC has announced the official debut this week of the Jay Leno Show.

My Comment: My appreciation for Jay has grown considerably since his absence over the past few months.Really, having Jay in the 9'o hour is a new idea and largely untested concept for NBC. Will variety comedy shows work in Prime Time?

You may recall my idea for this concept about two years prior. However, my pitch was similar but with Rosie O'Donnell as the host of the Tonight Show - NBC attempted the idea with Rosie as host of a variety show, but it did not work from a numbers standpoint. My idea was to have Rosie as Talk Show host, not variety show host - I am inclined to believe that was a reason of failure. Furthermore, there were also a number of other reasons. The Networks never listen to my advice, Oprah.

This will be a great experiment, but more importantly, will the advertisers be likely to receive delivery of consistent viewers, less than 50 years in age? For this, remains to be seen.

2. Ellen.

Last week, producers of American Idol (FOX) announced Ellen Degeneres as the 4th judge to replace Paula Abdul.

My Comment: First, there is no replacing Paula. Quite frankly, I have posted comments all over the Web - and I still say bring Paula Abdul back. Enough with the negotiations - get her in the door. Of course, Paula may eventually appear on rival show: So You Think You Can Dance, which would be just as well, after her Diva show on Vh1.

Regarding the choice of Ellen Degeneres, I am not thrilled around this decision to say the least. Let's see, I liked Ellen as a stand-up comedian when she performed in front of the student body at University of Oregon (This being prior to her TV Show Ellen- Not to be confused with the current Talk Show version also called Ellen, but the comedy series of the late 90's).

Second, I thought she was hilarious in the movie "Mr. Wrong". However, I believe that my lack of preference began to happen somewhere around the bad dancing and the incident with the dog and her very public on-air blubbering...It was an accelerated pace downhill from that point.

3. Melrose Place.

Last week was the official debut of the returning hit of the 90's Melrose Place on The CW Network.

My Comment: As you may know, MP was my absolute favorite show of the 90's. You may recall the "Melrose Mondays"parties that I used to have at my apartment while in college. Ah, good times...Let the revival begin!

Well, do not be disappointed, but I still have not yet viewed the first episode. My TIVO is full of programs and I will surely spend the entire weekend pouring through everything that may have been missed. While my significant other (My gorgeous man) is busy watching NFL football, I will be in the next room viewing Melrose Place.

--In Other CW News--

America's Next Top Model and Vampire Diaries (Twilight movie inspired serial), also debuted this past week for the fall line-up.

Really, where was CW when I was a 15 year old teenager?!

Happy viewing...

Nothing But Winners...

Hey All!

Another SuperFantastic week and we are moving steadfast into the Summer (I could not be more thrilled!). Events are progressing nicely on the MTV project, business in general is amazingly up, Yours Truly is writing another book (More on this later), and my Network interest continues. Ah, it's a good time. For a new venture that is...

Speaking of ventures, within the past week, we have viewed a number of conclusions in the form of final episodes within our (Your) favorite shows, let's have a quick recap:

1. The Celebrity Apprentice

Well, well, well congratulations to the non-poker playing Joan Rivers for taking the win. Quite frankly, this was not a major upset nor surprise by any measure.

Most of you (Including me) had predicted the final celebrity show down. Of course, the contestants that incite the most melodrama would remain for final battle until the very end. In this case, the final battle ensued between Joan Rivers (Media Persona) and Annie Duke (A 'Poka playa' - if you had viewed the show, this comment and misspelling is completely intended for your enjoyment).

You may have noticed that personalities largely involved in the drama and conflict - usually remain on the show for an extended period of time. Perhaps you may have noticed the so-called "Villain" strangely always makes it through the entire show, despite being generally disliked by fellow contestants and even viewers - it is all by design.

Furthermore, Joan is one of the best and has been on television for a number of years (Quite possibly longer than both you and I have been alive).

Nonetheless, Joan is a true veteran. I have been quoted many times in the past throughout various places on the Web stating that Joan was the original female late-night talk show host. Joan would often fill in for Johnny Carson back in the day - Take note NBC - time to revisit the idea of a female host in late night...We had this conversation during the Rosie debacle.

Anyway, Joan has a new Reality Show scheduled to air on TV Land called, "How Did You Get So Rich?" - Ha, got a couple of hours? I added that last part...


2. America's Next Top Model

Within the past week, we also viewed the final episode of 'Model Extraordinaire' in a pithy hour long final episode in which Teyona Anderson from Woodstown New Jersey was crowned America's Next Top Model.

Admittedly, I did watch the entire season of this show (Ah, yet again). The final episode was a great low-key ending to the season and slightly unpredictable. Unpredictable is always a good thing when viewing a reality show (To their credit). However, the show is becoming 'somewhat' formulaic in it's approach and the ingredients Set pieces' of the show are rather transparent (Oops, there I go again saying too much - can I please stop talking?!).

Yeah, I will be back next season.

3. American Idol

All things Idol. The season ending episode of American Idol also aired this week to a star-studded and equally unpredictable conclusion with a surprise unexpected win by the very nondescript Kris Allen. Well, I had recommended Glam Rocker Adam for the win.

Nearly 100 million votes poured into the phone lines to tally between Adam Lambert and Kris Allen to determine the ultimate 'Idol'. A wonderful bounty for the phone company (Ask me about this later).

The mighty minions declared Kris as the victor to the disappointment of many Adam sycophants.

Really, Kris has a clearly identifiable audience (Meaning a clear target audience of potential customers in which to market and sell his music), Adam had style - clearly a substantial amount of time was spent on his appearance, as make-up and teased hair can often take hours of preparation.

Even more surprising was the fact that I had viewed nearly the entire second half of the season (For this is an amazing event). As you may recall, I do not care for bad or loud singing and my initial thought was very similar to Simon who had commented that this season had a number of talented contestants and there was not an obvious front-runner (All were equally talented).

To fan the flames, we also had a number of off-screen antics to continue the melodrama. You may notice how every season there is some type of 'Scandal', scuttle or headline? A very clever Public Relations department and unbeknown to common fan, it is all carefully crafted fodder (Nothing sells better than gossip).

As for next season, it is difficult to determine whether or not I will view the show next January (Aka NOT).


Talk Soon!

Welcome To Your 2009 Reality!

Hey Fans!

Happy New Year -

Just returning from the holiday break and there is a ton of 'stuff' to address.
I have thousands of emails (Not that I read any of them - who has time?!), voice messages, text messages, Twitters to catch up (I call them Tweets), Myspace friends, Blog postings, Skype calls, YouTube video updates, evites, meeting requests and whatever other form of communication we choose to use in this modern age of Social Media!

So, today let us get right down to business....

There are a number of new shows, which are apparently all debuting this week - Ha, welcome back! Here is what we have for your television viewing enjoyment (Pithy commentary included from Yours Truly):

• Countdown to the Crown (TLC) -- Season Underway --
  I like the idea of this show, and in fact had a similar idea about 2 years prior. However, I just cannot determine why I am largely not interested.
  
  
• Confessions of a Teen Idol (Vh1) -- Season Underway --
  I had seen the debut episode of this show. Really, I only recognized 2 out of the what 6 former Teen Idols? Eric Nies from the Grind (MTV) and Jamie Walters from 90210. My initial thought was positive - Vh1 has stepped up and debuted a show that is worthy of the time spent.
  
  
• Superstars of Dance (NBC) -- Season Underway--
  Well, I am a little 'Danced Out' at the moment. Let me know if you catch this show.
  
  
• The Bachelor 13 (ABC) January 5
  Oh, here we are setting ourselves up for failure again - will this be the season where the 'Love' is actually meaningful and lasting? Hopefuls unite!
  
  
• True Beauty (ABC) January 5
  Tyra, is that you again?
  
  
• The Biggest Loser 6 (NBC) January 6
  Have you seen Celebrity Fit Club? It would be a blast to merge the two shows together, "The Biggest Loser Celebrity Fit Club" - I am just full of ideas (-?).
  
  
• Homeland Security USA (ABC) January 6
  Yeah, sounds political. Let me guess, more inconvenience and missed flights over a tube of toothpaste at the airport?!
  
  
• 13: Fear is Real (The CW) January 7
  Fine, a Horror Reality Show...Fear Factor meets Saw meets Blair Witch Project - is that not what most so called "Horror" movies marketed to young adults consist of?
  
  
• The Real World Brooklyn (MTV) January 7
  I like RW, but all of the episodes are beginning to become predictable with the same predictable casting of the same predictable characters.
  
  
• The Exterminators (A&E) January 7
  Got Pests? Do they have to be bugs, snakes or rats?
  

Let The TV Show War Begin
Amazingly, you will notice there is more than one show debuting on the same night - nothing like a game of competition between the networks.

The winter season is truly one of the most important times for viewership and audience metrics, as this season largely determines the pace of the entire year. Get ready for Fox to join fray with the return of American Idol, later this month. Should be good fun.

Alright, I have said more than enough...Let me know which shows you decide to watch and we will discuss later. Happy viewing!