Television

CBS Orders Full Season of 'The Mentalist'

CBS has made a full-season order for The Mentalist, a procedural drama on Tuesday nights that stars Simon Baker as an eccentric fake psychic who uses his keen powers of observation to fight crime. The show has averaged 16.1 million viewers and a 3.8 rating/9 share in adults age 18-49, ranking as the top program in the Tuesday 9 p.m. time slot. Mentalist joins two other freshman series picked up for a full season, the CW's 90210 and Fox's Fringe. I thought this show was a goner, ranking it ... (read more)

2008/10/16

Rich Lowry: 'I Think She Just Winked at Me'

Rich Lowry, the editor of National Review for the past 11 years, posted this comment on The Corner about Sarah Palin's performance in the vice presidential debate: I'm sure I'm not the only male in America who, when Palin dropped her first wink, sat up a little straighter on the couch and said, "Hey, I think she just winked at me." And her smile. By the end, when she clearly knew she was doing well, it was so sparkling it was almost mesmerizing. It sent little starbursts through the screen and ... (read more)

2008/10/04

Fox Reportedly Cancels 'Do Not Disturb'

Fox has cancelled Do Not Disturb, according to Michael Ausiello of Entertainment Weekly: Sources confirm to me exclusively that the critically savaged sitcom, starring a slumming Jerry O'Connell and Niecy Nash, has been axed after three low-rated episodes. The show's Wednesday time slot will be filled with repeats of 'Til Death, which upgrades the network's 9 to 10 p.m. comedy block from excruciatingly painful to unbearably painful. The first episode of the show was so bad that its creators ... (read more)

2008/09/26

Enjoy Our Delicious 122-Year-Old Bread

Britain's Hovis Bakery has celebrated its 122nd anniversary with an epic two-minute commercial that spans those years. The ad features 800 extras and cost 15 million pounds (around $27.8 million), according to stories in the Daily Mirror and Liverpool Echo. ... (read more)

2008/09/24

CW Orders Full Season of '90210'

Bad news for my TV Death Pool -- The CW has already ordered a full season of the new 90210: ... if early ratings are any indication, there are plenty of fans—some nostalgic, some too young to know that 90210 had a hipper-than-though predecessor—who will be along for the ride. Nearly 12.7 million viewers caught one -- or both -- airings of the series premiere a few weeks ago, and 90210's Sept. 2 debut became the CW's highest-rated premiere ever among women ages 18 to 34. I watched the first ... (read more)

2008/09/23

Cady McClain on Sarah Palin

Because I'm still not over the death of All My Children's Dixie Cooney Chandler Martin Bodine Martin, who died in 2007 after eating poisoned peanut butter pancakes meant for her daughter-in-law, I've been keeping up with the personal weblog where her portrayer Cady McClain journals life after death. McClain has a rep for being fairly opinionated, as you can see from her post yesterday about Sarah Palin: ... I think Sarah Palin is the worst thing to come to politics in a long time. Overly ... (read more)

2008/09/19

Christian Slater: Threat or Menace?

My friend and fellow boobtube connoisseur Jonathan Bourne has posted his Television Death Pool predictions, split into two parts like a very special episode of Blossom. Here's his list, ordered from most to least likely cancellation: ER (NBC) Life on Mars (ABC) My Own Worst Enemy (NBC) Do Not Disturb (Fox) The Mentalist (CBS) 90210 (CW) Opportunity Knocks (ABC) Knight Rider (NBC) Worst Week Ever (NBC) Gary Unmarried (CBS) I'm kicking myself for not picking Do Not Disturb. I watched the sitcom's ... (read more)

2008/09/17

Predicting Doomed Television Shows

The Ted Marshall Open Television Death Pool, a contest to predict the shows most likely to be cancelled during the new fall TV season, is now underway. Eligible shows are first-run comedies, dramas, news and game shows on ABC, CBS, CW, FOX or NBC. Here's my picks, from most to least likely: ER (NBC) 90210 (CW) Opportunity Knocks (ABC) The Mentalist (CBS) Life On Mars (ABC) Privileged (CW) Eli Stone (ABC) Easy Money (CW) My Own Worst Enemy (NBC) The Ex List (CBS) All the shows I picked are new ... (read more)

2008/09/09

Television Death Pool Now Accepting Entries

This year's Ted Marshall Open Television Death Pool, is now accepting entries through Aug. 31. To compete, you must predict 10 comedies, dramas, games shows or news programs on the five major networks -- ABC, CBS, CW, FOX and NBC -- that will be cancelled by Aug. 31, 2009. After I submitted last year's predictions, my friend Jonathan Bourne sent me a crushing and quite prescient analysis of why my picks were terrible. He began his email, "You haven't a chance, and I'll tell you why," and it ... (read more)

2008/08/11

Alison La Placa Threatens Television Death Pool

For the last nine years, Mike Burger has run an online contest to predict the shows that will be cancelled during the TV season. He named it the Alison La Placa Open Television Death Pool, honoring the actress who's known as a sitcom killer for being a regular cast member on so many short-lived comedies: Suzanne Pleshette Is Maggie Briggs, Duet, Open House, Stat, The Jackie Thomas Show and Tom. I entered this year's La Placa and have proven to be one of its worst players, predicting these ... (read more)

2008/05/15

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