Still getting my sea legs after a weekend trip to Chicago in which I was very good to my palate and very bad to my arteries, hence the relative quiet on the blog today. Where the resumption of talks between the writers and the studios was supposed to be a positive sign, the sides seem almost father apart than ever, and now other networks are starting to follow Fox's lead by announcing strike schedules for early '08.
NBC already has "American Gladiators" slated to take over for "Chuck," among other mid-season reality replacements, and today they announced that "Law & Order" the mothership will return to its old night and time on Wednesday, January 2 -- and will be paired the following week with episodes of "Criminal Intent." They're episodes of "Criminal Intent" that have already aired on USA, but what's that old NBC promo department saying? If you haven't seen it on our network, it might be new to you?
Meanwhile, CBS announced a fairly elaborate post-New Year's makeover that includes the return of "Old Christine" (Mondays at 9:30) and "Jericho" (Tuesdays at 10), the debut of "The Captain," a sitcom with Chris Klein and Jeffrey Tambor (I'm as confused as you are about that pairing), "Comanche Moon" (the final "Lonesome Dove" miniseries) being relocated from its New Year's week graveyard to mid-January, and in a move as depressing as it is unsurprising, the first-ever winter edition of "Big Brother" on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Sundays.
Now how much does it cost to expand my Netflix subscription so I always have a new DVD available?
The commercials for those new reality shows are downright depressing. Carrie Ann vs. Bruno? The next great American choir? Some of them seem like SNL sketches.
ReplyDeleteI will be upgrading to the 5 at a time plan.
I plan to use this free evening time to catch up on my reading. Those Hardy Boys, always stumbling into adventure!
ReplyDeleteThat "Moment of Truth" looks evil.
ReplyDeleteI am actually kind of glad there will be a break in shows. There are so many shows now that I watch out of habit, more because I am used to them than I really enjoy them, or because there is nothing better on. It will be nice to get a chance to catch up on some DVDs that have been piling up, or maybe try a book.
Alan, any specific plans for the blog come 2008? Maybe a new "Freaks and Geeks" style flashback? The classics from way back? Timeless vs. Times Up examination of overrated classics? I need my Sepinwall fix, dadgummit.
i've been seeing ads for that horrible-looking cashmere mafia, too.
ReplyDeleteon a tv note, damn it all....
ReplyDeleteon a non- related note. hope you had fun in my hometown of Chicago and had some good eats. we know our food.
TCM, baby, courtesy of the great sacrifice creatives made in 1960, trading pre-1960 residuals for silly things like health care, and courtesy of that mad fuck who only saw the value of movies after colorization.
ReplyDeleteI read in the L.A. Times that the Winter TCA-fest might be cancelled this year, too. Bummer!
ReplyDeleteFrom today's paper: "NBC has made an ambitious deal, apparently the first of its kind, to buy a two-hour — or perhaps even three-hour — block of prime-time programming from outside producers, including Thom Beers, the creator of adventure documentary series like 'Deadliest Catch' and 'Ice Road Truckers.'"
ReplyDeleteI bet a lot of households will be down to performing their own puppet shows pretty soon.
We can only hope Linus Roache's first case on Law & Order involves a kidnapping.
ReplyDeleteI'm just waiting for ABC to reveal if they're going to show the completed episodes of Lost or hold them like 24.
I bet a lot of households will be down to performing their own puppet shows pretty soon.
ReplyDeleteI can see the "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" episode covering this now: "The Gang Gets Amish"!
go for the 5 at a time plan Alan, it's amazing. I had it over the summer (I've since gone back to 3 at a time) and I fully intend to up my subscription again come January.
ReplyDeleteI'm actually looking forward a bit to catching up on some old shows that I missed the first time around. First on my list- Six Feet Under.
Alan, that Netflix comment perfectly hit home for me. Just yesterday I reactivated my years-dormant Netflix account (3 at a time for now) because reality TV is simply not an option for me.
ReplyDeleteIt's time to watch all those movies I missed in the theater because I'm too grumoy to deal with my noisy fellow man...
I may be alone on this, but I really enjoy the post-Apocalyptic cheese-fest that is Jericho. I didn't realize that they had episodes ready, and had written it off until after the strike, so I'm pretty happy to find out there are at least some Jericho episodes ready to go.
ReplyDeleteHey Alan (and others) -- the other great thing about Netflix, is that they also offer online viewing of movies, with the number of hours per month equal to your monthly fee. The viewer (at least on my computer) isn't all that great, but it works well enough for watching tv eps.
ReplyDeleteHmmm.... Maybe I'll read more, do yoga, and reflect upon my life. Or maybe I'll just get sucked into whatever Korean/Chinese/Indian soap opera is showing AZN-TV.
ReplyDeleteBtw, Alan, what is the average salary of a TV writer? I've read that they have an irregular income and the residuals help tide them over from gig to gig, but I'm curious what a regular paying gig pays.
maybe this will give CBS a chance to run the old episodes of "The State" that they never released and have locked in a secret vault!
ReplyDeletemaybe this will give CBS a chance to run the old episodes of "The State" that they never released and have locked in a secret vault!
ReplyDeleteAndrew, I don't think CBS ever produced anything beyond the Halloween special. They were contracted to do several more, but by then, Les Moonves had taken over the network and made it clear he didn't care for The State. When the Halloween special flopped, the group fell apart.
One almost needs to up their netflix usage just to always have a spare while sending back the broken/cracked/damaged/or otherwise malfunctioning disc you just received.
ReplyDelete