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ABC Mows Down "Daisies," Fox Presents Bite-Sized Taste of "24"
November 21, 2008 1:21 PM
Pushing Daisies, the best new series ABC has presented in two years, has been cut down by the network. Obviously, and stupidly, ABC loves it not...
The remaining shows in the 13-episode order will play through January, but the network has decided to punish Pushing Daisies for ABC's own post-strike stupidity. The work stoppage by Hollywood writers may have been strike one -- but for ABC, not returning the show in the spring was strike two, and not promoting the show well enough this fall was strike three.
Three strikes, and Daisies is out!
What a shame. ABC executives, this is a stupid, stupid move.
Over at Fox, meanwhile, the executives are smart, smart, smart. They, too, decided not to return one of their series, 24, after the strike was through -- but with good reason. There was no way to present a full-length season of 24 hours without letting it spill into the summer, so it opted to wait until January 2009 to restart the show.
But because that's such a long time -- only The Sopranos went that long between seasons -- Fox this Sunday (9 p.m. ET) presents a two-hour telemovie, 24: Redemption, to try and give fans something to remember the show by.
Two hours, compared to 24, may not be much, but it's something. Hell, I was grateful for the mini-episodes of Rescue Me served up by FX for a similar reason -- and they were only five minutes long.
24: Redemption, by being so fast-forwarded in nature, points out some of the flaws and crutches of the 24 writing staff, but it's still lots of fun, and Robert Carlyle is a great guest star. For a fuller review, listen to today's (Friday's) Fresh Air with Terry Gross.
The best part of the 24 telemovie is what follows it immediately: a lengthy promo teaser for the January 2009 story arc. It's thrilling to see what's coming, and to know that we've got lots of hours of 24 ahead.
Sadly, though, we're down to our last few hours of Pushing Daisies.
By the way: Is it any surprise, or any coincidence, that Fox is ahead of ABC in the network ratings race?
"Pushing Daisies" Needs ABC's Support Now More Than Ever
November 20, 2008 11:27 AM
Last night's episode of ABC's superbly sublime Pushing Daisies tied, in the preliminary ratings, with NBC's supremely stupid Knight Rider. Not good. For Daisies, it was a series low in terms of viewers, but close to a series high in terms of writing and acting.
ABC, ignore the ratings for now. It's time to grow a pair, or at least rent one, and renew your best new show of the past two years...
Here are five quick reasons.
One: I put it to ABC that no show in prime time this week was promoted LESS than Pushing Daisies, and I was keeping track. How can a show build an audience, at a crucial time in its history, if its own network ignores it?
Two: The drop in viewership is ABC's fault. After the strike, it held back on new episodes, figuring it would relaunch the show this fall. Poor strategy -- but Bryan Fuller, Barry Sonnenfeld and the rest of the people involved with Daisies did nothing wrong. So stand by them now, and make it up to them.
Three: There hasn't been as visually ambitious and unique a series on broadcast network TV since Twin Peaks.
Last night, the climactic image -- involving a dead magician encased in concrete, an unconscious geek killer and a suddenly rescued and regurgitated kitty -- was laugh-out-loud hilarious.
Abra cadaver!
Four: This company of actors is pitch-perfect, and a total treat. Anna Friel and Lee Pace, as the look-but-don't-touch lovers (see above), are magical. The aunts, played by Ellen Greene and Swoosie Kurtz, are as lovable as they are colorful. Chi McBride's cynical investigator is a hoot, that's what he is. (Sorry: now I'm channeling Boston Legal.)
And Kristin Chenoweth, as Olive, is my favorite character in the entire series. She's almost like a three-dimensional cartoon character
And next week, when she goes undercover like some sort of modern Eva Gabor from Green Acres (diamonds, upswept hairdo, false eyelashes, pig on a leash), who can look at this woman and not smile, broadly?
Five -- and this is my final point -- there was a time when the networks would stand behind their best shows, and watch and wait as Hill Street Blues, Cheers, Seinfeld and other quality shows climbed from the ratings basement to much loftier heights. Pushing Daisies had big audiences once, pre-strike. Given network patience and support, it can get them again... and shows this excellent don't come around that often.
Give the show a renewal for the rest of the season, ABC, and get behind it. Daisies, like any flower, will benefit from a nurturing environment -- and it doesn't count that it's surrounded, on much of the rest of the lineup, by a bunch of manure.
Fans of Pushing Daisies recognize what a special show it is. Does ABC?
ABC, now's the time to demonstrate taste and patience... or admit, as a network, you don't have enough of either.
ABC's "Pushing Daisies": An Endangered Flower That Must Be Protected
November 19, 2008 10:38 AM
The latest episode of ABC's Pushing Daisies airs tonight at 8 ET, and its fate may be determined by the number of viewers who tune in. So please, please watch -- but shame on ABC for not supporting and nurturing this excellent series more lovingly.
If I were holding a daisy and pulling its petals one by one, this is the chant I'd use regarding Pushing Daisies and ABC: "I love it. ABC loves it not..."
When Pushing Daisies was unveiled at the network upfronts last year, and again when the networks delivered their fall series pilots, I championed the show as the best new fall series of 2007. But because of the writers' strike, only nine episodes of Bryan Fuller's inventively different TV confection were shown last season. Their average audience was 9.4 million -- very solid, but not great -- and ABC decided to hold back on additional episodes until this fall, when it would, in effect, relaunch the series.
That approach, it's now obvious, was wrong. CBS, which put shows back into production last spring, fared better than the networks that held back on inventory. So far this season, Pushing Daisies has seen its audience drop to 6.6 million.
ABC, not the series itself, is to blame. This season's episodes of Daisies have been just as enjoyable and inventive as last year's, and ABC appears to have all but given up on promoting the show.
Tonight's episode features, as guest star, Fred Willard, playing a magician. But you might not know that, because ABC's on-air promos for Pushing Daisies have pulled their own vanishing act.
I checked this week's three series most likely to appeal to a Daisies viewer -- Desperate Housewives, Boston Legal and Eli Stone -- representing one show each from ABC's Sunday, Monday and Tuesday lineups. All three of those series promoted Private Practice and other ABC shows heavily, but not one presented a promo for Daisies, except for one tossaway mention by an announcer at the end of Eli Stone.
How can a show build an audience if its own network won't support it?
What's worse, Pushing Daisies is so much better than so much of what's on broadcast TV right now, it should be nurtured carefully and stubbornly by ABC. Yes, the network deserves lots of credit for developing and scheduling the show in the first place. But now is the time for ABC executives to step up and embrace Pushing Daisies, even if it takes viewers a little longer.
ABC, You've planted, and grown, a beautiful flower in Pushing Daisies. Now's not the time to nip it in the bud.
New Holiday DVD Shopping Guides Are Up -- Please Shop. Please. Pretty Please...
November 18, 2008 7:42 AM
I know, it's not even Thanksgiving yet, so talking about holiday shopping may seem premature. But if you want to buy the perfect TV-on-DVD gift for someone, you can save a lot on shipping by ordering early. So shop soon -- and, because we're launching these nifty shopping guides today, please, PLEASE shop here...
Some of you may have been around this site long enough to have ordered from our Holiday Shopping Guide last year. It's back -- and this year, thanks to a lot of great, exhaustive work by TVWW contributor Diane Werts, it's better, and a lot bigger, than ever. If you can't find a DVD boxed set or individual release on this list that will thrill someone you know, that person must HATE television.
Selections range from single discs (my personal favorite: The Point) to massive complete sets, such as the new The Sopranos: The Complete Series. You can access the list at any time by clicking on the Holiday Shopping Guide banner, just above BIANCULLI'S BEST BETS. Or, for now, by clicking HERE.
Starting today, there's a second list to peruse, too, and this one taps into Diane's expertise as the author of Christmas on Television. TVWW's Guide to Christmas Shows on DVD is another list of recommended gift possibilities -- but this list is devoted specifically to TV shows on DVDs that are ABOUT the holidays. These range from brand new offerings (A Colbert Christmas) to really vintage ones (A Shari Lewis Christmas). Again -- if you can't find the perfect gift on this list, you're shopping for a Scrooge. And even then, you'd have LOTS of choices.
Sample that list by clicking on the banner just beneath BIANCULLI'S BLOG on the home page -- or, for now, by clicking HERE.
Also in the Christmas spirit, Diane will be posting a full list of holiday specials and holiday-themed TV shows as they appear on TV this season. So watch for that, and keep checking her main-page blog, FOR BETTER OR WERTS -- and buy her book, which I reviewed glowingly long before she ever came aboard this website. Click HERE to buy her Christmas on Television.
Sorry for the hard-sell approach, but there are two reasons we're throwing so much space and effort into these special pages and offerings. One is because DVD sets of TV shows are among the best inventions of the decade -- and yes, they've pretty much all come out in this decade. Another is because holiday television is one of Diane's pet passions, and she's the recognized national expert on the subject.
And the third, which we've always been upfront about here, is that every purchase made that originates from this website results in a small kickback for TV WORTH WATCHING. Small, but, if enough of you buy a DVD or two by clicking on one of the "Buy Now" buttons here, not insignificant.
So while shopping for a friend or loved one, you're buying a gift for us as well -- one that doesn't cost you anything, but which helps us stay alive. Really. That's the dream, anyway.
Enjoy! And thanks, Diane and Rich and Eric, for teaming up to make this year's holiday guides a reality. Now I can start shopping for gifts for YOU....
The Best, And Worst, Of Current TV Commercials
November 17, 2008 7:21 AM
Most TV ads are eminently, instantly forgettable, but once in a while, one appears that's either really good or really bad. On television right now, there are stellar examples of both...
What makes a great ad? Think, as your baseline, Tina Fey's commercials for American Express. When you're adding up what a banner year she's had, between 30 Rock, lots of Emmys and playing Sarah Palin, don't forget her ad triumphs, too. Her spot trying to get into an airport lounge, just so Martin Scorsese can try and sell her a time-share condo, is priceless.
So which new series of ads on TV is up to that very high standard? Volkswagen's new ads for its VW Routan, presented by comically snarky spokeswoman Brooke Shields.
VW has a long, long history of great commercials. One of many personal favorites is the ad that, for most of the commercial, is nothing but a lone VW bug driving in a snowstorm along deserted roads. Finally, the punchline arrives: Did you ever wonder how the guy who drives the snowplow GETS to the snowplow?
In the newest series of VW ads, Shields talks directly to viewers, urging them not to make the same mistake as car consumers who have had babies merely to take advantage of the roomy, family-friendly Routan and its German engineering. She stands near couples who protest her allegations, but she dismisses them derisively.
Watch closely, and you're not only seeing a great ad. You're seeing what may be the best role Brooke Shields has ever played, and a persona that should be tailor-made to a sitcom built in that image. Certainly, NBC's Lipstick Jungle isn't going anywhere, and didn't help. Some TV producer should let Shields unleash her inner bitch, and have a field day. Forget empathy and sympathy. Let her play dismissive and arrogant -- and let her loose.
On the other end of the spectrum, there's one of the worst, most baffling commercials I've seen in some time. It's an ad for Charmin bathroom tissue, and, in this new animated campaign, features a bear playing football with a bear cub. When the little bear (not THE Little Bear) bends down to hike the ball, the big bear is shocked to see that the baby bear's bottom is festooned with pieces of leftover toilet tissue.
Forget the demonstration that follows, and the rest of the commercial. Is this really such an issue that a commercial needs to address it? Are so many people rising from their toilets with pieces of paper still stuck to them that the proper brand of tissue is seen as a welcome remedy?
If that's true, I really don't want to know. And if there's a next time I buy Charmin, which up to this moment has been my preferred brand, I don't want the salesgirl thinking I'm stricken by that particular tissue issue.
That would be... unbearable.
Ricky Gervais Scores Comedically and Technologically -- Look Ma, No Hands!
November 14, 2008 9:07 AM
There isn't much to look forward to in this very weak November sweeps month, but here comes something great: The new HBO standup special, Ricky Gervais: Out of England.
Gervais is brilliant at the way he tells a joke. And that goes for the technology as well as the comedy.
Ricky Gervais: Out of England premieres Saturday at 9 p.m. ET on HBO, and is repeated Sunday at 10 p.m. ET on HBO2. Whenever you see it, you'll see a very clever comedian -- co-creator and star of Extras and the original, British The Office -- telling stories very cleverly.
Out of England begins with a grandiose entrance: Gervais entering with pomp, circumstance, and a robe and crown. But after that kickoff sight gag, he gets down to basics. Basic black tee shirt, black pants and not much else.
Not even a hand mike.
It took me a while, because I was laughing so hard and so often, to notice how much Gervais' unobtrusive headphone microphone added to his presentation. It left both his hands free to gesticulate wildly, to hold notecards and computer printouts as he read from them, and to help with his efforts at pantomime.
At various times in this 75-minute comedy special, Gervais assumes the positions of everything from a lazy mouse to gay sex. With both hands free, he can do more -- and does.
His mouth, meanwhile, is taking on some wildly improbable targets. Adolf Hitler and overweight people, okay, that's not so unusual. But making fun of Stephen Hawking? Rosa Parks? Nelson Mandela? It takes just the right tone, and joke, to make that work -- and Gervais, who wrote his own material, never misses.
Part of his approach is to make fun of himself, putting on an air of laughable arrogance as he jokes about everything from cancer to AIDS. Part of it, though, is pursuing a thought beyond the norm -- to tell three jokes when most comics would move on after one.
In a bit about nursery rhymes, for example, Gervais complains about the nonsensical absurdity of the Humpty Dumpty poem. The moral, Gervais, seems clear: "Don't send horses to do medical procedures."
Most comics would accept the laughter and applause that follows and move on, but Gervais is just getting started. "They've got no dexterity whatsoever," he complains, and goes on, and on, and on. Eventually, the very fact that he's not letting go makes the whole thing even funnier. And once you start laughing at that, he's STILL going.
"Certainly," he argues about the king's horses, "don't send ALL of them. That's going to be CHAOS!"
And this special, when you see it, is going to be hilarious.
NBC Product Placement Stoops to Another Egregious Low
November 13, 2008 6:45 AM
How low will NBC stoop in its enthusiasm for in-program scripted product placement? As low as Knight Rider and its ubiquitous Mustang, we all know that. But last week on My Name Is Earl, NBC sank even deeper into the bottom of the barrel...
The episode, called "Sold a Guy a Lemon Car," had a subplot involving Earl's ex-wife, Joy, and her enthusiasm for something she'd seen in an ad on TV. It was an ad for the "Open Hearts" necklace from Kay Jewelers, designed by actress Jane Seymour.
First we saw Joy watching the ad, and Jane Seymour selling the necklace, on her TV. (See image above.) Joy declared it the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen in her life.
Shortly thereafter, Seymour appeared in Joy's bathroom mirror, replacing Joy's reflection, to call her by name and tempt her with the necklace.
At the end of the show, Joy's current hubby, Crab Man, presented her with a special surprise gift. It was the "Open Hearts" necklace, shown in loving closeup, after which Joy fastened it around her neck and walked away, beaming.
Bad enough? Because none of it was remotely funny, yes. And what made it worse was that in between those scenes, during a commercial break, was the actual Jane Seymour ad for her necklace -- the very same ad watched by Joy during My Name Is Earl.
Watching it in that context, though, there was no Joy whatsoever.
Just the overwhelming stench of tacky overkill.
"Chocolate News": Comedy Central Gets Its Newest Breakout Vehicle
November 12, 2008 8:56 AM
It hasn't taken long at all -- less than a month -- for David Alan Grier to turn his new Chocolate News comedy series into Must-See TV. Exhibit A: The day after Barack Obama was elected, Grier opened his program with an emphatic, unbleeped two-word phrase.
The first word was "Holy." The second word rhymed with "fit." And then he screamed with joy...
And while it was bleeped in reruns, that exclamatory, excretory phrase went out loud and clear at 10:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Nov. 5. Clearly, Chocolate News is not for the faint-hearted... or the easily offended.
Grier, who mastered the art of making studio audiences roar and gasp at the same time way back on In Living Color, has found his voice and his show here -- and Comedy Central has found a way to fill the vacuum left when Dave Chappelle walked away from the network.
Grier opens each show -- tonight at 10:30 ET will be a new installment -- addressing the TV audience, rather than the studio audience, directly, sounding off about the week's events as seen from a black perspective. When that week includes the first black President being elected, it's more than just a case of fortuitous timing. It's highly entertaining, highly relevant television.
In addition to anchoring the show, Grier headlines most of the filmed skits presented as part of the weekly program. Last week, one skit had him playing a particularly feisty and clueless precinct vote worker -- a loud-mouthed, easily angered woman, while another had him playing a veteran jazz musician who, according to the sketch, once so angered bandleader Duke Ellington that Ellington made good on his threat to shove a trumpet up somewhere very painful.
The payoff for that latter sketch was that the trumpeter in question learned to turn that unfortunate accident into a unique benefit -- the ability to play jazz duets with himself, by, uh, expelling air from both ends. The visuals were funny enough, but the soundtrack really drove it home.
Also on the same show: A sketch in which representatives of various minorities competed, in a game-show format, to replace African-Americans as the most visible oppressed minority now that Obama was in the White House.
And, as a capper, there was a report alleging that while 90 percent of black voters supported Obama, an even higher percentage of support came from the KKK, because they saw his presidency as the best possible recruitment tool. One of the signs of "support" carried by the white-hooded members? "Yes We Klan."
There's plenty to offend everyone, if you're easily offended. Otherwise, there are plenty of laughs -- from a sorely needed perspective.
Scarborough Spills Steaming Cup of F-Word on "Morning Joe"
November 11, 2008 8:00 AM
I don't post a video link often -- about once every vernal equinox, actually -- but this one definitely is TV Worth Watching...
The appeal of MSNBC's Morning Joe program is how relaxed and conversational it is. Yesterday's show, though, got a bit TOO relaxed, as host Joe Scarborough referred to an anecdote just told to him off the air, and used definitely off-air language to describe it.
In other words, because other words are called for, Scarborough used the F-word when he meant to SAY "the F-word." Clearly, there was no seven-second delay in place. Just as clearly, though the host was stunningly unaware of the broadcasting sin he'd just committed, no one else on the program missed it. Mike Barnicle, in a split-screen shot, dropped his jaw open like a cartoon character.
For the next few minutes, as Scarborough tried to plow ahead, the rest of the panel couldn't let it go, until Scarborough finally asked for a "time out" and confronted the issue directly. Did he really slip, and say the F word?
Yes, he did, and it's a priceless clip, especially in a year when both the FCC and Supreme Court are wondering how, and whether, to put a price on such outbursts. Click HERE to see, and hear, for yourself.
Happy Smothers Day -- Again!
November 10, 2008 7:00 AM
Expect to see this blog entry headline more and more this month, because my book manuscript on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour is due at the end of the month.
Please be patient, and picture me toiling away, like Bartleby the Scrivener, buried by piles of videotapes, books, articles, audiotapes, transcripts, notes and depositions. Every so often, when I'm on a roll, it's either impossible or unwise to stop. So here it is, another Smothers Day holiday.
I'll always do BEST BETS, but occasional breaks from the blog will help. And every day I pull this stunt, I'll post a new photo or other goodie, just to say thanks for your patience. Today's picture shows Tom and Dick appearing on The Jack Benny Program, before getting their own series...
