TNT has acquired the cable-exclusive rights to the Fox series Bones. The cable network will begin airing weekly reruns of the forensic procedural, starting with the pilot episode, on Tuesday, Jan. 29, at 10 p.m. eastern.
Bones will fit right in with TNT’s schedule, which already features a couple of original police dramas with strong female leads, (like The Closer and Saving Grace), as well as lots of reruns of ensemble procedurals Cold Case, Without a Trace and Law & Order.
The fact that NBC is advertising the return of the last two new episodes of Chuck tonight as a Chuck sandwich (why it’s not a Celebrity Apprentice sandwich, since that’s the filling, is beyond me) could be, well, icky. But much as is true with the Wienerlicious fast-food joint super-spy Sarah works at, the double nontendre underlying the would-be dirty joke is funnier and sweeter than your run-of-the-mill double entendre would be. The show’s previously delineated love of sandwiches–no, real bread-cheese-and-meat sandwiches–makes the selling of a Chuck sandwich not just palatable, but delicious.
–Chuck’s interest in deli owner and Buy More customer Lou (Rachel Bilson) is particularly piqued when she thanks him for repairing her cell phone by presenting him with “The Chuck,” a newly-dubbed turkey and Muenster sandwich on egg bread (apparently an in-joke reference to a sandwich named after Chuck producer Matt Miller: triple nontendre!)
–Romance with the aforementioned Lou is dampened by the appearance of nefariously imported salami
–Put-upon NSA agent Casey (Adam Baldwin) is tortured by tales of sandwiches:
Chuck: (objecting to the bugging of his apartment) Do you have any idea how violated I feel right now?
Casey: You feel violated? No, no, no. My ears feel violated because they have to listen to you and that moron Morgan yammering on for four hours about what sandwich you’re going to take if you’re stranded on a deserted island.
(Later)
Chuck: Sarah was just telling me that if she was stranded on a desert island, she would bring roast beef.
Morgan: She didn’t say roast beef.
Chuck: Oh, she totally, she to–completely, she completely said roast beef.
Morgan: Oh, that’s a terrible sandwich. Terrible. You know, she’s smart and she’s sexy–kudos on the costume, looked fantastic–but who brings roast beef to a deserted island? That’s a terrible choice. Eh, you know what? You’re going to have to dump her.
Casey: (listening to the entire exchange on headphones while eating yogurt): Sigh.
I’ll be taking out the filling (because Celebrity Apprentice? No.), but I’m hankering for a Chuck sandwich tonight.
The Sci Fi Channel has acquired cable rerun rights for the post-apocalyptic CBS drama Jericho. The three-year agreement gives Sci Fi rights to the first and second seasons of the series and includes an exclusive first run in basic cable for the first six months.
Jericho will make its Sci Fi debut with a four-episode marathon on Monday, Feb. 11, the day before the show’s second-season premiere on CBS. This is good news for viewers looking for alternative fare during the strike, who will now have a chance to catch up on the series a little bit before the new episodes air.
The first three episodes of the second season were leaked on the internet recently and buzz has been surprisingly good. Even critics who were unimpressed with the show’s uneven first season seem to feel the new episodes show a marked improvement.
Meanwhile, Jericho executive producer Carol Barbee told SCI FI Wire that they’ve shot two different endings for the seven-episode second season. “One of them basically just lets you know that everybody is OK,” she said. “The other ending shows you exactly where we’re going to go for the third season. … I wouldn’t call it a cliffhanger as much as I would say you say, ‘Oh, OK, now I know where we’re going to go.’ But if there’s not going to be a third season, the other one puts sort of a nice emotionally satisfying point to it.”
That’s a big relief for loyal fans who were left with a decidedly unsatisfying cliffhanger at the end of the first season and a great deal of doubt as to whether the show would return.
CBS, Fox, and the CW have all slashed their development slates for the upcoming pilot season, jettisoning dozens of scripts, and ABC is expected to do the same. Now that the writers strike has stretched on into what would ordinarily be pilot season, most of the projects cut probably couldn’t be made at this point anyway. All of the networks are still hanging onto a handful of pilots that can potentially be picked up for next season.
NBC, meanwhile, seems to be looking to eliminate pilot season altogether in the future. In an address to NBC Universal employees by videoconference, chief executive Jeff Zucker said the network was looking to save as much as $50 million a year by reducing its reliance on expensive pilots. Although NBC might still commission “one or two” pilots a season, he said they would no longer do so as a matter of course.
So what does this mean for us, the humble viewers? Fewer and fewer groundbreaking scripted programs like 30 Rock and The Office, and more reality fare like American Gladiators and The Biggest Loser. Thanks, Jeff Zucker. Thanks a lot.
The strategy may prove profitable in the short term, but it bodes ill for the future of network television. Sure, reality programming is cheap to produce, but it has a very short shelf life, doesn’t repeat well, doesn’t hold up to time-shifted viewing and brings in little DVD or merchandising revenue. It’s also a contributing factor in the chronic viewer hemorrhaging the networks have been facing, a problem highlighted by the dip in American Idol‘s audience this season.
Which would make it t-to-the-a-to-the-st*y*, Fergie.
It was so incredibly cold here yesterday that the power grid couldn’t handle it. While this may not seem terribly Baconian, given that it obviously cut me off from the beloved TV, it was an eye-opening trip into how much television and its component tie-ins are integrated into my day-to-day life. After using the Scooby Doo flashlight keyring my brother received for Christmas a couple of years ago to stumble my way down the stairs, I was faced with the reality of having no non-electric alarm clock to make sure I was up for the absolutely-have-to-be-there meeting early the next day.
My first strategy, then, was to stay awake until the power came back on and the alarm clock could be restored. Luckily for me, I had handy-dandy Doctor Who podcasts on my MP3 player so Russell T. Davies’ dulcet tones could keep me company during my dark night of the soul (why are they wearing party hats, anyway?). This worked swimmingly, although blearily, until I realized my trusty Venture Brothers two-way wrist communicator watch has an alarm function. (And, yes, I did belatedly realize that my cell phone can do that kind of thing, too.) My life is permeated–could even have been saved, had the power never come back on and I’d had to burn the West Wing Script Book for warmth when the double-layered Aqua Teen Hunger Force socks weren’t cutting it anymore–with television stuff that isn’t TV at all, but is instead toys, books, home decor–you name it.
What, then, is the greatest piece of take-home TV swag in history? In this very moment, I am leaning toward the giant Homer Simpson Pez dispenser, but since it doesn’t actually dispense giant Pez, I could be persuaded otherwise.
The Producers Guild of America unveiled its television production award nominations on Tuesday. The winners will be announced on Saturday, Feb. 2, at–you guessed it–the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
A complete list of television nominees is behind the cut… Continue reading
A wave of terminations has swept through Hollywood since last Friday, as the contracts of nearly 75 TV writers and producer (and their staffs) were canceled under force majeure provisions. It started on Friday, when ABC Studios terminated more than two dozen deals, including those of Curb Your Enthusiasm helmer Larry Charles and Brothers & Sisters creator/executive producer Jon Robin Baitz, who has recently blasted ABC in a series of blog entries on The Huffington Post.
A second round of terminations were announced on Monday, as Warner Bros. TV, CBS Paramount Network TV, Universal Media Studios, and 20th Century Fox TV slashed the deals of another 45-50 TV writers and producers. Among the more recent casualties are Paul Redford and Kevin Falls (Journeyman), Larry Kaplow (K-Ville), Rene Echevarria (Medium), Barbara Hall (Joan of Arcadia), Barry Schindel (Numb3rs), and Hugh Jackman’s production company, which recently delivered bomb Viva Laughlin.
Force majeure–or “act of God”–provisions in the contracts allow studios to terminate deals with writers and producers four to six weeks into a work stoppage. By eliminating the deals now, the studios will no longer be obligated to pay the writers even if the strike ends tomorrow. It’s a way for the studios to eliminate some of what they may consider “dead weight” by getting out of costly contracts that they’re no longer interested in maintaining. The timing of the terminations could simply be the result of belt-tightening by the studios, or it could be a sign that the AMPTP is close to making a deal with the DGA–a deal that could mean that the end of this strike is just around the corner.
It just doesn’t get lamer than NBC’s Golden Globes “Winners Special” tonight, folks. Instead of the festival of drunken celebrities we’ve all come to know and love, we got Nancy O’Dell and a constipated-looking Billy Bush standing awkwardly behind a podium. The real highlight, though, was after each category was announced when Nancy would try unsuccessfully to banter with Billy’s hair, which has begun to resemble the ‘do sported by Loverboy’s Mike Reno in the 1980s. It’s okay, Billy, we’re all just working for the weekend, too.
For those of you lucky enough to miss it, here’s the complete list of television winners… Continue reading
You’d pretty much have to be living under a rock (or, you know, be my dad) not to know that the new season of Lost is starting on January 31. But what about all the other shows that are due to return this winter/spring? It’s a lot to keep track of, we know, so to help you out, here’s a list of some upcoming season premiere dates to guide you through the upcoming months.
RENO 911 (Comedy Central)
Wednesday, Jan. 16, at 10:30 PM
WILDFIRE (ABC Family)
Monday, Jan. 21, at 9:00 PM
TORCHWOOD (BBC America)
Saturday, Jan. 26, at 9:00 PM
LOST (ABC)
Thursday, Jan. 31, at 8:00 PM
THE NEW ADVENTURES OF OLD CHRISTINE (CBS)
Monday, Feb. 4, at 9:30 PM
JERICHO (CBS)
Tuesday, Feb. 12, at 10:00 PM
MEN IN TREES (ABC)
Wednesday, Feb. 27, at 10:00 PM
DIRT (FX)
Sunday, March 2, at 10:00PM
THE TUDORS (Showtime)
Sunday, March 30, at 10:00PM
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (Sci Fi)
Friday, April 4, at 10:00 PM
The Art Directors Guild today announced the nominees for its 12th annual Excellence in Production Design Awards for both television and feature films. These are the folks who make the sets of our favorite shows look so fantastic and we congratulate them all! Winners will be announced Feb. 16 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles.
A complete list of television nominees is behind the cut… Continue reading
TV BACON 