TV Raised Me

We've Moved Networks

2009-09-10T09:18:00.003-04:00

TVraisedMe will be moving networks. We will airing on the tumblr network.

You can follow us now at http://tvraisedme.tumblr.com/

We hope those of you that have enjoyed our articles will continue supporting us.

We'll be trying something new and hoping to improve on the updating.

Thanks for the continued support. See you on the new net!

Cheers!

The Fall Preview Post!

2009-06-23T11:44:00.008-04:00

Clearly I don't know how to be early, but at least this is before the fall actually started!

I'm going to break this down as simply as possible.

Fall Mandate: More comedies.
Over the last seven years, ABC has really built their brand around the shows that saved the network, i.e: Lost, Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy. However, with Grey's having all the backstage drama that really seems to upstage everything onscreen, Desperate Housewives five year jump not really adding anything to the show, and Lost coming a close next season, the alphabet net is looking to add a little bit of laughs to its sched. Cut to four new sitcoms the company has greenlit this year. Also with returning seasons of the Zach Braff-less Scrubs and promotion heavy Better off Ted, look for ABC to be a funnier place this season.

What to watch for:
Modern Family. ABC is so confident of this show, they screened the entire pilot at its upfronts, and I must say its awesome. If the entire season stays as strong as the pilot, make sure you check this out!

Say Goodbye to:

According to Jim. After eight horrible horrible years, we say goodbye to this good for nothing show!

Fall Mandate: More of the same.

When you're the number one network in the land, there isn't too much you need to change. The eye has added four new shows this fall. Three dramas, one comedy.

What to watch for:
My take would be NCIS: Los Angeles. The show has a built in audience, and with LL Cool J and Chris O'Donnel as the leads,the show seems like it has all the tools to be a success. Plus its a procedural on CBS, can't fail right?

Say Goodbye to:
Without a Trace. The once strong ten o'clock Thursday show will not be coming back in this fall.

Fall Mandate: Build a pretty kick ass schedule!

FOX has always been known as that network that put on tacky shows that sink to the lowest common denomenator. And while that has been true, you have to give them credit for building quiet a decent line up of programming. The number two network in the land (number one for young viewers 18-35, Wow, I know), has an entire line up of critically acclaimed shows (House, Lie to Me, Bones, Fringe), mixed with the zany stuff that makes FOX...well FOX.

What to what for:

The Cleveland Show: Seth McFarland is determined to make Sunday nights his, and from everything I've heard about this Family Guy spin-off, it seems like he's well on his way. Reviews of the show say its got more heart than its predecessor, and with a two season pickup, looks to be one of the surprises of the fall.

Glee: Technically this has already aired, but the show has a lot of heart to it and room to grow. It also has the amazing Ryan Murphy (Popular, Nip/Tuck) working on it, so here's hoping Glee can be the High School Musical to adults what True Blood is to Twilight.

Say Goodbye to:

Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles. Everything I've heard about this show has been good. But FOX had two sci-fi shows on the table, and room for one of them to be saved. T:TSCC had been given a couple of chances, but as seen with the Terminator Salvations movie, people aren't really jumping on that bandwagon. The possible good news: Expect to see Summer Glau possibly on Dollhouse?

Fall Mandate: Change EVERYTHING

Probably the network taking the biggest risk this year. 2009/10 will be a telling year for the peacock. The network that built some of their biggest hits at 10pm is giving it to their late night leader Jay Leno. They are also going with shorter seasons and less reruns, something that works well in the world of cable. Works well for Entourage. Will it for Heroes?

What to watch for:

Community: The pilot was a little slow, but you can't go wrong with Joel McHale and Chevy Chase. Once it finds its footing, this show will be the perfect companion to the Must See TV line up.

The Parenthood: Ron Howard. Brian Glazer. Writers of Friday Night Lights. Great all star cast. This has the makings of something great. Others have tried to make the hit movie into a TV show. The ingredients are there. Lets hope it can be mixed to make something special.

Say Goodbye to:
Two many to count. Luckily most of them were the crappy ones. Here's hoping the shorter seasons can be helpful to the NBC cause.

Fall Mandate: Hoping for something that sticks

Since the merger of the WB and the UPN, the CW hasn't really done anything of note. Well, they have, but its for all the wrong reasons. Gossip Girl is their most buzzworthy show, however it isn't exactly setting the ratings on fire. 90210 had a strong opening but has had trouble holding on the audience, mainly because its not sure whether it wants to be a throwback or something new. The network is clearly going for a younger female demo, but is having a hard time cutting through the clutter. This year they seem to be going with a variety of shows and hoping something works.

What to watch for:

Melrose Place: Clearly working off the buzz they got from the 90210 reboot, the network green lit the original shows spin-off. Early talk says the show captures the essence of the original, which is a good thing. The down side being if this is a success, watch for updated versions Dallas, Knots Landing, Dyansty....

Say Goodbye to:

Privileged: One of the few shows to get good reviews from the CW's fall lineup last season. Alas, I'll be looking for my Joanna Garcia fix next year. Joanna, if for some reason you're reading this, call me :D

So that's it for my fall predictions. I've got a few reviews coming up here and there over the next couple of days. Once again, please feel free to drop me a comment or two!

...the return part 3... i think...and thoughts about what's going on on TV!

2009-06-07T21:00:00.005-04:00

So, after a long break... mostly due to watching a lot of television as well as a screwed up PC, and the banning of access to my site from work, I'm finally back.

But I'm finally caught up on my television viewing, and I'm finally have a brand new laptop, so I'm definately going to try and bring things back to the way it used to be before the craziness.

Tuesdays and Thursdays will be norm. Of course, with the updates, hopefully there will be some interesting topics. As usual, please feel free to let me know if there is anything you want to talk about.

Since I've been gone, things in the tv landscape has changed a little.

The Late Shift Pt.2

Firstly, there's been a change in the late night landscape. Conan O'Brien has finally become the host of the Tonight Show after Jay Leno's 17 year reign. The show largely follows the format of O'Brien's Late Night, which I'm totally fine with. Ratings for the first week have been pretty decent though reviews have been showing up somewhere in the middle. Jimmy Fallon's Late Night seems to be finally finding its feet after the first couple of weeks. The show seems to have found its balance between college humour and tech tv.

NBC begins Prime Time Strip programming

While a lot of the talk has been about NBC moving Jay Leno to primetime, I think their summer programming has started that experiment. With I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here, the network is testing the waters to see if viewers will indeed start watching programming four to five days a week. Ratings have been so so thus far, with a lot of the publicity coming from Hills "stars" Heidi and Spencer Pratt. It will be interesting to see if this is a trend that becomes popular in the states. Currently many a show in Britian follow this format, though mostly in the summer.

Americans beginng to embrace non American Programming

First it was Flashpoint, now the Listener. Seems like the American public seems like they are willing to watch shows not based in America. Both shows are produced by CTV (here in Canada) and are both airing on American stations CBS and NBC, respectively. Both shows were green lit out of need for new programming during the writers strike, and it seems like the networks may be on to something. CBS also has deals struck with networks in Austrailia and Britain. My only qualm is, should a show do well in the country of its origin, but fail to garner interest in the states, will the show continue outside America?

Britain's Got Talent becomes a global Sensation

Over the last couple of weeks something interesting happened. Susan Boyle auditions on Britian's Got Talent and becomes a global sensation. But in the process, she has caused people from all over the world to follow the show, which airs exclusively in the UK. Between the kid who sings a Michael Jackson song, to the dance troupe that eventually won it, people were clamouring all over youtube passing videos around. I'm not sure if its just the talent in the UK, but the shows American counterpart barely registers in comparison. Who knows, may 2009 will its year!

The networks have all introduced the fall shows they are looking to be the next big thing. I'll be back on Tuesday to discuss what each networks strategies are.

As usual, please feel free to drop me a comment if you agree, disagree, or whatever else!

"There’s Always the Seven Ways You can End it that You’ve Seen Before"

2009-03-19T20:16:00.009-04:00

These are words uttered by (the always amazing) Conan O'Brien during his appearance on Inside the Actors Studio with James Lipton. He continued to mention that he’s always looking for that left brain thinking of ending a sketch the way no one else has done before.

It is said that there are seven themes that are used in all of literature. They are:

[wo]man vs. nature
[wo]man vs. man
[wo]man vs. the environment
[wo]man vs. machines/technology
[wo]man vs. the supernatural
[wo]man vs. self
[wo]man vs. god/religion

However, there are some people who do fantastic versions of these themes, and some that do like to recycle stories from the past.

I’m going to go over four of the shows I believe that have used the “left side thinking” to create different types of television shows.

Dexter (2006 – present)

When talking about shows that are like absolutely nothing else on television, Dexter should always be on that list. This show seems to work on three of the topics on the list. Man vs. Self, Man vs. Man and Man vs. Environment. The protagonist is always one that is fighting against himself, to try and suppress and satisfy his need to kill. Through his “code” Dexter is trying to rid the world of people who hurt society. And he has to do all of this while working in a police station, where he must help and hinder to get his end result.

This show is fascinating to me, because by all accounts, this show shouldn’t be successful. This is the story of a guy who is a serial killer. You shouldn’t like this guy. Yet he’s the good guy! When the cops are close to catching him, you want him to not get caught. You want him to have the life that other people have, but somehow continue doing what he’s doing. Somehow the writers/actors/producers have clicked in on something where they have taken something familiar, but twisted it around itself. Thankfully, we have another two years of this!

Seinfeld (1990 – 1998)

You want to talk about a show that totally went against the grain. This was a show about nothing!
Actually, that’s not true. It was a good marketing ploy, but really it was a show about four very self centered people. And it was a sitcom to boot!

If you look at the main characters through TV sitcoms over the decades, they all had one thing in common. The characters were always kind hearted people. People you wanted to be, or people who represented you. Take Richie Cunningham from Happy Days, or Dr.Huxstable from The Cosby Show. Then you have this series where Jerry Seinfeld will dump a girl just because one part of her does not meet his liking. The characters were so reprehensible to people within its own universe that they were arrested at seasons end. But somehow, everyone involved managed to make the show one where every character was loveable in spite of each of their flaws. Not that there’s anything wrong with that!

The Simpsons (1990 – present)

What do you do when you take the Man vs. Environment concept, and make both of them absolutely insane?

You have the longest running programming of any kind of television – The Simpsons.

Before this genre changing show came on air, cartoons were for kids. They were also about crazy kids/pets, while their parents/owners reined them in. They didn’t have swearing, they didn’t have nudity, they were built around the concept that they were sitcoms for kids.

Then Homer lost his job, and lost his money on a dog race, and saved Christmas, and a phenomenon was born.

This show created the idea of a dysfunctional family.

The father is a drunk, lazy, working drone who wants to stay away from his kids. The son is a hell raiser. The mother is your 50’s housewife. The daughter is the smartest girl in town with a superiority complex, and the baby never utters a word. And yet, this show is the most real family on television.

And from there you have the re-genesis of primetime animation. Cue King of the Hill, Family Guy, American Dad and the soon to debut The Cleveland Show: shows built in the same mold as clueless father, but not quiet there yet. The beauty of the Simpsons has been that there has been a great supporting cast, as well as proper issues and stories built around it. The show that seems to learn the most from The Simpsons is South Park. Hell, they even built an episode around the Simpsons, which proves to you how important this show really is.

Our attention deficit world has unfortunately caused the focus on story to falter a bit over the last couple of years, but the consistency and depth this show had for a good 7-9 years (or anything where Conan O’Brien was the writer) makes sure this series should be on the list.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003)

Back in 1992, Joss Whedon wrote a film about a young girl accepting her fate as the Slayer of

vampires. The story was dark, witty and poked fun at the horror genre and gender stereotypes. Then someone else made it a movie, and made it the campiest thing you’ve ever seen.

Cut to 1997, and Joss was given the opportunity to remake his version of the script into a TV show. Thus began one of the most inspired shows for women in ages. Incase you haven’t noticed, this one is Woman vs. Supernatural.

I consider this show a classic, because of one simple thing. Buffy Summers was a real girl with real problems, and still managed to be strong. Previous to this, if you had a woman in a supernatural setting, she was either a damsel in distress, or she was a superpower who could solve anything.

Buffy was different. She could have been any girl in the world. She had her friends, she had her issues, and she dealt with them and she dealt with her supernatural responsibilities. She got help from her friends when she needed, and she sometimes struggled with her own self.

The show also had some groundbreaking episodes like ‘Hush’, ‘The Body’ and ‘Once More, with Feeling’. All three episodes feature something unique about them. ‘Hush’ had very little dialogue, ‘The Body’ had absolutely not background music and actually focuses on the lives of the characters without any supernatural elements, while ‘Once More, with Feeling’ was a complete musical episode. Considering the show was very dialogue driven and very much based in the supernatural genre, it was an amazing risk that the show managed to pull off.

These are the four that most come to mind for me. Of course, there are other shows that are “left brainers”. Lost and Six Feet Under seem to be two of those shows. I haven’t had the opportunity to see them, but hopefully by the time the 2010 season rolls around, I’ll be able to add them to this list.

Are there are any shows that you think take the seven basic ideas and mangle them, or just completely abandon them? Don’t agree with me about the shows above? Sound off in the comments below.

The Obituary Channel: You’ll be Dying to see it! Haha, I made a funny!

2009-03-12T20:57:00.007-04:00

Starting this summer, the Orbituary Channel goes live (no pun intended) to air in Quebec.

The station will "broadcast obituaries, notices of hospitalization, and messages of thanks and prayers"

Are you kidding me! Do we really need this? Has there ever been a time when you were watching TV and wondering to yourself, “I wonder who died tonight?”

I would suspect that obituaries are big reading in the senior citizen community. Chances are they are looking for friends who they aren’t quiet in touch with, but are reaching the finishing line. But even they would be doing so checking out the newspaper. They pretty much are the last demographic that does like the opportunity to sit down and read the stories of the day.

Also, where does this channel go from here? Air episodes of deceased stars of E!True Hollywood Story and Behind the Music?

It doesn’t make too much sense to me. But what do I know. This channel will probably end up striking gold and be franchised all over the world.

Just you wait and see!

Source: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/obit+channel+live+this+summer/1374651/story.html

What the F#@k Marvel?

2009-03-12T20:53:00.002-04:00

OK, I've admitted a lot of things on this site, and I'm going to admit one more thing. I love cartoons. I don't care if they are adult cartoons or kids cartoons. I love these damn thing.

They can be hilarious – like Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, serious – like Batman Gotham Knights, Childish – like Scooby Doo, or thought provoking – like Persepolis.

But I also realize that I’m a 26 year old male adult, and part of the issue with watching cartoons is that this is something I do in my private time away from the prying eyes of… well you know…society.

I’ve made no bones about the fact that I’m a huge Spider-man fan. The guy is like a personal hero of mine. With great power comes great responsibility. Seriously, you could teach that to your kids and it would be a good lesson! Anyways, I digress. I’ve watched every series, and continue to do so to this day. However, when the Kids WB, or CW for Kids, or 4KidsTV, whatever they are re-branding themselves to this week, decided to air season two of The Spectacular Spider-man, but decided not to let anyone know when or where to watch it, I had to sort out other means.

Cut to a few weeks later and here I am watching it on Youtube, where a nice young webhead has placed every episode in chronological order for my viewing pleasure. Now, I was here simply catching up, as I later found YTV here in Canada airing the show on Sunday mornings. (9:30am for those of you who are wondering).

I then went looking for the new Wolverine and the X Men series, which has recently started. Too bad, with X Men Origins:Wolverine movie coming out, this particular title cannot be found anywhere on the net. Apparently Marvel’s legal team (imagine if it was actually Matt Murdoch emailing you haha), has contacted Youtube and asked all these shows be taken off.

Now, I get why they doing this. Clearly they own the copyright and it’s theirs to do what they will. BUT, c’mon Marvel. You know as well as I do, that this TV show is on only to create and interest and buzz for the upcoming movie. If the station that airs it (I have no clue which one, and neither does WIKIPEDIA!- that damn thing knows everything!) can’t be bothered to promote it, give the fans a chance to view it elsewhere. Hell, even if I did know where they were airing this show, at least give me an opportunity to catch up! With the amount of different models there are to view programming – On Demand services, Hulu, iTunes, Youtube etc, there isn’t anywhere to catch this show.

Plus, does it really matter where I view this cartoon? It will still promote the movie. Essentially what Marvel is doing here is stopping me for seeing a 22 minute commercial for the movie, because they are trying to force me to watch it elsewhere.

Marvel is a company that went bankrupt in 1996. Thanks to trilogy hits like X Men, Spider-man and Blade, today they are a major power in the entertainment industry, most recently signing Samuel L. Jackson to a NINE picture deal to play Nick Fury.

They’re not exactly hurting.

Give your fans the chance the opportunity to watch your 22 minute commercials, and they will pay you back in kind by buying tickets to the movies, purchasing the nine special edition DVD set, collecting the comics and not opening the action figures.

By the Way, I’m back….

2009-03-12T20:45:00.007-04:00

OK, what can I say? I'm a damn TV watcher. It's hard to sometimes keep up with the television and update this damn thing! But I love all six of you that read... or all one of you that are reading it over and over!

So no more rules, we are going to hit this whenever something strikes me, and believe me, things strike me all the time! I just have to get online and actually do it.

I may have an editor, who may get me to update this thing regularly. We’ll have to see. You know who you are, help me! :P

So what’s been going on since I left? Well…

Life on Mars is over. I really enjoyed this show, and it really felt like it was just about taking shape. The episodes leading up to their hiatus in the fall/winter were very instrumental in setting up Sam’s life in 1973, and how he was getting used to it. The episodes since its return in February have been great in setting up the show’s sci fi-ish premise. Unfortunately too little too late. On the bright side, ABC is allowing the show to build towards its ending. The season will end in April 1^st, 2009. If you’re looking for more of the show, I hear the British original is a classic, as well as, the spin off Ashes to Ashes, that recently debuted on BBC America.

By the way, for fans of October Road, the show has finished up shooting on a direct to DVD finale that should be included on the Season 2 DVD.

Looking for great TV in Canada. I’m late to the bandwagon on this one, but please check out The Hour w/ George Stoumboulopoulos on CBC. I’ve loved this show and its idea, however, never found the time from it. However, I have found the show through podcasts. Great way to promote the show, and in some cases you get more than what is available on the Tele. You can catch episodes of the Hour at www.cbc.ca/thehour or on iTunes.

By the way, for those of you who are going to refer back to me ranting to enjoying televison in the comfort of my chair rather than an ipod or on the pc, I’ve recently purchased this… http://store.apple.com/us/product/TM170LL/A?fnode=MTY1NDA0OQ&mco=MjIzNDk4OA&p=2&s=topSellers very sweeet! (Though I am evolving my habits just a tad hehe!)

Conan O’Brien will be hanging out a little earlier on our screens. Thanks for 16 brilliant years. This however, ushers in the age of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Fallon has started out very nervous, but I think he’s getting better with guests that don’t intimidate him. Watch Conan’s first show, and it was pretty much the same way!

By the way, Robert De Niro may have been good ratings wise, but he’s not the guest that Fallon needed. Hell, he didn’t even seem interested in really being there. Also, Fallon really seems to get the generation that watches the show. He just needs to calm down and bit and perhaps this thing will get off the ground. NBC execs, give this dude some breathing room!
Friday Night Lights may be coming back for TWO seasons! NBC, working on its profit sharing deal with DirecTV says even though the show has low ratings, it still turns a profit. The new season has been class, and to create a show with SO many well built character, is simply amazing. Here’s hoping to more

By the way, NBC really seems to be playing around with trying to change their business model up a little bit. I mean, first they are moving Leno up to ten (can’t say I agree with that one, but it just might work!), they are streaming their shows on Hulu (along with FOX) to get their shows some added attention and now this profit sharing idea with DirecTV. It’s not all going to work, but the business model for TV is broken. Clearly something else needs to be reworked.

I’ll be back soon (I swear!) with an article I’ve been tinkering with for a while.
In the mean time, you can find me on twitter...at http//twitter.com/dwenie – GASP! He gave us his real name! Until then, please, sound off below. I’d love to hear what you’re watching, and what I should check out on the web.

What's On Tap for 2009?

2009-01-05T21:55:00.001-05:00

So, it’s the first Tuesday of the year, and it’s my first official blog since then.

I’m already excited about what the new year has to offer. Outside of the usual returning fall shows, mid season premieres are back, and there seems to be some interesting shows on offer

True Beauty: From watching the commercials, this show looked terrible…another piece of reality tv garbage. I caught a sneak preview, and believe me this show is hilarious. Imagine Beauty and the Geek without the geeks.

Mondays at 10pm on ABC and Citytv

Scrubs: This show is a gem that seriously got overlooked over the years. Starting its seventh year on a new network (ABC) after being moved around and then dumped by NBC, Scrubs returns to all the hospital hilarity and touching scenes that Grey’s Anatomy thinks it has, but doesn’t really. Also, the fact that seven years in the show has kept every single major cast member has been amazing. Word is this is Zach Braff’s last season regardless if ABC decides to keep the show around.

Premieres Tuesdays January 6th at 9pm on ABC and Citytv.

Nip/Tuck: Another “doctor” show that isn’t. I’ll be the first to say that the last few seasons have been lacking a bit, but the excitement I feel knowing the show is coming back is palpable. I’m hoping for more of the humour from the first few seasons. The shocking drama and sexiness is perfectly on point.

Premieres Tuesday January 6th at 10pm on FX. TBA on Citytv.

Lie to Me: I was turned on to this show a couple of weeks ago by a colleague. Produced by Brian Glazer and starring Tim Roth, the show is about a doctor with skilled observational skills. The show is based on a real life specialist. FOX has big hopes for the show (some comparing it to network powerhouse House) and is giving it the uber lead in of American Idol.

Premieres Wednesday Jan 21^st on FOX and Global.

Dollhouse: Joss Wheadon + Eliza Dushku = DGN watching. After Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, this guy can do no wrong in my eyes (granted I really should have given Firefly a bit more of a chance, but when the network starts airing episodes out of order, I’m sorry, I can’t be blamed…sorry, a bit of a rant there). Then you add Eliza Dushku (who was in both Btvs and Angel – see a pattern here?) to the mix, and I’m sorry, but my Friday nights are covered. I don’t even know what the show is about, but good buzz, good creative team and good lead can’t all be wrong can they? I’ll let you know.

Premieres Friday February 13^th on FOX (Friday the 13^th – REALLY FOX!!!)

United States of Tara: This is an interesting concept. A woman (The aforementioned Tara, played by the very underrated Toni Collette), has different personalities to deal with her family and career. This comes from Showcase, which has been on the ball lately with its programming unit.
Premieres Jan 18^th on Showcase and (probably) TMN.

Of course there are other shows out there. But could someone help me out with a little something in the mean time. I have no clue where new episodes of Monk and Psych (both returning Jan 9^th!) are airing. Last I heard they were on A, but I haven’t much since. These are both great shows, and sometimes even the guy raised by TV needs some help. Any shows you looking forward to the return off? Let me know!

So, Two Thousand and Nine is finally upon us…

2009-01-05T20:35:00.004-05:00

…and it probably feels like it has been that long since I last updated the site.

First of all, I should apologize for that. Work has gotten difficult and it’s been even harder to get access to putting up some info.

Secondly, happy new year! Hopefully, television will be around with us the entire twelve months of the year, rather than leaving us as it did last year (The supposed actors stick could throw a wrench in our plans though.) The effects of the strike have been looming for a while, but as I was informed today, there is some exciting viewing coming up in the next couple of weeks!

Let me get a quick recap of the big events in the land of TV since we last spoke:

ABC pulls the plug on Pushing Daisies, Dirty Sexy Money and Eli Stone. An abrupt first season as well as sophomore slumps in writing led to these shows losing their audience. As anyone whose read the site before knows, I was a big supporter of Pushing Daisies and DSM. I never saw much of Eli Stone (I have season 1 but haven’t gotten around to watching it yet), but from what I hear the show had potential. There is some silver lining: Daisies may come back in the form of a comic book (ala Buffy and Angel) and perhaps even a movie down the road. The cancellation has left some time available in show runner Brian Fullers schedule. He’s moving back to Heroes which he ran in their highly successful first season.

NBC gets rid of the 10 PM drama slot, to keep Jay Leno. This was one of the bigger stories of the year. NBC, who built it’s drama department on ER, Law & Order and Dateline, in the ten o’ clock time slot, has decided to get rid of new scripted dramas in that slot and give it to Jay Leno for his own Tonight Show-esque program. The good news with the deal is Leno is a ratings winner and keeping him at NBC makes sense. Plus, this will give American’s who just can’t stay up late enough an opportunity to catch his brand of humor and the station. The bad news, well, Conan O’Brien is still seen as the latter host, which is unfortunate. The man is a comic genius. Secondly, this makes less programming per week for the net. Between eight being mostly reality (with the exception of Thursdays) and ten soon to be Leno, you have one hour to fill on a network that really had some bang in creative programming about ten years ago. Though something tells me we may get an NBC that has shorter seasons, fewer reruns and a lot more shows per year. Or that could just be me hoping for someone to pick up on the HBO/Showtime model that seems to be so successful!

Grey’s Anatomy has another doctor looking to hang up his scrubs. Word on the street was that T.R. Knight, whose character George I was a big fan off, has asked to be written out of the show after not having the greatest of storylines this season. No official word other than the usual “no comments”. Remember when people would talk about this show rather than all the backstage drama. And I mean when the storylines weren’t ripped off from the Ghost Whisperer.

There were other things as well, but these were the stories that gained my attention during the Christmas break, post the craziness that was sweeps!
I will be updating the site every Tuesday and Thursday to start. It’s only fair, since the PVR is empty, and the good times that are winter premieres are back. :)

You Watch That? That's so Gay!

2008-11-06T13:17:00.005-05:00

November 4th, 2008.

The United States of America, the most famous and powerful country in the world, elects its first African American president - Barack Obama.

Congratulations.

November 4th, 2008.

The state of California votes to overturn the law that legalized gay marriages. Hence making people who did get married, not so much anymore.

Hmm, one step forward, two steps back!

Your probably wondering what this has to do with TV?

Well just the other day it was announced that Brooke Smith (who plays Dr. Hahn on Grey's Anatomy) has been fired, and her lesbian storyline will end on today's episode. This coming on the heels of Rebecca Romijn's transgender character Alexis Mead leaving the cast of Ugly Betty (though word is that it is because she is pregnant).

Word going around is that ABC is anti-gay. Actually the network has the most homosexual characters on TV. Seven as of this past September.

So, what's the problem? Do you think that America isn't ready for a strong gay storyline?

Perhaps? The Grey's Anatomy storyline was probably one of the most risque I've seen on network tv in a while. A lot of the discussion in the last episode was about oral sex, and how each of the lesbian characters felt about it.

With gay culture slowly getting in the mainstream, we've seen a lot of homosexual characters in our favorite shows. Ellen and Will & Grace are probably the most famous of these shows. Both were built around main characters being gay. The former eventually turned into that (and ended up getting cancelled), while the latter was the premise. But there have been other shows. Melrose Place started off with a gay character (Matt, played by Doug Savant of Desperate Housewives), Spin City, Friends, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Larry Sanders Show, as well as many more.

In each of the shows I mentioned the characters were secondary characters and while they all had storylines that involved their sexuality and life, they were never as 'A-Plot' as the one in Grey's.

I'm not sure if the actress wasn't the greatest on set, if the story was not working in the ratings, or if the writers just didn't know where to take it (though if your starting a storyline, you better know how to end it), but it just seems rushed out out of place, and sadly, undue attention on a show that has some good points to it.

"Who Watches TV on TV Anyways?!"

2008-11-03T15:45:00.005-05:00

Well I do!... Or so I thought.

I heard this line the other night on Gossip Girl. It was a throwaway line, but it got me thinking... do people watch TV on TV anymore?

Of course, I thought to myself. I do. I do it everyday. But on further inspection, I realized, very few of the shows I watch today, are actually when they are on air.

Mondays have become the most hectic day in the week for me. Between Chuck, Heroes, How I Met Your Mother, 2 hours of WWE Monday Night RAW (it's awesome, so don't judge me!),One Tree Hill (guilty pleasure, so don't judge me!), Samantha Who? and Boston Legal I barely can watch any one program live. Add to the fact that I am at my weekly football game, and well, I thank the good Lord for DVRs, timeshifting and weekends!

Then there are shows that for some reason, do not cross the border as fast as others. Take for example ABC Family's Greek. Premiering in the states in the summer of 2007, the series finally debuted this summer on CTV and subsequently got over played on MuchMusic. The problem, however, has been that the good people over at CTV/Much have decided to halt the series mid way through the first season (it was really the mid season finale stateside, but a full season finale here). Greek is currently in the middle of its second season, while us crazy canucks are waiting for season one to resolve itself. By the time that actually happens, it should be graduation time! In cases like that, I've found myself moseying on to youtube and the like, watching episodes people have posted in bits and pieces. 30 Rock even recently premiered its season opener online a full three days before it went on air! The result, its highest ratings ever for a season premiere (I'm sure the Emmy helped as well!)

And then there are TV shows on DVD, iTunes, and On Demand channels. Most people I know get their entertainment this way. From the people I've spoken to, more people watch Entourage and Dexter on demand during the week than during their Sunday night timeslot.

It seems like people want to watch their show at their own pace. Whether it be watching 10 episodes of Nip/Tuck in a row (DVD), or watching an episode and then coming back to it later (on Demand/online), TV viewing has changed dramatically.

Neilsen even has figures for shows recorded on a DVR (a rating that seems to have saved shows like Friday Night Lights). New reaseach shows that DVR watchers actually watch MORE tv than your average live tv viewer. In fact in Europe 45% of people do their viewing online. Here in North America, networks are putting their programming online to attract views there. 90210 is one show has people flocking over to the Globaltv website here in Canada.

While I have crossed over to this new frontier, making the TV schedule work around my schedule, I still feel as if there still isn't anything like watching your favorite show on a big tv screen, rather than in front of a PC (or Mac) or even your iPod.

Call me old fashioned!

How about you? Where do you view most of your series? On Air? Online? On DVD? Let me know.

News from around the Tube...

2008-11-03T11:07:00.004-05:00

Alright, alright, I know I've been away. But there's been so much on offer and so little time... so with that in mind, let's proceed.

HBO has picked up Entourage for a sixth season a month into season five coming on air. Great news for fans of Vincent Chase and company!

Not to be outdone, Showtime announced that Dexter has been picked up for two additional seasons. Looks like Sunday night is pretty much set for for me for the next two years

NBC has picked up full season orders for Knight Rider and Kath & Kim (Seriously?!)

Private Practice and Samantha Who? has been picked up by ABC as well.

Barack Obama proved that people are really interested in this election. Using tv as a way to improve his image and get his name out there, Obama aired a 1/5 hour infomercial on every network save for ABC. Later that night he showed up on The Daily Show and garnered huge numbers for them as well!

CBS said goodbye to the Ex List. For some reason I really thought that one would work!

D.L Hugley has his own show on CNN. WTF?! D.L Hugley Breaks the News began October 25th.

The CW announced that with the success of 90210, they are working on creating a new Melrose Place for next season.

So, what do you think? Excited some of these shows are staying. Glad that some are off the air? Confused why CNN has a comedy show? Wondering why the CW is becoming the 90's nostolgia channel ?

Your comments would be gladly appreciated :)

Name that Tune...

2008-10-21T12:12:00.004-04:00

So the other day I was watching Entourage, and during the last scene Ari tells Vince that he's got a potential job offer to be a studio head and get Vince any job he wants. Vince answers back saying that it's great, but he thought they would end what they started. As he says the line, the Radiohead's Fake Plastic Trees qued in the background, and portrayed the uncertainty that both Vince and Ari were feeling in the scene.

skip over to the 2:00 min mark or so.

The scene was very poetic, and it made me wonder about music and tv, and how they two have had a brilliant relationship over the past ten years or so.

Now I'm not going to go into detail about general background music in shows, though those are just as important, but actual songs in TV shows.

Teen dramas are rife with examples. Imagine the opening of Dawson's Creek or The OC without the music that accompanies them. Those songs set the tone for the show before a single line was even uttered.

And what about the bands whose music is part of these series? Well they just introduce themselves to a whole new fan base

Take the example of Scrubs. Here is a show that uses a lot of music to portray how the characters are feeling. Long before Grey's Anatomy used the Fray's How to Save a Life for its commercials (a move that helped make the song one of the most downloaded ever!), the song was used in a crucial scene on Scrubs. But that's not the point. The point is, during the making of the DVD for season 1, songs were omitted from episodes and replaced with others as a cost cutting measure.

Fans were outraged. Putting pressure on the creator to make sure future DVDs didn't have the same issues. What makes this so impressive is the fact that season 1 of Scrubs came out in 2005, a full four years after the show premiered. The episodes weren't even in syndication! Clearly, fans of the show were so moved by the music that they wanted the same songs to portray the same emotions they felt when they first saw the episode.

Subsequent DVDs for Scrubs and other shows with strong musical influences have stuck to the same songs they used in the original run. Some series, like any show on the CW, have sections of their official website that informs viewers of what tracks were played in what episodes. Thus allowing the band to feed off the fanbase of the show.

I'll leave you with some of the best music moments in Scrubs.

Till the next time, why don't you tell me some music/tv moments that moved you.

Have a Little Faith in Me!

2008-10-08T10:56:00.000-04:00

The new season is well underway, and there have been some interesting trends in the world of TV.

Fringe is the second new series, after 90210, to get a full season order. Lead in House has definately helping push the show to gain an audience every week.

I haven't seen it, but the Mentalist generated some great numbers in its debut episode. CBS watchers really love their crime investigative shows, don't they!

However, sophmore shows like Chuck, Dirty Sexy Money, Private Practice, and Pushing Daisies are returning to lower ratings than their premiere seasons. Which I have to say is unfortunate because I enjoy all these shows. The long, writers strike enduced, lay off of no new episodes really seems to have viewers looking elsewhere for their favorite shows.

Even fanboy favorite Heroes is experiencing trouble. After a second season cut in half, the series experienced its lowest rated episode this past Monday (October 6th, 2008). As a friend pointed out to me, once you start playing around with time travel, things can get very convoluted for the viewers.

In each of the cases, not including Heroes, the loss seems to be about a million viewers or so. That is a lot, but when you consider the 10 months these shows have not been on the air, that's pretty good retention.

All shows have come back with bang creatively. All have managed to keep their tone, as well as get rid of any kinks that annoyed viewers last season.

The question though, is will the networks stay dedicated to these shows if ratings either stay the same or fall.

One of the main reasons people have been switching from networks to cable in recent years is due to the knee jerk reactions of network tv.

HBO, Showtime, and now AMC, are being looked at as the place to view great programs. Even basic cable stations like TNT, USA and FX have given us some gems over the years. The reason? Series are allowed to develope and grow. They are allowed to create a connection with the audience and have the time to develope their stories. Examples? The Sopranos, Dexter, Mad Men, Nip/Tuck.

Network tv on the other hand, doesn't seem to understand this phenomenon. A lot of the time, they are quick to get rid of shows based on a few weeks (some cases days) old. On the flip side, they are quick to pick up on orders on the same idea.

But there have been a few cases where networks have worked on the "cable style" system and in the process found some TV classics

From Last Place to Where Everybody Knows Your Name!

Back in 1982, NBC was in bad state. The network had a lot of dramas on their last legs and very few sitcoms. A new sitcom debuted on the station that built around the concept of friends meeting at a bar detailing troubles at work and home. The show was called Cheers. One of the most successful shows in the past 50 years, anchoring the stations "Must See TV Thursday" lineup, as well as spinning off another NBC hit, Fraiser. But did you know that pilot episode of this show was DEAD LAST in the ratings. Network programming head Brandon Tartikoff felt the series has legs and kept it around. Now imagine if the show was taken off the air based on that one episode. Gone would be famous opening anthem, the screams of Nooorm, and the extra eleven years were were given by Fraiser!

The Chronicles of Nothing!

1989. A TV show called the Chonicles of Seinfeld premiered on NBC. The pilot was not well recieved and numbers weren't great. NBC actually offered the show to FOX, but they refused as well. The series was headed to the cancellation heap when late night and special events head Rick Ludwin decided to take money from his budget and fund the next three episodes of the show. Those three episodes, with the lead in from the aforementioned Cheers, drew big numbers, and led to the show getting picked up and eventually replacing Cheers on the "Must See TV" line up. on the season 1 DVD box set, Jerry Seinfeld even goes as far as saying that the decision making process and freedom he got from NBC in those early days has only been replicated at HBO. Hmmm, conicidence? I think not!

Today NBC finds itself in a similar situation as it did back in 1982. With the finales of Friends and Fraiser, NBC lost a lot of ground to CBS with its mix of procedural dramas and reality tv. The network consistantly sees itself in fourth place, with the exception of its highly rated late night programming (there we go again!)

There are other examples of networks pulling for shows that are creatively strong, but come out a little too early for the public. However, they seem to be few and far between, and in a lot of cases, shows aren't even given the time to develop or find an audience. I understand the business is about having the ratings to sell time to advertisers, and these in turn help pay for the shows, but in certain cases, a good show with good writing and good acting should be given a chance. And then if the audience isn't there, fine, it's time we call it a day.

Case in point: Friday Night Lights. A brilliantly written show with some great acting (Kyle Chandler is a standout), has really struggled to find an audience despite a lot of good press. NBC really seems to like this series, mainly due to the fact that the people who do watch it fall within a wealthier demographic. So, this season it is splitting costs with satelitte company DirecTV. The subscription channel will premiere the new season, and then three months later the show will debut on NBC for the rest of us regular folks (and hopefully Global, here in Canada). NBC is really hoping that this will somehow help the show find its footing.

Any shows that you were falling in love with that got brutally taken away?

Do tell in comments

Note: So I just found out that Beverly Hills Chihuahua made $29 million dollars over the weekend. The shows above are losing viewers, and some how this movie manages to make a ridiculous amount of money. C'mon people! The shows I'm mentioning are free!!! Wow, just wow!

Empty-V : A Break Up Letter

2008-10-02T12:54:00.000-04:00

Hey M,

How you been? I know, I haven't been around lately. I'm sorry... it's just that, well, things are different now. And as hard as this is to say, I think it's time that we moved on.

Remember when we first met almost fifteen years ago. Things were much simpler then. I'd hear a song on the radio, and there you were showing me the video. Whenever there was an act in town, there they were at your place, hanging out, telling us what was going on. I loved the parties you used to throw, huge bashes that focused on music or movies. They were absolutely crazy!

Then things started to change a little. We were both growing up, trying new things out. I started hanging out with some of the networks, you started toying around with this concept called reality tv. It was a nice change at first. You mixed a little of that young music flavour with people like myself. Oh how I enjoyed the seeing people from The Real World or chilling with Beavis and Butthead.

But then, somewhere down the line, I began to notice that things were changing altogether. All of a sudden there weren't any music videos and that there was more and more of this reality stuff. Sure if we were out late, it would be like old times, but that was the extent of it. In fact it got so bad, I had to hang out with Much (who seems to have since been following your lead!). To your credit you tried. After we talked, you introduced TRL.

As the years went on though even that didn't work. I tried to get into some of the things you were into. I'm not going to lie, I enjoyed hanging out with some of the kids from Laguna Beach. I tried a Shot of Love with Tila Tequila but it wasn't for me. I enjoyed Pimping My Ride, adn Punking people. Ahh, those were fun times. Hell, I even tried moving to The Hills with you, but after a year of nothing happening, I really didn't want to stay there much longer.

I did enjoy our time trying to turn Gs to Gents . I thought perhaps maybe we could communicate on a new understanding. Perhaps try and educate through entertainment rather than exploit. But then things took another turn for the worse.

Now you want to find a new BFF for Paris Hilton???!! C'mon man, what is this all about? I didn't even have time for the actual event, I just joined in for the casting special. This is what you have to offer me? I've given you fifteen years of support and this is how you repay me. I'm sorry, but this is what is breaking this camel's proverbial back.

But I think you sensed this happening. Come November I hear your getting rid of the our olive branch that is TRL.

Hopefully we can still be friends. I'm sure I'll see you around at the parties. I'm still one of the few that enjoy those. And I'm sure we'll run into each other at Much's place.

But other than that, I'm going to say that this is the end. It's been a fun ride, but I think this might be it for the both of us.

Best Wishes,

DGN

PS: Here are some better times :)

Ask Not What TV Can Do for You, Ask What You Can Do for TV

2008-09-29T13:40:00.000-04:00

With the election fever taking over most of North America - Both the United States and Canada have elections coming up this fall, not too sure about Mexico - I wanted to take a look at the role TV will be playing in who becomes leader. Be warned...this may be a long one!

The main focus here of course will be the American election system -mainly because it is so TV friendly.

American politics is always played out better than pretty much any other country in the world. Speeches are made that are better written than most movies or TV shows, and alliances and backstabbing is worse than even the best episode of Survivor. TV has always played an important role in the building up, or in most cases breaking down opponents. Who hasn't seen commercials where one candidate bad mouths anothers campaign ideas.

However, there are other ways that TV has really helped with politics and more importantly, Preseidential elections. In 1960, the first US Presidential Debate was held on TV. The participants were then Senator John F. Kennedy and Vice President Richard Nixon. The debate, like in years to come, was hosted on all major networks and greatly aided Kennedy in his eventual winning of the election. The reason: viewers were able to relate to a young, charming candidate in comparison to Nixon's "poor makeup, haggard appearance and gray suit which blended into the backdrop of the set". Kennedy's people knew the power of image, and used it to their advantage.

The same can be said of President Bill Clinton. In 1988 Bill Clinton was introducing Presidential hopeful Michael Dukakis at the Democratic convention. His speech was 48 mins long, and had people in the crowd screaming for him to stop. Clinton uttered the words "in closing" to a huge round of applause and a standing ovation. Later, Clinton appeared on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, where Carson gave the longest introduction for a guest at 3 mins and 48 secs. The intro was actually pages long. When Clinton did come on, he was asked the question "How are you?" followed by Carson putting an hourglass on the table. Clinton laughed it off and came across like someone who could laugh at himself and very positively. The end result, nomination for himself in the 1992 elections and eventually President of the United States.

In the lead up to this year in particular, you have probably one of the most exciting and twisted elections ever. On one hand you have Senator Barack Obama, from Illinois - the first black nominee ever, who fought tooth and nail to win a very close primary against former first lady Hilary Clinton. On the other hand, Senator John McCain, a Vietnam vet, who has used getting a female running mate as his bargining chip into the White House. Both are looking for their first term in the Oval Office.

Let's see how TV has helped or detered each candidate out:

The Primaries:

With each candidate looking to stake their claim before official nominations had taken place, candidates were quick to show up on our TV sets. Obama, Clinton and McCain did the usual rounds of news and talk shows, but they even appeared on shows like Saturday Night Live (to show their lighter side), WWE Monday Night RAW (to get to those pesky 18-24 male demo) and even on the season finale of Last Comic Standing (again, I guess to show that they can laugh like the rest of us). In a lot of cases, these came across as trying to hard, rather than attaching some "cool" factor, and it doesn't help that all three would sometimes show up on the same show, so as to not show political bias.

Obama:

You just have to look at Obama's acceptance of the Presidential nomination to see how he's using the power of image and emotion to connect with voters. Making the stage into a roman colosseum, as if ushering a new era (Obama's campaign motto is Change), to the biography movie introducing him before hand (showing him growing up from humble beginnings to something bigger), everything is set up to give him the bigger than life appearance, that this is the man to lead us into the next phase of American history.

McCain/Palin:

The power of TV really is a strong example with these two. McCain clearly chose Sarah Palin as his running mate to capitalize on that Hilary vote, but also because she's a looker. His party knows that we are an image concious group, and we'd rather watch Barack than old man John, so he got us something we can look at. Palin is now the focus of the campaign, pretty much doing the talking whenever available. She has even helped in aiding SNL's ratings this season through the absolutely brilliant impersonations of Tina Fey.

However, through this masterstroke, McCain has also made a mistake underestimating TV. Scheduled to be a guest on the Late Show with David Letterman McCain cancelled last mintue, saying he needed to head to Washington that night to discuss the economic crisis with Obama and the current President. However, he then did a news show with CBS's Katie Couric and stayed in New York for the night. When this got back to Letterman, he went on a tirade making McCain the butt of show long jokes, and it doesn't seem like he's stopping anytime soon. Now consider than most American's get their news from the monologues on late night talk shows, can you imagine how much of a hinderance this could cause his campaign!

And all this coming off the heals that 57 million people watched the US Presidential Debates this past friday. That's more than the Friends finale!

There are probably a lot more twist and turns from now until November 4th, but whatever they are just remember :

The Revolution will be Televised!

As usual, what are your thoughts. Comments please.

Flipping through the Channels

2008-09-29T10:51:00.000-04:00

One of the problems with writing a TV blog during the new season is, you either get caught up watching the new shows, or you get stuck doing other things and then your have to catch up on your watching TV and then catch up on writing your blog.
So in short, my apologies on the lack of posts. And without further adieu, here are some thoughts from the past week:

The CW picked up 90210 a full season. The proper amount of hype and controversy was enough to help the series get their order after four episodes. Congrats to them, clearly trying to create a new TV dynasty.
Speaking of the famous zip code, looks like the CW is planning on crossing the show over with a bunch of rich kids from the east side. Word on the street is that socialites from Gossip Girl may come pay a visit to the Peach Pit gang. Not sure how that would fair (Gossip Girl being a tad more risque than 90210), but definately a great promotional tool for the fledgling network.
FOX cancelled their hotel sitcom Do Not Disturbed making it the first casualty of the season. I've just seen the one episode, and boy was it bad.
Despite all the hype NBC gave it during the summer, the two hour Heroes premiered to some disappointing numbers. The show was crushed by the season opener of Dancing with the Stars. Sigh, "reality" seems to be winning again.
So far ABC seems to the strongest this season. Dancing with the Stars and a two hour premiere episode of Grey's Anatomy has really seen them take a strong start to the season. Though watch for some of that to change with the beginning of CSI next week.

That's pretty much for me. You will be seeing a lot from me hopefully this weeks. Chuck, Pushing Daisies and Dirty Sexy Money all premiere this week. Don't miss out. Seriously, its going to be good.

Butterfly, Leaf, Handprint, Half Cut Apple, Frog - The Fringe Review

2008-09-25T18:01:00.000-04:00

So, I've been meaning to do this for a while, but life has got in the way.

Either way, typically I like to watch a couple of episodes of a new show before I review them. I say typically even though this is my first review!

Let me start of by saying I'm not a huge sci-fi fan. There are few shows in the genre that really appeal to me. The best ones in the lot being Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. Clearly I'm a fan of Joss Wheadon. And clearly I can't wait for Dollhouse to start mid season. However, a show that is slowly adding to the list is Fringe by J.J. Abrams.

I've heard a lot of J.J.Abrams sci fi work, but unfortunately have never seen it. Fans of Lost swear by it (I believe there may even be a rehab program for it), and Cloverfield was praised by all. I really thought that the next Star Trek movie would be my chance to check him out in this field, then came Fringe. I have however seen his non sci fi shows, those being Alias (ok that one is a little sci-fi), What about Brian? and Felicity.

The premise is based on fringe sciences, or paranomal sciences. In a nutshell, FBI agenct Olivia Dunham (played by Anna Torv) is trying to save her FBI boyfriend, John Scott (played by Boston Legal's Mark Valley) from a flesh eating toxin. To do so she has to get Dr. Walter Bischop (John Noble) out of the mental hospital he resides in to help fight this. To make that possible she enlists the help of his estranged son Peter Bishop (Dawson's Creek's Joshua Jackson).

What us created is a character driven show built around a sci fi setting. Every character has a back story and reasoning behind their actions. Olivia is trying to find out about what John was covering up, Dr. Bischop is trying to prove he isn't the quack that people think he is, especially to his son, and Peter is finally seeing his father for who he is. Peter and Olivia also have this chemistry that I can only explain as Mulder and Scully-ish (or for newer tv watchers Booth and Bones-ish). The show even has what seems like a series long mystery built around their mystery of the week. Again, think Buffy or Veronica Mars seasons 1 and 2.

Fringe isn't for everyone. There is a lot of suspension of disbelief, but like any sucessful sci fi producer/writer, the fan base is there, and FOX is counting on them. Pairing it together with another character driven, mystery of the week show like House will really help its numbers (and it has!), so hopefully we can see a lot more of this series in the coming months.

By the way, if your confused about the title of this post, watch the show!

Emmys turns 60...and it Shows!

2008-09-22T11:45:00.000-04:00

So I was going to do a full live blog of the 60th Annual Prime Time Emmy Awards, and then I thought to myself, why would anyone who watched it care?

Clearly you are watching it thinking the same thing I am.. more or less at least!

So rather than take you bit by bit through the entire process, hows about we have a look at some of the highlight and low points of the event:

Highlights:

Ricky Gervais: This guy is a comedy genius. If you've ever heard me talk about the Office UK, then you know I think the world of this guy. His introduction of himself, rules to accepting a good speech and then his mocking of Steve Carrel stealing his Emmy from last year were brilliant. For those not in the know, Gervais is executive producer of the American version of the Office. Do yourself a favor and check out Extras on DVD. You won't be disappointed.

Bryan Cranston winning for Breaking Bad: Sometimes winning an Emmy or any award for that matter, can really bring attention to the award winning subject. That's exactly the case here. Breaking Bad, another AMC original, is one of those shows that fell under the radar last year due to the writer's strike. The show is about a high school chemistry teacher who finds out he has six months to a year to live. To make sure that his family is well supported, he turns to creating and selling meth. If you've only know of Bryan Cranston's work from Malcolm in the Middle, then check this show out. It's a complete 180 from his previous work. I wasn't sure if it was coming back, but from his acceptance speech it looks like it is.

"What if I just kept talking for 12 minutes? That was the opening." : Line of the night and really summed up the opening. Good job Piven!

Don Rickles & Tommy Smothers: Two legend got what they deserved. Good for them, and nice moments in the show.

The Favorites Won: Usually I like a little mixing it up, but good for the shows in question. 30 Rock and Mad Men both deserved it. Network tv is clearly the place to go for your comedy favorites, and AMC just flexed some muscle in the drama category!

Low Points:

Just the one, but this was a huge mood killer...

Five Hosts; No Show: Remember the saying "Too many cooks..." , well nothing proved it like this. I understand trying to make a statement that reality tv has been "accepted" by the Emmy's, but none of these hosts really hosted. In fact the funniest thing with the hosts involved Jimmy Kimmel naming who the winner was. Unfortunately this really set a ton for the entire night, and really killed the pazzaz that usually comes with award shows. Lets leave it to Conan or Jon Stewart next year okay guys! Hell, why not give it to Ricky Gervais!

Well those are my thoughts, what did you think? Let me know!

Pass the Remote: The Guest Columnist

2008-09-18T21:18:00.001-04:00

This is something I'm looking to make somewhat of a regular here on the site. Hopefully if there are items people would like to discuss that fits in with our site, I'd be happy to present it to the world.

Today I pass the remote to adrian tango from videogamesforus.com, a blog about all the goings on in the gaming world. So obviously today he writes about gaming and tv, and some of the highs and lows of the marriage between the two. So without further adieu, I present to you....

Saturday Morning Gaming
by adriantango

I remember waking up Saturday mornings, excited about what new adventures the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or the X Men were going to get into. It was truly a magical moment when the week before there was a cliffhanger and now - finally - there was a conclusion to it. What made things extra special were the premieres of new cartoons, especially when they were characters and stories we already knew, cartoons that were adapted from video games.

There are three games that come to mind, Sonic the Hedgehog, Mega Man and the Super Mario Bros.

Sonic actually had two Saturday morning cartoons. The first show, Sonic the Hedgehog had a dark, serious feel to it. It really emphasized the villan and the hero as complete opposites with a strong hatred for each other. This was different than the other cartoons because the villains and hero just wanted to stop each others plans. Here, they wanted to kill each other outright. The second series, Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog went for the regular Saturday cartoon feel, with more characters from the game and really had a lot of colour. This clearly was designed for the younger set. Both shows began at the same time however this colourful version lasted longer with Sonic the Hedgehog getting canceled after two seasons and continuing in a comic book version. Adventures still runs in syndication to this day.

Mega Man, to me, was an abomination of a cartoon. All the ingredients for a great cartoon wer there. Plenty of villains including one main villain. This way story lines would never really repeat as he would have a new villian to face each week. Instead, they decided to make the show very campy and very nauseating for fans of the game. Amazingly enough the show was animated and produced by Capcom themselves. Even the introduction of Megaman X could not save that show. Apparently the robots of the future are even more campy.

The only good video game to TV show example I can think of is The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! It had everything, Captain Lou Albino, funny Italian accents and entertaining cartoon stories. The show never went to silly, or to serious. Plus, the series had a special surprise for everyone on Fridays, Zelda baby.

So, in retrospect, some video games do not make good cartoons, or even movies for that matter. When producers decide to make a cartoon out of a video game, they better have a damn good idea.

And with that, I take the remote back from adrian. Thanks so much for your thoughts about TV and the world of video games colliding. Be sure to check out videogamesforus.com, and please let us know what your thoughts are.

Flipping through the channels...

2008-09-18T21:18:00.000-04:00

With new and returning shows, I thought I would talk about something things that have been on my mind...

Fringe didn't open to the greatest numbers on it's debut, but the show did win the night.
Though the season premiere of House really helped pick up the ratings in its second week

Speaking of House, the show really started up with a great new episode, and really great character development. Amber, or "Super Bitch" still lingers with the show even in death
The monster that was the premiere of 90210 seems to have fallen a bit in the last couple of weeks. Numbers have dropped, but networks had to have realized that with all the super hype leading to episode one of this spin off, things had to have tapered a bit
While in the zip code, Global here in Canada really spoiled the one thing fans of the originals were dying to know. Every promo leading up to the fourth episode told fans who the father of Kelly Taylor's baby was. I'm not saying anything, but it isn't Brandon
Monday Night Football opened the season with a monster game. The Dallas Cowboys vs The Philadelphia Eagles. The game was very fast paced and high scoring, and word of mouth definitely led to the historic 13 rating for ESPN, the highest rating of all time on US basic cable
Season 1 of Chuck, Dirty Sexy Money and Pushing Daisies all came out of DVD this week. Be sure to check them out before the start of their season two premieres

There is still more to come. The big three nets, NBC, ABC and CBS will unveil their shows next week.

The PVR will be definitely be in overdrive.

I Didnt Watch the Show...Now I want a movie!

2008-09-15T21:21:00.000-04:00

The other day I was talking TV with a friend of mine, and we were going back and forth on shows we enjoyed. Between the two of us, there were a few similarities, Dexter and Dirty Sexy Money being the two standouts. There were shows that she watched that I didn't - in this case Weeds and Lost. Then there were shows that I told her to watch, Nip/Tuck, and the one this particular entry will be about -Arrested Development.

In 2003, FOX debuted a show during its Sunday line up that was something, well, very un-FOX like. A smart character driven ensemble comedy led by Jason Bateman and Jeffrey Tambor (of the also brilliant Larry Sanders Show) about the riches to rag story of the Bluth family. The show was renowned for its well written, and often complex storylines that really came together, as well as unearthing some brilliant comedic talents.

Unfortunately like sitcom genius Seinfeld's first couple of seasons before it, the show struggled to find a solid audience. Often getting saddled with titles like 'The Best Show Your Not Watching', or 'Ratings Challenged', the show was a critical darling. However, FOX didn't really help matters by moving it around and not giving it a stable place on its schedule.

After three seasons, and a host of Emmys and Golden Globe awards for Writing, Acting and the show itself, FOX decided to end the series. Unlike some of the shows mentioned in my last post, the last four episodes were made into a two hour series finale, nicely tying up plot lines and character developments.

So that should be it.

Not Quite.

Cut to five years later, and show has sadly found its following a little too late. DVD sales and reruns on channels like Showtime in the US and CBC here in Canada have informed people about what they were missing out on five years ago. Maybe the show was ahead of its time. Maybe people just don't know a good thing when they see it. Whatever it is, it has built some hype that, with the success of TV to Movie versions of Sex and the City, the Bluth family may also be coming to a big screen near you.

Word going around is that everyone from the cast as well as writers will be coming back. Everyone that is sans Michael Cera. The Brampton, Ontario native, whose career has sky rocketed thanks to roles in movies such as Superbad and Juno, has said he wouldn't want to do the movie as he'd rather enjoy the series as it was, and fans should enjoy the DVDs.

This, has caused an uproar amongst the fans of Arrested Development that want this movie.

Fairplay.

Only I think these fans are people who didnt appreciate the show when it was on air. These are the people who have come to the party late, and now want everything everyone else got. The series finale, while not watched by everyone, was a perfect ending. Mitchell Hurwitz, the co-creator and writer, was happy to end the show, even going as far as turning down an offer to stay with the show should it be picked up by cable network Showtime (who in turn did not pick it up without him).

I don't think its fair to criticize any actor or writer who does not want to take part in bringing back a program that no one appreciated during its prime, especially when there is a potential for backlash from the same group. By that I mean, should this movie finally come to fruition, and it isn't up to the TV shows very high standards, this very vocal group of fans will end up getting even more vocal. As it stands right now, its almost smart business to stay away from it and give the fans doses through other movies (Michael Cera has starred with Jason Bateman in Juno, and with Alia Shawkat in an episode of Veronica Mars). And God forbid this audience that couldn't find the time to watch it for free on TV not make their way to the local theater to watch the movie.

Now please dont get me wrong. I'd love to see a movie. However I can live happily watching the show on DVD. Theres just something perfect about the show, that perhaps should just stay the way it was.

As always, the comments box is always open. Love to hear from you if you agree or think otherwise.

The End is the beginning is the End...

2008-09-15T14:26:00.000-04:00

When I was a younger DGN, I was (and still am) a huge fan of "Spider-man". No matter what was out there, I would make sure to watch anything that had Spidey in it. This included the VERY hard to find and under rated "Spider-man and his Amazing Friends", "The X-Men" featuring a guest apprearance from everybodies favourite web slinger, and even the very very short lived "Spider-Woman" which featured Spidey every now and then. Two of the series that I enjoyed the most though were the 1994 "Spider-man" and "Spider-man: The New Animated Series" in 2003. It was when I was going through some old DVDs that I realized that both these shows had one thing in common outside of subject matter. They both ended their runs with a cliffhanger!

For those uninitiated: "A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in which a movie, novel, or other work of fiction contains an abrupt ending, often leaving the main characters in a precarious or difficult situation, or with a sudden shock revelation. This type of ending is used to ensure that, if a next installment is made, audiences will return to find out how the cliffhanger is resolved. (from wikipedia).

Now, I can see why this is done from the standpoint of a writer or producer. Obviously, the goal is for people to come back and watch. But if this is the last episode of the series, it is absolutely terrible to the viewer.

In both cases of the shows I mentioned, the viewer is left wondering what's happening next. In "Spider-man", Peter Parker sets out to find his wife Mary Jane who missing for most of the season. I remember waiting to find out what happens next, only to see the pilot the next day. Confusion and anger set in. Similarly, with "Spider-man: The New Animated Series" the final episode shows a defeated (emotionally!) Peter Parker throwing his outfit into the sea, promising never to be Spidey again. This is how you end the series???!! REALLY??!! (Sorry, I really love the webhead).

The same can be said about a few other shows. "Las Vegas" abruptly ended last season on a cliffhanger and was then cancelled by NBC. Though I believe that may have had to do more with the writers strike than anything else. "Angel", a spin-off of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" ended with the beginning of an epic battle that left us wondering who lived and who died. MTV is notorious for these cliffhanger series finales. Along with the aforementioned "Spider-man: The New Animated Series", the smartly written "Clone High" was cancelled in this fashion as well. WB teen parody "Popular" ended its two season run similarly, with one of the characters being hit by a car. The list continues, I'd suggest checking out wikipedia for more info.

The question here is what can be done to resolve this. I understand network business means that if a show is not profiting either through advertising rates, or at the very least Golden Globe/Emmy fare, then it is too expensive to keep on air. However, if it has had a successful run, is it not possible to give it a proper send off for the fans of the show? Lets go back to the shows I was talking about. In the case of the "Spider-man" series, chances are we will see our favourite super hero in some other incarnation. The MTV series was supposed to originally lead into "Spider-man 2". The same goes with "Angel", who from what I've heard, continued its run in comic book format. Some of the characters in "Las Vegas" may return on NBC's new "Knight Rider", which share the same production team. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for "Clone High" and "Popular".

I would say the least that could have been done in cases like that is there would have an extra on the DVD. If the show was popular enough to warrent a fan following (and searches on the 'net will show that there are), then chances are there is money in putting an episode together for DVD. Granted this is much easier to pull off for an animated series rather than a live action, but it seems like something that could be done. "Family Guy" is a great example of success via DVD sales. Hell, it's even a reason to buy the DVD considering all the different ways we have access to reruns these days.

I don't know... perhaps I'm still bitter about not knowing where Mary Jane is, or what made Peter put on the tights again, but I think if you've devoted the time into watching a show over a long period of time, the least they can do is give it a proper ending. But maybe that's just the fanboy in me!

On that note...I know I'm about five years late, but still can't hurt..

Comments? Any shows that you have on this list? Would love to hear em!

No TV and No Beer Make DGN Go.... something something

2008-09-11T15:38:00.000-04:00

GO CRAZY? Don't Mind if I Do!!!

Ok, well, not right now... but WOW did it feel like that last year! The Writer's strike really put a hold on a lot of good stuff that was out there last year. And while I do sympathize with their cause (seriously, how did the networks think they were not going to pay these guys, when they themselves were going to profit off it through the internet and dvd), it really made things boring on those long cold Canadian winters when there was nothing to do.

But thankfully those days are over, and there are new and returning shows in full force. Of the ones I really enjoyed last season, these are the ones to watch:

"Chuck" - great spy comedy from the writer/producer of the OC and Gossip Girl. Well written, and very tongue in cheek. Had a good run last season, and hopefully NBC gives it time to thrive.

"Dirty Sexy Money" - a drama with some fantastic acting. Any scene with Peter Krause and Donald Sutherland, is worth watching this show alone. The show has aspects of comedy and mystery. Last season we were left with the introduction of new characters and new plot lines half way thru, and then the strike hit. Hopefully it can pick up where it left off.

"Pushing Daisies" - an very offbeat show. Romantic, Dark comedy and sci fi all rolled into one, this show will remind anyone who watches it of Tim Burton's "Big Fish". The chemistry between the leads is very strong, and every week seems to have some odd surprise. Add a musical number? Sure, it doesn't seem out of place on this show.

These are the shows that really stuck out with me last season. These are the types of 'original' shows I was talking about in my last post.

The new season so far has been rather interesting.

"90210" opened to some HUGE numbers for the CW. That's what nostalgia, SUPER hype and nothing else on TV will get you. The next couple of weeks will really determine if the show is a success or not.

I'm still waiting to check out "Fringe" which I hear was good. Here in Canada CTV and A simulcast the program with FOX, so clearly they have a lot of hope for it to do well. My PVR is holding on to it for me, and I haven't heard any ratings news either.

"Bones" has moved past last season's finale, and returned to it's jovial beginnings (Thank GOD!) and "Priviledged", which I only caught a little off, seemed pretty decent. The show is very quirky, and well Joanna Garcia is back on TV. That's all I need (Hey Joanna, if by some fluke you happen to read this, Call me ;))

"Hole on the Wall" premieres tonight on FOX. That looks funny as hell.

Other than that, we wait and see what the new season has instore.

What are you waiting for? Let me know...

They do say 'Imitation is the best form of Flattery...'

2008-09-11T14:21:00.000-04:00

Something that I have seen crop up over the last couple of years is the "franchising" of television shows across the world. By this I mean, taking a program that is popular in another country, and re-working it for the local audience.

This is a very common theme in the reality tv genre, the most popular being "Pop Idol" out of the UK becoming "American Idol" stateside, and "Canadian Idol" here in the great white north. But I'm talking more so about scripted programming following suit.

The first recent instant of this occured in 2003. NBC, looking for a way to make up for the impending loss of "Friends" to its Thursday night line up, and decided to add a show that had done phenomenally well in the UK. This show was "Coupling", a show built around the same concept as friends, except for its very heavy content on sexual activity and relationships (no nudity, no swearing, but a lot of inference). The show was on air from 2000 - 2004 (British TV is known for their shorter runs). However, NBC wasn't airing the original, but instead opting to re-create it with American stars. The result: Not good. "Coupling US" didn't have the same chemisty, and in a culture known for exploiting sex, but not necessarily open about it, the subject matter didn't resonate with audiences, ending after only 4 episodes (Nine were made in total).

However, that didn't stop NBC (good for them in this case!), and in 2005 added "The Office" to their Thursday night line up. The original UK Office was another huge hit in its home country, and made Ricky Gervais a star. The plot revolves around a concept that everyone knows about...a boss you do not like. The main difference between the American and British version is the boss himself. When the job was offered to Steve Carrel, he decided not to watch the original, and played the role very differently. PLaying more of a goofy Michael Scott than the cocky David Brent that Gervais based his on. The result: A sleeper hit for the network. While people couldn't stop comparing it to the original, "The Office US" blew up with the success of Carell's film "The 40 Year Old Virgin".

There are more shows coming down the the line. NBC is bringing in "Kath and Kim" (based on the Aussie hit of the same name) this fall and ABC has "Life on Mars" (another British program - perhaps I should start watching more of their shows!), and sitting on Footballer's Wives (British soap, but these footballers play the Amercian Version!).

Of course America is not the only place guilty of this. Since the success of the American verison, other Offices have set up shop in France, Germany, French Canada and Chile. CBC (Canada) came out with MVP:The Secret Lives of Hockey Wives (ala Footballers Wives). While not a hit on Canadian or American tv (it aired on ABC to low ratings) the show is coming back on SOAPNet in 2009. Canada is also the starting point for franchise show "Little Mosque on the Prairie", which is a success in and out of Canada and will have an American version to air on FOX sometime in the near future.

So, the question is, is this a good thing or a bad thing. In the case of shows like "The Office", it seems like a great idea. People really enjoyed the antics of Michael Scott and company, and then forces them to watch the original. However, what if you watched "Coupling US" . Would you watch the original. Doubt it, even though it's one of the better written comedies we've seen in a while. Chances are, the more of these "franchised" shows we see, the more failures we'll read about. Very few knockoffs are as good as their originals, even if some of the originals are utilized. And of course, what about originality? Are we not going to see any new ideas anymore? I understand ripping off a concept, that's been done before. But now we're just going to copy the entire idea?!

We'll have to see how these new shows pan out... but it would be nice to see some new ideas being mixed around with these old one...

Your comments are always welcome :)

If Your Just Tuning In....

2008-09-08T09:14:00.000-04:00

...you've arrived to the very first post of 'TV Raised Me'.

Welcome. We're stilling finding ourselves, but this blog is going to be the thoughts of a TV addict!
I'm mostly going to talk about happenings within the industry, what I think about whats going on on the boob tube, as well as other random thoughts.

Feel free to leave comments. Would love to hear your thoughts.