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August 2008 Archives
Obama Gets High Marks from Most Analysts, But CBS Deserves Low Ones
August 29, 2008 12:03 AM
Barack Obama ended the Democratic National Convention, and made history, with a speech that got high marks from most (but not all) analysts -- but what many called his finest hour was marred, at the start, by an arrogant editorial decision by CBS News.
At the start of the 10 p.m. hour, as the biographical film began that served as Obama's official introduction, CBS decided to ignore it. Instead, it continued with its own reporting, after which Katie Couric cut to commercials. The Barack film was joined in progress afterward.
Meanwhile, everyone else covering the event, on broadcast as well as cable, showed the film from the start. CBS was the only news organization to make the call that the introductory film for the Democratic nominee for President of the United States was not worth showing in full.
CBS was wrong. And if it pulls the same trick by showing only part of John McCain's film next week, it'll be wrong again. The commercial broadcast networks have cut back on coverage so much already that they're making themselves obsolete -- but to ignore even a portion of a national political convention's main event, and deny its viewers the chance to see and assess that message, is an indefensible lapse in judgment.
Otherwise, there were no major gaffes or missteps during coverage of the final night of the Democrats' turn at bat -- and, given the stadium setting, a sports analogy is even more appropriate than usual. Former Vice President Al Gore's speech occurred long before the broadcast networks' prime-time window, but was given respectful coverage by outlets already offering coverage.
And as for reaction to Obama's speech, seldom was heard a discouraging word. Oh, there were a few, including one Fox News pundit, Juan Williams, who dismissed the speech as "more prose than poetry" and "more like a laundry list." But that definitely was a minority opinion, Even fellow Fox News analyst Bill Kristol, unimpressed by most speeches all week, called it "an actually impressive performance."
At CNN, David Gergen called it "less a speech than a symphony," admitted to being "deepy impressed," and said, "As a political speech, it was a masterpiece." On MSNBC, Chris Matthews said, "I've been criticized for saying he inspires me. To hell with my critics." And Pat Robertson, Buchanan, also on MSNBC, delighted the crowd listening to the post-speech analysis when even he, as a proud conservative, said of Obama's address, "That wasn't a liberal speech at all," and called it "a genuinely outstanding speech."
Monday, the Republicans take over. Stay tuned...
Democratic National Convention Day 3: Broadcast TV Missed the Best Parts
August 28, 2008 8:23 AM
By giving an hour, and only an hour, of prime-time coverage to political conventions in 2008, the commercial broadcast networks are condensing themselves into relative irrelevance. Two of Wednesday's most anticipated, dramatic and historic events at the Democratic National Convention -- Barack Obama being nominated by acclamation by Hillary Clinton, and Bill Clinton's suppportive speech -- occurred when CBS, NBC and ABC weren't televising.
How is a news organization supposed to maintain and strengthen its brand, when it's not around when you need and expect it?
Viewers have to switch channels, more and more, to find out what they're missing elsewhere. On Wednesday, CNN thought enough of Melissa Etheridge's rousing musical medley (which included "Give Peace a Chance" and reclaimed "Born in the USA") to televise it intact, but no one else did. Except, of course, for C-SPAN, which showed everything, without comment. Increasingly, that was the most satisfying place to turn.
Steven Spielberg's film about war veterans, which featured and was narrated by Tom Hanks? CNN showed it, too, and so did PBS. But Fox News and MSNBC ignored both Etheridge and the Spielberg film, and also ignored the prime-time speech by John Kerry (CNN showed part of Kerry's address, and PBS showed all of it). And Bill Clinton's speech? On CBS, NBC and ABC, it was pretty much reduced to sound-bite replays.
The strangest thing last night was at the culmination of the night, during the applause following Obama's surprise appearance. Fox News said nothing. Nothing. For more than a minute, just letting the natural sound run.
On MSNBC, meanwhile, Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews have begun to snap at each other more frequently and obviously. Three days into this convention, they've become the most visibly uncomfortable anchor team since Dan Rather and Connie Chung. And with another week and another convention yet to go, Olbermann and Matthews may eclipse Harry Reasoner and Barbara Walters as the most obviously contentious anchor team in TV history.
The Democrats have put on a show of unity this week -- but at MSNBC, they're demonstrating, by example, just how hard that can be to pull off.
Democratic National Convention Day 2: More Unity, But Also More PUMAs
August 27, 2008 8:11 AM
On Day 2 of the Democratic National Convention, Hillary Clinton went a few minutes overtime, spilling out of prime time past the 11 p.m. ET hour and giving the poor broadcast networks even less time to assess her speech. But there and on cable, most reviews ranged from positive to raves.
"I don't know how Barack Obama could have asked for more," Bob Schieffer said on CBS. Over on CNN, David Gergen said, "I thought it was a class act," summarized her speech as "an authentic call for unity," and called it "perhaps her finest hour in politics."
On MSNBC, former sports anchor Keith Olbermann amplified the predictable home-run metaphor, calling it a "grand slam, out of the ball park, across the street" smash, adding, "I don't know how it could have been better." But on Fox News Channel, Fred Barnes managed to dismiss Hillary Clinton's effort as "a very tame speech."
Whether or not Tuesday's speech helped to unify the divided factions in the Democratic party, the entire night certainly shone a harsh spotlight on the problems regarding TV coverage of national political conventions.
The commercial broadcast TV networks have decided these dog-and-pony shows are worth no more than an hour a night, even though the dogs and ponies chosen to be paraded at these events are illuminating in their own right. Last night, it was difficult to argue with the broadcast networks' assessment, since virtually nothing of real interest or import happened until the 10 p.m. ET hour, when Hillary Clinton was introduced by a video and by her daughter, Chelsea.
(NBC ignored the first part of the video to run ads instead, but otherwise, everything Hillary-related was run wall-to-wall by all broadcast and cable networks covering the convention.)
What weakened the networks' argument against giving the convention more air time was the shoddy video guano they served up instead. These included an hour of enforced boredom on Big Brother on CBS. Two hours of card tricks and other nonsense on America's Got Talent on NBC.
And on ABC, after an hour of Wipeout, another mind-numbing hour, this time of Wanna Bet?, a game show featuring Sherri Shepherd yelling at a young kid for guessing wrong and losing some of her prize money.
If the networks want to use qualitative value as a defense against covering conventions, they ought to at least be careful not to fill the hours with steaming piles of TV excrement.
And because the broadcast networks are showing up late, they're being pushed to the finish line without even getting a chance to stretch. Minutes after Hillary finished speaking, local news had grabbed back the air waves, leaving highly paid network pundits, reporters and anchors to scramble to cable, the Internet, or their hotel rooms. It's a bad system -- and tonight, when Bill Clinton's speech arguably is as newsworthy as Joe Biden's, it'll look even worse.
So far, PBS has looked polished, while MSNBC, for placing its anchor desk outside like some NFL pre-game show, often has looked and sounded absurd. The wind never stops, and I'm not talking about Olbermann and Chris Matthews. And last night, there was a loud series of train-whistle blasts that not even the MSNBC folks could talk over, or refrain from laughing at.
But one place, Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, was perfect. I absolutely adored John Oliver's report on the angry Hillary supporters who refused to back Barack Obama. He sought the help of a child psychologist, who said, "Sometimes children just aren't group-ready," and suggested therapeutic games and songs to help them along.
Samantha Bee, singing to two of them while strumming a guitar, sang, "When I feel mad, I stomp my feet / When I get upset, I shake my fists in the air / And I feel better... And I stop acting like such a bitch." I laughed out loud at that one.
I was amazed, though, to recognize one of the faces among the six angry people Oliver had corralled for his part of the piece.
One of the pro-Hillary, anti-Obama folks was the same abrasive woman whom Chris Matthews had interviewed on live TV the day before -- the one calling herself a PUMA, an acronym for Party Unity, My Ass.
Small world. And, when both a political convention and the media are in Denver, small city...
Democratic National Convention TV Coverage: Here's What You're Missing
August 26, 2008 8:19 AM
Every network made choices about what to show, and ignore, while covering the Democratic National Convention Monday night. Here are those choices, culled after watching coverage on 12 TV sets simultaneously...
Michelle Obama, the night's key keynote speaker in the final hour of prime time, was the only element of the DNC's first night to enjoy a clean sweep from the cable and broadcast networks. Obama's wife, and only Obama's wife, was televised live by everyone. Otherwise, there was a lot of picking and choosing -- and sometimes, the picks and choices were somewhat surprising.
C-SPAN covered everything. The next most comprehensive place to turn was PBS, which presented everything but the most minor of interstitial speakers.
On cable, CNN presented the Jimmy Carter video and appearance, and Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg's introduction to Ted Kennedy and endorsement of Barack Obama -- but didn't run the Ted Kennedy tribute film co-created by Ken Burns. CNN also ignored the opening speech by Nancy Pelosi, but did televise remarks, in the same opening prime-time hour, by Jesse Jackson, Jr.
MSNBC, on the other hand, showed the Pelosi speech and the Kennedy video, which CNN skipped, but ignored the Carter tribute video and Jackson, which CNN showed.
And over on Fox News, the entire first hour of DNC material was ignored completely -- no Pelosi, no Carter, no Jackson. But Fox News, unlike CNN, did show the Kennedy tribute film, rather than spend the time with its own correspondents.
Finally, when the commercial broadcast networks deigned to chime in at 10 p.m. ET, only ABC took the time to present Ted Kennedy's stirring, unscheduled speech intact -- though it fudged a bit, while replaying the address that had taken place at 9:30, by tagging Kennedy's taped speech as having occurred "moments ago." CBS and NBC showed only the briefest of snippets, and all three broadcast networks, by limiting themselves to covering only the final hour of Monday's convention, deprived viewers of a thrilling piece of live TV history.
The short speech by Craig Robinson, who introduced his sister Michelle, was presented in full by CNN, MSNBC, PBS and C-SPAN, but only in part by Fox, CBS, NBC and ABC. David Gergen, on CNN, complained that the first two hours of night one were way too boring as a TV event. Except for Ted Kennedy, he wasn't wrong. And the only clever innovation to the coverage, on opening night, was CNN's addition of informative convention-history factoids as superimposed lower-third graphics.
Best parts of night one? Easy: the stirring speeches by Ted Kennedy and Michelle Obama. But it also was nice to see, on MSNBC, the debut of Tim Russert's son, Luke, as a convention correspondent at large. Afterward, Tom Brokaw was smiling like a proud parent.
Most intriguing part of night one? The CBS coverage, which shot immediately at 11 p.m. ET from the broadcast network to its own CBS News website.
That's where Katie Couric held court, checked with several correspondents and analysts, and interviewed Caroline Kennedy. She was joking about being on a webcast, much the same way NBC's anchors and reporters, back when MSNBC was launched, joked about being on the hinterlands of cable. Now, clearly, it's no laughing matter.
Most cringe-inducing part of night one? Chris Matthews' rope-line interviews on MSNBC's Hardball, handing his live mike over to onlookers and protests, including two pro-Hillary, anti-Obama representatives from PUMA (a charming acronym for Party Unity, My Ass) who insisted they had proof, without providing it, that Barack Obama had registered as a Muslim as a school in Indonesia. Matthews refuted the charge, and basically dismissed the women, but not before giving them valuable air time.
"Classic agitprop," he told co-anchor Keith Olbermann later that night. "It's the kind of crap we shouldn't let get on television."
I couldn't agree more. Only problem is, Matthews is the guy who facilitated it.
Goodbye, Olympics -- Hello, Politics and Other "Dangerous Jobs"
August 25, 2008 7:06 AM
The XXIX Summer Olympics are over, and should be considered a major success, in several categories: As TV entertainment, inspirational content, successful propaganda.
Tonight, the Olympics are replaced by day one of the Democratic National Convention from Denver, and by NBC's aggressively premature launch of the first new show of the fall season. In those same three categories -- entertainment, inspiration, propaganda -- how will the Democrats, and NBC's entertainment shows, measure up?
First, one last nod to the Olympics. It was a great Games, and the splendor with which the Chinese packaged it was the Olympic equivalent of shock and awe. Even when they sank to something hokey, like the closing ceremonies British double-decker bus, it somehow managed to charm as much as it perplexed.
And it's worth noting, too, that as figures come in for those watching the Olympics, more than 90 percent of those watching were doing so on television, not on their computers. Something to keep in mind.
NBC's entertainment shows, so heavily promote during the Games, begin rolling out tonight, with a special Deal or No Deal promising to present the first $1 million grand prize in more than 200 contests. (Just shows you how good the bait-and-switch game has been for Howie Mandel and company for years now.) That's followed by the premiere of America's Toughest Jobs, a competition reality series in which contestants compete to do some tough, dirty, physically risky jobs -- crab fishing and Alaskan trucking, in the first two outings available for preview.
The show isn't bad, and has enough travelogue aspects to give it some of the flavor of The Amazing Race, as well as a general Walter Mitty aspect to it. It feels, to me, like a good show for cable, but still beneath the level of offering a major broadcast network should be presenting. But I forget -- now that the Olympics are over, we're not talking about a major broadcast network any more. We're talking NBC.
And now for the news, and the convention, and the news about the convention. C-SPAN is the starting place, showing you exactly what's at the podium. And among the commercial broadcast networks, one hour a night is deemed sufficient. At that hour (10 p.m. ET), I'd suggest tuning to CBS, because it's poor Katie Couric's biggest chance to make an impression. As soon as it's over, she and her crew are shifting online. Not cable. On line.
At least Brian Williams, Tom Brokaw and company get to stretch their legs and talk at length over at MSNBC, where Keith Olbermann reins himself in and Chris Matthews runs looser than ever. Here and on NBC, you may also catch glimpses of Luke Russert, Tim's son, making a high-profile debut as correspondent at large, as well as see more of the rapid ascendancy of plain-speaking analyst Chuck Todd.
The point, though, is to be fickle. Jump around to hear what Jeff Greenfield and Bob Schieffer have to say at CBS, and George Will and Maureen Dowd at ABC, and Mark Shields and David Brooks at PBS. And on cable, don't stay on your own side of the political fence. If you usually watch MSNBC, see what they're saying over at Fox News this week, and vice versa. Watch CNN, but also watch the competitors, and broadcasters.
And by all means, remember that Jon Stewart and The Daily Show are covering the convention beginning Tuesday night on Comedy Central, and Bill Maher is returning to HBO with a new Real Time edition on Friday. The Olympics are over, but the political circus is back in town.
First of New Fall Shows Surfaces Monday -- And So Does TV's Kickoff Curse
August 22, 2008 8:30 AM
NBC will try to capitalize on post-Olympics momentum by unveiling its first new fall series Monday, the day after the Olympics end. But by being the first freshman show to burst out of the starting blocks, NBC's America's Toughest Jobs is heading straight into the jaws of a fairly lethal series-killer -- TV's Kickoff Curse.
The Kickoff Curse, I'm somewhat proud to say, is one of my own long-standing statistical discoveries. Basically, it's a predictor of failure, warning that the first new prime-time series to be broadcast each season is likely to die before embarking on a second season.
The idea of giving early starts to shows before the official launch of a TV season began in 1975, with aggressive CBS Chairman William S. Paley. He was so insistent on giving every opportunity to promote his pet project that year, an American equivalent of Upstairs, Downstairs called Beacon Hill, that he launched it a month early -- and launched a comedy series, Big Eddie, even earlier. Even though Beacon Hill starred Edward Herrmann and future Sopranos matriarch Nancy Marchand, both shows died quickly, and the Kickoff Curse was born.
The very next year, in 1976, CBS tried again, and this time succeeded: Its sitcom Alice, a spinoff of the movie Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, lasted for nine seasons. But it would be 13 years before another series would survive the Kickoff Curse. That show, ABC's Primetime Live, is still alive, though no longer Live.)
Since then, the curse has claimed all but four early-bird new series: the 1991 sitcom Roc (three seasons), the 2000 sitcom Girlfriends (which began on and outlived UPN, and was recently canceled by the CW), the 2001 sitcom One on One (five seasons on UPN), and, most recently, the Fox drama Prison Break, which premiered in 2005 and begins its fourth season Sept. 1.
Other than that, it's been all flops -- whether the shows have been terrific, like 1994's My So-Called Life, introducing Claire Danes, or terrible, like 1983's We Got It Made, introducing Teri Copley. (Exactly.) In 33 years, only six shows have managed to escape the Kickoff Curse. That's a predictor of failure of 82 percent, with over three decades of test samples.
So if America's Toughest Jobs doesn't return for a second season in 2009, remember: You heard it here first. That series is, in a word, cursed.
For the record, here's a total rundown of the shows falling victim to, or defying, the Kickoff Curse. Shows in bold italics, preceded by asterisks, are the only ones to have survived more than a season.
TV'S KICKOFF CURSE
2008 America's Toughest Jobs, NBC (??)
2007 Nashville, Fox
2006 Vanished, Fox
**2005 Prison Break, Fox (2005- )
2004 North Shore, Fox
2003 Whoopi, NBC
2002 Family Affair, WB
**2001 One on One, UPN (2001-06)
**2000 Girlfriends, UPN/CW (2000-08)
1999 Grown Ups, UPN
1998 Holding the Baby, FOX
1997 Good News, UPN
1996 L.A. Firefighters, FOX
1995 The Crew, FOX
1994 My So-Called Life, ABC
1993 Front Page, FOX
1992 Covington Cross, ABC
**1991 Roc, FOX (1991-94)
1990 Hull High, NBC
**1989 Primetime Live, ABC (1989- )
1988 Baby Boom, NBC
1987 Private Eye, NBC
1986 The Wizard, CBS
1985 Hometown, CBS
1984 Call to Glory, ABC
1983 We Got It Made, NBC
1982 Powers of Matthew Star, NBC
1981 Best of the West, ABC
1980 Ladies' Man, CBS
1979 240-Robert, ABC
1978 Dick Clark's Live Wednesday, NBC
1977 The Betty White Show, CBS
**1976 Alice, CBS (1976-85)
1975 Big Eddie, CBS
Networks Thrilled by Olympics Viewership -- But May Be Embracing the Wrong Moral
August 21, 2008 9:48 AM
Olympic viewing levels are up compared to four years ago. NBC executives are ecstatic -- and even though prime-time audiences for rival networks are down to their lowest levels in decades, executives there are thrilled, too. The moral they're embracing from these giant Olympic ratings is that broadcast network TV is alive and well.
But is that the right moral?
I propose that the proper moral is that broadcast network TV is in trouble, and the high ratings for the Olympics proves that more than dispels it.
That's because the Olympics have given us high-quality, handsomely produced entertainment that's a thrill to watch. From the opening ceremonies to the astounding fleetness of Michael Phelps in water and Jamaica's Usain Bolt on land, prime time on NBC has been, to borrow a phrase, TV worth watching.
For the rest of the summer, though, NBC has been serving up the video equivalent of fast-food junk. And Monday, the night after the Olympics are over, NBC is back to basics -- with the season premiere of Deal or No Deal and the premiere of America's Toughest Jobs. That latter program is a new reality competition series that, on balance, isn't that bad... but it's nothing to bring glory, or Olympic-sized audiences, to network television.
If the networks think they can save money by producing lots of cheaper, unscripted series in hopes of landing a quick hit -- and that's exactly what they do think -- their short-term thinking will lead, inevitably, to continued long-term erosion. The networks all are looking for the next American Idol. But while they're looking, they're tarnishing their own reputations with the likes of Kid Nation, Fat March, Celebrity Circus and Moment of Truth.
Viewers did show up to watch NBC when NBC presented the Olympics. But the real lesson is that NBC has been showing what it's like for a network to act like a network. If they want to be bullish about their collective future, they should embrace that notion by pursuing and presenting quality programming -- not running away from it.
Best New TV Show of the Fall Season? No One Can Say...
August 20, 2008 9:00 AM
Traditionally, this is the time of year when TV critics, reporters and editors huddle at newspapers and magazines to organize their annual fall preview packages. But for the 2008 fall season, one crucial element will be missing. This year, anyone labeling a series in advance as the "best new show of the season," at this point, is lying.
That's because, using the writers' strike as a partial excuse and barely disguised contempt as motivation, most broadcast networks, this year, have decided not to bother sending out previews of shows. Usually, critics receive the vast majority of them in June, just after the May upfronts for advertisers. Only CBS continued that tradition this year, sending out previews of all new shows but one.
But now we're nearing the end of August. The first of the new fall shows, NBC's America's Toughest Jobs, premieres Monday. It recently arrived in the mail, but most new shows have not.
A year ago, there were 29 new fall shows premiering. This year, inarguably because of the strike, the number is a much lower 21. Yet of those 21, as of this morning, I have only six. In addition to Toughest Jobs, critics have just been mailed Fox's Fringe (which was screened, but not sent out, in July), and the rest of the shows are from that business-as-usual CBS mailing: Worst Week, The Mentalist, Gary Unmarried and The Ex List.
If you've seen the NBC promos for Kath & Kim and My Own Worst Enemy, you've seen as much of those shows as I have. ABC's version of Life on Mars may as well be on Mars, because no one's seen it. And though the CW has a finished pilot for 90210, it's decided not to share it with critics (see yesterday's BIANCULLI'S BLOG).
Of the new shows I've seen, Fox's Fringe is the best -- but since I've been able to see and evaluate fewer than a third of the new fall crop, sweeping pronouncements don't seem possible, much less credible. Writers for magazines, which have longer lead times, get to see more stuff in advance, but even they're being denied a lot of advance looks this year.
The best new fall series of 2008? It's a phrase you shouldn't hear -- or, at least, shouldn't believe -- at this point in the networks' stingy preview rollout.
CW Withholds Press Screeners for "90210" -- Earth Continues to Rotate on Axis
August 19, 2008 9:12 AM
In the latest development to keep TV critics from seeing and evaluating advance screeners of this fall's new series, the CW network has announced that it won't be sending out preview copies of its new 90210 revival.
I suppose I could scream foul. Instead, I'm shouting "Thanks!"
Here's what a CW press release said yesterday about its new incarnation of the 1990s Fox cult hit:
"The CW and our studio partner CBS Paramount Network Television have made the strategic marketing decision not to screen '90210' for any media in advance of its premiere. We're not hiding anything... simply keeping a lid on '90210' until 9.02, riding the curiosity and anticipation into premiere night, and letting all our constituents see it at the same time."
Oh. Okay. As long as you're not hiding anything.
If the CW feels compelled to say in advance that it's not hiding anything, that should raise any suspicions that weren't raised already. It's like Richard Nixon offering the unprompted observation, "I am not a crook."
Historically, the only TV shows that haven't been previewed for critics are a) programs cobbled together at the very last minute, b) tacky reality series that the network expects will get trounced anyway, and c) other really bad shows, using the same defensive reasoning.
That doesn't mean bad shows don't arrive for preview anyway. See last season's Viva Laughlin on CBS. Or don't, since it lasted only two episodes.
And usually, by this time of year, critics have been supplied with a fairly full roster of fall pilots -- certainly enough to assess and handicap the fall slate, and anoint some newcomers as the best new shows of the season.
Not this year. Using the strike-crippled season as an excuse, most of the broadcast networks have obliterated the status quo and intentionally kept TV critics out of the preview-episode loop. CBS has provided pilots of its new shows, but is the only network to have done so.
Fox screened its most anticipated fall show, J.J. Abrams' Fringe, for critics in July, but has yet to provide preview copies. ABC has sent virtually nothing, and NBC's new shows, to this point, are familiar only because of the promos shown during the Olympics. Based on them, Kath & Kim looks like it might be funny... but who knows? At this point, not any TV critics.
And now there's CW, withholding its most buzzworthy new show in hopes of -- how did they put it? -- "riding the curiosity and anticipation into premiere night."
If that's the way the lowest-rated network wants to play, I say sure, let's play. TV critics should take CW at its word, and help the network sink to the level it deserves. And not just for 90210, which has the next-generation curiosity factor, but for the entire CW slate. Remember what curiosity did to the cat.
Review Privileged, the other new CW scripted series? No, thanks. I'll save that hour of my life, and let that show ride its own wave of curiosity and anticipation into premiere night. Same for the new reality series Stylista. Yeah, there's loads of anticipation there.
Of course, with a website called TV WORTH WATCHING, I can afford to be cavalier, and selective. But you know what? I was looking forward to checking out 90210. The show's executive producers were saying some of the right things, and they've made at least two very smart hires. (No, not the veterans coming back.) One is Tristan Wilds, who played Michael Lee on The Wire. The other is AnnaLynne McCord (shown here), who played Eden the cold-blooded vixen on Nip/Tuck. They can act. It's a start.
But I haven't seen the new 90210, and won't, until it airs -- so I can't assess whether those two actors are used well, or whether this revival is any good. But the CW executives have seen it. And their actions, I'm guessing, speak a lot louder than my words would have.
So keep 'em not coming, you visionary folks at the broadcast networks.
You'll show me! Even when you don't...
For Michael Phelps and NBC's Olympics Coverage, Eight is Enough
August 17, 2008 8:10 AM
Eight is enough.
Michael Phelps, his U.S. swimming teammates, fate and not a little luck -- they all combined to make all of the athlete's big-dream dreams come true. Eight races. Eight gold medals. Seven world records, and one Olympic record, in the bargain.
Not bad for week one.
The truth is, we've been witness to the full-blown coronation of a new sports hero for a new generation. Despite all he had accomplished four years ago, Phelps was no household name, no role model, no one who could boast Kobe Bryant and LeBron James among his personal cheering section. Now he can.
It's a truly great Olympic feat, and made for a truly great Olympics telecast. When Jason Lezak -- another impressive swimmer immortalized by the XXIX Summer Olympics -- ran his final lap to secure his team the gold and Phelps his table-running eight-for-eight, I was yelling at my television set. I haven't done that since watching another NBC offering, Baby Borrowers... but for completely different reasons.
And these Olympics are far from over. Usain Bolt, running the 100-m. and claiming the title of fastest man in the world, ran with such ease and glee that he began celebrating when there was still a third of the race to run. That's a talent, and a joy, that won't soon be forgotten.
So bring on week two.
Diane Werts, in FOR BETTER OR WERTS, can navigate you through the trickier time slots and online offerings, so keep checking with her as well. The name of this site is TV WORTH WATCHING -- and the Olympics, wherever you find them, certainly qualifies.
Michael Phelps' Midas Touch: Every Outstretched Hand Turns to Gold
August 16, 2008 9:02 AM
You had to see it to believe it, and even after seeing it -- from several angles and speeds -- believing it wasn't easy. But last night, by one-hundredth of a second, Michael Phelps somehow found a way to win gold, tie Mark Spitz's single-Olympics gold medal record, and set the stage for tonight's unprecedented opportunity. Be there. No excuses.
If the U.S team beats the Australians and the others in tonight's 4x100m medley relay, Phelps, with more than a little help from his friends, will accomplish what he set out to do when he came to Beijing. Win eight golds at a single Olympics. Going where no man, or woman, has gone before.
So if you don't plan to watch tonight, live, you're nuts. The result of tonight's race is by no means a given -- and drama and excitement are guaranteed, no matter what. The anchor leg is being swum (is that really the right word?) by Jason Lezak, who made tonight possible for Phelps by turning in an astonishing, victory-snatching anchor leg during the 4x100m freestyle relay. Aaron Peirsol leads off with the backstroke, then Brendan Hanson with the breaststroke, then Phelps with the butterfly, then Lezak as freestyle anchor.
NBC covered the event beautifully last night - and may have saved the best for last, as Bob Costas moderated a split-screen live conversation between Phelps, less than two hours after tying Spitz's record, and Spitz himself. Each world-class athlete spoke knowingly and admiringly of the other.
Like the rest of what Phelps has demonstrated in Beijing this week, it was hearteningly inspirational.
Your Mission, Mr. Phelps, Should You Decide To Accept It...
August 15, 2008 8:21 AM
Tonight is Michael Phelps' penultimate Olympics event, his last individual one, and the one in which he faces a competitor who, rather than he, holds the world record. The race is televised live in prime time tonight on NBC, and the audience ought to be huge.
And if Phelps wins tonight, tying the single-Olympics gold haul of swimmer Mark Spitz in 1972, the audience for Saturday night's final Phelps appearance -- as part of the U.S. team's 4x100m relay -- ought to he huger. Maybe even hugest.
It's amazing, what this young man has done in this first week of the XXIX Summer Olympics. He's been great, truly. And so have his teammates. He has a chance to match Spitz's total tonight only because his fellow swimmers beat the odds, and the favored French team, to win gold in an earlier relay.
Four years ago, Michael Phelps graciously gave up one of his Olympic relay spots to U.S. teammate Ian Crocker, who ended up earning a gold medal in that event. This year, Crocker has the world record in the 100m fly, and he and Phelps compete tonight. Should Crocker win, then he, not Phelps, has first dibs at completing the team in tomorrow's relay race -- but could, as Phelps did in 2004, surrender his spot, thus giving Phelps a chance to tie Spitz's record tomorrow if he fails tonight.
But if Phelps beats Crocker tonight, then the seventh is his, and so is the spot on the relay team to try for his eighth as part of the U.S. team. Either Phelps pulls off his most amazing finish yet, or Crocker makes some history of his own by beating the most honored athlete at this Olympics.
Either way, how can you not watch?
Thanks to the Olympics, NBC Looks Like a Network Again -- For Now
August 14, 2008 8:42 AM
So far, NBC's prime-time coverage of the XXIX Summer Olympics has averaged more than 31 million viewers. That's a huge number that's bound to get even bigger, because this weekend, if Michael Phelps makes it to the point of eclipsing swimmer Mark Spitz's single-Olympics gold-medal record, the number of viewers drawn to their TV sets should be astronomical.
Meanwhile, every day gives curious viewers lots of stuff to watch, delivers satisfying and unpredictable drama -- and, as an added side benefit, allows NBC to show its very best side. That's something we haven't seen in a while.
Yes, the Olympics coverage is raising all boats in the NBC-Universal family, with CNBC, MSNBC and other cable networks drawing more viewers than usual to its supplementary Olympics coverage. But for NBC, it's raising not only the ratings, but the image.
Last night, when Japanese gymnast Hiroyuki Tomita, a gold-medal favorite, snapped off the rings and fell end over end before smashing in a heap on the mats below, the live telecast was as dramatic as this sort of coverage can get. Minutes after pinwheeling to the ground in an unplanned, dangerous dismount, the athlete say there with an ice pack on his neck, stunned by what had just happened. At home, viewers were no less stunned.
That's part of what makes Michael Phelps' record-shattering performance so amazing. There are so many chances to make tiny, costly mistakes, and so many astounding competitors. In tonight's event, he may be beaten, and Spitz's record is safe. If not, Phelps will be on track to deliver to NBC its biggest Olympics audience levels since the on-ice duel of Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding.
On today's Today show, Mark Spitz made an appearance, supporting Phelps in spirit in a classy, casual TV appearance with Matt Lauer. NBC ended that segment by showing video of Spitz at the 1972 Olympics. Those games were broadcast by ABC, but you wouldn't know it from the video. No network IDs, no superimposed crawls, nothing but the image itself.
Ah, those were simpler times. And since the Olympics began last Friday, watching NBC in prime time has been a welcome step backwards. Prime time is full of nothing but Olympics -- no Baby Borrowers, no America's Got Talent, no reality-TV junk whatsoever. And the promos, for the most part, are for scripted fall shows, dramas and comedies, that look like network TV programs and schedules of old.
For now, NBC is delivering pure gold. When the Olympics end, however, a lot of the network's prime time is likely to metamorphose into tarnished brass.
Smothers Brothers Finally Coming Out on Video -- With My Liner Notes!
August 12, 2008 9:54 AM
Excuse me for being excited about this, but there's no hiding my enthusiasm or pride here. After decades as one of the last important TV series never released on home video, the influential 1967-69 Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour is finally being released.
The groundbreaking variety show's rollout on DVD begins with The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour: The Best of Season 3. It's a terrific set, loaded with an unbelievably rich amount of extras. I should know. I wrote the DVD liner notes.
Actually, I'm knee-deep in Smothers Brothers right now, writing a book on Tom and Dick and their controversial CBS series. It's scheduled to be delivered in November, and published next year, which is the 50th anniversary of the Smothers Brothers' first appearance as a comedy team. It's also the 40th anniversary of their show being yanked off the air by frustrated CBS executives.
The DVD set, beautifully produced by Paul Brownstein from episodes hand-picked by Tom and Dick themselves, is a fabulous reminder of just how good they were, and how bravely they fought to speak out against the Vietnam War and other hot-button issues.
Here are just two paragraphs from my introduction to the Best of Season 3 set, which will be released August 25:
"Tom and Dick Smothers begin season three by singing boldly about political unrest and network censors, and end it by having a show yanked in its entirety by CBS, with the brothers being summarily -- and, as a lawsuit later proved, wrongly -- fired. In between were shows in which Tom, Dick and their guests challenged political and corporate authority, spoke out on current events, ran Pat Paulsen for President as one of the best extended performance-art pieces in TV history, and opened prime time to new young voices, performers and writers, including then-unknown staffers Steve Martin, Rob Reiner, Mason Williams, Bob Einstein and others.
"The best of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, season three, is a sort of condensed Best of the Sixties. George Harrison shows up to offer moral support, and musical performers on the show include The Doors, Joan Baez, Donovan, Ike and Tina Turner, Ray Charles, and the cast from Hair. Controversial comedians included George Carlin, Jackie Mason and the man whose comic sermonette got the series pulled off the air, David Steinberg."
Why start with Season 3? That was Tommy's idea -- and, though it threw me when he first proposed it, I now think it's a briliant move. Not only does it present the most controversial material -- the stuff for which he and Dick were fired, after the show had been renewed for a fourth season -- but by starting a DVD release with Season 3, it makes it much more likely that Seasons 1 and 2 will follow suit.
Otherwise, if a TV show's first season doesn't sell well, future releases are shelved, as in the case of St. Elsewhere. By starting at the end, the Smothers Brothers are increasing the odds that all three seasons eventually will be available.
So starting with Season 3 is a great move for them. And for you. I say this not because I wrote the liner notes, but because I've seen every second of this set, and know just how fabulous it is. You can pre-order it by clicking on the image here:
...And I really, really hope you do. It's that good, and, in terms of TV history, that important.
And as you watch it, think of me toiling away, writing the book...
NBC's Olympics Coverage -- So Far, So Great
August 11, 2008 9:19 AM
Sunday night's NBC prime-time telecast of the XXIX Olympic Games -- part live, part replayed from hoarded video coverage -- was nothing short of fabulous. The U.S. athletes shone in some events, faltered in others and barely missed in still others, but NBC, in its first weekend of Olympics coverage, has been a winner all the way.
There's so much to rave about. Start with last night's stunner, the U.S. men's team amazing upset in the 4x100m freestyle relay. Michael Phelps led off the relay, but it was Jason Lezak, in the anchor leg, who pulled off the miracle win, and snatched the victory from the highly favored, vocally taunting French squad.
Part of the reason the race was so exciting was because NBC made it so easy to watch. Computer graphics identified each swimming lane by country at the race's start, with visual banners cannily designed so that Phelps and the other leadoff swimmers actually appeared to dive underneath them as they began the race. (See picture above.)
Then, once the unprecedented pace of the relay became apparent, NBC provided another helpful visual: a green line indicating the world record pace for the event. It made it truly thrilling, to see how many swimmers, at the same time, were on pace to break the established world record.
And when Lezak beat his French competitor to the wall by the merest of margins, NBC had cameras not only at poolside, but underwater and even overhead, to replay and deconstruct the surprise victory.
The high-definition coverage, I must say, blows me away. Also, I'm glad NBC has surrendered some of its prime time to letting us hear the national anthems, and witness the medal ceremonies, of winners from other countries. It embodies the ideals of the Olympic Games, and hasn't received the attention it's deserved in recent NBC telecasts.
And while Bob Costas' prime-time interview with President Bush wasn't exactly newsworthy, it wasn't because Costas didn't ask the right questions -- about Georgia and Russia as well as China. And at least it was uninterrupted, unedited and lengthy -- so lengthy that Bush joked about being kept there so long.
One other note: the rain in Beijing, in events televised earlier yesterday, came very close to raining on these athletes' parades. Bicycle races are a lot riskier on wet roads, and the men's beach volleyball games were played under near-monsoon conditions.
To be able to see it all, though, was fun. For where and how to see what, especially on the Internet, I happily refer you to the latest Olympics-related dispatch from TV WORTH WATCHING's Olympics ultra-viewer, Diane Werts. No matter when you read this, there's something to watch somewhere...
Olympics Opening Ceremony Was Transcendent TV -- Here's An Annotated Scrapbook
August 9, 2008 2:09 PM
The opening ceremony of the XIX Summer Olympics was a transcendent TV event. Every time you think the Chinese couldn't top themselves, they did.
"A picture is worth a thousand words," usually cited as an ancient Chinese proverb, actually isn't ancient or Chinese at all. But with the Olympics opening ceremony handled so stunningly by China, only an annotated photo album does the evening, or the NBC telecast, justice. So here goes...
The LED scroll was an early stunner -- rolling out like a sheet of papyrus, then presenting a giant canvas on which dancers used themselves as human paintbrushes. When the drawing was completed -- a long-revered harmonic image of mountains and water -- it flew, seemingly by magic, to be "hung" in midair.
Other early knockouts: The drummers whose drum heads were illuminated with white light, making their surfaces first random, then choreographed, in a countdown to the opening ceremonies. Amazing. Then using humans to bring to life giant, undulating printing blocks, rising and falling in patterns spelling out Chinese characters, such as the one above, which means "Harmony."
Overall, the meticulous use of synchronized choreography was amazing. If the scale didn't knock you out, the visual artistry did. There was nothing fancy about thousands of people doing tai chi at the same time, except for the precision with which they executed the actions and patterns of their choreographed routines. And when the dancers, in their illuminated suits, became a giant dove, that was only the beginning...
Then they climbed onto one another and became the Bird's Nest, approximating the very stadium in which they were performing. In long shot, as a young girl was flown overhead while flying a kite, it was remarkable. Close-up, it was jaw-dropping.
The parade of nations was glorious, and there were no boos, no protests, to detract from the rare and inspirational display of mutual respect. I was fascinated by the costumes, the faces, the smiles, the pride. Even by the surprises, such as the hideous outfits worn by the Hungarian women and the proudly modern beauty of the flag-carrier from the often oppressive-to-women United Arab Emirates.
Somewhere in there, President George W. Bush got so bored, waiting for the U.S.'s turn, that a TV camera's zoom lens caught a grainy photo of him looking distractedly at his watch. But finally, the United States got to parade -- and we, too, received a very warm welcome from the crowd inside the stadium.
Then, after basketball star Yao Ming carried his flag for China, the ceremony topped itself with the best that it was saving for last. A relay of torch bearers ended with one Chinese athlete standing at the center of the stadium, then suddenly (hoisted by wires unnoticed at the time) took flight, beginning a full circuit around the inner ring of the open upper stadium.
He was running on air around the Bird's Nest. And after his circuit, he lit what looked like a huge fuse, which raced towards and illuminated the Olympics torch. Mission accomplished.
And for China, wanting to put its best foot forward, mission very, very accomplished.
Olympics Opening Weekend: What and Where Are You Watching It?
August 8, 2008 8:26 AM
Normally on TV WORTH WATCHING, I'm describing and recommending things to watch, and where to find them. For the Olympic Games, since they're spread so far and wide over cable, broadcast and the Internet, I've decided to reverse the traffic flow.
All this weekend, you tell me. What are you watching, and where, and what do you think of it?
This isn't just to reduce my workload, though that wouldn't be a sad side benefit. It's to figure out, using you discerning TV WORTH WATCHING readers as an unscientific sample, who's watching what and where. And if you're avoiding the Olympics entirely, weigh in and tell us why.
Oh, and if you aren't clear on where to find what, remember to check out Diane Werts' handy-dandy FOR BETTER OR WERTS Olympics viewing guide. Ready, set... go watch.
Check Your TV Temperature: Do You Have Olympic Fever?
August 7, 2008 9:55 AM
I'm really glad Diane Werts wrote all about the Olympics coverage and where to find it, even on the Internet, so I didn't have to. Her comprehensive rundown, and instruction manual, was written for TV WORTH WATCHING, and can be found in today's FOR BETTER OR WERTS column.
Which leave me to ponder the bigger Olympics question regarding these gazillion hours of TV coverage, which is: Now that NBC has built it, will we come?
I'm not feeling any heat-flash waves of Olympics fever this time around. Not yet, anyway.
During the Winter Olympics, I'm pre-sold, because I have an indefensible fascination with the recently added Olympics sport of curling. But for the Summer Games, I rely on the mass media to get me worked up about specific athletes, sports and matchups. This time, the media haven't done their job well enough -- at least regarding the athletes themselves.
Oh I'm interested in the Beijing Olympics, all right. But before they begin, I'm most interested simply because they're in Beijing. The protests when the Olympic torch was being passed from runner to runner, that interests me. The uneasy opening and closing of certain web sites to visiting journalists at Olympic press sites, that interests me. The horrible air quality, the opening-night ceremony as an international showcase for China's new image, that interests me.
And oddly, I've found myself fascinated by the architecture of the sites erected for these 2008 Summer Olympics. The beehive-gone-amok design of the National Aquatics Center, known as the Water Cube. The dizzying National Stadium's "Bird Nest" design. I don't know how compelling the events held inside these venues will be over the next few weeks, but the exteriors show a dazzling amount of imagination and creativity.
But am I out of step, oohing and aahing the buildings and knowing more of their names than I do of the athletes within them. Do you have Olympic fever yet? And if you do, can you help infect me?
Bob Woodruff Serves Up Tasteful TV Special, On China
August 6, 2008 9:38 AM
With two days to go until China hosts the Summer Olympics, ABC devotes tonight's edition of Primetime (10 ET) to a thoughtful, valuable special, hosted by Bob Woodruff, called China: Inside Out.
Meanwhile, NBC, the network providing Olympic coverage in the U.S., devotes an hour of its prime-time schedule tonight to... a town meeting postscript to the season finale of Baby Borrowers.
The NBC special is called Baby Borrowers: Lessons Learned. In my opinion, the lesson learned from any episode of Baby Borrowers was the same one, and was easy to glean. Don't watch Baby Borrowers.
China: Inside Out, on the other hand, is a very worthwhile hour of TV, for two reasons.
One is the narrative Woodruff tells, and the way he tells it. Like Ted Koppel's recent Discovery Channel documentary miniseries on China, Woodruff's Inside Out interviews politicians, experts and everyday citizens to assess the country's vast reach and sizable advances. As one observer says: "If China decided to consume the way we do in the U.S., we'd need another planet."
Woodruff's interviews are pointed and well-informed, as when he asks Chinese officials to recognize their culpability in supporting the genocidal Khmer Rouge (they don't). Woodruff visits not only China, but Cambodia, Brazil and Angola, where he finds Chinese workers and interviews them -- using his own fluency in Chinese.
Woodruff begins his report from Tiananmen Square, where he began his career in journalism serving as a translator during the 1989 uprising. And that's the second part about China: Inside Out that's so captivating: Seeing it in context as part of Woodruff's overall personal story, which, between these Chinese bookends, includes his horrible head injury while covering the Iraq War.
ABC and Woodruff continue to serve each other well. Meanwhile, on NBC, they're borrowing babies and wasting TV time.
"P.O.V." Johnny Cash Documentary Is Nearly 40 Years Old, But Is Tonight's Freshest TV Offering Anyway
August 5, 2008 8:50 AM
Tonight's P.O.V. documentary on Johnny Cash is nothing new. In fact, it's something pretty old -- filmed in 1968 and 1969, the time in which he married June Carter, released his famous concert album recorded at Folsom Prison, and was honored as Entertainer of the Year by the Country Music Association.
But wow, is it fresh.
Johnny Cash: The Man, His World, His Music, televised at 10 p.m. ET (check local listings), captures the music legend, who died in 2003, at the height of his early fame, and at a pivotal time in his life. He'd just shaken his drugs and alcohol addiction, married the woman who would be the enduring love of his life, and started to enjoy crossover success as a mainstream artist.
Robert Elfstrom, director of this documentary, obviously had Cash's total trust. Cash lets Elfstrom accompany him everywhere, whether the singer is retracing his Arkansas roots or recording in the studio with Bob Dylan. Their duet on "One Too Many Mornings" is one of many musical gems included, in full, in this documentary.
It's fun to listen to -- but it's even more fun to watch, as Elfstrom cuts from Cash and Dylan recording the Dylan song to a scene of the two of them listening in the studio to the playback. The end of the song is so loosely drawn out and improvised, Cash throws back his head and laughs.
Viewers at home are likely to experience that kind of easy joy, time and time again, while watching this film. For me, the magic starts with the very first scene. Cash is hunting out in the woods, alone with Elfstrom and his camera, and takes aim in the trees. He shoots a crow, but only wounds it -- and picks it up, examines it, and instantly adopts it.
"Be still," he tells the crow in a soothing but stern voice, and laughs as the bird bites his hand with its beak. "It's not every day you catch a crow," Cash says. And it's not every day you see this natural a side of a celebrity, either. Or this contradictory: Cash the hunter, turning instantly into Cash the nurturer.
But the accurately named Johnny Cash: The Man, His World, His Music (showing a little of each) is full of such moments: Cash taking a trip with June and his sister, going back to the small town and home where they grew up (see picture at the top of this column). Cash in the studio, listening with supportive intensity to a young man nervously playing one of his own compositions for Cash.
There's Cash the performer - playing two harmonicas on a rousing "Orange Blossom Special," singing a charming duet with June Carter Cash on "Jackson," and performing at such intentionally out-of-the-way sites as prisons and Indian reservations. The film presents one treat after another, alternating quiet private moments with rousing public ones -- and respects the music enough to let most songs play in full.
In the end, this visual biography shows Cash at a time when he was almost beaming with happiness, pride and contentment. It's a great thing to see -- and a great documentary to see, too. And knowing how much music and love Cash still had to give, at that point, makes this vintage snapshot all the sweeter.
TV Worth Watching Suggests: A Roundabout Way for "Dr. Horrible" to Reach Broadway
August 3, 2008 10:06 PM
Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon's Internet musical miniseries, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, has been received so enthusiastically -- justifiably so -- there have been whispers about it finding new life, as a regular TV show or even as a stage musical.
I strongly support the latter. On Broadway, no less. And if that sounds absurdly implausible, I hereby suggest the most logical and serendipitous New York venue. Dr. Horrible would find a perfect Broadway home at the Roundabout Theatre Company. Joss Whedon, meet Todd Haimes. Quickly.
Todd Haimes is the long-time Artistic Director at Roundabout, the non-profit theater company to which I've subscribed for a dozen years. It was a revival of the Stephen Sondheim-George Furth musical Company that hooked me. Since then, I've delighted to dozens of productions, musical and otherwise, mounted by Haimes, including an imported revival of Cabaret and a brilliant version of Sondheim's Assassins.
The reason I mention those two productions in particular is that they both, at some point in their runs, featured Neil Patrick Harris, the talented titular star of Whedon's Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. (You can download the entire three-part musical at iTunes.)
Harris was one of a string of actors inheriting Alan Cumming's role as the Cabaret emcee. After that, both Haimes and Sondheim displayed a lot of faith in Harris, by casting him in the pivotal dual role of the Balladeer and Lee Harvey Oswald in 2004's Assassins.
It seems like the stars are perfectly aligned for Harris to bring his Dr. Horrible role to Roundabout. Harris is a friend of Sondheim's, Whedon is an unabashed admirer of Sondheim's, Harris admires Whedon's work, and Haimes champions both Sondheim and Harris. it's hard for me to believe that Whedon's playful yet smart and resonant musical -- with its Sondheim flavor and influences -- wouldn't resonate with Haimes, and with Roundabout subscribers.
Schedule a production during Harris' hiatus from his How I Met Your Mother sitcom in 2009 or 2010, and presto: Haimes can hand Harris his third starring role on Broadway. If Harris hasn't yet facilitated a conversation between Whedon and Haimes, he ought to. Quickly.
That way, as a season subscriber, I'd have the inside track on tickets.
Forget "American Idol" -- British Idol is "Doctor Who"
August 1, 2008 7:26 AM
The fourth season of the current incarnation of Doctor Who ends tonight at 8:30 p.m. ET on Sci Fi Channel -- but whatever audience it attracts will be the merest fraction of what it drew when shown recently in the United Kingdom.
It drew a 47 percent share of viewers watching TV at that hour, which are Super Bowl numbers here in the States. The last American Idol finale, by comparison, claimed an audience share in the low 30s. Doctor Who, in England, is likely to end the year as that nation's most-viewed entertainment program.
Over here, the question may be less "Doctor Who"? -- and more "Doctor Why"?
In the U.K., Doctor Who was launched in 1963, in the aftermath of the John F. Kennedy assassination. Its first big villains were slow-talking robots named The Daleks, and the Doctor was played by William Hartnell, who portrayed a Time Lord capable of traveling through time and space. He also had the gift of regeneration, with which he could, at the moment of death, metamorphose into someone who looked and sounded completely different.
Time Lords, according to that early mythology, could regenerate a dozen times. When Doctor Who was launched, that arbitrary figure may as well have been 100 -- though it came in handy in 1966, when Hartnell was replaced by Patrick Troughton, becoming the "second" Doctor Who.
But 45 years later, with the show still running, current series star David Tennant is, by most counts, the 10th Doctor, and tonight's finale leads the way for him, too, to exit the show, after a series of quarterly specials in 2009. After he's replaced, the last Time Lord should have one life left.
Though, already, he's given life to such spinoffs as Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures, and could well spawn another with lovely Georgia Moffett as the doctor's cloned daughter.
What's so much fun about this fourth-season finale is how it presents itself as a big deal to fans. Billie Piper, who played the Doctor's assistant Rose before moving on to Secret Diary of a Call Girl, is back. So is another former assistant, Freema Agyeman's Dr. Martha Jones. And John Barrowman's Captain Jack Harkness, now starring in Torchwood. And Elisabeth Sladen, now a grown-up former assistant to a former doctor, starring in The Sarah Jane Adventures.
What fun. And yet, series writer-producer Russell T. Davies, who has run and revitalized the show for four seasons now, has been brilliant this year at mixing the silly sci-fi fun with actual scares and dramatic scenes. His plots, and his characters, have depth.
And in a show with time at its center, he's very mindful and respectful of history: The big villains in the finale are the Daleks and their evil creator, Davros, updated versions of the Big Bads from the time of the LBJ administration.
When almost half a country's TV sets in use are tuned to the same thing, you know some chord is being struck. Watch Doctor Who tonight, and try to figure out why...
