One of the reasons you see only one new drama (”Life On Mars”) in the ABC lineup this fall is because the network wanted to throw much of its promotional efforts into relaunching its three almost-new Wednesday-night shows, “Pushing Daisies,” “Private Practice” and “Dirty Sexy Money.”
I say almost new because these shows only aired about nine episodes apiece last season before going into hibernation due to the writers’ strike. It’s good to have them back — especially “Daisies,” which was one of the best shows of the year. Here’s my story on the ABC revival:
ABC is hitting the “reset” button with its entire Wednesday lineup, all the while hoping that absence really does make the heart grow fonder.
“Pushing Daisies,” “Private Practice” and “Dirty Sexy Money” — remember them? — return after being packed away in cold storage since last December. That’s when the freshman dramas, along with a lot of other shows, left the air because of the writers’ strike.
But unlike most of those other shows, this trio did not bounce back to life after the writers put down their picket signs. ABC instead decided to take a TV timeout and hold them in check until the fall, when they could be re-launched with plenty of promotional oomph behind them.
Turner Classic Movies is paying tribute to the late Paul Newman by setting aside its entire schedule on Oct. 12 for films starring the superstar actor.
The 24-Hour marathon will feature, among other movies, “Cool Hand Luke,” “Somebody Up There Likes Me,” “Torn Curtain,” “Exodus” and “Hud.” Alas, no “Butch Cassidy” or “The Sting.” Some other channel must have the rights to those.
Who says linemen can’t dance? Former Oakland Raider Warren Sapp is a regular twinkle-toes.
Sapp tied Brooke Burns for top honors last night on “Dancing With the Stars,” (both posted scores of 24) with a “Matrix”-themed paso doble. Clad in a long, dark leather coat, he made his way around the dance floor with parter Kym Johnson with all the grace of a … running back.
Judge Len Goodman said he loved the “dark, menacing feel” of the routine and Bruno Tonioli prasied Sapp for his “acceleration and footwork.”
Striking more of a light-hearted note was Lance Bass’ irony-tinged dance to “I Kissed a Girl” that culminated with Bass planting a smooch on partner Lacey Schwimmer. Bass, of course, is gay.
Oh, and of course, there was 82-year-old Cloris Leachman, who tried to deliver a serious paso doble and wound up with a low score of 15 (one point lower than last week’s mark). Tonioli said she started out looking like Frau Blucher (her character in “Young Frankenstein”) going to Spain and ended up like Gloria Swanson in “Sunset Blvd.” Ouch.
The great debate that many predicted would generate record ratings didn’t.
Nielsen estimates that 57 million people tuned in to watch Friday’s first presidential sparring match between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain, according to early figures.
That’s a big audience to be sure (”American Idol” usually draws around 20-25 million), but it ranks well below the biggest debate audience ever — 80 million, for the 1980 clash between Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter. In fact, it didn’t make the top 10 most-watched debates in history, according to Media Life.
One factor probably holding this debate back was the night it aired. Friday is typically one of the least-watched nights of the week. So it might be interesting to see what happens when DVR numbers are added to the total later.
There are two debates remaining for Obama and McCain — on Oct. 7 and 15. There is also a vice presidential debate between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden this Thursday — the most-watched night of the week.
Yes, Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band has signed on to provide the halftime entertainment at the next Super Bowl. In taking the gig, Bruce follows in the footsteps of the Rolling Stones, U2, Paul McCartney, Prince and last year’s featured attraction, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Next year’s big bash is scheduled for Feb. 1 in Tampa, Fla.
The only question now is, will the Boss take requests? I humbly ask for
“Badlands,” “Born to Run” and “Rosalita” (and that’s just the start).
While we’re pondering the Super Bowl set list, we’ll share this funny and inventive video someone did of Springsteen’s “Promised Land,” done completely with Lego characters:
After taking a week off, Tina Fey made a triumphant return to “Saturday Night Live” as Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Again, she appeared alongside Amy Poehler, who this time played CBS anchor Katie Couric. The skit was a spoof of Palin’s sometimes awkward interview with Couric last week. Particularly loved the part where a flummoxed Fey/Palin asks for a “life line.” Roll tape …
As you might expect, opinions are running the gamut on who won tonight’s much-anticipated debate between John McCain and Barack Obama. CBS conducted a snap poll of 500 non-committed voters and 40 percent sai8d Obama won the clash, 22 percent said McCain did and 38 percent said it was a tie.
On Fox News, a panel of pundits picked McCain, but interestingly enough, Dick Morris — a former presidential adviser and current McCain supporter — said Obama won it.
It you had “Do Not Disturb” in you TV cancellation pool, congratulations. The awful Fox sitcom became the first casualty of the new season today when the network canceled it.
“Do Not Disturb,” built around a New York hotel, averaged a lackluster 4 million viewers and a 1.6/4 rating among adults 18-49 during its three-week run. Thus, check-out time came early.
According to TV Week, Fox temporarily will fill its 9:30 p.m. Wednesday time slot with another episode of the nearly-as-low-rated “’Til Death.”
Josh Groban does TV theme songs and scares millions in the process.
We used to run what we called a “Weekly Wrap” on this here blog, where we’d encourage readers to comment on what they considered to be the best television of the past few days. Well, TVGuide.com has started running a list of the Top 8 TV Moments of the week. I don’t know why it’s eight and not 10 or 12, but it’s a nice concise way to highlight some of the week’s fun programming and something I might want to try.
Anyway, here are the Top 8 Moments, according to them:
