The TCA Press Tour

Wow.

I can't recall a Television Critics Association Press Tour so newsworthy in years.

At least not so early in the proceedings.

I should know. This is the 43rd time I've attended the semi-annual Hollywood gathering of TV critics and columnists from across the U.S. and Canada.

The news has certainly been coming fast and furious out of the grand ballroom at the posh Langham Huntington Hotel & Spa in stately Pasadena, Calif.

Well, the buzz hasn't all taken place at the Langham.

There was CBS's huge Survivor reunion party on Saturday night, for instance. Geared to mark the upcoming 2oth season / 10th anniversary of the reality show, the event was the biggest collection of the longrunning show's contestants ever in one place, filling a massive soundstage at CBS's famed Television City complex with a rockin' case of jungle fever.

Back at the ballroom, though, there was NBC's confirmation announcement on Sunday about its upcoming plans for Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien once the Winter Olympics have finished their run next month. That caused a media frenzy that made it to the front page of USA Today and countless other papers.

On Monday, it was Fox's turn to do the big reveal. The announcement: That Simon Cowell will leave American Idol at the end of this season in order to focus on the Fall 2011 arrival of Cowell's own pet TV project, The X Factor.

As Cowell signed the deal on the ballroom stage at the Langham, there was an almost-deafening cacophony of chattering keyboards as reporters raced to blog, tweet and otherwise get stories transmitted to their assorted media outlets.

All of which means ABC, which is up next on Tuesday, will really have its work cut out for it.

That is, if it hopes to come anywhere close to the buzz that its network rivals have already been generating at the TCA Press Tour.

TV Variety Shows - Oct. 18, 2008

ON SCREEN:
THE RETURN OF PRIMETIME VARIETY SHOWS
COMING SOON

BOTTOM LINE:
EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN.


On with the show

They say that variety is the spice of life.
Now, some networks are hoping that variety
can spice up an otherwise bland TV season.


By Eric Kohanik

There was once a time when the primetime variety show was a big mainstay in the TV world.

It was a holdover from the days of vaudeville houses and the early years of network radio.

Every TV network tended to have at least one primetime variety show to spice up its scheDule. There were classics like Your Show of Shows and The Milton Berle Show, better known as The Texaco Star Theater. And there was Toast of the Town, which was later much more widely known by its new title: The Ed Sullivan Show.

There were many others over the years: The Dean Martin Show, This Is Tom Jones, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, The Jackie Gleason Show, The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, The Hollywood Palace…the list goes on and on.

The last of the big network variety shows? That was probably The Carol Burnett Show, which actually finished its run 30 years ago.

These days, TV variety shows tend to take the form of talent competitions – shows like Dancing With the Stars or America’s Got Talent. Or they are sketch-comedy shows that have found a niche during latenight hours – shows like Saturday Night Live.

But the bigtime network variety show may be in for a primetime comeback before long. In July, Fox announced plans to roll out a traditional TV variety show with a rather untraditional twist.

The network recruited Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne and two of their dizzy offspring, Jack and Kelly, for a new show tentatively titled The Osbournes: Loud and Dangerous. Set to debut during the holiday season, it is supposed to mix music performances with comedy sketches and what Fox describes as “game-show competitions.”

Fox signed up for six episodes of the Osbourne project. Whether there will be more after that will depend on how audiences take to the first batch of shows.

Over at NBC, meanwhile, network executives announced a couple of weeks ago that they had signed Rosie O’Donnell to host Rosie’s Variety Special, a primetime effort that is scheduled to hit the air Nov. 26. The live, hourlong special is supposed to feature musical acts, comedy skits, celebrity guests and what NBC is billing as “a giant primetime give-away.” If the special proves to be popular, NBC plans to turn it into a regular weekly show in 2009.

Can O’Donnell and the Osbournes turn variety shows back into the TV mainstays they once were? Hey, you never know. After all, who’d have thought that quiz shows and amateur talent competitions – both powerhouse genres during TV’s early years, too – would make the big comebacks they have?

One thing is certain. Networks are always looking for new ideas that can become hits. And, in the TV world, you know that, at some point, everything old is new again.

TV Season Report Card - Oct. 11, 2008

ON SCREEN:
PRELIMINARY REPORT CARD ON THE NEW TV SEASON

BOTTOM LINE:
THERE'S GOOD AND BAD AMONG THE NEW AND OLD.


Cheers and jeers

The new TV season is only a month old. 

And, already, it's clear there are things on 

the tube that are - and aren't - working well.


By Eric Kohanik

It has only been a few weeks since thenew TV season officially got rolling. But it has already become clear. There are shows, both new and old, that are – and are not – working for me this fall.

So, what’s doing it for me?

✔ Dancing With the Stars (Mondays andTuesdays; ABC, CTV): The calibre of talent is better than ever. In fact, the first week saw routines that were already miles ahead of the final weeks of some earlier seasons.

✔ The Big Bang Theory (Mondays; CBS): Jim Parsons’ stints as the socially clueless Sheldon get more ingenious each week.

✔ Californication (Mondays; The Movie Network, Movie Central): Hank Moody (David Duchovny) and those around him keep hitting one wall after another. It’s so much fun to watch them pick up the pieces.

✔ 90210 (Tuesdays; The CW, Global): OK, don’t laugh. Nobody expected it to be good because it didn’t have to be; the show had a built-in audience. And that actually makes it kind of a pleasant surprise.

✔ The Rick Mercer Report (Tuesdays;CBC): Mercer is a brilliant satirist, even if the elements of each instalment of his show are getting way too familiar and predictable. At least the federal election is providing plenty of new ammunition.

✔ Survivor: Gabon (Thursdays; CBS, Global): OK, if ever there were a show made for HDTV, this is it. Too bad it took so long.

✔ Weeds (Sundays; Showcase): Quite simply, it stars Mary-Louise Parker. Enough said.

✔ The Bonnie Hunt Show (weekdays; Citytv): Despite its cheesy opening titles, Hunt’s warmth on this daytime gab showputs TV’s latenight talkers to shame.

There’s plenty that’s not working for me this season, too. The leading offenders?

✘ Mad Men (Sundays; AMC, A): The first season was so fabulous. But sometimes, there are such long, silent moments this season that you can’t figure out what’s up.

✘ Desperate Housewives (Sundays; ABC, CTV): Executive producer Marc Cherry reset the clock, moving things ahead five years to get rid of story screw-ups. After only two episodes, though, the show has already painted itself into a creative corner again.

✘ Knight Rider (Mondays; NBC, E!): Sorry. Maybe a supercharged car would be way more appealing if gas were cheaper.

✘ Saturday Night Live (Saturdays; NBC, Global): No matter how good it gets, how come cast members still don’t know how to read lines on cue cards without making it so obvious that they’re reading cue cards?

✘ So You Think You Can Dance Canada (various days; CTV): I LOVE it, but I feel sorry for it. As the debut week of Dancing With the Stars and Grey’s Anatomy illustrated, if CTV’s American shows have something big going on, the network will quickly treat this as a second-class refugee. If only Canadian broadcasters had the balls to put Canadian shows ahead of American ones …

American Idol - May 19, 2007

ON SCREEN:
AMERICAN IDOL
TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY; FOX, CTV

BOTTOM LINE:
JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IDOL WORSHIP WAS OVER...


Hitting the high notes

The good news is that American Idol wraps up
this week. The bad news is that
Canadian Idol is just around the corner.


By Eric Kohanik

After weeks of showcasing vocal performances that have ranged from heavenly to horrific, American Idol will finally wrap up this week.

The bad news associated with this, of course, is that there is another season of Canadian Idol just around the corner.

Now, that’s not to say Canadian Idol (which, at press time, was due to begin its new season the first week of June) isn’t a series worth watching. Even if it does have Ben Mulroney as its host.

No, it’s just that all this Idol worship is just getting to be too exhausting. And, frankly, the franchise may need a bit of a break.

This week’s two-part finale of American Idol will hit its peak on Wednesday night as the show crowns a sixth champion to join the ranks of Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia Barrino, Carrie Underwood and Taylor Hicks. 

Of course, this season of American Idol was fraught with peculiarities. While talented competitors kept falling by the wayside, a dedicated “vote for the worst” campaign actually managed to keep the woeful Sanjaya Malakar in the race for longer than anyone could have imagined.

Ultimately, sanity prevailed. When it came down to this season’s Final Four – Blake Lewis, Jordin Sparks, Melinda Doolittle and LaKisha Jones – any of them would have made a credible champ. 

Still, the Sanjaya campaign was a curious phenomenon that magnified what happened with nerdy competitor Kevin Covais last year. It spiced up interest in the show. But one of these days, that sort of effort may crown a real loser as the show’s ultimate winner.

Of course, there are those who would say American Idolhas really done that a coupleof times already. With such runners-up as Clay Aiken (who lost to Studdard in the second season) and Katharine MacPhee (edged out by Hicks last year) showing a ton more popularity than their victorious rivals, it’s not always clear that Idol fans really know what they’re doing when they pick a winner.

Canadian Idol has had mixed results with its four champs, too. Ryan Malcolm, Kalan Porter, Melissa O’Neil and Eva Avila have experienced varying degrees of success. With the show’s fifth season now waiting in the wings, it remains to be seen what vocal joys and horrors await viewers this time. 

Unfortunately, Canadian Idol always takes a backseat to its American counterpart. This summer, the show will also have to share a good deal of CTV’s reality-TV-show spotlight. The network has two new American reality shows on its docket – a filmmaking contest called On the Lot (premiering Tuesday) and a swashbuckling adventure game called Pirate Master (due May 31).

Maybe Canadian Idol could use its own Sanjaya movement to help spice things up a bit this summer. Stay tuned.