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Archive for the 'NBC' Tag

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Did an O.C. woman survive the cut on ‘The Biggest Loser’ Tuesday?

November 3rd, 2009, 7:26 pm by PETER LARSEN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

biggest_shay2blogShay Sorrells, a 30-year-old social worker from Newport Beach, has been a fan favorite on “The Biggest Loser,” but that doesn’t necessarily translate into survival when the competition gets tough.

After all, the villian of this current season, Tracey Yukich, a 37-year-old from Allen, Texas, made it to this eighth episode despite the way fans seemingly couldn’t stand to see her on the show another minute.

So what happened on Tuesday night? We’ll not spoil it here, read on a little more if you want to find out before you’ve seen the show…

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Wednesday highlights: Baseball, football, Peanuts

October 28th, 2009, 10:22 am by The Watcher

Better than 'Hank'

Welcome to a new daily feature at P&W, where we’ll describe a few highlights of the TV day.

The I-95 series: I suppose you could take some freeway between any two major league ballparks, but the dream of the true Freeway Series was shattered, leaving us with the letdown of New York vs. Philadelphia. It begins tonight on Fox, which is why “So You Think You Can Dance” is pre-empted.

Friday on Wednesday: If you are a DirecTV subscriber like the Watcher, “Friday Night Lights” begins season four tonight on channel 101 with Coach Taylor banished to the pathetic East Dillon High. If you are not  a DirecTV subscriber, “Friday Night Lights” begins season four on NBC in January.

Kelsey Grammer got a rock: ABC follows up last night’s expanded version of “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” with the classic 30-minute version at 8 p.m. The between-the-lines significance is that ABC would rather show Peanuts two nights in a row than a new epsiode of “Hank.”

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Did an O.C. woman survive the cut on ‘The Biggest Loser’ on Tuesday?

October 27th, 2009, 6:55 pm by PETER LARSEN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

shay2blog

 

Shay Sorrells, the 30-year-old social worker from Newport Beach, has survived nicely so far on NBC’s “The Biggest Loser,” but with each week that passes the competition gets tougher.

A lot of it comes down to how much weight each contestant loses — in six weeks, Shay has lost 65 pounds. But a lot also depends on how your team fares, and last week, her team lost, leaving one of it’s members in jeopardy, though Shay was spared.

So how did it go on Tuesday? Find out by reading the rest of this article….

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Posted in: Pedro • Pop Culture • TV: Reality shows • • • | 4 Comments »

Did an O.C. woman survive elimination on ‘The Biggest Loser’?

October 13th, 2009, 7:22 pm by PETER LARSEN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

biggest_shay2blogShay Sorrells of Newport Beach went on “The Biggest Loser” to try to change a life-long eating disorder that took her to 476 pounds and made her the biggest contestant in the history of the show.

On Tuesday night’s episode, Sorrells competed with her teammates in a variety of challenges, ending with the elimination of one.

Based on the Twitter conversations going on as the show aired, Tracey emerged as a major villian on the show, Rudy showed his inspiration side, and Shay…?

Well, if you want to find out whether she survived, we won’t spoil it here. Click through to the rest of this post to find who went home….

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Posted in: Pedro • Pop Culture • TV: Reality shows • Uncategorized • • | 1 Comment »

Season 2 of ‘Southland’ won’t happen on NBC

October 9th, 2009, 8:27 pm by The Watcher

Ben McKenzie starred in 'Southland'If you’ve been waiting for “Southland” to show up and add a little gravity to Friday night’s TV lineup - keep waiting. A long time.

After pushing its start date back from Sept. 25 to Oct. 23, NBC now has decided not to air the series at all.

The Los Angeles-set police drama premiered last spring with a huge promotional push from NBC, but ratings started slowly and got worse in the crucial 10 p.m. Thursday time slot.

With “The Jay Leno Show” consuming the 10 p.m. slots this fall, NBC sentenced “Southland” to the prime-time exurbs of 9 p.m. Friday. But ater watching the rest of its fall scripted schedule arrive with a dull thud, the network decided it would be better off sticking with the much-cheaper “Dateline.”

This may not be the end for “Southland.” Executive producer John Wells, a former “ER” producer, told the Associated Press that he will try to sell it to another network. TNT would be an obvious choice, but after that, what cable network would “Southland” fit into? Perhaps another co-branded deal with DirecTV, as “Friday Night Lights” enjoys, would make sense.

Wells added: “I’m disappointed that NBC no longer has the time periods available to support the kind of critically acclaimed series that were for so many years a hallmark of their success.”

Join the club.

PREVIOUSLY ON … THE WATCHER

Posted in: TV: Scripted shows • The Watcher • • | 1 Comment »

This week will test your TV viewing mettle

September 21st, 2009, 10:15 am by The Watcher

Kym Johnson and Donny Osmond prepare for season 9It’s D-Week for dedicated TV watchers.

The broadcast networks are rolling out the bulk of their fall programming in a barrage that will test even the Watcher’s six-shows-at-once DVR setup. If you aren’t prepared, you could be overwhelmed.

A few shows have extended opening packages. “Dancing With the Stars” runs five hours three nights this week, pushing back the debuts of the new comedies “Hank” and “The Middle” and the return of “Shark Tank” (now on Tuesdays.)

Two-hour premieres of “Heroes,” “House” and “Grey’s Anatomy” mean that “Trauma,” “Lie To Me” and “Private Practice” don’t start until next week.

Here are the premiere dates:

TONIGHT

“Dancing with the Stars” (ABC)
“Castle” (ABC)
“How I Met Your Mother” (CBS)
“Accidentally On Purpose” (CBS)
“Two And A Half Men” (CBS)
“The Big Bang Theory” (CBS)
“CSI: Miami” (CBS)
“House” (Fox)
“Heroes” (NBC)

TUESDAY
“The Forgotten” (ABC)
“NCIS” (CBS)
“NCIS: Los Angeles” (CBS)
“The Good Wife” (CBS)

WEDNESDAY
“Modern Family” (ABC)
“Cougar Town” (ABC)
“Eastwick” (ABC)
“The New Adventures Of Old Christine” (CBS)
“Gary Unmarried” (CBS)
“Criminal Minds” (CBS)
“CSI: New York” (CBS)
“Mercy” (NBC)
“Law & Order: SVU” (NBC)

THURSDAY
“Flash Forward” (ABC)
“Grey’s Anatomy” (ABC)
“CSI” (CBS)
“The Mentalist” (CBS)

FRIDAY
“Ghost Whisperer” (CBS)
“Medium” (CBS)
“Numb3rs” (CBS)
“Smallville” (CW)
“Brothers” (Fox)
“Dollhouse” (Fox)
“Law & Order” (NBC)

SATURDAY
“48 Hours Mystery” (CBS)
“Dateline” (NBC)

SUNDAY
“Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” (ABC)
“Desperate Housewives” (ABC)
“Brothers & Sisters” (ABC)
“60 Minutes” (CBS)
“The Amazing Race” (CBS)
“Cold Case” (CBS)
“The Simpsons” (Fox)
“The Cleveland Show” (Fox)
“Family Guy” (Fox)
“American Dad” (Fox)

Continue on for the rest of the fall rollout schedule.

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Posted in: The Watcher • • • • • | 4 Comments »

‘The Jay Leno Show’: Is that all there is?

September 15th, 2009, 9:57 am by The Watcher

Kanye and JayEveryone has that comfortable pair of shoes for kicking around the house. But who wears them to a cocktail party?

Therein lies the Watcher’s problem with “The Jay Leno Show,” which began its overhyped life last night. What is comfortably amusing in the bedroom when you’re falling asleep at 11:30 is much less enjoyable when you’re in the living room, wide awake, at 10.

As expected, we were treated to “The Tonight Show” sans desk: Jay’s gentle, non-partisan topical humor, Jay’s fascination with the shocking ignorance of the average American, celebrity guests with products to sell and not much to say.

The closest we got to interesting in the interviews was Jay grilling Kanye West over his mistreatment of Taylor Swift at the VMAs - if only Kanye misbehaving at an awards show were something out of character.

I’m making “The Jay Leno Show” sound worse than it is. Like Jay’s late-night show, it’s pleasant and mildly amusing. But at such an important viewing hour, I want more.

Grade: C+

THE NUMBERS

The premiere was a raging success in the ratings. According to TV by the Numbers, 17.7 million viewers tuned in. More important than the raw numbers, the show did great among adults 18-34. If they stick around, NBC could care less how many old people make their way back to the “CSI” troika.

We’ll check back in a couple of weeks to see how many 18-34s have returned to “The Daily Show” and their PlayStations.

PREVIOUSLY ON … THE WATCHER

Posted in: TV: Reviews • The Watcher • • | 9 Comments »

It’s the end of the world as we know it

September 14th, 2009, 10:42 am by The Watcher

'The Tonight Show' redux?“The Jay Leno Show” begins tonight at 10 on NBC, and judging from all of the media coverage, this will change TV as we know it forever.

The trouble with that thesis, of course, is that TV changed forever a while back, and “The Jay Leno Show” is just a symptom.

Within the lifetimes of most folks reading this, we’ve gone from three networks counting on more than 90 percent of the prime-time audience to five networks divvying up less than half. DVRs have destroyed the notion of appointment TV and sent advertisers fleeing. Videogames, DVDs and broadband Internet steal would-be viewers.

If you think “The Jay Leno Show” is the first sign of the networks responding to this, you simply haven’t been watching. Fewer new episodes, more cheapo game shows, more product placements - these are all tools for broadcasters to keep costs down and find new revenue.

The Leno Experiment - which reportedly will be very similar to Jay’s version of “The Tonight Show” - is simply the most dramatic step.

NBC knows Jay won’t beat CBS or ABC at 10 p.m. , but it believes his audience will be large enough and have attractive-enough demographics to be more profitable than a conventional lineup - particularly as a week of Leno will cost less to produce than a single episode of “Law & Order.”

Will it work? Who knows?

The first week will certainly be a success, thanks to curiosity and a lack of competition. Will the audience still be large enough when November sweeps roll around?

I’m predicting that Jay will do all right but not spectacularly. NBC will be happy - but not as happy as CBS.

PREVIOUSLY ON … THE WATCHER

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Ben Silverman finally out at NBC

July 27th, 2009, 9:04 pm by The Watcher

silvermanFrom the Department of What Took So Long, Ben Silverman is leaving NBC to start a new media company.

Nominally co-chairman of NBCU, Silverman was in charge of the entertainment division and the guy responsible for what aired on NBC.

He came to NBC from Reveille, the production company behind “The Office” and “The Biggest Loser,” two of NBC’s successes. And yet since he became head of the network,  it’s been one prime-time failure after another as NBC has remained mired in fourth place.

In Silverman’s two years, the only new prime-time shows that haven’t been cancelled are “Parks & Recreation,” “Chuck” and “Celebrity Apprentice.”

In April, New York magazine did a great analysis of Silverman’s tenure. Since then, NBC has added such gems as “The Listener,” “Merlin” and “The Philanthropist.” He also is the man behind the plan to move Jay Leno’s show to 10 p.m. five nights a week.

He’ll be replaced by Jeff Gasper, chief of NBC Universal’s cable operations.

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NBC tunes out ‘The Listener’

July 15th, 2009, 6:14 pm by The Watcher

listenerLast summer, CBS imported the Canadian series “Flashpoint,” and found itself with yet another successful police drama.

This summer, NBC imported the Canadian series “The Listener,” and no one watched.

It’s the perfect illustration of the directions the two networks are heading in: CBS continuing to find shows that appeal to its audience, NBC struggling to find something to lure viewers other than football.

“The Listener” managed barely 3 million total viewers last week and scored a 0.7 rating in the all-important 18-49 demographic. (Not that many folks were watching network shows at the time; “The Listener” still beat a “Private Practice” rerun on ABC.)

And apparently, NBC has had enough. The Futon Critic is reporting that “The Listener” will soon be heard from no more. New episodes will air Thursday and July 23, but the final five will be scrapped in favor of - what else? - “Law & Order” reruns.

More recent TV posts:

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