TV Barn's TV Picks for Nov. 30

NICHE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT
Who claims to be the "#1 podcasted cable network"?

A) Discovery Kids
B) E!
C) Fox News Channel
D) G4
E) HGTV

"A Lauer-certified civil war": What's in a name?

As you may know, NBC made a big deal on Monday about the fact that its news department has decided to start calling the "sectarian violence" in Iraq by its real name. Other news organizations have done the same, but as I wrote today, "leave it to the TV network to turn a shift in nomenclature into a branded marketing event."

Anyway, what difference does it really make? As you'll read, the change in name will likely make very little difference in how people - both pro and con - perceive it.

Link: Kansas City Star | 11/29/2006 | NBC first network to label Iraq fight ‘Civil War’.

TV Barn's TV Picks for Nov. 29

WELCOME TO THE SIXTIES
A set of music videos was produced for alternative rockers They Might Be Giants by the animators of what cartoon?

A) "Aeon Flux"
B) "Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist"
C) "Happy Tree Friends"
D) "Ren & Stimpy"
E) "Tiny Toon Adventures"

Yule want to see these

 
Christmastime is here. And that means, among things, “Christmastime Is Here.”

  Which is why we begin this roundup of holiday TV programming with “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” the only proper way to begin the holiday TV special season. It airs at 7 CT tonight on ABC (KMBC-9). The first “Peanuts” special is still the best, thanks to Vince Guaraldi's matchless score (including “Christmastime Is Here”) and the fact that irony-free sentimentality, when delivered by otherwise unsentimental cartoon characters, gets us every time.

  Robert Smigel, the brilliant lampooner whose “TV Funhouse” cartoons appear on “Saturday Night Live,” once did a short about Jesus coming to Earth and going mad watching all the televangelizers taking His name in vain. In the end, though, our Lord sheds a tear of joy … when he happens on a broadcast of “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” On the new “TV Funhouse” DVD, Smigel admits that he added this scene thinking it would get a laugh out of the audience. To his amazement, everyone cheered instead. Smigel must never have read The Gospel According to “Peanuts.”

 

Here's what else will be showing on television between now and Dec. 25. 

TV Barn's TV Picks for Nov. 28

WELCOME TO THE SIXTIES
The first airing of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" preempted an episode of which series?

A) "The Ed Sullivan Show"
B) "I Dream of Jeannie"
C) "Gilligan's Island"
D) "Hogan's Heroes"
E) "The Munsters"

'10 Items Or Less'

Link: Kansas City Star | 11/26/2006 | COMEDY CHECKOUT.

When TBS went shopping for shows to stock its new late-night comedy aisle, it called on Kansas City native John Lehr.

The 40-year-old actor, performer and writer came up with “10 Items or Less,” an infectiously funny improvised sitcom set at a down-in-the-mouth grocery store. The show, which debuts 10 p.m. Monday on TBS, is the latest addition to Lehr’s eclectic resume, which ranges from the forgettable (hosting “I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here!”) to the memorable (he’s one of the Geico cavemen seen in those wildly popular TV ads).

WDAF-TV zinged for airing VNRs … again

For the second year in a row, WDAF-TV has been cited for airing video supplied by public relations firms without identifying it as PR.

In a report released earlier this month, “Still Not the News,” the Center for Media and Democracy criticized Fox 4 for airing, during its noon newscast on May 18, a 2 1/2 -minute piece touting the newest safety features on cars. The piece featured cars manufactured by General Motors and its subsidiary OnStar, as well as Bosch, a major supplier to GM. It was introduced by Fox 4 news anchor Mark Alford, and the graphics throughout the piece were generated by Fox 4.

Link: Kansas City Star | 11/25/2006 | WDAF-TV gets zinged for puff piece … again.

TV Barn's TV Picks for Nov. 27

ATTACK OF THE THE
"They" were created by man. "They" rebelled. "They" evolved. There are many copies, and "they" have a plan. Who are "they"?

A) the Borg
B) the Cylons
C) the Hilton sisters
D) the Shmoo
E) the Smurfs

TV Barn's TV Picks for Nov. 23-26

WAVY GRAVY
What was the first balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade?

A) Felix the Cat
B) Mickey Mouse
C) Olive Oyl
D) a teddy bear
E) Uncle Sam

TV Barn's TV Picks for Nov. 22

UNREAL ESTATE
What series was set "in a small place, just beyond reality"?

A) "Doctor Who"
B) "Fraggle Rock"
C) "Max Headroom"
D) "Quantum Leap"
E) "Weeds"

"If I Did It, You'll Never Know Now"

I talked with Paul Harris about Rupert Murdoch cancelling the OJ Simpson "If I Did It" special and book, and the fallout for Fox and Judith Regan. I also explain the battle going on between the NFL Network and Charter (and other operators) that will keep many cable viewers from watching Thursday Night Football when it debuts on Thanksgiving night.

TV Barn's TV Picks for Nov. 21

MAYDAY, MAYDAY
"Lost" has prominently featured two actors who had worked together on which series?

A) "Alias"
B) "Becker"
C) "Murder One"
D) "Oz"
E) "Party of Five"

Nevermind: O.J. craptacular cancelled

BREAKING NEWS from the Kansas City Star features department ... not only the TV special, but apparently, the "If I Did It" book on which the program was based, have been pulled off the market.  So read the story below with that in mind ... and wonder how much longer Peter Liguori is going to have a job at Fox.

Why not ban the O.J. special?

I think the general managers of the Fox affiliates that say they won't show the O.J. Simpson "If I Did It" special when it airs next week are going to be sorry.

"After careful consideration regarding the nature of the show, as well as the feedback we received from the viewers of northeast Wisconsin, we determined that this programming was not serving the local public interest," wrote Jay Zollar, general manager of WLUK-TV, a Lin station in Green Bay, Wis.

Thanks, Jay. We'll be checking your logs to see if you aired "Caught on the Job," "Married in America" and "World's Wildest Police Videos" too. (And the list goes on...)

But seriously. The trials of O.J. Simpson comprised one of the most intensely watched dramas of the past 30 years. The outcome of the criminal trial spawned an enormous debate over race, class and privilege that continues to this day. (It clearly influenced a "CSI" multi-episode storyline this season in which one of the CSIs is sued for damages after being acquitted of manslaughter in the killing of a black man.)  How can you say, with a straight face, that it isn't in the public interest to have this lightning rod figure grapple with his own guilt and innocence?

Would these Fox stations turn down a Pete Rose special called, "If I Did Bet on the Reds, Here's Why"?

Look, I doubt anyone in America seriously thinks O.J. didn't do it, even those who cheered when he was acquitted. But Nielsens don't lie -- there was huge interest in this case, and there's no reason to believe Fox doesn't have sweeps-month gold here. I hate defining "the public interest" to include the O.J. case as much as you do.  But you have to, because THE PUBLIC'S FRIGGIN INTERESTED, and you don't need to be a Fox TV executive to know that.

A watcher writes....

This from Christo Whelan:

I noticed something recently.  Look at this:

• Jeffrey Bell - Daybreak
• Rebecca Rand Kirshner - Gilmore Girls
• David Fury - 1st Season Lost, now 24
• Drew Goddard - Lost
• Tim Minear - Standoff
• Stephan S. DeKnight - Smallville

2 things they all have in common?  They're running good shows in primetime and they all cut their teeth in television with the same person: Joss Whedon.

Once again proving it's not WHAT you know ...

TV Barn's TV Picks for Nov. 20

WORLD SERIES
Who are the "Heroes" "saving"?

A) Claire
B) Eden
C) Niki
D) Sandra
E) Simone

Fall TV's hits and turkeys

 

"We got our backend!!"

This week, the Fox hostage-negotiator drama “Standoff” will do something that many other new fall shows this week won't do: air a new episode.

  It won't be an especially good episode. It certainly didn't change my opinion of “Standoff,” whose two leads give both the FBI and sexual tension a bad name. And yet, it is still on network TV, two months after the regular season began.

  Other shows were not so lucky. Viewers tuning in for the next installment in “Six Degrees,” what few were left anyway, found a “Desperate Housewives” rerun substituted at the last minute. “Kidnapped” was downgraded from Wednesdays to Saturdays, until NBC finally concluded it couldn't find an audience if it had a Sherpa. Wednesday was especially cruel, with only one of six new shows that debuted on that night still there.

  Yes, I did say in September that the quality of this season's crop was well above average. But I also wondered out loud where viewers would find the time for all these fine new shows. Now, with the November ratings sweep half over, it's become clear that some had it and some didn't. Here's how they fared.

TV Barn's TV Picks for Nov. 17-19

TOCK RATIO
When does Taye Diggs' eternal day start on "Day Break"?

A) 5:34 a.m.
B) 6:18 a.m.
C) 6:39 a.m.
D) 7:02 a.m.
E) 8:00 a.m.

"Day Break," a day later

And Taye Diggs thought he was having a bad day YESTERDAY. Here's how the Nielsen ratings for his new series "Day Break" fared, according to Marc Berman's Programming Insider: "The season-finale of Dancing With the Stars kicked up its heels with a season-high 18.5 rating/28 share in the overnights (and a potential 30 million viewers once the fast nationals are posted at www.pifeedback.com) from 8-9 p.m. Comparably, that almost beat the four competing networks combined. But despite the lead-in support (and an ample promotional campaign), the two-hour debut of drama Day Break dipped to a 7.6/12 in the overnights from 9-11 p.m., with a loss of audience in every half hour."

Makes you wonder if Diggs will still be keeping "Lost's" seat warm come February. Oh well, there's always "Desperate Housewives" reruns.

Here's my review I forgot to post, with the instantly antiquated lede:

***

Here’s the reason I think “Day Break” can click with viewers while so many other serialized dramas this fall haven’t: Taye Diggs is a believable hero, and he’s having an unbelievable day.

Look at the serials that are working: “24,” which hangs on the proposition that Jack Bauer saves the world in 24 hours, once a year; “Heroes,” where average persons can suddenly stop time, leap tall buildings or fall off them without a scratch; “Prison Break,” “Jericho” and “Lost” are all dystopian soap operas with people we can root for.

“Day Break,” which debuted at 8 CT Weds. on ABC, is like that. After the nerve-jangling first episode, I predict you’ll be hooked. I’ve been describing “Day Break” as Kafka meets “Groundhog Day,” but really it’s a lot like “24,” a whodunit on wheels in which time literally stands still.

Brett Hopper (Diggs) is an LAPD detective who, when we join him at bedside, has no idea he’s about to be framed for murder. That’s not the only rude surprise awaiting him. Tomorrow he’s going to get framed again … for the same crime. And then again … and again … and only as he begins altering the routines of his day, learning to ask the same people different questions, will he start to learn why.

This is the second TV star vehicle for Diggs since charming the clothes off Angela Bassett in “How Stella Got Her Groove Back.” The first, UPN’s “Kevin Hill,” looked promising enough, but Diggs was poorly served by the sub-Lifetime-quality scripts. That doesn’t seem to be a problem this time.

“Day Break” will air for 13 weeks, then “Lost” will come back to take its place. (The networks have finally realized that viewers would watch just about anything but a rerun.) If Det. Hopper does his job, he’ll surely be having another bad day, same time, next year.

TV Barn's TV Picks for Nov. 16

HEFTY HEFTY HEFTY
How much raw animal fat was in the "little red wagon" Oprah wheeled on stage on this day in 1988?

A) 47 pounds
B) 52 pounds
C) 67 pounds
D) 90 pounds
E) 103 pounds