Blog Archive 10 - CBS OwnsTelevision...

... And my faves aren't cool.

I know it's nothing new... CBS has been dominating TV for a few years now, and they do it with authority. Still, I can't help but think back to the days when Touched by an Angel was CBS' big thing, and when they hit the ground running with now long-running reality shows, Big Brother and Survivor, taking on the crest of a reality television wave that soon died out. Remember The Weakest Link and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?... Good times.

I so hated reality TV, though. To some extent, I still do. I like my entertainment scripted, thank you very much. And I don't buy the "reality" schtick one bit. Those gigs are so staged.

That said, reality television has its merits, and continue to play a large role in American pop culture today -- as much as it pains me to admit it.

But, seriously, CBS used to be considered a network for old folks, to put it bluntly. Never did they have the wide breadth of programming that they do now. It was back when NBC consistently ruled the week on a regular basis, and fostered their "Must See TV Thursday" line-up with a two-hour block of strong sitcoms, ranging from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air to Seinfeld to Mad About You to Friends to Frasier to Will & Grace. All of that was followed by the popular medical drama, ER (which is now in its 14th season).

Mad About You debuted in 1992, and helped launch film careers of both stars Helen Hunt and Paul Reiser. As a result, Hunt is the second actress to have won a Golden Globe, an Emmy and an Oscar all within the same calendar year; the first to do so was Liza Minnelli. Photo © In Front Productions and Nuance Productions

Over the course of roughly 15 years, starting in 1990 with Will Smith's breakout series, NBC had a revolving door of choices that always gathered strong audiences. This, of course, does not even take into account the success of 80's sitcoms like Cheers and The Cosby Show. As for the 1990's, not one of the aforementioned sitcoms lasted less than six seasons, and one can't turn on the television at any time of the day without finding one of these series airing in syndication.

Unfortunately, that control began to fade as these sitcoms began to die off, one by one. The Fresh Prince ended in 1996, Seinfeld in 1998, and Mad About You ended in 1999 -- but not before stars Helen Hunt and Paul Reiser were making a cool million dollars per episode in the last season (this precedent undoubtedly helped the six Friends stars achieve the same pay a few years later). NBC finally let go of the six-character show with seven-figure actors in 2004, along with Cheers spin-off, Frasier. And they only just called it quits on Will & Grace in 2006.

Friends stars (from L-R) David Schwimmer, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Courtney Cox Arquette, Matthew Perry and Jennifer Aniston were, at one point, the highest paid actors in television. Known for their real-life bond, these actors helped keep NBC in the spotlight for a decade. Photo © Warner Bros. Television

It was a bitter release that seriously hurt NBC in the long-run. It's not to say that their other nights weren't successful, because they were. However, "Must See TV Thursday" was a staple of the network. Whether it's by coincidence or not, once the sitcoms faded away, so did NBC's control. By the time 2004 rolled around, CBS already had several Jerry Bruckheimer dramas in tow, including the three-pronged CSI franchise, Cold Case, Without a Trace and Close to Home. It would seem the Old Fogey network snuck up on us all and wholeheartedly earned control of our entertainment.

So far, CBS hasn't been sharing much by way of viewers, unless it's begrudgingly with ABC, another network that underwent somewhat of a revamping a few years ago. Both CSI and Grey's Anatomy fight for dominance on a regular basis -- that is, when American Idol isn't on, the World Series isn't in full swing, or Dancing with the Stars isn't airing. Otherwise, they take turns for the Number 1 spot of the week. Ironically, both series air during the same timeslot on Thursday nights -- a night with which NBC seems to struggle rather consistently nowadays.

Popular online website zap2it.com has the Nielsen's list of Top 20 series for the week of November 11th through November 18th. Of the series listed, CBS has 11, ABC has 6, NBC has 2 (with their highest ranking being at 11 with Sunday Night Football), and FOX has 1. Seriously, it's no longer much of a contest anymore, and the tables have certainly turned.

Talk of Grey's Anatomy leads me to the conclusion that my shows just aren't "cool" yet, even halfway through the season, while dramas like the one starring Ellen Pompeo continues to dominate. I've never gotten into it, but I absolutely love Shonda Rhimes' other medical drama, Private Practice. I really can't believe it's only recently broken into the Top 20 spot, though I have my theories as to why that is.

For one thing, they don't have sex all the time. Grey's was built upon the sex lives of the young interns.

For another, three-fourths of the Private Practice cast are over the age of 35. The leads, a cast of geniuses really, don't really cater to the preferred demographic I guess, which would explain why there wasn't as much crossover between both Rhimes series as perhaps everyone expected.

Private Practice stars television veterans (from L-R) Taye Diggs, Audra McDonald, Tim Daly, Kate Walsh, Amy Brenneman and Paul Adelstein, along with relative newcomer, Chris Lowell. Photo © ShondaLand

It's a shame, too. Kate Walsh, Audra McDonald, Amy Brenneman, Taye Diggs, Paul Adelstein and Tim Daly are all immensely talented. I don't really care that they all seem to have a "been there, done that" air about them. It's because they're not playing sex-crazed, twenty-somethings that I enjoy them so much. No offense to Grey's, because it's a great show in its own right, but Private Practice is much more mature without the "mature" content. It's been nearly eight episodes, and I'm pretty sure there's only been one sex scene -- if that. It's rare for a show to go that long without nookie, and I applaud them.

Sadly, the same applies to my other favorite series, 30 Rock, Ugly Betty and Women's Murder Club. None of them are in the top spots, they don't have sexy, steamy characters in dramatic relationships, and that's apparently what sells. That and crime dramas, like Criminal Minds and NCIS. Oh well. Thankfully they're still performing strong enough to stick around.

Now, for spoiler junkies like myself, TV Guide's Michael Ausiello has revealed some great scoop about some of the top-rated series on television (along with some other juicy secrets) here. You've gotta love this guy, if not for his fans.

Blog Archive 2 - Generous Emmy's

Last night on Fox the 59th Annual Primetime Emmys aired with glitz, glamour and some random expletives. As it was hosted by Ryan Seacrest, I can only assume Fox and the Academy were hoping to get a younger crowd in on the Emmy fun last night.

I'm not so sure it worked, but the awards weren't nearly as bad as they have been in the past. The music - while obvious - was a very nice way to remind the winners that there was a schedule (and ad dollars to keep). Some went a bit overboard but, for the most part, everyone stayed within the limit.

Just as the Oscar's apparently adopted the practice a couple of years ago, Emmy Awards were given to nearly every series that was represented last night. Neither The Sopranos nor Ugly Betty swept the awards like perhaps some people thought, which in a way is nice. The love was certainly spread pretty evenly. I don't know about anyone else, but I felt like the miniseries or movie categories really dominated the evening.

There were some funny moments, like Rainn Wilson and Kanye West battling it out over one of Kanye's songs with the host of Don't Forget The Lyrics, Wayne Brady. Some not-so-funny moments, like Seacrest suggesting that his American Idol co-star smokes weed. And then there were just some downright embarassing moments, like when Sally Field went a bit bonkers at the end of her speech, and ended up babbling for 30 seconds before letting loose what I can only imagine was a string of swears that Fox's speedy-fingered directors edited out.

Of the winners, here are my faves:

Jeremy Piven, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series - I love this guy, plain and simple; he's a comedic genius.

Katherine Heigl, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series - Though I don't watch Grey's Anatomy very much, I do know that Heigl, Sandra Oh and Chandra Wilson are all very talented, so it was a toss-up. I don't blame her for mouthing, "sh*t!" when her name was announced over theirs.

Late Night With Conan O'Brien, Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Musical or Comedy Program - Sir Conan was up against other legendary funny men, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and David Letterman, but he's my fave... it may be the crazy hair.

Helen Mirren, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie - The way-too-talented British actress was gracious enough to call Americans "generous," while somewhat alluding to both our positive and negative attributes, but she was forgiven. So she now has two huge awards in one year - an Oscar and an Emmy (that she can add to her other two, apparently). Bloody brilliant.

America Ferrera, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series - She's officially Hollywood's Golden Girl now, and she really deserves the attention. She's handled herself well alongside other veteran actors.

The Sopranos, Outstanding Drama Series - Yeah, I stopped caring four seasons ago, but I do appreciate the series for its creative value. I wouldn't go so far as to say it's the best series ever as some would say, but I do think it deserved this final award as a proper send-off. Especially since James Gandolfini was snubbed for James Spader of the aging Boston Legal. I really hopethis is their last season.

30 Rock, Outstanding Comedy Series - I didn't think they were gonna get anything this year, even with all of the nominations, but Tina Fey's brain child deserved the kudos. Known as an "on the bubble series" (according to TV Guide) 30 Rock really needs to up its game this season. Hopefully this will give them the boost they needed.

Tonight is the season premiere of Prison Break and the series premiere of K-Ville. I'm curious to see how a series about New Orleans will fare in a country that forgot about Hurricane Katrina after only a few months. If nothing else, it should make for some good drama. We'll see.