It begins pretty clumsily with a wedding stoppage scene straight out of The Graduate. Friends also quickly comes to mind. Still, this is an otherwise new ABC comedy called Happy Endings. And after viewing three available episodes, let's dust off another old saw: All's well that ends well...

2011

Mar

NBC: HURTS SO BAD By Ed Bark

Has a big-time broadcast network ever been in sorrier prime-time shape than NBC? The network's new owner, Comcast, and its new entertainment president, Showtime export Robert Greenblatt, have miles to go before they can even feel safely ahead of Univision. And given the ongoing population shifts, that day might well never come...

2011

Jan

ANIMATED 'ARCHER' GETS AWAY WITH JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING By Ed Bark

The cartoon teen in Archer's Season 2 opener Thursday night can do what none of MTV's can -- get naked and be sexually explicit without raising concerns that these might be violations of federal pornography statutes...

2011

Jan

OLBERMANN OUT AND ABOUT AGAIN By Ed Bark

Although he's made himself toxic wherever he's worked, CNN probably would be wise to make itself the next waystop in Keith Olbermann's checkered career. The slot currently occupied by the network's failed and flailing Parker Spitzer would be perfect for the oft-bombastic Olbermann, who could resume competing against The O'Reilly Factor and now Lawrence O'Donnell in MSNBC's 8 p.m. ET hour...

2010

Dec

ED BARK COUNTS DOWN TOP TV DEVELOPMENTS OF 2010 By Ed Bark

The TV world again turned on its head in 2010. Let's get right to our annual countdown of what had viewers buzzing...

2010

Dec

NO '$#*!' FOR CBS, JUST A 'CRIMINAL MINDS' SPINOFF AND 3 OTHER NEW SHOWS By Ed Bark

No. 1-rated CBS is doing less deck-shuffling than its rivals, but will still make some significant changes in the coming year. The network announced that four new series will be joining its new mix, although Paula Abdul's previously announced Live to Dance basically is a place-holder for Survivor as Wednesday night's lead-off hitter. The notable eviction is William Shatner's $#*! My Dad Says...

2010

Dec

CHRISTMAS SING WITH BING ON DVD By Ed Bark

Just five weeks before his Oct. 14, 1977 death, a crooning, cardigan-sweatered Ghost of TV Christmas Specials Past performed a well-worn carol with an androgynous, cutting-edge rock star 44 years his junior...

2010

Dec

'MEN' CERTAINLY AGES WELL By Ed Bark

TNT's best-ever drama series -- the show that defies all conventional wisdom about what should work on TV -- finds its way to Season 2 Monday night. Amazingly, Men of a Certain Age (10 p.m. ET) has nothing to do with fatalities, legalities or life-saving medical procedures. Its three middle-aged central characters...

2010

Dec

BARBARA WALTERS EMBRACES THE BIG O -- IN PRIME TIME By Ed Bark

Barbara Walters and ABC's prime-time domain aren't quite done with one another. She's given up her yearly pre-Oscar specials, but hasn't yet relinquished her clout when it comes to big-time hobnobbing. So here comes ABC's "One Night, One Big Event" -- namely back-to-back Dec. 9th Babs specials in which she first spends an hour with Oprah Winfrey and then presents her 18th 10 Most Fascinating People of the year extravaganza...

2010

Nov

'IDOL' MOVES TO WEDNESDAY-THURSDAY By Ed Bark

American Idol's weekly results shows will get a Thursday night berth for the first time as part of a Fox midseason lineup that also includes five new series, all but one of them scripted. Idol, which will deploy new judges Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler plus some format changes, has been airing on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. But Season 10 inaugurates a Wednesday-Thursday shift...

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Ed Bark

Since 2006, Ed Bark's local and national TV stories and observations have been showcased on his pioneering website, www.unclebarky.com. For 26 years before that, he was TV critic for the Dallas Morning News. He's a past president of the Television Critics Association, and for seven years served on the national Peabody Awards board.

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