I Am A TV Junkie

Video -- Thia Megia on America's Got Talent: Little Girl, Humongous Voice

Well okay now, we got something here. She's in the eighth grade, boys and girls, and listen to her.

BTW, you can also hear her all over the web, and she did this same song on Showtime At The Apollo in 2008, but that makes no never mind because this li'l girl has chops.

Even her mom looks surprised, and she's her ride to all these things she sings at, including a San Francisco 49ers game (image left).

You can read about her at Wikipedia (don't all 14-year-olds have their own Wikipedia page?) and visit her at Myspace.

(And I'm sure Myspace would appreciate the click. They're hurtin' these days.)

You can hear some of her music at the Myspace url. It's so strange listening to this really mature voice and then you remember that she's only 14.

Clip is after the jump.

Recap Video -- Oxygen's Dance Your Ass Off Is Highest Rated Premiere in Channel's History

Giggled at me last night as you channel surfed by it and thought about this post I wrote yesterday, right?

HA!

Don't you know by now that I'm the all-knowing, all-seeing, TV sage, except for when I'm not?

TV By The Numbers has the press release from the cable channel:

New York - June 30, 2009 - Oxygen’s highly anticipated dance/weight-loss competition show “Dance Your Ass Off” became the most watched series premiere in network history among W18-49, A18-49 and total viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research Fast Nationals. The telecast drew an impressive 1.3 million total viewers; 614,000 A18-49, 432,000 W18-49, and 173,000 W18-34 launching Oxygen’s second night of original programming on Monday nights.

Hits on www.Oxygen.com also reached record breaking levels with nearly 40,000 unique visitors yesterday alone, a record for an Oxygen premiere. The show site has generated more than one million page views since it launched a month ago.

Compared to the previous four Mondays’ average, last night increased 249% among A18-49 (614,000 vs. 176,000), 211% on F18-49 (432,000 vs. 139,000), 204% among F18-34 (173,000 vs 57,000) and 249% among total viewers (1,269,000 vs. 364,000). This comes on the heels of Oxygen’s strongest first six months of the year among A18-49 (224,000, up 8% vs. 2008), W18-49 (172,000, up 16%), W18-34 (91,000, up 25%), total viewers (414,000, up 11%).

That's enormous for a channel up there on the second or third tier of your cable service.

Congrats to the fabulous Lisa Ann Walter and her producing partners Sally Ann Salsano and Kate Rigg.

Judge Danny Teeson = Hot. Did you remember him from Queer Eye For The Straight Girl? No? Me neither. 

Wanna see more of him? Don't click this, it's his director/choreographer reel at YouTube. The clip you want is this one.

See a recap of the first episode after the jump. It was a lot of fun. My only regrets about the show is that they use cover versions of songs. If the numbers grow the way I think they should they may be able to attract the actual recording artists.

Mondays at 10, on Oxygen. Here's their website.

Beautiful People on Logo: The One Episode You Absolutely MUST See

This is THE episode, the Diana episode. Tonight at 10 on Logo and right now online at their site, if you like.

It's titled How I Got My Tongs, and I'm not sure but I presume that this was the episode that was entered in the world TV fests that did so well. Of all the episodes of the series, this one best shows what this show is capable of doing. It's an all funny, all singing, all dancing spectacular that then suckerpunches you in the gut with the death of The People's Princess and ... well, why reinvent the wheel when I can link to someone's episode summary?

BBC Press Office:

Behind a display of gorgeous Girl's World heads in Barneys department store window, New York, Simon covets his prized Gold Tongs, as the comic memoir based on the story of Simon Doonan continues. 

Back to Reading, 1997, and a trip to the hairdresser and a fabulous pair of shimmering golden hair tongs prompts Simon's decision to turn Kylie into Princess Diana. But when the dye-job results in an orange disaster, an angry Kylie turns on Simon. Death is in the air...

BTW, hair tongs = curling iron/flatiron.

It actually aired last week on Tues at 10:30 but they replay the last week's ep at 10 tonight before the new one, which is the season finale, How I Got My Globe.

See a preview of tonight's episode after the jump. The show's been recommissioned (renewed) by the BBC back in and hopefully Logo will pick it up for it's second go round as well.

You can also watch full episodes at LogoOnline.com, for those of you who don't get the channel.

I would have a clip, but in their infinite wisdom, Logo doesn't provide embed code for their episode previews. And there's nothing on YouTube. Enjoy the images here, it's all I've got.

Of course, I've also never once heard from a PR rep for Logo. Not once. Ever.

Lame. I might actually write more about their shows if they did.

Simon Cowell, The $144,000,000 Dollar Man?

So, how much is Simon worth to Fox and the Idol producers? Purportedly (or reportedly, I should say, NY Daily News) the low nine figures:

"American Idol's" blunt Brit may make up to $144 million to slap down contestants next season, according to the UK's Guardian.

The paper reports on its Web site that talent judge Simon Cowell earned $36 million last season, and a source close to "Idol" creater Simon Fuller says he has been offered three to four times as much.

(Looked for the Guardian piece, couldn't find it. If you can, please send me a link.)

Is he worth it? Would you not watch Idol without him? And, if he wasn't on Idol, don't you think he would run out and find a network partner to put together his own version?

I certainly do. It's basically what happened in the UK, isn't it? While Pop Idol (the UK AI) met its death, Cowell turned around and plowed forward with a couple of talent contests, I believe, with Britian's Got Talent being the one that stuck.

So, if I were Fox, and especially given Simon's relationship with NBC, where he produces but does not appear on camera in America's Got Talent, I would consider opening the vault.

Lane Brown commenting at NY Magazine:

We would point out that this is an insane sum of money that tops the amounts raised for Africa by either 2007's or 2008's Idol Gives Back telethons, but we're already sick of the clown judges on So You Think You Can Dance and America's Got Talent and since AI pulls down $900 million a year anyway, $140 million seems like a perfectly reasonable price for Simon. Also, paying out that much might make it difficult to employ four judges next season, and we'd totally approve of one losing her job.

Yeah, just give Simon the money Fox has been paying Kara and be off with her, okay? Then everybody's happy.

More Torchwood, More Russell T. Davies From The Stage UK & More Barrowman

Part two of Scott Matthewman's excellent interview with, arguably, the UK's best TV writer, including details on the continuing saga for Jack and Ianto, two crazy kids in love that just can't seem to find a moment to just relax and enjoy a good, hot long shag.

(For you uninitiated types: Shag -- To engage in sexual intercourse. You should know this by now. A guide to British slang is helpful, find one at this link.)

Well, they've got a world to save, folks! Gwen can't do everything.

Excerpt:

The relationship between Jack and Ianto is really brought to the fore in this sory. Was that a conscious effort to get a gay relationship into primetime BBC1?

I didn’t think of it in those terms, really. Personally, it’s just because I’m interested in that story. I’m fascinated by how Ianto used to have a fiancee, so I just had stuff to say about it. So, it’s not me going, “I must put this on BBC1.” I wouldn’t blink about putting it on on BBC1, but nobody was stopping me put it on BBC1, either.

I think it’s much more about relationships. It’s more intimate, which then becomes more resonant, really. So it’s always important to me to write that, but so important I don’t ever think about it. I’m not sitting there thinking, I must do this.

However, I like to see someone coming out to his sister when he’s not even sure what he is, and even he doesn’t know what’s going to happen, or anything. I like that scene. I’ll always write that sort of thing.

And, there's more. Today, all over the web, John Barrowman crowing about the same thing I was earlier this year, the shortened season (The Sun UK):

He told Radio Times: "We were the most successful show on BBC3, ever. We moved to BBC2 because the ratings were so good.

"The decision was made to go to BBC1 - and then we were cut. From 13 episodes down to five."

He added: "The five episodes are incredible. But I felt like we were being punished. It felt like every time we moved we had to prove ourselves."

He's got a point. I'm over it, of course. And really chomping at the bit for anything Torchwood. Vicky Frost had more to say about this at the Guardian's Organ Grinder blog:

Loathe as I am to use the words John Barrowman and "stripped" in the same sentence, for fear of what fresh horrors may be unleashed, the Torchwood star's row over the show's truncated run on BBC1 – where it will be stripped over five consecutive nights instead of 13 episodes – raises questions that go beyond Barrowman's ego.

Of course, he's not going to be happy about Torchwood having eight hours cut from this series, moving from a season of 13-episodes to a mere five. What actor would be? But the BBC would have it otherwise. The reason Captain Jack fans will be seeing less of Barrowman – although he is available via other programmes quite a lot – is because the corporation wanted to "create a powerful sense of event when the show came to BBC1".

Beyond Barrowman's ego? Maybe it's because I'm in the States, but I haven't really noticed anything too outsized in the ego dept., have you?

Much more Torchwood in the days leading up to the premiere. So much you'll get sick of it.

2 Clips -- Al Franken's A Senator! Coleman Conceeds, Finally!

First SNL cast member to make it to the US Senate. Jane Curtin*, I'm surprised at you, letting Al get there before you.

(* I have no idea if Jane Curtin has political aspirations, I just know that I'd enjoy seeing her on Meet the Press.)

Thanks to ThinkProgress.org for the YouTube clip below. As you watch, listen to what Coleman says about disinfranchised voters. I can't find it, but do you think he was singing the same tune in 2000 re Bush v. Gore?

Congrats to Al, Frannie, Andy Barr and the whole Franken team. Finally Bess Lindstrom (seen with her mother Phyllis, above left) has two Senators in Washington.

Two clips after the jump. Coleman conceeds in clip one. Clip two has Al playingformer Presidential candidate and host of The 700 Club, Pat Robertson, in a Church Chat segment with Dana Carvey.

(The other guest, the incomparable Phil Hartman as Jimmy Swaggart. Phil was the best. Absolutely the best.)

Preview Video -- Leverage Returns July 15 on TNT

Strange thing, I still have the season one finale, unwatched, on my DVR. Not because I didn't wanna see it, but because I believe I thought at the time it would be a good idea not to watch it until right before the second season premiere.

I don't remember why I thought that was a good idea, and since it was back in, what, February (?!?) I don't know what my thinking was, exactly.

So many shows, so little time to see them.

Clip after the jump. More as we get closer. Everyone's back, though it seems they've already established a new headquarters, as you'll see.

Their site at this link.

Full Episode Video -- Windows By Rhoda, Season 1 of Rhoda at Hulu

Ah, the 70s. Been thinking about them a lot lately. Sitting on the floor of my sister's room in front of the record player running my copy of Got To Be There over and over trying to match Michael's falsetto (which I could then but can't anymore), making my way through high school and wondering why I identified so much with Rhoda Morgenstern despite not being female, Jewish or a window dresser from Hempel's Department Store.

I was, however, an overweight kid from the NYC area who even if it wasn't true always felt like a second bannana. And, okay, I also had a bit of an attraction for David Groh, medallion, chest hair and all.

So, when Rhoda left Minneapolis and her dear friend Mary and moved back home to be with sister Brenda and the rest of the Morgensterns I was, well, thrilled. Rhoda, only a train ride away (the Far Rockaway branch of the LIRR with stops at Jamaica, Forest Hills, Woodside and New York, change at Jamaica for the train to Brooklyn).

Rhoda and Brenda lived in a tiny li'l place on the Upper East Side (510 E. 86th St., to be exact), near all the hot clubs of the day that I saw advertised in the back of the Village Voice, which I immediately started learning about. I remember on a trip through the city with my parents seeing Adam's Apple, the club on 3rd Ave. and thinking that's the kind of place that Rhoda would be dragged against her will to in search of dating material.

(I'm guessing the place is long gone, btw, after a Google search.)

Of all the TV shows that were made in the day I think most fondly of Rhoda as a show that displays the mid to late 70s in all its glory. Brenda's boyfriend Nick Lobo (Richard Masur, one of two freat co-starring roles for him in the decade, see One Day at a Time for the other),  Gary Levy's jeans emporium? The vocal stylings of the one and only Johnny Venture? Myrna Morgenstein?

Yes, I said Myrna Morgenstein, Rhoda's high school friend from homeroom (sat in front of her, natch) played by Barbara Sharma. Myrna broke out of the shell she was in during the HS days and became quite the woman of the 70s as you'll see when you watch the whole episode Windows By Rhoda after the jump.

After the jump, watch the whole episode. Or, if you want, click over to Hulu.com/Rhoda for the full first season as Rhoda and Joe meet, marry, and quickly divorce. It just didn't work for the show.

Video -- Better Off Ted Tonight at 9:30: Is Team Building a Good Idea for Veridian Dynamics?

I am presupposing that our gang of human experiments seemingly gone haywire at Veridian (divorced dad; cold, distant ice queen; attractive-yet-scattered middle manager and the frick and frack of research and development) are engaging in a team building experiment this week as a scheme is hatched to have them share office space.

(Or, there could be a quarantine. Wasn't there some sort of spider/chicken thing running loose for a while? Still, the new workplace arrangements have to do something to engender trust between teammates, right? No? Okay, probably not, it's a sitcom, folks.)

Meanwhile, Lem and Phil (Malcolm Barrett, Jonathan Slavin) have built a device that when pointed at the subject from afar can "whisper" something into the subjects mind that will influence their actions. You can check the machine out at this TV.com video link.

And something ate Linda's desk. Something that's half computer and half biological.

Ate. Her. Desk. (Linda image above chosen expressly for Toby.)

BOT airs tonight at 9:30 after The Superstars (crappy lead-in in terms of content, but what the hell, it's Summer and you have a remote and hopefully a DVR. If you're serious about your TV you really need one).

At this link from TV.com, watch Linda react to the demise of her desk, and then listen to Slavin and Barrett talk about their characters and the rest of the cast at this link.

A video widget thing from ABC.com after the jump. Didn't have any of the clips I wanted you to see, they're all at TV.com, but the widget might keep you here a couple minutes longer.

And, finally, if you missed any of the episodes that ran in the Spring, they are all at ABC.com for your viewing pleasure, and soon at Hulu. But not yet. I just checked.

Video -- Megan Fox: Love Her? Not So Much? The Dish Can't Decide

Yes, The Dish is back. Watch Danielle Fishell host, Style Network, Sat. at 10 (set your DVR).

LINK

SVU News: Benson, Stabler Remain with Unit (Chris and Mariska Sign Deals!)

(BTW, there's a bonus clip after the jump. It's Meloni from the Conan show, it's funny and you gotta give it a look.)

Okay guys (and you straight gals, of course) we can all breathe now. Christopher Meloni will still be on your TV each week as Det. Elliot Stabler on Law & Order: SVU.

Whew! And I thought he might lose his job and not have the money to maintain all that sexy that he's carrying around. Am I relieved or what?

THR:

After lengthy negotiations, Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni have inked new deals to continue on the crime procedural, which is coming back for an 11th season in the fall.

Additionally, Emmy winner Christine Lahti has signed on to play the ADA on the veteran series for the first four episodes. Stephanie March will then return, reprising her role as ADA Alexandra Cabot.

Sources said Hargitay and Meloni, who regularly negotiate their contracts together, have inked one-year deals with an option for a second year.

And, despite the congloms and particularly NBC Universal being in a cost-cutting mode, both Hargitay and Meloni are said to have received salary increases to their most recent paychecks of about $385,000 an episode.

HA! NBC had to give them both a raise anyway! Gonna have to dip into those I'm A Celebrity ... profits!

Yeah, as if.

Lahti is a great addition for this guest gig; you can expect an Emmy guest actor nod just for her showing up. There are very few people in television that can get me to turn on a show I wouldn't normally watch and Christine Lahti is one of them. She's why I watched Jack & Bobby for the short time it was on.

Of course I love Mariska too, she's great in the role, from what I've read a great gal with a good heart ... but Christopher Meloni is, well he's Christopher Meloni!

Now, click over for the clip. You won't be sorry.

Video -- Torchwood Children of Earth New Hour One Trailer; Stage UK Interview With Davies

Well, we're getting closer and closer. Can you believe that the last new episode of Torchwood aired in the US on April 4 of last year? I'm really jonesing at this point, it's almost paralyzing!

(BTW, more on the Doctor Who Christmas Special, The Next Doctor, in a couple days. I loved it, but then I do love a good Christmas story and though many of you think otherwise, I found Murray Gold's music in this ep particularly complementary. In fact, the opening strains of music make the episode for me.)

Much new stuff today around the web, but I can only point you toward a couple of items as time's a wastin' and there's a clip after the jump to get to, so let's get moving.

First, The Stage UK has deemed this Torchwood week. In their TV section over the next five days you'll have all the scoop you can handle. Today, Russell T Davies is interviewed and here's a tasty nugget:

A lot of the familiar elements of previous series seem to be written out in the first episode, as well.

Yes. That’s partly me coming back to Torchwood as well, having not written for it since the very first episode, although I’ve always been very hands on with it. If we were going to set up a worldwide thriller, the Torchwood team were way too strong and comfortable. They have a great big car and a great big super base and they’re hard to damage. So that was the first impetus I went into it with — to get rid of everything that makes them comfortable. It’s marvellous from episode 2 onwards, because they’re literally on the run. And Rhys [played by Kai Owen, who only briefly appears in episode 1] becomes a part of that.

They’re absolutely stripped down, no money, no resources, nothing. It just makes it, frankly, a better thriller. They were just too strong before. That’s fine when they’re fighting great big aliens, but this ups the stakes.

A little spoilery, but maybe just enough to get some adrenaline flowing through you, huh? There's also something from the weekend from the Star-Ledger's Alan Sepinwall (big fan of the Whoniverse, btw) with another RTD interview and some Doctor Who discussion including ...

I'm unclear on the timing of this: were these five specials always designed to end David Tennant's time in the role, or did that happen after you started doing them?

No, we always knew they were going to be his last specials. It was his choice. When Steven Moffat took over the show, of course David wondered if he should be continuing, because of course Steven will be the most brilliant showrunner in the world.

It's funny, we've now all moved on, for the most part. We all feel that we've done the right thing. There's not one moment where we'd want to use a TARDIS to go back in and do over again. It's been good, it's been healthy, no regrets. If the handover had gone wrong, I would have felt terrible. We've protected the show, and kept it enshrined for the people in the UK.

I've only seen two of the specials so far, but there's this recurring theme about The Doctor not wanting to take on a new companion because of what happened in "Journey's End."

Poor Donna Noble.

You're a bastard, by the way.

Ha ha ha! He just called me a bastard. Ha ha ha ha!

Great to see Russell and the cast supporting their stuff with US press. It always encourages me when I see BBC America getting the stars of the Beeb out there in OUR ether.

Mo Ryan from the Chicago Tribune has some Barrowman action at her blog, as she asks the star if there's a chance he runs into the Doctor again before David Tennant's farewell to the tardis:

I had to ask Barrowman if there is a chance that Captain Jack and Tennant's Doctor will meet again, before Tennant's run as the Doctor is over (the BBC is doing a total of five "Who" specials to end Tennant's run; two of them have aired in the UK, and those two specials air on BBC America June 27 and July 26). 

Barrowman's answer: "All I can say is, at any time, the Doctor may call upon Jack or run into Jack. Never say never" to Tennant's Doctor seeing Jack before his time is up.

Speaking of "Children of Earth," I watched the first hour of it, and it's very good. It's a concentrated dose of everything I like about "Torchwood," which is a spinoff of "Doctor Who." It's action-packed and fast-paced, though it contains "Torchwood's" trademark wit and flirty banter.

When I told Barrowman I thought Part 1 hit the ground running and only got more intense throughout the hour, he said that, compared to the other episodes, which air on five consecutive nights, "that's only a 5 out of 10" on the intensity scale. 

Yes, Mo Ryan got a screener of the first hour. I didn't. She works for the Chicago Tribune. I work for me. You can do your own math on that one.

Speaking of the first hour, BBC One has released a new trailer for the first night, and it's after the jump.

I'm very much looking forward to this. For me, it's the biggest TV deal of the Summer.

Cobra Starship Video -- Gossip Girl Leighton Meester Can Sing?

The song is somewhat appropriately titled Good Girls Go Bad. I have never heard of the band, Cobra Starship, but it's a catchy, hooky dance track that you might enjoy.

This is her singing, isn't it? This isn't one of those Martha Wash - Zelma Davis Gonna Make You Sweat situations, is it?

Because that would suck. Actually, you can read more about it from Buzznet at this link, and it leads me to believe that this actor can actually sing.

I guess that this is the first single from the purported album from Meester which is planned for a Fall release, most likely to coincide with the season premiere of Gossip Girl on The CW.

It's after the jump so have at it, kids!

Video -- Hot Transformers 2 Brunette on Blonde Action With Megan & Carrie

That dual image above? What more can I say? How about this? (THR):

Paramount's action sequel "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" capped its dramatic debut with a vengeance, ringing up $112 million in estimated weekend boxoffice for a competition-crunching domestic cume of $201.2 million since storming theaters Wednesday.

Matched against the first five days of all previous film releases, the "Transformers" tally falls below only that of last summer's "The Dark Knight," which debuted with $203.8 million during a Friday-to-Tuesday span. With another $181.6 million coming from overseas, the global gross for the second "Transformers" now stands at $363.2 million.

And the "scholarly" critics panned the thing. Way out of touch with the viewing public. To whom I have this question: "If no one cares what you think, are you still a critic?"

Michael Bay 2, critics 0.

Clip after the jump, and it's really not suitable for your workplace environs and it's not for your kids. 

Oh, and the rest of the cast is interviewed as well. I just know, however, that the hottie hot hot Megan is why you're here.

Video -- Dance Your Ass Off Premieres on Oxygen Tonight at 10

I know, you're saying to yourself, "Joe, you don't like The Biggest Loser or Dancing With the Stars, so what the hell are you doing writing about this show?"

Three words .... Lisa Ann Walter. You know her from films and TV and some of the top comedy clubs in the country.

See her? She's right there to the left of what you're reading right now, her and that fabulous heinie of hers. And you know how she keeps that heinie perky? Dancing. Not just in that Jennifer Lopez movie that my dad's mouth waters during, but in actual ballroom contests, too. And now, she's not only the producer of this show, she's also one of the judges.

And did I mention the fabulous heinie?

You see, there are few things in life that a gay man likes more than a fabulous woman, but one of them is a fabulous FUNNY woman. So, she and I hit it off right away back when I met her at the NBC Summer Press event.

(The bulk of the press headed toward host Marissa Jaret Winokur after the panel, but I went directly to the funny lady, because I'm good like that. You'll remember my writing about that at the time at this link.)

Since we've met I've heard from her, from the set of the currently filming Ashton Kutcher-Katherine Heigl movie Five Killers where she was holed up on set in a trailer and clicking around the net.

I mean, who does that -- sending an email to a blogger saying nice things about the blog after meeting them once at a press thing? Almost no one.

Now, although I would rather see funny women being funny all the time than see them produce unscripted programming for cable, apparently some funny women want to do more, and I'm good with that, as long as they continue to be funny while they're in process. I'm pretty sure you'll see some funny coming from Lisa Ann during this series, but that's not all.

About the show, from their site:

Bringing dance and diet together, Dance Your Ass Off features talented, full-figured contestants who will have to lose to win. Each contestant is paired with a professional dance partner who will train him or her for weekly stage performances -- ranging from Hip Hop, to Ballroom and even Pole Dancing! Then they shake and rattle their rolls in front of a live studio audience and a panel of expert judges. The judges score the routines, and then the contestants weigh in to reveal their weekly weight loss. The dance score and the weight loss are combined for an overall score, which determines who is sent home each week.

And this is the reason I'm watching tonight at 10 on Oxygen ... when Lisa Ann talked about the journey that these contestants took over the course of the show I could see her eyes welling up with tears. And that clinched the deal.

Tonight, 10 pm, Oxygen. And, there's more at TV.com including clips. I have a preview clip as well, and it's after the jump.

Meet the cast at this link.

I'm Back! And I Brought Something With Me -- Advertisers!

Look at that? Top of the left column? An ad!

Top of the right column? An ad!

Yowza! Please click them, NOW!

I gotta pay for the new house somehow, don't I? If you believe these two ads are gonna do it for me I have some swampland to sell you and a bridge as a gift with purchase.

I cordially invite you to click either ad, which today will take you to ...

On the left, the SciFi (or Syfy, whatev) site for Warehouse 13, the show premiering on July 7 (Tuesday) starring Eddie McClintock, Joanna Kelly and the outstanding Saul Rubinek (they are above right).

 On the right, a site for the DVD release of the movie The Unborn, starring Gary Oldman, Idris Elba, Meagan Good and Cam Gigandet (mmmmm, Idris and Cam, mmmmm).

(Poster image left.)

I've never had this level of advertiser on the site, so be nice to them.

And also, know that just because I have an ad up on the site that doesn't mean I'm gonna love the show (if it's a show).

I'll be your usual shoot from the hip, straight poop kinda guy.

But, I probably will do a post like this for every new advertiser, because I think they deserve as much. And I appreciate the biz.

I Am Not In Argentina With My Mistress, Just Otherwise Engaged

Hey, I thought I might pop onto the blog for the regulars and give you a heads up.

I'm moving! The exclamation point indicates that this is a good thing. It's not happening quite now, but soon, and I have stuff to do to get ready.

It's gonna be rather hit and miss for the next few weeks and I can't guarantee that I'll be posting every day.

So, I thought you should know.

And, I'll be back when I can.

Watch Virtuality tonight at 8 on Fox. You'll be happy you did, even if it is a pilot that will probably never get picked up.

Virtuality trailer after the jump.

Busy Busy Busy!

I am.

Sorry I'm otherwise involved today. I may be back later in the day.

Don't bank of that, though.

Stuff happening. Things to do. Gotta run.

Back atcha ASAP.

BBC Comedy Extra Clip -- Mitchell & Webb and Animator David Firth Take On Big Brother

This is great stuff. I'll have another one tomorrow. The new series of That Mitchell & Webb Look is running currently on BBC One. Let's hope it skips over the pond to us in short order.

LINK

Today's Craig Clip is From the Carey Stack -- Mr. Wick & Kate, Drunk 'n' Horny

It's the weekend, let's enjoy some classic Craig Ferguson. More Late Late Show clips come next week. Craig's all new this week and on Monday has Public Enemies star Marion Cottilard and ... get this ... our pal Michael Musto from the Village Voice.

Tuesday, Jim Parsons from The Big Bang Theory visits Craig as part of his Emmy campaign.

LINK

"America, This is Pixie Lott. Pixie, This is ... Everyone!"

You'll hear a lot about her in the near future. From the UK. Her website. Her Wikipedia page.

And below, her #1 UK Hit, Mama Do (Uh Oh), so that next weekend when that you're at that party and that hot guy or gal mentions her and no one else knows what they're talking about, you'll be sooooo cool.

It's after the jump.

Clip Bonanza -- Make It A Family Father's Day With NBC's Merlin Tonight at 8

(Sorry, the Anthony Head interview just isn't ready yet. There was a lot of audio to get through and some of it needed, uh ... fixing, because something weird happen with the file, damned digital audio recorder. So that will be before this next week's episode.)

I strongly recommend this for you folks who are all getting together for some Father's Day thing today to push yourselves away from the table before 8 and gather round a bit of swords and sorcery this evening.

I've seen these two episodes that will air between 8 and 10 on NBC and had a great time ... and I'm really not a big fan of the genre.

(Of course, my curiosity about the great performance in the premiere episode from Torchwood's Eve Myles (left) was my impetus for sticking the DVD in the machine in the first place, but by the end of the second hour I was really sorry I didn't have another in store.)

What you'll see tonight introduces Merlin (Colin Morgan) to a Camelot where magic (which he has by the barrell-full) is forbidden by King Uther (Anthony Head), who is grooming his son Arthur (a tasty bit of blond Brit named Bradley James (pictured, because he's a tasty bit of blond Brit) for the crown.

Merlin is taken in by Gaius the kindly court physician and is charged with delivering potions. Gets in trouble with Arthur almost immediately but their relationship quickly goes from confrontative to one of mutual necessity charged with a bit o'conflict as Prince and appointed servant.

And there are girls -- Morgana the ward of King Uther and daughter of his slain friend and her servant Guinevere. Yes, you already know who Arthur ends up with, but let it go and enjoy the story for a while.

In fact, while you're letting that go ... well, I dunno how many of the D&D crowd are out there reading this or those who are really into the whole Arthurian legend, but you gotta let the storytellers slide on some stuff, the same way you let them slide on Smallville, for instance.

In other words, stop being such a damned purist and just go with it and have a good time. And remember it's a family show so there's gonna be moments, beats, that will play right to the teens and tweens and stuff that will rise to a higher level.

(You'll find lots of comparisons to Smallville in the press reviews, and I get that the two shows use the same conceit to set up the arena they're playing in, but because it's yet another family drama from BBC Wales I find it so similar in the way it's shot, scored and the look of the show to my favorite, Doctor Who.)

The British market, it seems, is still small enough that not everything is narrowcast and there's room on the schedule for something that tries to gather the whole family in front of the TV. I think it's a great thing for kids and their folks to be watching together and this is just the show for that.

And what's even better is that it's a quality product. Give it a try.

Many clips after the jump including almost nine minutes of cast interviews, so watch 'em and get primed for the debut. I promise nothing is too spoilery.

True Blood Preview -- Guess Who Wants to Be a Vampire?

Well, it's certainly a better option than being attached to the poop carousel. That's what I've decided to call that thing Lafayette's attached to down in what I think is the cellar of Fangtasia.

However, would Lafayette be able to handle the hunger that comes with the conversion? And what of his previous use of V, will that affect his transition from human to undead?

(I tend to be a details guy when it comes to stories like this.)

Tomorrow at 9 on HBO.

LINK

Video -- Craig Ferguson's 900th Show (and still a crap studio)

Is it about time that I start a Make Craig's Show in HD campaign? Because I'll do it, just try me.

Leaky roof, Wolfgang Puck's oil all over the floors, those Soviet-era TV cameras ... this is not befitting an American On Purpose (Amazon link, pre order below)!

Hey Craig, haven't you shot the cover for this thing yet? What's up with that?

Craig makes his own 900th Show Celebration fun in a clip after the jump, because the network just plum forgot.

Tomorrow, the Bryan Cranston interview.

Also, find Craig in the current Entertainment Weekly, The Must Issue, as Must Monologuist.

Bill Maher Video -- New Rules Has It Right Again, "Democrats Are the New Republicans"

Check it out.

LINK

Who Gets Custody Of TLC in Jon & Kate Divorce?

Please let it be Jon. No one needs to see that woman on their TV, especially on cable where you're actually paying for the signal to come into your  home.

The word is that the bitch who has successfully used her uterus as a slot machine and the guy that married her but "has permission to date these days" are announcing their divorce this week on "a very special episode."

Well, how nice for them that they can monetize the failure of their marriage.

Given the sitch, I would prefer a very special episode of Blossom instead. One where Blossom and Joey fight about which one of the reality show couple are should get custody of the show, and Six admits that she's actually the illegitimate daughter of Kate and Blossom and Joey's dad.

I choose Jon for obvious and not so obvious reasons. First off, Kate's just horrible. We can all stipulate to that, can't we? And get this ... I don't even watch the show, I just know this stuff from watching the clip shows that make fun of them.

Second, I figure Jon won't get primary custody since men rarely do. And I don't wanna see one of those kids die of thirst while in Kate's care.

Hey, is there a chance at all that this might spell the absolutely end of this show? That would be so cool. Not that there aren't others who are making a living on TV after playing human log flume with their vaginas, but at least one of these shows would be gone.

What's Long And Hard and Will Make You Sick?

I know, it's one of my favorites, too. Though I do prefer it cooked. Either cooked or raw, though, don't do it. If I had some at home, just to be safe I would throw it out.

And if you're going to throw it out, wrap it well. Pets might be tempted.

CNN:

The company said it is recalling an estimated 300,000 cases of the dough as a precaution after reports of food-borne illness in 28 states.

There are concerns that the premade dough may be contaminated with the bacterium E. coli 0157:H7, which causes abdominal cramping, vomiting and diarrhea, the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Young children and the elderly can suffer more serious symptoms.

Nestle issued a statement saying, "While the E. coli strain implicated in this investigation has not been detected in our product, the health and safety of our consumers is paramount, so we are initiating this voluntary recall."

According to Nestle spokeswoman Laurie MacDonald, raw dough was one of the things the sick people reported eating.

"The health and safety of our consumers is our No. 1 priority," she said. "We felt the best thing to do is a voluntary recall."

Just thought you'd wanna know.

2 Clips -- Gwen-Centric Torchwood Children of Earth Trailer From Australia

Click here to watch at DoctorWhoHD.com.

Very intense:

"There's one thing I always meant to ask Jack, back in the old days.

"I wanted to know about that Doctor of his, a man who appears out of nowhere and saves the world ... except sometimes he doesn't.

"All those times in history when there was no sign of him I wanted to know why not, but I don't need to ask anymore.

"I know the answer now.

"Sometimes the Doctor must look at this planet and turn away in shame.

"I'm recording this in case anyone ever finds it so they can see ... you can see how the world ended."

Next month on BBC America, BBC One and UKTV in Australia.

After the jump, a new promo clip with RTD and Barrowman and the gang from BBCA.

Two Ferguson Clips, Because I Have to Make Up For Yesterday

Right here below, Craig shows you how to use your thumbs to be more confident. And of course, it's a great day for America, because it was National Eat Your Vegetables Day.

Then, after the jump, watch Craig talk to Sandra Bullock about that Betty White. And there are fart jokes.

BW is always causing trouble. We discussed this earlier in the week. She'll cut you, you know.

LINK

Sandra Bullock after the jump.

Fox's More to Love Promo Not As Horrifyingly Crass As I Predicted

NOTE TO READERS: This post comes with links to illustrative Family Guy clips, from Hulu, US Only (sorry). I would love to have the time to provide illustrative Family Guy clips for every post. Alas, just so much time in the day.

It's still not something I'm going to watch, it's just not for me. But I'm somewhat relieved that it's not some crapfest with "boing-boing" couch spring noises and other Foley effects, which I kind of the direction I thought they might be going.

It's Fox and Mike Darnell, you never know. He IS satan, after all. Moment of Truth? Remember that?

But they went another way. Fortunately. They're going the emotional route, as you'll see in the clip after the jump.

When I watched the clip the first thing I thought to myself is, "These are my people. Not particularly stunning, not particularly fit, but certainly nobody's scaring small children in the supermarket or in possession of their own gravitational pull.

Then I thought, "This is what dating shows would have looked like in the late 60s." Or, "This is what dating shows look like when you remove all the aspiring actors, singers, and models."

Regular looking guy, regular looking women. Still, I hope no one picks a life partner by virtue of how they perform on a "reality show." Remember what happened to Brian Griffin on The Bachelorette?

"It's just TV!"

NGTV's Carrie and the Cast of Year One Just Go Totally Off the Rails, Also David Cross' Belushi Problem

It's just "one big circumcision, wine and sponge cake party."

Also, there's some oral sex instruction. Watch it because, as Woody Allen says, adult education is good for you. "You meet a lotta interesting professors. You know, it's stimulating."

Carrie is very stimulating. However, I think the oral sex instruction comes from Jack Black.

The movie opens Friday. The clip is really not for work or your kids or those people standing outside the Letterman show a couple nights ago.

But before the clip ... as you know David Cross is a co-star and included in this clip (saying some absolutely filthy things, by the way, that you can add to your own repertoire. But yesterday in the NY Daily News there was an interesting story on why Cross and Jim Belushi don't get along.

Check it out at this link. It's fascinating stuff. Now, I'm no Belushi fan. He is responsible for keeping Courtney Thorne-Smith working as an actress which I believe rises to the level of federal crime.

This, however, seals it for me.

Clip after the jump.

Another Day, Another Fox Noise Employee With an Legal Problem

You'll remember that recently we reported on Aaron Bruns, the Fox News Producer who was booted from college for distributing child pornography.

Today news from Gawker of another Fox News person, their writer Don Broderick, who according to them has been arrested for "hitting a cyclist in Central Park earlier this month, dragging him four blocks, and fleeing the scene, has been arrested, according to an NYPD spokeswoman."

Nice going, tool.

And yesterday Gawker had more. They've talked to some former co-workers who used these words:

"He's a creep and a bully," says one of three former Fox Newsers who spoke to Gawker. "He really is crazy. People are frightened to turn their backs to him. The fact that he still works there is mind-boggling."

Why not just back a police van up to the employee exits at the cable channel and wrangle them all into the local precinct. NYC would be much better off and so would TV watchers.

I know for a fact that they are guilty of killing the news business.

More on Broderick and his alleged crimes in the NY Daily News.

Video -- Hammertime Dancers Invade WeHo's Santa Monica Blvd.

This, I believe, is right outside The Troubador in West Hollywood. And I haven't seen the show, but these promos are genius.

This M.C. Hammer reality show airs Sundays at 10 on A&E. Show site at this link.

LINK

Tonight, CNN's Cooper on Obama's Gay Problem ... With the Screenwriter of Milk?

Really? The guy who wrote Milk is now our political spokesperson? We have no one more heavyweight than that?

At least have David Mixner or John Aravosis or even someone that a lot of straight people know, but to have the Oscar-winning writer that's just been pictured on a popular celebrity blog (you know which one) having unsafe sex? (LINK)

That guy? Speaking for me and mine? Doesn't he have other things to do? Like buy condoms?

It's not that I don't like him ... hell, I don't know him. I just think we as a political force and a voting bloc need to come up with more and better spokespeople.

Why not just have Melissa Etheridge come back, she was on the show last week talking about how weed helped her get through chemo. Not that I watched all of it.

I allot 90 minutes a day for the consumption of TV news, and that's usually the half-hour BBC broadcast in the morning and then Maddow at 6 pacific. I don't have time for Anderson Cooper. If I had more time for TV news I would add Olbermann, not Cooper.

Anderson Cooper knows who the serious people in this debate are. Why isn't he calling them?

Hey, Look Who Has His Own IMDB Page? ME!!!!!

That's right, kids, it's yours truly. Thank you Kourosh, Shark and Carrie.

Somewhere in my heart of hearts I knew that I would achieve notoriety for doing something for which I would receive "Special Thanks."

So, I'm very excited to have a presence on the site. I've already started the message board postings, you can click over and add whatever you'd like.

Seriously, anything. I can't stop you. IMDB can, but I can't.

Obama Fly Video and How PETA Jumped the Shark

Alisa Mullins at their blog:

Believe it or not, we've actually been contacted by multiple media outlets wanting to know PETA's official response to the executive insect execution.

In a nutshell, our position is this: He isn't the Buddha, he's a human being, and human beings have a long way to go before they think before they act.

If all this has you wondering how you can be a bigger person (figuratively, as well as literally) in your dealings with exoskeletal beings, check out our handy-dandy bug catcher—one of which we are sending to President Obama for future insect incidents. I can tell you from personal experience that it sure came in handy the other day, when one of my cats was chasing the World's Largest Palmetto Bug around the house.

So now we're supposed to usher flies out of our homes? I don't have enough time in the day.

But this is instructive information. I now know that these people at PETA are either not serious or so frickin' serious I just can't deal with them.

It's not like I'm gonna go out and buy fur now. And let's face it, I eat my share of cow, chicken and pig. But to rise to this level on inanity?

I'm done. No more defending PETA. Watch Obama kill the fly (and cheer if you want) in a clip after the jump from Barely Political with new audio that will crack you up.

Heroes Star David Lawrence Heading to Jail? YES!!!

Uh huh! And only you can get him out.

Scariest puppeteer on TV heads to the lock up for the Muscular Dystrophy Association on June 24. You get it now, right? It's a fundraiser. Your donations "pay" David's bail and only then will he be released from the East Valley Lockup in Universal City.

(Note to David: if you set up a perp walk, I'll try to get some people there. But it has to be full on handcuffs and struggling against the officer. And if said officer happens to not really be a cop but a male stripper who performs after he throws you in the pokey I can get even more people there. I have readers in the Valley.)

Here's the deal, readers ... you're gonna give something to MDA before Labor Day anyway, because if you have a even an ounce of compassion you give to the telethon. Start now, click this link.

I'll start you off. There, I just did it.

Oh, c'mon Brian Austin Greene*, here because he Googled himself (AGAIN!) pony up buddy!

* I don't actually know if Brian Austin Greene has ever visited this blog or if he Googles himself. He's just the first actor I thought of because I just read that he's taking a role on Smallville which is apparently why he pulled out of One Tree Hill.

Sorry Brian, you were a convenience and I apologize.

Now the rest of you click over and support David Lawrence and MDA.

Video -- New VH1 Pop Culture Show, Is Best Week Ever Canceled or Not? I'm Confused

When Paul F. Tompkins (seen here with a blog fave) said at the end of Friday's episode that the show wouldn't come back till October I was somewhat confused.

Then I read on the New York Magazine website on their Vulture blog that it would be back in January 2010, which most of the staff considered de facto cancellation.

Then today I read in the same place that Paul's tweeting that it looks like no more show.

(I don't tweet anymore and you won't in six months, either. I don't judge you, have your fun.)

And the magazine writes today about a new pop culture show that they (VH1) is calling "similar to our old format of BWE" that will air on Mondays at 10 this Summer called The Great Debate.

But it's certainly not replacing BWE, it's a different time slot.

So, I have a clip from this new show after the jump. Best thing about this show? My pal Carrie Keegan is involved. Worst thing? So is Michael Buffer, the boxing ring announcer, as a kind of format glue for the show. You'll see. It's a little lame, this contrivance.

Certainly this isn't a topical current pop cult show, and frankly there are enough of them. I was thinking, in fact, about doing a post ranking the clip shows and when I started compiling the list I realized BWE came in fourth (The Soup, then Infomania on Current and then The Dish preceded it).

As it's not a topical show it also has a longer shelf life, which is good for them, but probably not good for you. And it's really not good for Paul.

I like Paul. In fact, I like him more doing standup or acting, both of which he will have more time to do now. The thing that sucks is that he relocated to NYC for the gig. It wasn't Paul I had a problem with, it was the format that came with Paul's hosting gig and some of the legacy stuff from before that stuck around, like Chuck Nice's faux-haughty gay entertainment reporter thing in The Sizzler.

It debuts Monday July 6, 10 pm.

Idol Winner Kris Allen on Judges Cowell, Jackson: "They Pee Like Us"

From the Hollywood Reporter website, some interview footage of Kris Allen reliving some moments from the experience, including a bathroom visit with the aforementioned judges before his audition.

LINK

Video -- Craig Ferguson Teaches Marketing: "After 54, You Don't Count!"

But ... but ... they have all the cash!

Craziness, I agree.

So, as Craig says: "If you're in a demographic and you're tired of of being patronized by people who wanna sell you crap, when all you wanna do is see a bad late night show, I'm your man. Give me your poor, give me your tired, give me your downtrodden masses dying for a bit of lame comedy and I will be there!"

Too many Craig Ferguson clips? All you have to do is start watching and send me verification (maybe you take a photo of you sitting in front of the TV, maybe you send me a screengrab of your DVR series manager, you choose!) and they stop.

Maybe.

Sanjaya Video -- Breaking Gender Stereotypes in the I'm A Celebrity ... Jungle

Sorry, people, I had to. I didn't watch it (the show, that is), I just got a clip sent to me and watched that.

I can't give this context because ... like I said I didn't watch the show. Just can't. It was interesting when Frangela was there because I have an email relationship with them, but once they were gone I was done.

But these Sanjaya comments caught my eye and I'm sharing. For the record, he says he's not gay, he thinks "gay people are awesome" and he's happy to hang and know them but he isn't one, despite what John Salley might say about Sanjaya worshiping at the alter of Janice Dickinson.

(And I totally understand the JD magic, I spent just a few minutes with her during the NBC press event and I loved it. Also, she prevented me from falling off a stage so I owe her that.)

I dunno what the deal is with her and Holly Montag. I didn't even know it was Holly Montag when she walked into the jungle, though. She is the only person left on the show that's close to his age, you can see how they would gravitate to each other.

Clip after the jump.

Comic-Con Preview: My Inbox Makes Me Sure There Will Be a Doctor Who Movie

Okay, I'm sure of it now. Why? Because David Tennant and Russell T. Davies are doing Comic-Con, baby! And it doesn't make sense that Tennant shows up unless they're announcing something big, like a movie version of Doctor Who with Tennant and Piper.

Who's not going to Comic-Con? Me.

Sold out! I was pretty sure I'd be previously engaged, as I'm probably getting ready to move at just about the same time, so I didn't even look at their site until today when I got the email.

However I checked today and all possibilities of my getting into the Con Center in San Diego on Sunday are nill.

(You'll remember that last year I got only half way there before a flaming big rig full of meat products caught on fire on the 5 freeway and forced me to turn around and go home.)

It's okay, I'm sure they're staying in LA and just driving down for the day, and I'm just minutes off the 405 freeway, so I'm inviting both of them (and you too, Julie Gardner) to my place for a meal.

I'll cater the thing as my cookware will probably be in boxes at that time.

Here's the details for those of you who have their weekend passes already:

In support of BBC America’s U.S. premiere of four Doctor Who Specials, the Doctor himself, David Tennant, will appear alongside writer/executive producer Russell T Davies at this year’s Comic-Con in San Diego.  They will take part in a Doctor Who panel along with executive producer Julie Gardner and director Euros Lyn, Sunday July 26, 10:00-11:00am PT. 

David will travel to Comic-Con, fresh from the Doctor Who set, having shot his final scenes as the tenth Time Lord.  He and fellow panelists will discuss the latest incarnation of television’s longest running science fiction series and take questions from the floor. There will also be exclusive sneak peeks from the upcoming specials.   

Fans can visit the BBC America booth (#3629) to capture their own photograph alongside part of the Doctor Who set - as well as purchase exclusive merchandise including David Tennant figures.

Fans of BBC America’s highest rated show ever, Torchwood, which will have just completed the five-part special, Children of Earth, will get to chat with the stars and makers of the show first-hand.  Just 48 hours after the last episode, the show makes a return visit to Comic-Con with a panel featuring star John Barrowman, writer/executive producer Russell T Davies, executive producer Julie Gardner and director Euros Lyn, Sunday July 26, 2:15-3:45pm PT. 

As part of the same panel, Sunday July 26, 2:15-3:45pm PT, catch the talent from BBC America’s most buzzed about new sci fi drama, Being Human.  Creator and writer, Toby Whithouse, plus lead actors Russell Tovey, Lenora Crichlow and Aidan Turner, talk about the inspiration for the show and what it’s like to play three twenty-somethings with secret double-lives – as a werewolf, a vampire and a ghost.  All four panelists will be signing exclusively at the BBC America booth, Saturday July 25, 3:00-4:00pm PT.

And, btw, I've seen some of Being Human already and I love the show. And, I finally know now who Russell Tovey is. 

(Actually, sometimes he's this guy above right, but just in the show.)

So, I know that someone who reads here is going. Would you be my eyes and ears? Leave me a comment if interested.

After the jump, an introduction to Tovey's Being Human character George. There are little prequel stories for each of the leads at the BBC page at YouTube for you to review, digest and absorb in advance of their premiere.

NGTV Video -- Stars of The Proposal Reveal The Secret, Unknown Life of Betty White

Who knew that Up Close With Carrie Keegan was investigative journalism?

What you'll learn about Betty White in a clip after the jump:

"This woman is insane." (director Anne Fletcher)

"Betty White's a different Betty White underneath 'the Betty White.' ... "Totally gangsta, so street." (Sandra Bullock)

It seems that the only way to keep Betty happy and not cutting someone on set was to have the producers order a scene where Oscar Nunez (The Office) strips in front of her.

Demanding, huh? But get this, when he was finished she laughed, right in his face.

Bitch.

It's been like this forever. I remember back in 1992 I was at The Smokehouse in Burbank and Betty walked in singing that Right Said Fred song and actually ripping clothes off guys as she sang/screamed "You're too sexy for this shirt!" and then she put a cigar out on some day player's forearm.

Right before the Millenium she totally went Texas university bell tower on the Warner lot, picking off craft service people like they were target practice.

And then there was the story about what she did to the bathroom at Les Deux a couple years ago, but she blamed Lohan for it and got away unscathed.

Betty White. Keep your eyes peeled, she might be heading your way.

Clip after the jump.

Video -- Today's Craig Clip: Standing Up For the Top of the Demo

Thanks, Craig, as someone who will soon be irrelevant to advertisers and Ben Silverman (well, I don't have  a yacht, either) I appreciate the support.

This is the email segment, but you really should click over to watch the Holly Hunter interview (LINK), especially if you're a little vouyeristic. I don't know about you but I love watching people flirt. I don't think they even mention Saving Grace (show website link) after they ran a clip at the top of the segment.

Also checking in on Craig's show, Variety's Brian Lowry, who wrote on his blog today:

(W)hat really impressed me is just how loose Ferguson is. Not everything works, but unlike, say, Jimmy Fallon -- who essentially tries to foster the illusion of spontaneity -- he does seem to be creating a lot of the show on the run, riffing freely and at least appearing to fly without a net.  On Monday, that included a silly gag about gay penguins in a German zoo -- with Ferguson particularly tickled by the fact that the penguins were German, not gay.

Fortunately for Ferguson, this satisfied customer still falls within a couple of important demographics. Now if only I could stay up that late on a weeknight.

Then some guy leaves a very helpful comment underneath about DVR use and how he watches Craig the next morning after the 4 am broadcast of the BBC World News which he also records instead of watching the Today show, which lately pretty much sucks. Now that's a smart guy!

Craig, catching the wave of the zeitgeist, demographics be damned!

Clip after the jump. One Craig Clip a Day Until You Start Watching continues, as it is just before 11 here in the West.

The streak continues.

Cast Interviews Video -- Ron Moore's Virtuality on Fox June 26 at 8 pm

I watched it last night and I certainly wasn't disappointed. Ron Moore always brings the good stuff. Now of course I'm pissy about it not getting picked up for series because Moore has created such fertile ground to play in.

More extensive impressions later in the week from me, but I will lay out (as quick as a bunny) what the deal is here.

This ship, Phaeton, is out in space on an exploratory mission to find another inhabitable planet, right? Although the mission is conducted under the auspices of the ambiguous and nebulous "authorities" it been funded by sending the crew up with video cameras for the possible ten-year mission, should they decide they can make it, slingshotting (sp?) their way across the solar system in a semi-controlled manner toward a promising star.

Actually, this short clip probably explains it better than I do.

LINK

Hibberd has more clips at his THR Live Feed blog, at this link.

Because it's such a long journey the crew also has access to these virtual reality headsets that allow them escape from the close quarters and lack of privacy. Only problem is that something unplanned has gotten into the computers that run the program, unplanned ... and deadly.

Is that enough for you to chew on till the weekend?

If not I have one more thing, after the jump. The cast of Virtuality tells you what they would bring into space with them for 10 years in the behind the scenes feature after the jump.

And like I said, more before it airs.

Watch the clip, if only for the eye candy, it's a very attractive cast headed by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (New Amsterdam), Sienna Guillory, Ritchie Coster, Joy Bryant and James D'Arcy.

iFMagazine.com Has Norman Lear with Seth MacFarlane and Phil Rosenthal

Note to whoever invited iFMagazine to this event -- Hey, what about me? I was available. And I know Phil already (we have a mutual friend) so what's the deal?

Okay, this time you're off the hook but the next time Phil Rosenthal and Seth MacFarlane are saluting a boxset of first seasons of Norman Lear shows on DVD I'd better get a call, or else ...

... or else I won't place this link below on my blog for people to buy the thing.

Oops! I just did.

And another thing ... neither Seth nor Phil need a free copy of the collection, either, so either or both of you can send yours to me.

(With the extra one I'll have an online auction with the proceeds going to PFAW.)

From the article:

LEAR: The first battle I had was a whole show about Richard Nixon. You have to think about down stream and the future of the show and that no one would know who Richard Nixon was [in syndication], but with performances like that, it doesn’t matter what they’re talking about to a great extent.

MACFARLANE : Archie said “God damn it” and it had that much more impact and sounded more real. It was a simple thing. I always wondered if that was a fight.

LEAR: That was a fight.

MACFARLANE: Flawed characters are frowned upon. If somebody is not perfect in every way – [they ask] “are they going to be likable …”

ROSENTHAL: When they said that to me, I said “who in your family is likable?”

Click over there for more. Lear in an interview clip from the DVD extras on the late Bea Arthur after the jump.

There's also more on this event from Movieline, at this link.

Live From the Lakers Game, It's ... Style Network's The Dish?

Kind of live, not really from the Lakers game but very Dish-y reporting from Tony Tripoli. Saffron and aubergine, indeed!

LINK

Primeval Cancelation: Promoted From the Comments -- Medium Rob on Primeval, ITV & UK TV Licence

From our good friend Rob Buckley (not that one, this one) comes a comment that you should read if you wanna know what the deal is with how the licence fee issue in the UK but also other issues has affected the Primeval deal, particularly the face that the show is produced independently:

ITV has to find £65-70m worth of drama cuts from a £1 billion slate; its share price is 20p-50p at the moment; ad revenue is down 20%; it's just had to pay back a £250m bond. It's not in a happy place and it gets 40% of its ad revenue from The X-Factor, Coronation Street, I'm A Celebrity, Benidorm and Britain's Got Talent. It's basically looking where to cut and Primeval, which is made by an indie production company rather than inhouse, is an expensive show to make in ITV terms: we've got to be looking at £8m per series - nothing for US TV, but a lot for British TV and I suspect a good amount of the money Primeval does make won't be going to ITV, but to the production company that makes it since there's been a big fuss about producer rights of late and I suspect they'll have held on to most of them. It's odd, I know, but basically Primeval isn't a soar-away enough success that its high production costs (which will be paid for by one branch of ITV) will be made up for by decent ad revenue, and other revenues will probably be going to another branch of ITV anyway.

Since I know some of you are to lazy busy to click through to the comments it's right here for you.

General info from this UK site about licence fee in the UK.

And more on the cancelation from Broadcast Now at this link, including:

The third series of Primeval, which stars Hannah Spearitt and James Murray, concluded on June 6 with an audience of 4.5 million viewers and an audience share of 25.1%.  The series averaged 4.5m (23.25%), running as a precursor to ITV’s mega-entertainment juggernaut Britain’s Got Talent.

(snip)

ITV has pledged to cut £160m from it’s programming budget over the next three years - £65m this year, an additional £20m by the end of 2010 and £75m in 2011.

Dramas have been particularly stung, with production on Sunday night shows Heartbeat and The Royal rested and Wire in the Blood axed.

And this comment underneath the piece, which made sense to me:

Typical of the current attitude of ITV to viewers, I'm afraid. Coming soon: "I know: lets make all our programmes on domestic camcorders in a scout hut using members of the public. Wow - look how much money we've saved! Oh! We've got no viewers... Don't understand..."

Exactly! What will be left, test patterns, graveyard webcams, more talent searches? We're going backward not forward. Where are the true innovators? Who's gonna find the way forward where quality programming once again captures the imagination and the purse strings of a nation?

Because all I see is the product continuing to degrade. Soon TV shows will actually look like that image at the top of the page.

Today's Craig Ferguson Clip: Even He's Talking True Blood

He also takes on the Twilight gang (lame!) and finds Adam Lambert adorable.

Yes, there are gay vampires, Craig.

Why? Need a bite? Call me.

The Craig clips don't stop until you start watching. CBS, after Letterman. Do it!

LINK

Fire David Letterman? As If!

Note to that crowd, you know which one. I'm talking about the faux-indignation because we have nothing else crowd circling the wagons around Dave because of his Palin joke militia.

Not gonna happen. In fact, everything you do in this regard right now will only work to make Dave's ratings better. And considering Dave's new competition in late night and the network's desire to see him take the lead (and become the King of Late Night, without a press release) you are very kindly doing a lot of the heavy lifting for him and CBS. So, thanks for that.

Why? Because nobody wants to be a member of a club that would have someone like you; obnoxious teabagging, Obama hating, domestic terrorist supporting, low information voting, bigoted, heart of poison, reactionary Glenn Beck-watching stooge; as a member.

Don't you get it? You are vastly outnumbered here. It is not, as you purported values voters think, a conservative nation.

Washington Post:

(PR guru Ken)Sunshine says, the Letterman-Palin skirmish has been good for both sides: Letterman gets a booster shot of media-whipped "controversy" at a moment when he could finally be poised to surge past Conan O'Brien and "The Tonight Show" for late-night TV supremacy, while Palin seized an opportunity to appeal to her "base" of conservatives.

"Letterman is a master of this, and he's milking it for all it's worth," Sunshine said, citing similar ratings-boosting "feuds" that Letterman has engaged in with McCain and Oprah Winfrey. "But people often underestimate [Palin] and underestimate her following. She's exploiting this very smartly. She's speaking to her core base that feels maligned. She's playing the faux feminist . . . and the family-values representative. It's extraordinary that she can bring this off."

"Poor Mitt Romney," he adds. "He's probably wondering, 'Where do I get some of this?' "

And you know, I don't really care which Palin daughter was at the ballgame that Dave's remark was inspired by. With a mother like Sarah Palin who doesn't support comprehensive sex education and doesn't support a woman's right to choose it would be much easier for her daughter, whatever age, to get impregnated by Alex Rodriguez.

And it wasn't a rape joke about the kid anyway, it was a parenting joke about Palin, which is probably what got her so pissed off.

Dave? No going anywhere but up, gang. But please, keep up the drum beating because he only wins.

And you will always lose. Especially when the guy you wanna see fired is making money for his network. Here's an idea, just don't watch! I'm sure Letterman will miss the 12 of you who object to him.

So sure.

TV.com has video from CBS' The Early Show from this morning that you might wanna see, and that's at this link.