Each week the TV Blog coalition — of which theTVaddict.com is proud to be apart of — highlights some of the best TV news and views from around the web. For the latest news that’s fit to print, simply click the link below.
Archives for March 2009
Good News, Bad News: GLEE, HEROES & INSIDE THE BOX
Good News: FOX is so confident in Ryan Murphy’s much buzzed about comedy/musical hybrid GLEE that they’re giving it a one-time tryout following AMERICAN IDOL this May 19. Bad News: Following which they’ll bench the series for the rest of the summer only to re-launch it in the fall. [Source]
Good News: Yesterday’s assertion by theTVaddict.com that “HEROES will live to fight another season” has already come true, with NBC President Angela Bromstad all but guaranteeing the show will be renewed. Bad News: Albeit with a smaller episode order, with NBC most likely ordering 18 or 20 episodes versus this seasons 25. [Source]
Good News: INSIDE THE BOX, Shonda Rhimes new series set inside a DC area TV newsroom continues to add to its stellar ensemble with ROME’s Inidra Varma joining EVERWOOD’s Sarah Drew, ELI STONE’s Jason George, CLOSE TO HOME’s Jennifer Finnigan and LIPSTICK JUNGLE’s Kim Raver. Bad News: An all-star cast does not guarantee great television, as evidence by Rhimes’ last new show, PRIVATE PRACTICE. [Source]
Tonight’s TV Addictions: March 5, 2009
WHAT WE’RE WATCHING:
UGLY BETTY (8PM ABC, CityTV in Canada)
As if lifted directly from that very special episode of SCRUBS with Clay AIken, Ignacio signs up for a cook-off with a TV chef when the Suarez family try to scrape together enough money to buy their home after the landlord decides to put it on the market.
THE OFFICE (9PM NBC, Global in Canada)
In a poorly timed Valentine’s Day episode, Michael meets an enigmatic lady at a blood drive while Pam and Jim share an uncomfortable lunch with Phyllis and Bon Vance.
30 ROCK (9:30PM NBC, CityTV in Canada)
Jenna pushes for more attention as her birthday approaches, which we’re going to go out on a limb and say involves a whole lotta singing.
The TV Addict Nooner: UGLY BETTY, KINGS, REAPER & More!
Because we know you’d never surf the web on ‘company time,’ theTVaddict.com is proud to present what will hopefully become a new daily semi-daily feature: Our brief roundup of interesting, bizarre, surprising and funny TV news to help you get you through the day (or at the very least, your lunch hour.)
LISTEN: To what may be the next best thing to a Marc and Amanda spin-off, the official UGLY BETTY podcast featuring, you guessed it, Marc and Amanda. [Click here to listen]
PLAY: Reporter, in this really cool interactive trailer for NBC’s exciting new series KINGS. [Click to play]
LEARN: That the CW cares very little about the fate of REAPER as evidence by its questionable decision to launch its second season (which attracted a disappointing 2.3 million viewers) up against FOX’s unstoppable reality TV Juggernaut AMERICAN IDOL (which by comparison garnered 24.3 million viewers.) [Source]
NBC Puts Jimmy Fallon Under the Microscope
Dear Jimmy Fallon,
The honeymoon is over.
A mere two days into your LATE NIGHT adventure, your corporate overlords at NBC/Universal have already taken it upon themselves to send out a teensy little survey (via email) to select members of the viewing public asking some very in-depth questions about everything Jimmy.
And as luck would have it, your friendly neighborhood TV Addict just so happened to be among the lucky few to receive said survey.
Now don’t panic, we went easy on you. Even though we’re not gonna lie, we are kind of disappointed you (a) are not following us on twitter or (b) invited us to see the show.
Chalking up your opening night stiffness to the sheer terror you must have felt knowing that Monday’s show was the most important hour of your life, when asked to check off how we would describe you, we choose “silly,” “goofy” and “funny” rather than “nervous,” “irritating” and “a bad interviewer.” We also cut you some slack when asked to quite literally dissect your show segment-by-segment, choosing “Very Entertaining” and “Somewhat Entertaining” over the far harsher “Not At All Entertaining.”
Tonight’s TV Addictions: March 4, 2009
WHAT WE’RE WATCHING:
LOST (9PM ABC)
Sawyer and other island survivors perpetuate a lie to protect themselves from mistakes of the past. Yup, EW.com really hit the nail on the head when they said that even the episode descriptions are confusing.
LIFE ON MARS (10PM ABC)
WEST WING Alum Alert! Janel Moloney (aka. the artist formerly known as Donna Moss) guest stars as a political-science professor who may-or-may-not be tied to a group of student radicals.
NEW & NOTABLE:
TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES (8PM AMC)
At the risk of losing all credibility, we’re just gonna say it. We enjoyed TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES.
AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL (8PM CW)
What happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas when Tyra selects the Top 13 contestants out of 34 would-be models and moves them to a loft in New York.
MOST DARING (9PM TruTV)
Most daring or most stupid? You decide when tonight’s installment of MOST DARING offers up tips on how to turn your school science project into a weapon. Really?
5 Reasons Why HEROES Will Live to Fight Another Season
It doesn’t take a mind-reader like Matt Parkman to guess what actor Greg Grunberg is thinking right now. In fact, after setting the HEROES fandom all a-twitter following an innocuous tweet that left thousands wondering if this season would be their favorite shows last, we’d say the odds are fairly good that at this very moment Grunberg is wishing he could harness Hiro’s time traveling ability in order to go back in time and stop himself from pressing “send” on the tweet heard around the world.
But since he can’t, and the bastions of journalistic integrity that are the NY Post and TV Guide already decided to run with Grunberg’s tweet in an effort to create a splashy “Is HEROES Ending?” headline, we at theTVaddict.com thought we’d do the next best thing and set the record straight by proudly presenting our 5 Reasons why HEROES will live to fight another season.
Reason #1: Ratings are (Virtually) Meaningless
As enticing as it may be to write off HEROES as a commercial failure now that viewership is hovering around the 7 million mark, the reality of the situation is that ratings simply don’t mean nearly as much as they used. The internet, DVR/PVRs (according to another tweet by Mr. Grunberg, HEREOS gets a whopping “40% increase day after ratings on DVRs”) and digital downloads (where HEROES constantly finds itself among iTunes top TV show downloads) all play an integral role into calculating just how popular a show is and whether or not it will be renewed for another season.
Reason #2: International Sales
In the same way in which Hollywood studios have boosted their bottom line with overseas box office receipts, foreign sales of hit American shows have been the savior to low rated adrenaline fueled fare such as PRISON BREAK, TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES and HEROES. And as Mr. Grunberg yet again was kind enough to point out via twitter, HEROES currently airs in “230 markets internationally.” Which roughly translated equates to hundreds of millions of dollars that go directly to NBC/Universal’s bottom line, and that’s not even taking into account the millions of Hiro Nakamura bobble-heads at $19.99 a pop!
Finally! EVERWOOD: The Complete Second Season Arrives in June
After an almost intolerable five year wait, my fellow TV Addicts (and more specifically, podcast partner Ariel) who only discovered the magic of EVERWOOD through DVD will finally get to find out, “What happened to Colin?!” With Warner Home Video officially announcing this morning that EVERWOOD: The Complete 2nd Season is finally coming to DVD this June 16, 2009.
According to TV Shows on DVD, who broke the news, the 6-disc set running 968 minutes will include all 22 hour-long episodes in beautiful widescreen and cost $39.98 (SRP).
Needless to say, stay tuned to theTVaddict.com for announcements with regards to when the DVD will be available for pre-order on Amazon and what fans can expect in terms of extras. We think it goes without saying that our fingers remain firmly crossed for a very special episode commentary courtesy of Everwood’s resident doctor’s Andy Brown and Harold Abbott.
UPDATE: EVERWOOD: The Complete Second Season is now available for pre-order for only $25.99 (That’s 35% off!) Click here to head on over to Amazon.com.
Thanks to theTVaddict.com reader Luke for the Tip!
The TV Addict Podcast: Holy Randomness Batman! [S02E20]
This week, hosts Daniel (theTVaddict) and Ariel return with another super sized podcast for your listening enjoyment. As per usual, please don’t hesitate to let us know what you think by leaving us a comment, reviewing us on iTunes! or sending us an email at info@thetvaddict.com or ariel@thetvaddict.com.
[audio:http://cdn.libsyn.com/thetvaddict/thetvaddictpodcast_s02E020.mp3]Today’s Pet Peeve
Can ABC please stop their intolerable penchant for running loud and intrusive video advertisements every time we surf over to their web site. Not only is it incredibly annoying, it’s gotten to the point where this TV Addict will only visit abc.com when absolutely necessary. Because nobody likes being bombarded with extremely unwelcome (and did we mention loud?) ads touting the return of DANCING WITH THE STARS. Especially when we’re supposed to be doing actual work!
Got a TV-related pet peeve you need to get off your chest? Send it to us at info@thetvaddict.com or better yet, a tweet via twitter.