I Am A TV Junkie

NBC's Zucker Eviscerated By LA Times; Leno Failure Means 10 Drama Pilots in Development

 

Finally, a post where I can use this image of Jeff Zucker and another guy who doesn't mind sucking at his job.

Meg James and Matea Gold at the Times:

NBC's Leno flip-flop, which is shaping up to be one of the biggest debacles in television history, underscores how Zucker, who views himself as a maverick and a champion of change, now faces a decidedly different legacy. Instead of the mogul with moxie who transformed television -- he called for "a re-engineering of our businesses from top to bottom" -- Zucker might better be remembered as the guy who plucked the peacock.

How Zucker found himself in such a fix is a study in how a chief executive, confronting wrenching changes to his business, reacts to challenges.

Now the network is bracing for more fallout: Will Conan O'Brien, who last spring became host of the storied "Tonight Show," leave the network when Leno moves from 10 p.m. back to 11:35 p.m., which could happen as soon as March? Will Leno remain content with a half-hour show, signing off at 12:05 a.m. to make room for O'Brien, if he stays? And how will NBC plug five hours of programming each week in Leno's vacated time slot?

Damn, they's fighting words, huh? Not that it all isn't true, it is, but it's harsh to hear that way I'm sure. What I don't quite get is why Comcast signed Zucker back of (a three year deal per reports) when all this bad news was readily apparent when they took control of the company. And they knew that Zucker's big idea was to make cost-effective programming instead of swinging for the fences and coming up with a great 10 pm drama in the tradition of Hill Street, LA Law, ER, etc.

 Our friend Joe Adalian at TheWrap.com says today, "Despite the litany of complaints against Zucker, GE recently signed Zucker to a new multiyear deal. Rival network executives and other industry insiders have dismissed that contract's long-term value, at least in terms of Zucker's viability at NBC, with many insisting new potential owner Comcast will seek to replace Zucker once its purchase is complete."

More about Zucker, failing upwards and the NBC drama pilots after the jumperoo.

Report: Comcast in Talks to Buy NBC-Universal

It's late, I'm tired, so I'm sending you over to read Sharon Waxman's report at TheWrap.com, which is also home to our friend and TV-MoJoe blogger Joseph Adalian, who I'm sure will be following this story like a paparazzi follows Britney.

Apparently GE is tired of the network weighing down their balance sheet. Shoulda thought about that when you made a show marketer your programming chief. Stupid move, that was.

I'll keep you in the loop.

Tina Fey Is Our Best Diplomat? Yes She Is. Let's Make Her UN Ambassador

Broadcasting & Cable's Melissa Grego spoke to Tina about the Emmy sitch and other NBC related news. Check the amazing diplomatic skills in the following excerpts.

What do you think about The Jay Leno Show on NBC at 10?

My take is I have the fascinating curiosity of a 100% spectator. I'm going to be just really interested to see how the shows work together, that many hours of comedy and talk working together. I'm just curious. I think Jimmy [Fallon]'s doing really well. I'm glad for him.

And then ...

You got a ton of attention at last year's Emmys. Did you feel like you were the star of the show?

Goodness me, no. I felt like there was a vacuum last year. It's very exciting that the show this year will have Neil Patrick Harris as host. Maybe what you were feeling was a problem with that broadcast [featuring the now notorious multi-host format]. It was an embarrassment of riches at that show last year for us, and I don't think we'll ever have a year like that again. But we'll keep showing up as long as they'll have us.

And then ...

What are your thoughts on Ben Silverman, who just stepped down from NBC?

Ben was always very good to us and good to 30 Rock, and anyone who left us on the air is all right by me. We'll miss him, but all seems well with the new guy, too. I spoke to Mr. Gaspin last week and he seems like a good guy—so far. So far. I'm giving him 10…no, I'm kidding.

And then ... you had to click over the jump and see then "and then ..." clip.

You Don't Have Ben Silverman to Kick Around Anymore, SUNY Bing Grad Gaspin Promoted

Was it something I said?

THR reports this morning that Silverman's out and Jeff Gaspin is promoted to the title of Chairman, NBC Universal Television Entertainment, and Marc Graboff, who was co-chair with Silverman will report to Gaspin, whose role will be expanded to include oversight of Bonnie Hammer's cable entertainment division.

And I can't imagine that Bonnie Hammer, who makes money there with Bravo, USA, Syfy, Oxygen and the other Universal cable channels is so thrilled today, either, with someone vaulting over her after she's turned in such a great few years of growth.

I would have given her the job. At least you can count on the fact that she has good taste. Gaspin comes from the finance side per his NBC Uni bio and his past with the network and outside it at a shopping channel doesn't give any indication that he can find that next big NBC hit:

During his first five years at NBC, as vice president of Programming and Development, Gaspin helped develop and launch “Dateline NBC.” Prior to that, he was responsible for the expansion of the “Today” franchise to seven days. Gaspin also previously served as director of Financial Planning for NBC News, overseeing production finance for “Late Night with David Letterman” and “Saturday Night Live,” as well as for NBC’s TV stations division.

When they say helped develop and launch, I'd like to know exactly what he did to "develop" Dateline. Develop Dateline? What, he invented the newsmagazine format? I don't think so.

His educational background is an interesting one for a network exec, a Masters in strategic planning from NYU's Graduate School of Business and an undergrad from SUNY Binghamton.

Yea SUNY, though! Maybe his parents weren't filthy rich and he has some understanding of regular people and what they want to see on TV.

I'm also a SUNY alum who grew up during the same time in almost the same place (about 25 minutes away) and I have great taste in TV.

I said, "I have great taste in TV."

"Yes, Joe. Yes, you do. We love all the shows you love. You speak for us with your one voice!"

And I do like that I found this image of him on the web accepting an honor from PowerUp, the lesbian entertainment industry insiders group. If a straight guy is comfortable in a ballroom with the PowerUp crowd I'm good with him, too.

NY Times from Jan. 2008:

My first job, in 1984, was as manager of ad sales pricing for NBC’s local stations. I thought, “At least I’m not working in a bank.” Then I moved to the entertainment division and did the budgeting for programs that included David Letterman’s show and “Days of Our Lives.”

Next I did budgeting in the news division. The company held a writing contest every year, and the winner got to have lunch with Brandon Tartikoff, the president of NBC Entertainment. To anyone who wanted to be in the business in a creative way, he was a god.

I submitted a script for the sitcom “Family Ties” and came in third.

That's a promising piece of news. He worshipped Tartikoff and wrote a Family Ties spec script.

More of this post after the jump.

Ben Silverman's Crowing About Emmy Noms, While NBC Loses More Money

I am getting tired of this guy. You?

(No, not the  little person worth $45 million to the left, I'm talking about Ben Silverman.)

First of all, he's always beaming about the success of House. If House is such a great show by NBC-Uni, why didn't NBC pick it up for their air, huh?

(Actually, I believe it was Scott Sassa who passed on House. Because they already had ER, but why couldn't they have two medical shows? They are certainly very different animals, the two shows are.)

Back to Ben, this week he decided to get all vermklempt to the press about the 67 Primetime Emmy nominations that NBC got this week.

First of all, 67 noms doesn't mean 67 Emmys. It certainly won't happen, in fact. And, my contention is that NBC got those 67 noms despite Silverman, not because of him.

(And a number of the noms are in the same categories. Click here and check how many NBC shows and performances are up against each other, especially in the comedy category. In some categories they have all five or six noms.)

He gave all kinds of airtime to shows that had not a chance of garnering Emmys. Can you say Kath & Kim? Crusoe? Knight Rider?

(At least the NBC adaptation of The IT Crowd -- yes, I'm still pissed off about that -- would have gotten a nomination for writing, as long as they brought Graham Linehan over to script the pilot.)

(Molly Shannon, I love you but you got screwed on this one. You too, Selma Blair, and you John Michael Higgins, who makes me laugh more in those DirecTV commercials than in any single episode of K&K. Not his fault, he had nothin' to work with.)

Meanwhile, the broadcast division is losing money, only being held up by the cable end run by the always-refreshed looking Bonnie Hammer:

Broadcast television, which includes the NBC network, TV stations and its in-house television production studio, contributed $1.4 billion in revenue, which was 9% lower than a year earlier. Operating profit was $100 million lower than last year's second quarter. The company spent more money developing programming and "local media continues to be down," Sherin said.

(snip)

Cable television was another story. Sherin said those channels contributed $1.2 billion in revenue, up 3% over last year, for an operating profit of $595 million. That was 7% higher than in 2008.

So, if anyone should crow, it's the woman with no discernable crow's feet, Bonnie Hammer. Her cable operations are going great guns with Royal Pains, Burn Notice, Warehouse 13 and lots of other genre content across her entities, including USA, Bravo, Syfy (Ugh, that rebranding!) and Oxygen, among others.

The Listener -- Ratings Challenged Canadian Import Shelved By NBC

As I said when it debuted, it's dreary. And the lead performance from Craig Olejnik was, well ... neither here nor there.

Telepathic paramedic knows things are gonna happen ahead of time, did he know he'd be canceled in America?

Variety:

Peacock said Wednesday that the drama will leave the air to make way for "Law and Order" repeats, which will take over the Thursday 10 p.m. slot starting July 30.

Five episodes will remain in the can; "Listener" was originally scheduled to keep airing through August. But it hasn't been much of a ratings performer for the Peacock; last Thursday's episode posted just a 0.7 rating and 2 share among adults 18-49.

Gee, do you think the fact that Ben Silverman's old company (and he hasn't really been bifurcated from them for so long) was distributing the show internationally have anything to do with the NBC pickup? If I was a GE shareholder I think I would be starting to ask serious questions about what's more important to Ben (seen here above possibly making another bad deal on the phone), his wallet of the company's.

Or, maybe he just wanted to make sure Elisabeth Murdoch (owner of the company, Rupert's daughter and oceanic buddy of Silverman's) could afford another yacht.

Even the floundering Merlin on the network (which I happen to enjoy, and so does the fabulous James St. James at World of Wonder) does better than this show.

Gee, more Law & Order reruns on TV? That's just what we need. No wonder Dick Wolf doesn't have any of his shows on Hulu, all you have to do is turn on your TV and it's there, on any number of channels.

Buying Canadian is a great idea, but it has to be the right show. CBS got it right with Flashpoint. Not that I'm a fan, but apparently a lot of you are.

It's a shame that no one thought of doing this with Slings & Arrows, which is from what I've seen the best hour drama that Canadian TV ever produced.

Video -- And ... They're Gone! Jungle Too Hot for Speidi, Watch Heidi's Breakdown

Pictured here to the left is everyone's most loathed TV couple in happier times, actually taken on a set before they got on a plane to head to Costa Rica, which they want to leave now, right away.

I haven't even watched this on the big screen yet, just here. I just can't figure out what Heidi thought she was getting into? Did they not explain to her that this is what the show is?

There's no Les Deux in the Costa Rican Jungle?

What I did see in the little of I'm a Celebrity that I watched yesterday live is that there was gonna be a dust-up between Spencer and what looked to be Angela from Frangela. Then this morning I visit my usual morning sites and the word is that they're gone.

I particuarly loved this quote that TMZ claims came from Spencer:

A well-placed source who works on the Costa Rican production of the show tells TMZ just before quitting the show, Spencer screamed at producers, "If you give me a script, I'll do what you want. I'm not a reality star. I'm on 'The Hills.'"

Spencer clarified with the following: "I'm a TV producer and a character."

I'll fast forward through the two hours of unscripted hell later in the day to check out what happened.

What's really cracking me up is that they called Ben Silverman from the jungle to complain, like he was their personal concierge.

You know there's actually a good chance that this is all solved and everyone is back in the jungle come tonight's live portion of the show. This is a great opening salvo if it is indeed that.

Or, could be just two whining pieces of crap that never worked a day in their lives realizing they're too out of their element.

I added this pic of Spencer gagging because I thought it was fitting to see him do what he's been making us do for a couple years now.

Whatev, the show did its thing last night, winning the evening and providing the network with a chance to show you what else it has scheduled for the Summer.

Stuff that you might prefer over Speidi, like this, or this, or even this (if you're that kind of person).

Watch Heidi break down after the jump. If you've seen your younger sister whine and moan for the benefit of your parents' sympathy, you can skip it, it's that lame.

TV.com Shows On the Bubble, Out of 10 (actually 11), I Love Four of These

Above, the star of one of those shows. Can't hire a machine to be the lead in your show, NBC, though the car might have given the best performance in the show. The human lead, a former soap actor, wasn't even a good soap actor.

My four favorites, btw, are in the top five. Check out all of them at this TV.com link.

The rest of them? In order from 10 to six, they are:

Without a Trace & Cold Case (listed together for a reason, click over for that): I'm not much of a fan of procedurals when they're this dour. And you know I can't stand children in peril stories.

Knight Rider: Undoubtedly the biggest screwup in Ben Silverman's NBC career was greenlighting this car ad masquerading as a TV show. And I hate product placement, especially at this level.

As I've said before, the cereal boxes on Jerry Seinfeld's shelf or the Met-Rx on Joey Tribbiani's fridge were fine, but more than that sucks.

In the Motherhood: Saw the pilot, it was fine but nothing special and Megan Mullally dominated the other actors who just weren't at her level. That's right Cheryl Hines, I'm talking about you.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: Four episodes in, I soured on Lena Headey and the totally miscast Thomas Dekker (pictured above left). Plus, way way way too much eyeliner on Dekker, to the point of distraction, and he had no chemistry with the cast in my opinion.

My Name is Earl: It was always an effort for me to watch because of all the Scientologists that show up, either in the lead role or guest appearances. Giovanni Ribisi again? Really? No thanks.

(I know that Reed Slatkin got a lot of Ribisi's pre-2001 money in that scam he was running, but does that mean we have to see this guy on TV constantly?)

Then this year I just got tired of the premise and moved on.

It didn't help that one week I feel asleep during Earl and had the misfortune of waking up during Kath & Kim. I thought I was still asleep but having a nightmare about trashy Floridians. And the Selma Blair character reminded me of Casey Anthony.

Later today, the four shows I love that might get canceled (okay, I'm pretty sure about two of them and I'm sad about it).

So, Who'll Go Shopping to Piss Off Papa on Kings Tonight & When Does Ben Silverman Get Fired for This Show?

Seriously, shopping? They send the gay son shopping to piss off his father the King?

Why not put him in a pair of sensible pumps and a peach formal with spaghetti straps and have him lipsynch I Will Survive on national TV? Doesn't this alternative world have their own version of Ru Paul's Drag Race? No duct tape in Shiloh to hide your junk?

Note to fans ... once again NBC has not instructed anyone to coerce me into posting the preview clip for tonight, which I equate with giving up on the show.

But wait, there's more ... they didn't even put up a preview clip for this week. It's just not at NBC.com, anywhere.

They're not even putting up photo galleries for each episode. This show is toast, trust me. And you know what? I'm gonna watch it till they tear it out of my cold, dead hands.

This show will be canceled. Before the end of the run. Mark my words.

When does Ben Silverman lose his job? Who does he have naked pictures of that he isn't getting fired?

No clip. Sorry. Tonight at 8 on NBC, I'll be the other person in American watching it.

Former Carson Tonight Show Producer Lassally: NBC Tarnished the Brand

He says to Broadcasting & Cable's Ben Grossman, "“It doesn't feel good to me at all," discussing the Leno 10 pm move.

Doesn't feel good to me. Seems to feel great to Sucker Zucker and Silverman. At least as far as they're letting on.

Of course, for those of us concerned about TV as a whole and not just the NBC-Uni financial statement, it feels like NBC is runnin' scared because their current class of clowns can't figure out how to make fictional shows that people want to watch.

Has anyone suggested to Jeff Immelt that he needs to consider grabbing the reigns and start firing and hiring?

Because if he doesn't do something, and soon, there won't be an NBC for him to consider.

Period.

The Year in NBC Ben Silverman News, Part I of IV (because there's SO MUCH)

Pictured above, Silverman in Michael Scott's office. There's a certain symmetry to that, huh?

First off, we should note that at no time during the year was there any news about the project that Silverman once said would be the thing that killed American Idol.

That thing was the US remake of the Colombian telenovela Sin Tetas No Hay Paraiso, based on the novel of which by the way I still can not find a English translation.

The title translated? Without Tits There Is No Paradise. I've always thought of it as Ben's mantra. Why do I think Ben has a mantra? Because he reminds me of the Jeff Goldblum character in Annie Hall.

January

Right out of the gate, Ben and Stephen McPherson decide to take their pissing match public. They fight in the press about Kevin Reilly. I call it another round of  "Rich White Guys and The Nasty Things They Say to Journalists About Each Other."

Later in the week, Advertising Age talks to Ben and Ben manages to convince them that he invented the back-d00r pilot. Really? So what about the episode of The Andy Griffith Show that led to Mayberry RFD, huh Ben? And the show in question, Knight Rider? Sampling is fine on the show, but they don't come back. And they still aren't today.

February

Ben goes right to series with Kath & Kim, no pilot. He tells the Hollywood Reporter, "This hilarious new series exemplifies how we are changing the pilot process by ordering shows that we believe in and green-lighting them straight to series."

Flash forward? The show sucks like a vacuum! Great cast, lousy show.

March

Ben spends quality time with Justin Timberlake, Justin pitches a show called My Problem With Women. Big article in the trades, I haven't heard anything about it since.

May

TV Week's Daisy Whitney reports from the publication's upfront summit that Ben says:

“Tina Fey loves American Express. They have been inside '30 Rock,' in the show. They have supported her through the Tribeca Film Festival,” he said. “Tim Kring enjoys his relationships with Nissan. He felt Nissan helped empower the growth of that show.”

Well, sure, but they're desperate to stay on the air, Ben. And you don't help at all by scheduling all this drek around the decent show.

More later, kids!

NBC Signs It's Own Death Warrant, Re-Ups Ben Silverman

Because ...

They aren't failing fast enough.

He's the rare exec that can make Zucker look competent.

GE's Jeff Immelt can't get into clubs without Ben.

Silverman's the last of the final five.

Someone has to wash Leno's cars.

(Source)

You gotta any of your own? Leave them in the comments section.

Who Are the Two Most Pissed Off Guys in Television Today?

Well, it must be these two above, dontcha think?

By the time NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon finishes airing it's first episode whenever that might be, viewers of that network will have watched three hours and 37 minutes of people talking. Just people talking, whether it be Jay Leno's new 10 pm show or their local news or Conan or Fallon laughing at his own jokes.

(Well, at least now when he looks at the camera, unlike at SNL, he won't be mugging it up, he'll be talking to you. And as usual, I have an illustrative Family Guy clip.)

LINK

But this is what the Conan people said yesterday to the Hollywood Reporter:

"It's great for us," a source close to O'Brien said. "We're really excited because the alternative is him leaving angry and going to another network, competing against Conan. What it means to the drama business is another story."

Yeah, more about the drama business later. So, they're happy not to be competing against Jay. But in essence I think the two shows are more in competition with each other than ever.

I say that specifically because of the scheduling. Imagine you're going to see a double-feature at the movies and the first feature starts at 10 weeknights and the second at 11:35, and at 11 there's a really boring featurette about people in your neighborhood who break into each others' homes and run their cars into buses and play sports and talk about whether it's gonna rain tomorrow.

That's exactly what this is.

I don't think I'd ever stay for the second feature.

Now, about the five hours of programming that NBC gets to throw away? I think that just about constitutes all of the shows that Silverman brought in this past year, doesn't it? So, in effect, Jay Leno is providing a bailout for the failed practices of Ben Silverman.

Even Silverman, that partyhog, gets a bailout. Scumbo.

I'll tell you this, if I'm CBS and ABC I'm gonna very aggressively counterprogram against this will the best product I can put out there. Because I just don't see people turning away from quality shows to watch Jay talk to Larry the Cable Guy at 10 pm every night.

I was all for Jay in primetime, but once a week, and I thought it would happen on a low-viewership night, like Friday.

To me, this looks like NBC has given up trying to make quality shows. It makes me sad that Jeff and Ben have destroyed the network the same way W destroyed our nation. They've squandered the legacy of Brandon Tartikoff, a guy who really loved and was dedicated to giving viewers a quality experience.

It will take a lot of talent and a lot of luck to rebuild NBC once the GE stockholders chuck the lot of them out of those buildings in NY and LA. The country found Obama, can NBC-Universal find a suitable savior?

TV Week Report -- Katherine Pope Ax at NBC Stokes Industry Tension

The people are pissed, NBC. Got anything to say about it?

Joseph Adalian at TV Week:

Agents and producers described Ms. Pope as a strong creative force within NBC and predicted her depature will have a noticeable impact on the network's fortunes. There also was dismay over the sense of chaos surrounding the network these days, with observers slack-jawed at the sudden departures of Ms. Pope and NBC Entertainment development chief Teri Weinberg.

(snip)

The executive shakeup comes amid much speculation about the long-term fate of NBC Entertainment Co-Chairman Ben Silverman. Conventional wisdom in recent weeks has had Mr. Silverman ready to sign a new deal with NBCU.

That may yet happen, but the imminent announcement that former NBC studio chief Angela Bromstad will take charge of all programming at the studio and the broadcast network might mean Mr. Silverman's role at the company could also soon change. Some industry insiders are convinced Mr. Silverman may yet leave NBC Entertainment in 2009, though there's no concrete evidence to suggest that notion is anything but wild speculation.

So I have to wonder aloud if this is what it's come down to at the Peacock. It seems to me that they are gonna fire everyone but Ben and Jeff for what is Ben and Jeff's fault, the failure of the network to get people to watch their shows.

The creative community doesn't wanna work with Ben. He is a liability to the company, to GE shareholders, to people who enjoy sitting down and watching some good TV shows.

Scott Collins at the LA Times wrote a blog entry over the weekend about NBC, Silverman, profit margins, and his contention that ratings don't matter:

This past summer, NBC Universal executive Ben Silverman raised eyebrows when he told the New York Post that the company is now much more concerned with profit than with the size of its audience. "We're managing for margins and not for ratings," Silverman was quoted as saying.

(snip)

What's interesting about Silverman's much-noticed quote is what he didn't say. He left out the idea that a network might actually manage with the determination to make high-quality shows. The omission is surprising given Silverman's idolizing of the late NBC programmer Brandon Tartikoff, who lived by his boss Grant Tinker's maxim "First be best, then be first." And make no mistake, NBC still has some high-quality shows, including "30 Rock" and the soon-to-end "ER."

No network can manage for ratings, simply because no one knows what's going to be popular and what isn't. But in the absence of anything else, ratings remain the best available report card as to whether executives' hunches about what's worth airing and what isn't are correct. Those hunches are the name of the game in this business. The suits have to search for what they think is best, help to put it on the air and then pray hard. When networks try to manage for ratings or profits, they may ultimately end up with neither.

Yeah, high-quality shows, remember when those kinds of shows used to be on broadcast television? Those were good times, huh?

NBC Wants to "Unleash the Ratings Within" With Tony Robbins, Will You Watch?

Because I won't. And it's just ridiculous to think that many people will.

We don't watch TV to become better people or even to watch other people become better people, we watch TV to retreat from the crap that happened that day and kick back, maybe get lost in another world.

I know, you're thinking "Biggest Loser works, why not this?" Biggest Loser works because we still think it's okay in this country to marginalize people for being overweight and the show plays off that meme. And weight loss is something that you can see in before-after pics. What will we look at that will indicate that someone is better or happier, a smile? Smiles can be forced.

What's interesting about this project is the secrecy that's afoot (TV Week):

While NBC isn’t discussing the project—and that includes declining to reveal the production company behind the show—a casting notice indicates the potential series will be a transformational-style show in the same vein as NBC’s hit “The Biggest Loser.”

“The world’s leading life coach, Tony Robbins, is teaming with NBC to offer a once-in-a-lifetime chance to get you, or someone you love, the help they need,” the casting notice for the project reads. “If your case is right, you could meet Tony one-on-one and experience an incredible transformation.”

Why do I have a feeling that Ben Silverman ran into Robbins (seen above with Jack Black in a scene from Shallow Hal)  at a Bentley dealership and the whole deal went down there?

The Peacock is floundering all over the place.

C'mon, NBC, entertain us.

If you wanna see Tony Robbins, cough up the thousands of dollars it takes to see him live and leave my TV alone.

Full Interview Video -- Ben Silverman Tells Charlie Rose NBC Is a Safe Environment for Advertisers

Really? Knight Rider? Kath & Kim? That Christian Slater mess?

Hmmm, cat peeing on YouTube or bad TV remake on NBC? At least you know that the peeing cat isn't costing millions of dollars to produce. I'd rather to business with a company that was getting the most bang for their buck. (You'll understand that remark after you watch.)

Ben talks convergence in the interview below with Charlie.

Unfortunately, he doesn't talk about making any of the shows better. There are only two shows that are actually working for me on the network right now (The Office, 30 Rock).

Fact check on one item ... at 15:13, Ben says that Heroes has the largest time-shifted audience of all NBC shows. It's actually The Office, per TV By the Numbers.

It's after the jump.

You might choke when you hear what he says about being proud of managing 30 Rock, but watch it anyway.

And just before the 18 minute mark, a surprise flashback clip from the past with Brandon Tartikoff, one of Silverman's purported mentors.

I just don't see any of Brandon in him. Nothing at all.

My Good Friend Ben Silverman on Charlie Rose Tonight

Fascinating. Two horndogs, one in his final years and one with an entire lifetime of horndoggitude ahead of him, and a lot of Reveille cash to fund his shenanigans.

(But I don't really have a problem with that as long as the NBC shows are good. The thing is, they aren't.)

Suggested topics? Well, first of all Elisabeth Murdoch's yacht. After that? Your guess is as good as mine.

I would love to have Ben Silverman sit in front of me on TV for a half hour. I have so many questions. I guess the first one, however, would be, "When you sold Reveille, did you promise to buy any show they through at you?" Because that's how it seems and it seems somewhat unethical.

Nikki Finke is writing about this today, too. She says, "The spin should be both nauseating and fascinating. I'll have a full report tomorrow."

Me too!

Let's see if he has anything to say about the Lipstick Jungle is Canceled But Now It Isn't Again situation. Let's see if Brooke is smiling as much tomorrow as she is in this pic.

Check your local listings to see where and when Charlie plays in your area.

Scariest Hollywood Reporter Sentence Ever -- 'Lord of the Dance' Michael Flatley Will Host

At the one minute and thirty-one second mark in the YouTube clip below, everything you need to know about what appears after the clip is said. Period.

LINK

See what I mean? Even Chandler Bing knows that you don't wanna be puttin' Michael Flatley on TV in the United States.

Find me five people who after all these years has warmed to Flatley after years of exposure to him stamping his frickin' feet all over the place and I'll watch a marathon of new 90210 episodes with my sense of irony removed.

THR.com:

NBC is putting some Olympic-style competition back in primetime with a new dance series from the producers of "American Idol" and "So You Think You Can Dance."

The reality program will feature professional dancers from eight countries exhibiting different performance styles. "Lord of the Dance" Michael Flatley will host, and Nigel Lythgoe and Simon Fuller will executive produce.

And it's official, NBC has passed away. Time of death Nov 14, 2008, 04:37 PM ET, when Hibberd at the Reporter wrote this.

Services will be held on Elisabeth Murdoch's yacht. Mr. Silverman requests that it lieu of flowers you send cash so that when he gets fired he won't have to touch any of that Reveille money.

Hilary Duff Signs Development Deal With NBC

Okay NBC, you have one year to come up with a good series idea for an actress with a lot of name recognition worldwide.

Now whatcha gonna do?

Variety:

Under terms of the one-year talent and development deal, Peacock will develop a show starring Duff; thesp will also be tapped to guest star in various current NBC shows.

(snip)

In signing Duff, NBC Entertainment exec VP Teri Weinberg cited the thesp's "huge following" and versatility as a young talent. As a singer, Duff's album "Metamorphosis" sold more than 2 million copies and spawned several hit singles.

I would check out her blog at her site to see if she has anything to say, but they wanna charge $29.95 a year to read it. I think I'd rather splurge on a decent meal out.

Duff has four films in the can, one of them animated. People who go to movies (in other words, not me) last saw her in War, Inc., which is a movie I would have seen if your teenage kids weren't snapping their gum and kicking the back of my seat, playing one of my favorite character names, Yonica Babyyeah.

That's Duff, above, as the character, about to drop a scorpion of some ridiculous thing, down her pants.

I think it might be the scene that convinced Ben Silverman to sign her.

A scene with John Cusack and Duff from War, Inc. after the jump. (NSFW)

Yonica Babyyeah. Love that!

Around the Horn -- NBC Cancels Lipstick Jungle, My Own Worst Enemy, Ben Silverman Still Employed

(Sorry, I just forgot about the Around the Horn thing for the last couple days. What can I tell you, aging is a bitch.)

And where is Ben? I mean, right now, where is Ben? It's 8:50 am as I write this, and if the stories are to be believed, Ben won't even wake up for another couple hours.

(And then the butler on Elisabeth Murdoch's yacht will wake him with a mimosa and a couple aspirin.)

Broadcasting & Cable:

While there is no official word from NBC, sources say My Own Worst Enemy will complete its ninth episode and no further episodes will be produced.

The Christian Slater drama had failed to catch on in its Monday timeslot at 10pm despite a Heroes lead-in that itself has suffered as of late.

The show, one of NBC’s major fall hopes, was prominently promoted during NBC’s Olympics coverage but the network did not debut it until October 13.

Lipstick Jungle will finish its 13^th episode and no additional orders have been made.

The Sex and the City-esque series' future looked gloomy after it was relegated from Wednesdays to Fridays recently as NBC went to a crime-drama focused Wednesday night lineup.

Fishbowl LA:

NBC, which is having its own internal problems with peripatetic co-chairman Ben Silverman, is trying to restructure its entire line-up. Gone are the days of Thursday night ratings-dominating schedules of "Seinfeld," "Friends" and "ER."

That means NBC will likely be finding a new chairman of programming.

TV watchers nationwide are staring at their watches wondering how quickly that will happen.

More after the jump.

The Gigantic Sucking Noise You Hear From That Universal City Tower ...

... is Ben Silverman.

(Yeah, I love dissin' on Ben.)

Nikki Finke's DHD on Wednesday:

For months now, I've been asking my sources when is NBC going to give more power to real programmers since salesman Ben Silverman isn't one. So this morning Paul Telegdy suddenly and unexpectedly resigned from BBC Worldwide America. Now I'm told NBC is in negotiations with him about overseeing unscripted entertainment and possibly scripted as well. And my sources inform that it would be Telegdy's decision whether to fire or keep NBC's current reality czar Craig Plestis who only has months left on his contract. Now get this: the negotiations call for Telegdy to be given a bigger job (like NBC Entertainment President which is still a vacant title) in a year or to get paid off. This could solve NBC Universal chief Jeff Zucker's primary problem right now: how not to look like he made a mistake hiring Ben Silverman and still get the programming that the network needs to start succeeding. So Zucker could re-up Silverman and at the same time hire programmers in subordinate roles.

Well, somebody's gotta do something. And it's just not programming, it's development, too. For example, how long is the network gonna let Kath & Kim stay on the air? It's ripping to shreds the reputations of its leads.

And tonight will be the first test of Lipstick Jungle on Fridays. As far as I can tell it's a pretty pricey show to be airing on a night with such low viewership.

Merlin continues to underperform on BBC One in advance of it's US premiere date in early 2009.

My Own Worst Enemy? Four words -- I hate Christian Slater.

Knight Rider? Hour long car commercial.

And whatever happened to all that talk about the show that would bring down American Idol, the English version of the Colombian telenovela Sin Tetas No Hay Paraiso?

Translated, that means, "Without Tits, There is No Paradise."

They haven't seen my middle-aged manbreasts, evidently.

You can look at the Merlin trailer from BBC after the jump.

NBC Sked Shakeup Makes Wednesday Crimetime, Also Confirmation of Heroes Winter Hiatus

With apologies to the CBS Exec who invented Crimetime After Primetime in the early 90s.

 Hollywood Reporter:

The new Wednesday night block: "Knight Rider," "Life" and the return of "Law & Order." The lineup premieres Nov. 5.

"Lipstick Jungle," which has been under-performing on Wednesday nights at 10 p.m., is shifting to Friday night starting Oct. 31 -- effectively swapping places with "Life."

Also, NBC is moving the premiere of upcoming reality show "Mommas Boys." The series will premiere after the finale of "Biggest Loser" on Dec. 16, then will move to Mondays at 9 p.m., taking over the "Heroes" time period during the action drama's winter hiatus.

And then the standard overworked comment from Silverman and Graboff. Not worth posting.

Blah blah blah Brooke Shields series shooting in NYC not working, blah blah blah Dick Wolf will bail us out again blah blah blah Heroes will take a break over the holidays almost longer than the shopping season again and come back even weaker and then it'll be canned by May. That's just my prediction.

C'mon, they know that when they break Heroes in two parts it doesn't work. Can an entire network programming department suffer from the psychosis of doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome?

Is there a place online where I could start a Ben Silverman gets fired over/under pool? Because that would be fun.

Honestly, I think the handwriting is on the wall. I know that they're cutting back budgetwise, you can see it in the casting. Do you really think Robert Forster was their first choice? I mean, does the 18-34 that they're looking for really know who he is? Don't you think they probably wanted someone but couldn't pay their rate? It's a very expensive show below the line, let alone the talent above.

Nothing personal against Robert Forster, of course.

It just makes me sad that it ran out of zazz so quickly. It was fleeting, like a shooting star.

Oh, and you can order the back nine on Knight Rider all you want, it still sucks and it's making me hate that car.

Around the Horn -- Not One NBC Show in Nielsen Top Twenty, Not A One!!! Edition

An indictment of the career of Ben Silverman? D'ya think?

We should say that the Peacock (not Ben, the network) did to reasonably well in the 18-49 demo.

TV By the Numbers:

NBC landed four shows in the 18-49 top twenty that did not make the overall top twenty: Heroes (#7), The Office (#8), The SNL Weekend Update special (#9), and Gorman favorite, Law & Order: SVU (#18). Additionally, ER was the #21 show among 18-49 year olds.

Funny how this means less and less to me as I quickly approach being timed out of the demo (a year and two weeks from now).

More on Bug-Eye Ben (image above) from our friends at Radar:

Ben Silverman, NBC's recently installed golden boy and self-proclaimed "Rock Star Chairman", is in a bit of a pickle. The network he was brought in to revive is still in last place. All four of his new shows—Kath & Kim, Knight Rider, My Own Worst Enemy, and Crusoe—have been shunned by critics and audiences alike. (Though they do contain lots of product placements!) He parties a lot and doesn't like meeting early in the morning, 'cause those meetings kill his buzz, dude. Then there was awkward situation in which he was forced to pay $1.75 million to buy out his deputy's boyfriend's crappy show just to make it go away. All of which has Forbes wondering if NBC is going to keep Silverman around when his two-year contract expires in June.

And the article they mention at Forbes, titled "Is Silverman Ready for Primetime?" says:

He can talk about product placement and quarterly margins all he wants, but he'll ultimately be judged on his ability--or inability--to turnaround his ratings-challenged network. And so far, he's made little progress in that direction. To date, the broadcast network's prime-time schedule is down 14% from the same period last year, according to Nielsen Media Research. (Fox is down 16%, ABC is down 10% and CBS is down 4%.)

"Ben's a very talented guy," says Gene DeWitt, president of media buyer and consultancy DeWitt Media Strategies, "but he's in the wrong job, as evidenced by the programming, the scheduling and the performance."

Is he in the wrong job, or is he just not doing the job? I choose the latter. It's not the schedule that is the problem, it's how the shows are being executed.

And some of these new shows (K&K, Knight Rider, MOWE, Crusoe, etc.) need to be executed (different definition).

I'm gonna go out on a limb right now and say that NBC will hold Merlin until the Summer, especially given the performance of the new shows so far and Merlin's performance on BBC One in the Doctor Who slot, which has been very disappointing.

And Ben? Gone by January if I have my way. And then no more Reveille shows, no more foreign formats and no more cheapy unscripted stuff. If NBC went back to it's core business of entertaining America with original fare they would be much better off.

We'll go around the horn with our web friends (and web not-so-much-friends) again tomorrow.

NY Mag Blog Headline: "So Why Isn’t ‘30 Rock’ Back Yet?"

Because that tower in Universal City is inhabited by idiots.

Their entire schedule should have been ready to go right after the Olympics. There is no excuse for all the Fall shows promo to go to waste by waiting 45 days (approximately) for the new shows to air.

NY Mag's Vulture blog (Lane Brown):

"If we knew then what we know today about how hot Tina was going to be, would we do it differently? Maybe," says NBC wunderkind Ben Silverman. Even though the network has several episodes of Rock already completed and could easily have run one last Thursday instead of the series premiere of Kath & Kim, Silverman says that would've undone NBC's original strategy, which was apparently to wait until the impending Fey backlash reduces her profile to pre-Palin levels and America forgets all about the Emmys 30 Rock won last month.

Case in point, most of the reviews for My Own Worst Enemy pilot were good, but all the promo happened during the Olympics and by now TV fans have forgotten that there might be a show that they would like more than CSI: Miami (or at least the final season of Boston Legal).

TV By the Numbers:

Both Heroes and Chuck were up slightly versus last week’s fast affiliate numbers but that’s probably little consolation for NBC, especially with My Own Worst Enemy debuting to a last place (in terms of viewers) 7.3 million at 10pm. Enemy came in second among 18-49 year olds.

Note: Worst Enemy is still on my DVR waiting to be watched. I'll have my take on the show in the next couple of day.

Ben Silverman, following in the footsteps of Jeff Zucker, mucking up the works and sucking at his job since 2007.

Video -- A Frickin' Partridge Family Remake? Really?

Okay, who's smoking the copious amounts of weed at NBC?

Is it you, Ben? Betcha it is, this is after all a Reveille property and I know how you love to do biz with your former company that Elisabeth Murdoch (Rupert the Pirate's daughter) bought, making you a very very wealthy man.

How ethical is that, btw. You didn't make a deal to pick up content from them ahead of the sale now, did you?

I can't imagine that even "network TV president potency" weed could make this sound like a good idea. In 2008. In America. Even with the proposed changed from the writer.

Plus, Viacom did a Partridge Family project a couple seasons ago for VH1 and there wasn't that much interest that a series should have been ordered. How do I know that? Because Viacom didn't order their show to series after choosing a cast in a reality format.

(In fact, the only thing Viacom's Partridge Family reality show did was place Teddy Geiger into the public consciousness.)

Hollywood Reporter:

The Peacock has picked up a contemporary single-camera take on the classic ABC sitcom to be written by Jeff Rake.

(snip)

"Partridge" hails from Reveille, Geffen Records and Sony TV.

A fan of the 1970s series, Rake plans to "turn the premise on its head."

"In the original, the kids actually recruited their mom to front the band, which I can't see happening in any family on this planet," he said. "The new version will reflect what seems to me to be the more realistic family band scenario these days: a struggling, sort of well-meaning mom pimping her kids in order to create a wholesome-slash-sexy cash cow."

You gotta wonder if there's some guy driving around the San Fernando Valley right now looking for a bus. Hopefully  a nicer bus than the original Partridges had.

Hey, production guy, look for Ben's good sense (and sense of ethics) while you're out there.

After the jump, an episode of the show from Hulu. It's actually the Partridge episode that was the backdoor pilot for Getting Together which starred Bobby Sherman and West Stern, who are guest stars here, so many people will find moments to reminisce.

TV Guide's List of 11 Terrible TV Bosses Doesn't Include ...

... this guy.

But that's only because they mean fictional bosses. But look at him, sitting there all alone at the Beverly Hills Hotel because nobody wants to sit with him. It's like the cafeteria for the media mogul set and Ben sits all alone. All by himself. Maybe because he pissed everyone off.

But anyway, you can see the 11 Terrible TV Bosses that TV Guide chose in a slideshow on their site at this link.

And Ben? Who'll eat with Ben?

Not me. He ruined Bionic Woman. And I'll never forget.

BBC Debuts Merlin, 6.6 Million Viewers is Second to ITV's X Factor

Broadcastnow.co.uk:

The opening 45-minute episode of the BBC1 drama began with 6.9m (31.9%), dropped to 6.4m (28.9%) at 7.45pm but managed to rally in the final 15-minutes with 6.6m (29.3%).

The highly-publicised show, featuring John Hurt, Richard Wilson and Anthony Head, was up by 24.5% on the channel's slot average for the year so far of 5.3m (25.4%).

(snip)

While Merlin made a strong impression with the viewers it paled into comparison against its head-to-head rival, ITV1's ratings blockbuster The X Factor.

The commercial network's talent show once again swept all before it with an impressive 9.3m (41.7%) over an hour. The show, which marked the end of the audition process, peaked in the final 15-minutes with 10.2m (45.8%).

So it didn't win the time period. Well, X Factor is kinda link the American Idol of the UK so ... no, this is still bad news for Ben Silverman. Don't you think the Brits are a closer match for the show than we are? They couldn't win the time period? That's just not a good sign.

NY Mag's TV Deathwatch, But Only the Tasty NBC/Ben Silverman Parts

The whole piece is right here at this link. Click over for all of the smarmy snarky goodness dripping from their keyboards into your heart, or just read some of the Ben Silverman stuff here.

Starting with ... Crusoe (estimated cancellation date? 3 days after premiere):

(E)ven if it were great, does anyone these days want to see a stuck-on-an-island show without time travel, polar bears, and flash-forwards? We doubt it!

Knight Rider (estimated cancellation date? 3 months after debut, approximately):

Another Ben Silverman special, this remake was ordered on the strength of the big ratings for its made-for-TV backdoor pilot. But will anyone tune back in now that they know David Hasselhoff definitely isn't in it? Isn't this probably just another Bionic Woman?

Finally, My Own Worst Enemy (estimated cancellation date? 3 days after, OUCH!):

Christian Slater stars, hilariously, as a suburban dad suffering from multiple personality disorder — he's also a secret agent with a license to kill. We'd hate to have been stuck with the bar tab on the night Ben Silverman came up with this idea.

So, when does Ben get the boot? I am willing to accept estimates on that date, too. Leave something in the comment section.

Ben, you should have never called writers "nerdy, ugly and mean."

We create the stories that make the shows that score the ratings that make the ads profitable that pay your salary, and you can't do it without writers.

And, you're not so pretty yourself.

I wouldn't do you. You got a weird buggy eye thing going.

That was certainly rude. Well, fight fire with fire, I say.

Crusoe teaser trailer after the jump. At least Philip Winchester (above right) is nice to look at.

Inside This Story, More News About Our TV Jetsetting Pal Ben Silverman of NBC

The headline on Mimi Turner's story at the Hollywood Reporter is "Wait-and-see approach at London Screenings," but inside that story is this lovely little bit:

So far ShineReveille, Disney and 20th Century Fox have held screenings for London-based buyers, but NBC Universal's planned event has been canceled, sparking more concerns about the upcoming shows and the fate of the network's co-president Ben Silverman among the buying community here.

Hmmm. So, UK TV nets will not see the NBC-Uni slate. Well, let's give them this much, a lot of the schedule, especially those big tent shows like Crusoe and Kings, already have a UK partner. But that still leaves a bunch of new product that NBC-Uni just doesn't see necessary to show to international TV buyers.

That doesn't say much for the shows now, does it.

Oh, but I certainly hope we're not talking about Kath & Kim. I really want that show to work. I love Selma Blair and Molly Shannon.

Kath & Kim preview clip after the jump.

And Ben, remember that nerdy, ugly, mean" crack about the writers in the union? If you lose this NBC job and you have to produce shows again to make money (not that you need it, Elisabeth Murdoch made you rich, after all) what writer worth their salt would actually work for you?

Actually, there are enough writers who are de facto whores in Hollywood to keep you busy for a while. But they're not the good ones with the good ideas.

Ben Silverman Says He's Staying at NBC, Though It's Not Really His Decision, Is It?

Paul Gough at the Hollywood Reporter:

"I am so committed to this job," Silverman said Monday afternoon at the New York Television Festival in midtown Manhattan. Silverman reiterated that sentiment in a brief interview after the event backstage.

Silverman humorously referred to some of the press that has attended his tenure at the network: "I may be the Paris Hilton of NBC." He also criticized his handling of what he called "unrelenting" press coverage, where he tangled with other network chiefs.

"I don't think I have managed it as well as I could," Silverman said of his sudden transformation from entrepreneur and producer to network head.

I think it's more about how you made a lot of cash, Ben, when you sold Reveille to Elisabeth Murdoch (Rupert's daughter) who owns Shine and then decided that you were a fabulous jetsetter that didn't really need to work. Problem is, you have a job you have to go to.

You can't call it in from Elisabeth's yacht, they expect you to be in the building.

Every day.

And, I think you remain employed at the pleasure of Jeff Zucker and/or Jeff Immelt, am I right?

Honestly, I think the Reporter ran the story so that Ben's frenemies could delight in looking back on it the day they let him go.

Which should be the week after this year's special March sweeps (as the analog to digital switch is moving sweeps on this one occasion only).

At least that's what I'm predicting.

News About Our TV Exec Pal, Jetsetter, WGA Hater Ben Silverman From Nikki Finke

From the LA Weekly blogger and entertainment industry insider that broke the Kevin Reilly firing story last year:

After weeks of checking out rumor after rumor, I'm finally able to pin down details of the long-overdue shakeup that's ahead for NBC when this fall's primetime schedule shapes up to be an unmitigated disaster. Someone has to shoulder the responsibility, and both Ben Silverman and the Reveille development exec he brought with him to NBC, Teri Weinberg, now deservedly have big fat targets on their foreheads.

I did recently give props to Weinberg for what I perceived as her move to pick up the entire back nine of Chuck before the second season premiere actually started, but maybe she just got to make the announcement because Ben was with Elisabeth Murdoch on her yacht. She's the daughter of Rupert Murdoch (Ay!, as Keith Olbermann would say, though I can't figure out why Rupert sounds like a pirate) and the woman who owns the UK shingle Shine, which bought Reveille from Ben on his way into his Universal City corner office, a deal worth a reported $60 million to Ben.

In fact, Finke says it's that money that has given the 38-year-old NBenC the cojones to figuratively flip off Zucker and Co. by hanging at the Olympics and with the aforementioned 36-year-old mogulette. Yes, a business trip, I get that, but private planes come and go at the boss' command, don't they?

You should be in the building, if for nothing else than to make sure the crappy shows on your schedule get at least decent sampling, and I think you do that by coordinating the press and getting out there and talking yourself.

Unless you realize that your ideas haven't quite panned out. Like the retelling of the Robinson Crusoe story and the one based on King David. Doesn't sound like a US big tent show to me.

And, losing Leno is a tough nut to swallow, huh (see countdown clock in my left column) but that's all executive, no creative in that decision at all). Gotta suck it up and get out there and try to make it work. An example of not trying to make it work? Not giving Jay everything he wants to move into a weekly or twice-weekly primetime slot.

(I don't like the idea either. I think prime time should be for dramatic and comedy programming, period. But it's coming and I'd rather have a top talker do a Parkinson-Style show than another babe-stocked competition show. Unless that competition show is MILF Island (see image right.)

Creepiest part is that he hangs with the Seacrest, called his radio show with live updates from the Games, too.

You know, I could link and link and link to my posts about Ben, but you could just click this link and they'll all show up on one scrollable screen.

It's a blog, it's how it works.

And the Zucker stuff is here.

Yeah, I know what you're saying, where's my network chairmanship? The rule was only one per high school and Les Moonves was already at CBS.

If offered, I will serve, on behalf  of you guys. My first move, an American Doctor Who starring, wait for it ...  Neil Patrick Harris -- seen mysteriously in front of the tardis with Donna Noble, now how the hell did that happen -- because no one else could do it like NPH!) as an alternative reality Doctor 10.65 (figuring Rose's Doctor with one heart is 10.5 and also figuring one should leave some digits open for other markets).

And, ABC, I will pay the license fee for the format from the BBC despite your memos to the contrary (you bad lawyers, you are the TV version of John Yoo, the guy who wrote the "torture memo" for the Bush Administration).

Guardian UK:

The international body set up to protect copyright on television formats has branded a leaked memo from an executive at US network ABC that appeared to call on its in-house producers to rip off foreign ideas as "unacceptable".

In its response to the leaked ABC memo, the Format Recognition and Protection Association, which represents more than 100 TV production companies around the world, said it "effectively gives permission to ABC's producers to copy 'the underlying premise' of a show without licensing the format".

The memo, dated June 24, from Howard Davine, executive vice-president of ABC Studios, the production arm of the US network, was originally leaked to an American media industry blog.

Cologne-based Frapa said it had "waited in vain" for a response from ABC or its owner, Disney, but one had not been forthcoming.

Okay, that's it on the business of TV front for the day. I jammed a lot in here, but use the links to learn more.

Wanna "chime in?" That's what the comments are for.

Note to Chuck Producers -- You Got the Whole Year, Use It Well!

The rare good TV news that comes out of the tower on the Universal lot up there in what you might as well call South North Hollywood (despite the tourist trade and the only Dalt's Restaurant in Southern California (great fried things with cheese).

C'mon, with "failing upwards king" Zucker and "I never met a product placement that didn't get me erect" Silverman in that building, you can't expect much, but today someone came through, probably Teri Weinberg, who's quoted below.

Variety:

NBC is giving an early vote of confidence to "Chuck," picking up the back nine episodes of the sophomore skein.

(snip)

"Chuck's" full-season order comes more than a month before the show's Sept. 29 premiere date. Exec producer Josh Schwartz called the pickup "unexpected."

"It's an incredible show of faith by NBC and so amazingly nice to get based on the work alone," Schwartz said. Peacock execs said they were pleased with the first six episodes in "Chuck's" second season and wanted to keep the momentum going.

"This show has really hit its stride and deserves a full-season commitment to carry out the producers' vision for this unique series," said Teri Weinberg, exec veep of NBC Entertainment.

Maybe Josh is spending more time here in California these days rather than on the set of his other show, the one with the hot, hot, hot young adults playing tony teens in NYC.

Now that you know you have the season, some big idea arcs would be nice to counterbalance the weekly yucks. This way, you can retain that lightness each week and drop in the drama in service to the big arc of the season.

It makes for more tasty viewing. And this cast deserves it. They're very good together. and I love Yvonne Strahovski, I just can't resist a hot, kick-ass blonde who looks great in lingerie.

I know, it even works on me.

Chuck/Sarah fanvid by YouTube user aluapfalcao after the jump, with plenty of Yvonne and a song I really like.

Beside Amy Poehler Series, Silverman Says There Will Be An Office Spinoff

Josef Adalian at TV Week:

While "The Office's' producers, Greg Daniels and Mike Schur, are now focusing their energies on creating a new show for "Saturday Night Live" star Amy Poehler, the spinoff is also on tap, Mr. Silverman said.

Without providing a timetable, he said, "We're also going to be pursuing an 'Office' spinoff."
Mr. Silverman said the producers' first priority is the Poehler show.

"For the moment, Greg and Mike are focused on this show, which is more in the kind of style of 'The Office,' but it's not like the Jeffersons appeared in 'All in the Family,'" he said.

This leaves that post-Super Bowl slot that either a Poehler show or the Office spinoff was going to fill. I guess there needs to be another plan in place now.

How about a very special 30 Rock?

How about a very special 30 Rock where Liz is put in charge of the Super Bowl halftime show and, ahem, complications ensue?

In other NBC comedy series news, I noticed right after asking aloud if Kath & Kim was in trouble that the network started running promos for the show.

They certainly don't look the same as their Australian counterparts, but there wasn't a chance that they could get Selma Blair to look fat. But honestly, even the house and the furnishing look a little better than they should.

Whatev. We'll see. Also today, reports from NBC that they will flip the timeslots of K&K and 30 Rock once again. Can they not make up their minds?

THR:

NBC originally scheduled "Kath" on Tuesday night back in April. In May, the network moved it to the post-"The Office" Thursday 9:30 p.m. slot.

"Kath," whose original order was recently upped from six to 13 episode, has been deemed more compatible with "Earl," which led to the switch to 8:30 p.m.

Based on an Australian format, "Kath" stars Molly Shannon and Selma Blair as brassy mother and daughter who prefer the finer things in life like acrylic nails, big hair and faux diamond chips.

The only thing that happens because of this change is that all those TV parent watchdog groups that are fronts for churches will be screaming about how 30 Rock isn't a family hour show, they're already complaining about how the MILF Island episode ran before 9.

Not that I care what any of those people say, because I'm just so frickin' sick and tired of people telling me what I should see, what I shouldn't, what I should do, where I should put my ...

... Well, we don't have to get into all of it now.

News From EW: Is Kath & Kim In Trouble?

After reading all the flowery language from Ben Silverman's quote at Entertainment Weekly, I would say yes. He's just too overly efflusive.

What he told EW:

"We want to open it up visually," Silverman says of the reshoot. "We didn't want the style to define it; we wanted to let the characters and comedy define it. When you're feeling good about something you want to double down. The cast chemistry is unbelievable. It's the funniest comedy I've seen this early in development."

Reshoot? Yes. Why? Because Paul Feig left (more from EW):

Rumors persist that NBC's Kath & Kim — an adaptation of the Aussie smash that stars Molly Shannon (pictured) and Selma Blair as a dysfunctional mom and daughter — will scrap most  of its pilot and reshoot under a new director, now that helmer Paul Feig (The Office) has left the comedy.

And of course, there's no word from Feig, who just yesterday got an Emmy nod for directing on The Office.

I can only say this to the creators of Kath & Kim, wherever you are in Australia or anywhere in the world, including here in So Cal, get in touch with Steve Moffat. Don't let what happened to Coupling happen to you nice people.

Broadcasting & Cable Critics' Roundtable on NBC, Silverman

And the big question, where has Ben Silverman been since that moment at the beginning of the writers' strike when he said of all my WGA friends:

It feels like the nerdiest, ugliest, meanest kids in the high school are trying to cancel the prom.

Broadcasting & Cable's Marisa Guthrie spoke with Robert Bianco from USA Today, David Bianculli from the NY Daily News and NPR's Fresh Air, Mo Ryan from my blogroll to the left, and Aaron Barnhart, also from the blogroll, though I call it "Stuff You Should Click" because of my nonconformist nature.

The video, unfortunately, is not embeddable, but here's a link:

BIANCO: I don't mean to be rude, but like anyone who was at the upfront, the first question should be: Is Ben Silverman even still at the network? I mean, it was all Jeff Zucker. Everything during the strike was Jeff Zucker. Other than giving production deals to his ex-company, I'm not sure what impact Ben Silverman is having on that network at all.

BIANCULLI: I know one impact -- the fact that he made a TV movie out of Knight Rider and then saw it and then went to series with it anyway.

MAUREEN RYAN: Kath & Kim I thought was a fun series, but it was on Sundance [Channel] and it's a very narrow slice of comedy, at least the original was. And in terms of what they've done, isn't the biggest thing on their schedule an Office spinoff about which we have pretty much zero details except maybe one cast member?

BARNHART: I was staggered by NBC's announcement in [April] that the fourth-place network would not have more ideas, more big swings that it was willing to take. Very puzzling.

Indeed, Aaron. Now, it even looks like they're willing to let Leno go. I'm not a fan, but it certainly doesn't seems to me to be a great business decision.

More on Leno here.

Apparently, Bianculli doesn't like Knight Rider. I didn't even bother. It's more about the car and the product placement than the script or the performances or anything reviewable, anyway. And, it may make money for them, but it certainly isn't the kind of project that will display to some producer or star or writer that NBC-Uni is a place to bring your most creative work.

Because it does just the opposite.

And really creative people who create the best shows don't wanna be worrying about selling the new Blackberry while advancing the story they're trying to tell.

You know how I feel about the product placement issue.

Is it Telling That Ben Silverman's Initials are BS?

Very telling, imho. Oh, shit, there goes my job at NBC. Oh well, the Gladiators are gonna have to oil up without me this season.

(Just kidding, but that's a job that NBC should put on its auction site. I betcha they'd make a lot of money selling the opportunity to oil up the former Colt model that appears on the show [pictured]. Gladiators comes back at the end of the month, btw.)

Anyhow, our online pal Daisy Whitney from TV Week covered Ben's keynote interview at the TV Week Upfront Summit in NYC.

Here's some of Daisy's piece:

In 15 years, broadcast television will only be useful for high-profile live events like the Super Bowl, awards shows and programs like “American Idol,” Ben Silverman, co-chairman of NBC Entertainment, said during a keynote interview at the TelevisionWeek Upfront Summit in New York.

Other shows will have to live on multiple platforms to survive.

“[Broadcast] will also be where we launch our episodic storytelling vehicles, but they will be living and breathing everywhere,” he said.

NBC plans to experiment with driving viewers to the Web from TV with its new fall show “Kath and Kim.” NBC will offer continued scenes online after each episode airs, Mr. Silverman said.

“Around our new offerings there will literally be shows that end on air and the last scene will continue online,” he said.

(snip)

When asked about the reputation he has developed in his short time on the job as an entertainment chief who works closely with marketers, he said that’s due to the new generation of showrunners who are “friends” of advertisers.

That includes Tim Kring and Tina Fey, who head up popular NBC shows “Heroes” and “30 Rock,” respectively, Mr. Silverman said.

“Tina Fey loves American Express. They have been inside '30 Rock,' in the show. They have supported her through the Tribeca Film Festival,” he said. “Tim Kring enjoys his relationships with Nissan. He felt Nissan helped empower the growth of that show.”

My considered comments after the jump. And, btw, they are the same comments that I left after Daisy's piece at TV Week, just so you don't have to read them twice.

NBC Moves 30 Rock Back to 9:30

They say in the article at Variety it's because it gives the show the chance to grab The Office's audience, but I have a sense that there are a couple other reasons as well.

They say:

Slot switcheroo is a no-brainer. "Rock" has been renewed for next season and is a key part of NBC's sitcom strategy going forward. "Scrubs," meanwhile, will air its final NBC episode in a few weeks. Peacock execs rightly figured it made sense to use the final few weeks of the season pumping up "Rock."

NBC brass are also trying to capitalize on the pre-release hype surrounding "Baby Mama," which Fey toplines.

One of those reasons, I think, is MILF Island.

As you know, Ben Silverman made a big deal out of his pronouncement that the 8 o'clock hour was gonna once again be the Family Hour when he announced his schedule.

Yes, the Family Hour, that magic time where people and their kids bask in the glow of the screen before them and share quality time together watching non-confrontational, non-violent, non-sexual content.

Yeah, except that they must be planning to travel through time back to 1975 to find the Family Hour, because that doesn't happen ever anymore. Kids go to their rooms to surf the 'net or talk on their cellies or, sometimes, studying.

And a show that has a spoof inside it that calls for "20 MILFs, 50 eighth grade boys, NO RULES" doesn't quite fit into the Family Hour mix.

Well, I'm happy about the move. I happen to think that Earl and Scrubs are a better fit for each other, anyway, both being single camera shows with narration.

Scrubs Update: Still No Decision, ABC & NBC May Armwrestle For the Show

Okay, not really, but I'm tellin' ya if you wanna make some money for a worthy cause, take Ben Silverman and Stephen McPherson and put them across a table from each other, or even better yet into the Jell-O pit at your local "Gentleman's Club."

(Oh, and with gambling, too. I want the gambling concession. I give McPherson 2-1 odds over Silverman, based solely on the "prom" insult Ben hurled at the WGA.)

Tomorrow's Hollywood Reporter (the new-ish James Hibberd):

Sources said the cast is coming back to finish shooting an episode for NBC that was disrupted by the WGA strike. They also are expected to film a few more episodes despite the fact that NBC opted not to pick up more segments from what was supposed to be "Scrubs' " final season.

Sources indicated that ABC Studios had planned to produce a couple of extra episodes of "Scrubs," even without an order from NBC, to possibly be included on the series' seventh-season DVD set.

Now, the new episodes are intended for ABC, as a pickup by the network is said to be likely. While the sticking points with NBC for the most part had been resolved, the dealmaking keeps stretching out, focusing primarily on securing the cast, most of whom didn't have pacts beyond this season. Sources said actor contracts are now complete for nearly every cast member, including star Zach Braff.

That would be the same Zach Braff that hasn't added to his blog in almost six months!

LAME BLOGGER!

Back to the pissing match between the nets, I hope it ends and we get these shows, otherwise Bill Lawrence will be fashioning finger puppets in the likenesses of his cast and shooting the thing for YouTube.

Sure that would be fun, but I'd rather he had a set, actors and most of all, bigger cameras.

When Did Justin Timberlake Become a TV Producer?

And what are his qualifications for such? Or his attorney David Schiff?

Because I sit here and write about TV almost every day for the last two years and neither name has ever come up in any development of any show.

Until today.

Hollywood Reporter:

Reveille has teamed with Justin Timberlake to produce an American adaptation of the hit Peruvian comedy "My Problem With Women" for NBC.

The project, which Reveille will co-produce with U.K.-based Power and Frecuencia Latina International, follows the adventures of Jose, a thirtysomething bachelor who begins seeing a therapist in an attempt to understand why all of his romantic relationships fail.

"Problem" marks musician-actor Timberlake's first executive producing duties on a scripted TV project. He is exec producing with his manager, David Schiff; Reveille's Howard T. Owens and Todd Cohen; Power's Justin Bodle and Chris Philip; and the original series' producer, Jaime Carbajal. Frecuencia's Miki Ivcher will serve as an associate producer and Jay Weisleder as a consulting producer.

By the way, the non-scripted stuff that Timberlake has produced had him as an on-camera participant, so that stuff doesn't really count.

More after the jump.

Video -- I've Got Whiplash From Reading Stories About Quarterlife

Wow, turn off the computer for a few hours and look what happens.

First off, I didn't watch the show on NBC last night but I had watched some of it (about the first 20 minutes) online a few weeks back on the NBC website, which I guess tells you how I felt about it.

So the ratings sucked, even in the demo (source). Herskovitz (above with his cast) goes to the Harvard Business School  (source) and says:

"It never should have been a network show. It's too specific," Herskovitz told the group at HBS' Entertainment & Media conference, adding, "It will probably end up on cable."

In a statement Thurdsay, Herskovitz clarified his position on the issue and
hinted again that "quarterlife" could shift to a cable network.

"We're deeply grateful for NBC's efforts to make quarterlife a success on network television," he said. "However, I've always had concerns about whether quarterlife was the kind of show that could pull in the big numbers necessary to succeed on a major broadcast network ... We live in a media world today where many shows are considered successful on cable networks with audiences that are a fraction of those on the Big Four. I'm confident that quarterlife will find the right home on television as well."

But wait, there's more (no Ginsu knives but the pilot episode so you can judge for yourself after the jump).

Well, I'm Sitting Here Waiting, Give Me Shows!

My foot and my fingers are tapping at the same time, I'm anxious, expectant, I am pregnant with possibility (so that's the thing that's been growing over my belt).

It's over. People can finally get back to work making TV which I will consume like a bag of Cheetos except without the orange fingers.

LA Times:

Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., estimates the walkout cost the local economy more than $3 billion. Of that total, an estimated $772 million came from lost wages for writers and production workers, $981 million from various businesses that service the industry, including caterers and equipment rental houses, and $1.3 billion from the ripple effect of consumers not spending as much at retail shops, restaurants and car dealers.

Still, the total is relatively small considering that the L.A. economy generates $1.3 billion a day.

More, including clippage, after the jump. (Photo by David Em)

Kath & Kim: NBC Orders Six, No Pilot

So, they will produce six episodes of the show and no pilot, and this is going to save them money how?

Ben Silverman to the Hollywood Reporter:

"This hilarious new series exemplifies how we are changing the pilot process by ordering shows that we believe in and green-lighting them straight to series," Silverman said. "We are confident that this proven international hit will effortlessly translate to American audiences and we couldn't be more excited that Molly and Selma will be playing the leads."

Yeah, Ben, the same way Coupling was an international hit that would translate effortlessly? Nothing in TV is effortless and we all know it. In fact, nothing in this world that requires the skill sets of more than one person is ever effortless. Cooperation is tough, especially in the creative process.

I mean, I love Molly Shannon and Selma Blair, and I get that they are right for these parts (I have seen a couple of the original eps of the Australian series), but what if the episodes just suck? Will they run them anyway? And if they do that, doesn't that just lower the bar for them and for our expectations?

I also realize that six eps of K&K is less expensive than six pilots, what with the one-time casting, set, and ramp-up costs, but once again I come back to, "What if the shows suck?"

Or even, what if the shows are remarkable, the second coming of TV comedy, but no one wants to watch?

Only Reason This Strike is Pissing Me Off? More Celebrity Apprentice!

Because they are my public airwaves and I hate to see them littered with shit.

Yes, I'm saying shit more these days on the blog. Because there is a lot of shit lately to talk about.

And this, certainly, is shit. Listen to what NBC "reality" chief Craig Pletsis says:

"This revved-up installment of 'The Apprentice' has been a game changer for the series," NBC reality topper Craig Plestis said. Producers "are already getting calls from high-profile celebrities who want to challenge themselves in season two."

Can we call this a de facto admission that these people are not high-profile celebs? Stephen Baldwin? UFC Fighter Tito Ortiz? Jenny Finch?

Are these celebrities? C'mon, I wasn't born yesterday. I only know one person who would recognize Jenny Finch in public, and he's someone promoting the show for NBC (you know who you are, you're in Jenny's Facebook group, I saw you there).

More after the fold.

Why is Advertising Age Sucking (Up To) NBC's Ben Silverman?

Big story at Ad Age today by a guy called Claude Brodesser-Akner about how Ben Silverman is busting up the typical pilot production and review process by ordering a back-door pilot, the 2-hour Knight Rider TV movie.

Exsqueeze me? Backdoor pilots have been going on in broadcast television for as long as I can remember.

The Love Boat was a backdoor pilot, for God's sake.

In fact, there's an even cheaper way to do it ... remember Hello Larry!? All you have to do is introduce an entirely different cast of characters in an already running half hour and make them the "A" story. And the show that spawned the series that took Henry Blake away from MASH? It was Diff'rent Strokes.

I would think that Ben had some strings pulled in order to get this article to run today, but that would make him a pompous,arrogant windbag of a 30-something, wouldn't it?

And yes, I will admit to not liking anything that's come out of his NBC Entertainment since getting the top spot. But I have nothing against him personally.

Well, I certainly don't like the public pissing match he's having with his analogue at ABC, but you can't have a personal beef against someone you don't know.

Can you?

That Pissing Match Between McPherson and Silverman is a No-Time-Limit Affair

Wayne Friedman writes at MediaPost on the continued troubles between these two, the ABC and NBC programming heads, their attempts to pee on each other, apparently over Kevin Reilly, and I just could not resist another chapter of "Rich White Guys and The Nasty Things They Say to Journalists About Each Other":

NBC originally scheduled its new “Celebrity Apprentice” on Thursday, Jan. 3 to get an early jump on the new season. But then network strategists thought better of it — because of a possible strong Bowl Championship Series Orange Bowl event on Fox, ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy,” as well as the Iowa Caucuses on the same night.

So, NBC made the move to the less strenuous Jan. 10 - a week later. That’s when ABC decided to get into the act. It moved its heavyweight “Grey’s Anatomy” - the last episode that was made before the writers’ strike - to the 10 as well, in theory, to also get out of the way of football and political news.

NBC then had to pick its poison - and the better poison was not to walk into a death march against “Grey’s” last big original episode, until who knows ever. So it moved the “Apprentice” back to Jan. 3.

You all know the story of ABC’s Stephen McPherson and NBC’s Ben Silverman. Their relationship is similar to Kobe and Shaq. Lots of slammin’ and jammin’.

For example, McPherson said of Silverman during the summer that he should “be a man” for openly pursuing the top NBC Entertainment job — which ousted his college buddy Kevin Reilly. Silverman has called McPherson a “D” girl, a derogatory term describing females with low-level network programming jobs.

What’s going on here? Are these just shrewd calculating programming moves at work? Or it is more personal?

And, my response (which you can also read there after it's moderated by MediaPost):

Ah, the problems of rich, relatively young white men who work for competing companies.

Wait, I have the tiniest violin in the world here that I'm playing.

Since I have no connection to the two and I will never work for either of them, let me just say that their pissing match in public is one of the most embarassing things I've seen come from modern media companies since Westmoreland v. CBS.

And, as a former editor of Pro Wrestling Illustrated Magazine, I have seen a lot of men say a lot of stupid things into microphones, but at least that stuff feeds a larger narrative, a narrative that's geared toward TEEN AGE BOYS.

I guess what I'm sayin' is these two need to get a room. That's right, get a room, duke it out, and then have some sort of word-war-weary bonding event. Spare us the details of the latter.

Because to all of us, this whole thing seems rather ridiculous.

You gotta wonder what they people on the boards of Disney and GE think of all this. I would be ...

1. Embarrassed
2. Calling each of them on the carpet
3. Looking for more mature executives

Image courtesy NYmag.com, "The Simpsonizer" and 20th Century Fox.

Tales of Stupid Rich White Guys Who Run TV Networks

Those two men are Ben Silverman and Stephen McPherson. McPherson runs ABC and Silverman runs NBC.

Hollywood Reporter:

The Thursday night scheduling tango between NBC and ABC continued Thursday morning when ABC officially announced that it will move the last original episode of "Grey's Anatomy" from Jan. 3 to Jan. 10.

That led to a reversal in NBC's Wednesday decision to push the premiere of "Celebrity Apprentice" from Jan. 3 to Jan. 10 to avoid the first-run "Grey's."

NBC said Thursday afternoon that "Apprentice," hosted by Donald Trump, will now launch Jan. 3 as originally planned.

(snip)

While scheduling tweaks in response to a rival network's scheduling changes are normal, multiple back-and-forths like those with "Grey's" and "Apprentice" are rare.

They underscore the heated rivalry between ABC and NBC, whose top programming executives, Stephen McPherson and Ben Silverman, are engaged in a public feud.

I would suggest you two get in the ring, but I would bet that neither of you had ever thrown a legit punch at someone since you were 12. Maybe you could see who can piss the furthest. Unless you now have people to do that for you, that is.

TV Week's James Hibberd on "TV's Biggest Mess, Bionic Woman"

He says:

The tragedy of “Bionic Woman” was that NBC had the right idea. Throughout the summer, insiders wondered if NBC’s saturation bombing of ads for its retooling of the 1970s flop would help draw an audience. Then the premiere garnered the biggest number of the fall (at the time) and beat “Private Practice”—clearly viewers were ready and willing to watch a “Bionic” remake. But NBC wasn’t ready and willing to deliver a polished product. The ratings have dropped sharply with nearly every episode amid behind-the-scenes retooling.

This further proves my contention that the network destroyed this show. If I had to guess, I would blame Ben, although we all know that Jeff Zucker can ruin something just by giving it his version of the evil eye (I don't really know what that would look like, but I contend that it would include lots of brow furrowing).

I mean, how many notes can a show absorb from the network before becoming something other than it was originally? First they took away the deaf sister, then the boyfriend, then they added Isaiah (just stuck him in there in a role that was supposed to be spun off -- Spun off before the show was even established).

Then, they bring in another guy, a CIA agent with the face of a high school junior.

Meanwhile, the only nemesis that Jaime Sommers needed was Sarah Corvus (left), but (and this is conjecture) that relationship was getting too sapphic for the network (I presume) so they pulled back there, also.

Now they have two new episodes to run before the inventory runs out (according to this post from our pals at TVByTheNumbers.com) and the show is in a complete shambles.

I know that (re-)creator David Eick wants to work in television, presumably at the broadcast network level, for a long time to come. But if you don't stand up for your creation, if you don't protect your work, the network will destroy it faster than you can make that trip back to the world of basic cable.

I'm sure Eick could ask Michelle Ryan to get him in touch with Steven Moffat, who had NBC destroy a show on him, too.

I'm Back, I'm Rested, I'm Pissed Off (You Know, Like Any Good Blogger Should Be)

After all, they're always talking about "those bloggers" sitting around in their underwear slamming their fingers into the keyboard getting all pissy about something or other, and I don't wanna be left out of anything that sounds that curmudgeonesque, do I?

Of course not.

(For the record, I'm wearing jeans and a shirt -- and underwear, because I'm trying to balance out all the starlets here in So Cal who don't.)

So, strap yourself in today, I have a lot to say. And you know what? The first thing I have to say should have been written months ago.

Do you know that the only sitcom that NBC purportedly picked up during pilot season was later very quietly axed by incoming NBC Entertainment chief Ben Silverman? That's right, The IT Crowd is not going to ever make air in the US.

First off, that means that Joel McHale's sitcom gig was gone before it even started, and that really pisses me off. But you know what brings the pissed-offness to an entirely new level? I saw the first episode of the UK version of this series created by Graham Linehan (a very infrequent visitor to this blog -- and Graham, you don't wanna know how I got my hands on your show) and it is possibly the best written sitcom pilot I have ever seen.

The whole thing happens with four major characters, and it's brilliant! Graham very quickly establishes who these people are, what they are capable of and what they are not, and the laughs are fast and sharp and come out of performance and, even in the initial episode, out of your understanding of those characters.

And about the character Joel would have played? Perfect for him. Even thinking about what could have been in pissing me off right now.

On top of all this, even one of the actors from the UK show was making the trip west. Richard Ayoade was to reprise his role as Moss (top left, and also in the US cast photo, which I sadly post as well, especially sad for Jessica St. Clair, who got removed from the cast before the whole show got the axe).

So, I just have to figure that we are ever gonna get anything funny out of Ben Silverman's NBC, and in fact I'm having trouble figuring out how he managed not to screw up his other UK import from the Reveille days, The Office (I realize that many people feel like he did, I'm not gonna go that far).

But hey, that Phenomenon show was something, huh? What? You didn't see it?

EXACTLY!!!

More from Graham Linehan at his blog.

This isn't a clip from the pilot, but it is pretty funny and short enough that you might watch it all.

LINK

I have one more thing to say in this age of writers' strike -- it's all about the script.

NBC Auctioning Show Items, Only a Portion of Proceeds Will Go to United Way

And I guess the rest goes to Ben Silverman to stock the private plane with plenty of blow and hookers. No, I'm kidding (although for all I know it could be true).

Still, I find it hard to believe that NBC is collecting items from their shows (items which, btw, would be worth nothing if a writer had not written them into the script) and throwing them up on an auction site as a profit center of some kind.

General Electric is a global corporation that is acting like that woman down the street from you that's trying to unload all those Beanie Babies that she bought in the late 1980s.

They should give every dime of the money to the United Way, or spread the money across a bunch of charities.

This Morning's TV News, But I Don't Seem to Care

I don't care about any of it.

• TV Week: Comedy Central renews Mind of Mencia and Li'l Bush
• Hollywood Reporter: Ben Silverman's NBC commits to Robinson Crusoe series, saying it's the most engaging story ever told
• Variety: Mark Burnett and CBS comes up with another way to ruin TV

Okay, I care a little. Mencia is a cash machine for Comedy Central, not surprised he's back for a new season. Li'l Bush, though, SUCKS!

This Robinson Crusoe series? Do we need another retelling of the story? I don't care.

And Mark Burnett? Every time I see his name come up in the trades I wanna just hurl. He wants group of us to go on TV and come up with advertising jingles for products that I'm sure will pay him to be involved. It's a perfect storm of product placement.

TV people need to stop coming up with ideas either in committee or with their leading eye toward profit, and then maybe people will start watching TV again.