Tag Archive for: TV

An Open Letter to ABC in Regards to Defying Gravity

Dear ABC,

I know we haven’t been on the best of terms lately. I’ve hated you since you make us wait so long for new episodes of Lost. I get mad at you for not heavily promoting the really funny Better Off Ted. You canceled really original shows like Eli Stone and Pushing Daisies. I want to give you another chance though. Here is how you can get back on my good side: do not cancel Defying Gravity.

I know that there has not been any word that the show will be canceled, but I don’t know anyone who has actually heard of the show, I don’t see any promotion for it, and it has to be expensive to make. That being said, I really think you need to give this show a chance. You almost set it up to fail by starting it in August when not many people are watching TV and you never really promote it, which is a shame. This is a really good show. Sure, the writers play it fast and loose with the science aspect of it, but the stories are good. I really want to follow the “adventures that await the crew as they quickly discover their lives and destinies to be intertwined and carefully directed, not only by Mission Control officials on Earth, but also by an unseen force which is much closer and far more powerful.” Why aren’t you promoting this show more? It is something that hasn’t been done before. It has the sort of mystery that Lost has that can draw people in if they would just know about it. If you cancel it, what are you going to replace it with? Another cop show? Or how about a doctor show? We don’t have enough of those.

Here is what I propose: finish showing this season this fall. Commit to a second season, but in the spring/summer re-air season 1 with a lot of promotion. You need to hook people in from the beginning or they won’t start watching. There’s people like my dad, who I know would love the show but would not be able to watch the episodes available on Hulu, who need some way to catch up.

So in conclusion, we can finally make up if you do me this one favor. Keep Defying Gravity around. Promote it a little bit. If you give viewers a chance, they will not let you down. We can become BFFs again with just a little effort. Don’t turn into my ex-BFF NBC. They never give quality programming (shows like Kings) a chance, and have made me not want to give any new shows on their network a shot for fear that I will like it only to see it canceled after a few episodes.

Sincerely,
Shep

NBC Loves The West Wing Actors

Have you noticed how much NBC loves actors from their hit 7 year drama The West Wing? I’ve noticed it in recent years as they have been popping up all over the NBC-owned USA Network since TWW went off the air.

  • Richard Schiff, who played Toby Ziegler on TWW, has appeared in episodes of Monk, Burn Notice, and In Plain Sight.
  • Joshua Malina, who played Will Bailey, has appeared in several episodes of In Plain Sight
  • Dule Hill, who played Charlie Young, is a main character on USA’s psychic detective show Psych.
  • Bradley Whitford, who played Josh Lymon, appeared in an episode of Monk
  • Mark Feuerstein, who played Cliff Calley, now stars in the new series Royal Pains.
  • Mary McCormack, who played Kate Harper, is the star of In Plain Sight.
  • Gary Cole, who played Bob Russell, has appeared on Psych
  • Tim Matheson, who played John Hoynes, appeared on Burn Notice.
  • Kathryn Joosten, who played Dolores Landingham, appeared in two episodes of Monk.

There might even be more, but those are the ones I could come up with.  They are all fine actors and I’m glad to see that NBC recognizes talent and keeps them in mind for future programming, even if for one episode.

It’s Not TV, It’s Cable

Starting with new television shows airing on HBO several years ago, we’ve seen a giant shift of new programming moving to non-traditional paid channels. There was a time where over-the-air networks dominated the new show markets, but that time is over. Each TV season we see a plethora of new programming on the “cable” networks, and not just HBO. The best thing about these new shows is that they are often better than the shows found on the traditional networks.

When I think about it, this trend really took root when the networks were dominated with “reality” programming and game shows. People who didn’t want to watch The Biggest Celebrity Dance Star getting voted off the island by big brother tuned into programming that was too edgy for network television. FX, TNT, and USA were a few of the networks (besides HBO and Showtime) that began airing original programming. Shows like The Shield Rescue Me and The Closer dominated cable ratings. Monk has been on for years and continues to draw good ratings, followed by one of my favorites, Psych.

It has come to a point in my TV viewing where most of the TV shows I watch are not on the major networks. Monk, Psych, Raising the Bar, True Blood, Weeds, In Plain Sight, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, are all great shows that draw me away from the networks. In fact, there was a recent article that stated the USA Network drew more viewers than the 5th “major” network, The CW. Networks like TBS, A&E, Starz, and AMC have joined TNT, FX, USA, HBO, and Showtime on the original programming bandwagon, and oftentimes they air some of the best programming on television.

I think part of the reason these new shows thrive and survive on the cable networks (besides the fact that they may be able to get away with more edgier content) is that on paid TV the shows are given more of a chance to pick up steam. A show like Psych would have never survived if it was shown on parent network NBC instead of USA. The ratings would not have been high enough. If you look at the show Kings on NBC it had low ratings but, in my opinion, was a really good show. I think part of the reason is that it was never given a proper chance to gain viewership. NBC should move it to USA over the summer and see if it gains traction there (why not, they’ve done it with two Law and Order series).

Perhaps the major networks could learn something from the cable stations and take bigger chances on programming. Or perhaps, since many of the cable channels are owned by the same corporations as the major networks, they are content having shorter seasons and keeping the programming where they are. I don’t know, but I continue to find myself watching the major networks less and less.

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Zack Morris Visits Jimmy Fallon

Mark Paul Gosselaar went on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon last night to promote the season premier of his TNT drama Raising the Bar, only he didn’t exactly go as himself. He went as his most famous character, Zack Morris from Saved by the Bell. He dressed in “Zack-style” clothes, made inside jokes about SBTB moving from Indiana to California and Kelly moving to a different zip code (90210), and even pulled out his classic cell phone, all before playing “Friends Forever” by his band Zack Attack. It’s nice to see him embrace a character he will forever be known as, which a lot of actors hate doing. He even agreed to the SBTB reunion that Jimmy Fallon has been trying to set up for months. Watch the interview below, it’s awesome.

The Future of Television

It really is an interesting time for television. The traditional way we watch TV has changed over the years. We started out with over the air programming to cable and satellite programing, and now we have internet TV and on-demand programming at the touch of a button. I can see why the TV networks were scared of this future. It’s hard to create a pricing structure for traditional TV when more and more people are using alternative methods to watch their favorite shows.

I recently installed the beta version of Boxee to see what all the twitter hype was about. Boxee gives you a true entertainment experience to enjoy your movies, TV shows, music and photos, as well as streaming content from websites like Hulu, Netflix, CBS, Comedy Central, Last.fm, and flickr. No longer are we confined to what the cable companies give us. We have many options to choose from, with more and more being added everyday. Tv.com is becoming a huge portal for on-demand streaming content and I wouldn’t be surprised to see that service added to Boxee. We also see more and more dvd players and TVs with Netflix streaming ability built in. I think it’s great that the major networks are finally jumping on board with the on-demand streaming of programs. What have they got to lose? They are gaining advertising dollars. Now people have a legal place to watch their favorite shows. Hulu was an excellent start and ABC’s HD streaming of Lost is fantastic.

I think we will see more and more televisions and media devices (such as DVRs, game systems, and DVD players) with built in streaming technology in the very near future. Eventually, I envision a TV with a single DVD player box that allows for all the services like DVR, Netflix, and internet streaming all tied into one. It will be exciting to see where all the technology goes.