Screen Rant » house

No More Free Hulu?

Kofi Outlaw — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:08:53 +0000

Oh Internet, say it ain’t so!

Hulu – my utopia of free TV online – may soon become another run-of-the-buck paid subscription site (see header image)! (Sigh) It was only a matter of time, really…

Broadcasting & Cable brings us this chilling news, which supposedly originated from the mouth of News Corp. Deputy Chairman Chase Carey, who said during the Onscreen Media Summit that:

“It’s time to start getting paid for broadcast content online…I think a free model is a very difficult way to capture the value of our content. I think what we need to do is deliver that content to consumers in a way where they will appreciate the value. Hulu concurs with that, it needs to evolve to have a meaningful subscription model as part of its business.”

Aw heck, we all knew this day was coming when we’d hear those words spoken about our beloved Hulu – doesn’t it always happen that way with our favorite sites?

However… In my vast Internet experience our favorite sites stop being “our favorite sites” pretty soon after they start asking for membership fees. I know that more than a few of you out there have woken up one day to find your favorite online pop-in spot suddenly requiring you provide them a credit card number, sending you back to the search engine nexus typing in the words “free, streaming…”

…Aaaand I suspect that tradition won’t be changing for the small pool of TV shows and movies that Hulu currently offers. Despite all those clever commercials with celebrities posing as aliens using Hulu to mush our brains, there’s still enough solid cerbral material left in this guy’s skull to determine that Hulu would need to expand its range of content much, much, wider for me to consider buying into the service. I’m talking:

More popular cable series (even some premium channel shows for “platinum” members who pay extra).
Every network primetime show of the current season.
More GOOD movies (Better picks of old films; same-day and direct-to-video releases (at discounted cost); premium channel releases for platinum members).
Same-day airings of primetime TV shows (with ads, if necessary).
Bigger TV show archives (for when I go on an Arrested Development or It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia binge).
Exclusive “first looks” for movie trailers and making of featurettes.
Music videos and Popular news clips added to the lineup.
Make all content accessible to any digital mobile device or game system (ipods, smart phones, Xbox Live).
Embed and sharing capabilities on all shows/movies (at least clips).
Everything in HD.

Now THAT – combined with Hulu’s great interface – would be a service I would pay for.

While I agree with Carey in the sense that it’s time for companies to have a fair shot at pursuing profits in the online market, I do think said companies are still floating archaic ideas about how to convert their “digital dimes” into digi-dollars.

The Internet has always been based on one fundamental principle: Accomplish a lot with little effort. So, if I can have access to a bunch of movies and shows I watch; get sneak peeks on the hottest music videos or movie trailers; keep up with reports on the latest news clips everyone is talking about; spend my rainy weekends marathoning through old favorites; see everything in crisp HD and share it all with my friends… Why not fork out a reasonable fee to accomplish all that?

Try selling me Hulu as it stands now, and I’m going to tell you the names of all the TV network sites where you can watch the same shows for free (hint: just throw a “.com” behind the name of your favorite network) – or maybe the names of sites that will stream old movie favorites, legally, for free. Basically, I’m going to tell you that I really don’t need Hulu all that much after all…

What about you – is Hulu something you’d pay to keep? Or does the notion of shelling out for it make you say “Thanks but no thanks!”

Source: Broadcasting & Cable

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House M.D. Loses Jennifer Morrison

Bruce Simmons — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 01:31:45 +0000

News on the street says that Jennifer Morrison, who plays Cameron on Fox’s House M.D., has filmed her last scene for the show earlier this week. That scene will air in November.

Details are sketchy but it’s said that she didn’t quit but that her exit was a creative decision made by the producers. Dang, that gets me wondering about Cameron and Chase…

Details or odd clues from this scenario are:

She was not at the show’s premiere screening in Hollywood
Cameron will not be killed off
Chase is not leaving the show
The door is open for guest appearances

It’s all odd, considering she didn’t quit. I’m curious if she ticked someone off somewhere in the food chain above her?

I’m not sure I’ll miss her, but you best enjoy Cameron’s presence while you can, House fans.

Source: Entertainment Weekly

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TV News & Notes: 2009 Fall Schedule, The Office & More

Kofi Outlaw — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:17:15 +0000

Just a brief update on this Monday: Plan your prime time with the 2009 TV Fall Schedule; Smallville is getting another new guest star; A certain “Foxy” lady might be kicking off SNL this year; Learn how to catch up on all the NBC shows you missed last year (for free!); and speaking of NBC, how about a first-look photo of Jim and Pam getting married on The Office?

And as a bonus (because I love you) I let you know about the government’s “Cash for TV Clunkers” program.

Let’s get to it!

The Office

So we recently let you Office fans know when you can expect Jim and Pam to walk down the aisle – four episodes into the news season. And now we have the first official wedding photo!

The scene was shot at a church in Van Nuys, California on this past weekend and from the photos below you can see that Pam (Jenna Fischer) will be a lovely bride and Jim (John Krasinski) will be every girl’s hometown-sweetheart Prince Charming.

Pam as a beautiful bride.

Krasinski and Fischer shooting the wedding scene.

The Office Season 6 kicks off September 17 at 9/8c on NBC.

Source: TV Guide

Smallville

Actress Steph Song let it be known on her Twitter account yesterday that she will be playing the role of Roulette on the sixth episode of Smallville’s upcoming 9th season. In the DC Universe Roulette is a kick-ass madame of underground fighting tournaments, often using super heroes and/or villains as combatants.

Not sure how the character will be portrayed on Smallville, but I’ll sure tune in to find out!

The show returns on September 25th (that’s Friday now) @ 8/7c on the CW.

Source: Twitter

Saturday Night Live

Life & Style is exclusively reporting that “actress” Megan Fox will be the host kicking SNL’s 35th season on September 26th. Fox would naturally do the gig in order to further promote her upcoming high school comedy/horror flick Jennifer’s Body, and has reportedly been prepping to bring the yuck-yuck by doing a digital short with Andy Samberg.

I’m I the only one who thinks SNL could potentially be off to a bad start this decade year?

Source: Life & Style

NBC TV Rewind

Were there any NBC shows you missed and have been waiting to catch up on? If so, forget about renting the DVDs and just head on over to NBC.com – you can catch up on episodes from many of NBC’s TV lineup for free on the website.

Shows being offered include:

30 Rock
America’s Got Talent
Chuck
Days of Our Lives
Friday Night Lights
Great American Road Trip
Heroes
Kings
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
The Listener
Merlin
The Office
Parks and Recreation
The Philanthropist
Southland
The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien
The Wanted

(I know I’ve been waiting to catch up on Days of Our Lives )

Source: NBC

2009 Fall TV Lineup

As Summer winds down many of us will be reluctantly returning to the indoors with only the anticipation of our favorite shows return (plus a few good looking new entries) to brighten up our end-of-summer blues.

But where and when do we find our long-lost TV friends and family in the new TV season? Luckily, we have a list of the shows you want to see, as well as where and when you can catch them.

[Note: Shows are listed alphabetically]

Show (Net), Date time
20/20 (ABC), Sept. 11 at 10 p.m.
30 Rock (NBC), Oct. 15 at 9:30 p.m.
48 Hours Mystery (CBS), Sept. 26 at 10 p.m.
60 Minutes (CBS), Sept. 27 at 7 p.m.
90210 (The CW), Sept. 8 at 8 p.m.
Accidentally On Purpose (CBS), Sept. 21 at 8:30 p.m.
Amazing Race, The (CBS), Sept. 27 at 8 p.m.
America’s Funniest Home Videos (ABC), Oct. 4 at 7 p.m.
America’s Most Wanted (Fox), Sept. 12 at 9 p.m.
America’s Next Top Model (The CW), Sept. 9 at 8 p.m.
American Dad (Fox), Sept. 27 at 9:30 p.m.
Beautiful Life, The (The CW), Sept. 16 at 9 p.m.
Big Bang Theory, The (CBS), Sept. 21 at 9:30 p.m.
Biggest Loser, The (NBC), Sept. 15 at 8 p.m.
Bones (Fox), Sept. 17 at 8 p.m.
Brothers (Fox), Sept. 25 at 8 p.m.
Brothers and Sisters (ABC), Sept. 27 at 10 p.m.
Californication (Showtime), Sept. 27 at 10 p.m.
Castle (ABC), Sept. 21 at 10 p.m.
Cleveland Show, The (Fox), Sept. 27at 8:30 p.m.
Cold Case (CBS), Sept. 27 at 10 p.m.
Community [moves to at 8 p.m. on Oct. 8] (NBC), Sept. 17 at 9:30 p.m.
COPS (Fox), Sept. 12 at 8 p.m.
Cougar Town (ABC), Sept. 23 at 9:30 p.m.
Crash Course (ABC), Aug. 26 at 9 p.m.
Crimetime Saturday (CBS), Sept. 26 at 8 p.m.
Criminal Minds (CBS), Sept. 23 at 9 p.m.
CSI (CBS), Sept. 24 at 9 p.m.
CSI: Miami (CBS), Sept. 21 at 10 p.m.
CSI: NY (CBS), Sept. 23 at 10 p.m.
Dancing with the Stars (ABC), Sept. 21 at 8 p.m.
Dateline NBC (NBC), Sept. 26 at 8 p.m.
Defying Gravity (ABC), Already Started! at 10 p.m.
Desperate Housewives (ABC), Sept. 27 at 9 p.m.
Destination Truth (SyFy), Sept. 9 at 9 p.m.
Dexter (Showtime), Sept. 27 at 9 p.m.
Dollhouse (Fox), Sept. 25 at 9 p.m.
Eastwick (ABC), Sept. 23 at 10 p.m.
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (ABC), Sept. 27 at 7 p.m.
Family Guy (Fox), Sept. 27at 9 p.m.
FlashForward (ABC), Sept. 24 at 8 p.m.
Football Night in America (NBC), Sept. 13 at 7 p.m.
Forgotten, The (ABC), Sept. 22 at 10 p.m.
Fringe (Fox), Sept. 17 at 9 p.m.
Gary Unmarried (CBS), Sept. 23 at 8:30 p.m.
Ghost Whisperer (CBS), Sept. 25 at 8 p.m.
Glee (Fox), Sept. 9 at 9 p.m.
Good Wife, The (CBS), Sept. 22 at 10 p.m.
Gossip Girl (The CW), Sept. 14 at 8 p.m.
Grey’s Anatomy (ABC), Sept. 24 at 9 p.m.
Greek (ABC Family), Aug. 31 at 9 p.m.
Hell’s Kitchen (Fox), Sept. 29 at 8 p.m.
Heroes (NBC), Sept. 21 at 8 p.m.
House [2-hr] (Fox), Sept. 21 at 8 p.m.
How I Met Your Mother (CBS), Sept. 21 at 8 p.m.
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX), Sept. 17 at 10 p.m.
Jay Leno Show, The (NBC), Sept. 14 at 10 p.m.
Law and Order (NBC), Sept. 25 at 8 p.m.
Law and Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC), Sept. 23 at 9 p.m.
Lie To Me (Fox), Sept. 28 at 8 p.m.
Mad Men (AMC), (In progress) at 10 p.m.
Man Vs Wild (Discovery), (In progress) at 9 p.m.
Medium (CBS), Sept. 25 at 9 p.m.
Melrose Place (The CW), Sept. 8 at 9 p.m.
Mentalist, The (CBS), Sept. 24 at 10 p.m.
Mercy (NBC), Sept. 23 at 8 p.m.
Middle, The (ABC), Sept. 30 at 8:30 p.m.
Modern Family (ABC), Sept. 23 at 9 p.m.
Monk (USA), Already started! at 9 p.m.
NBC Sunday Night Football (NBC), Sept. 13 8:15 p.m.
NCIS (CBS), Sept. 22 at 8 p.m.
NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS), Sept. 22 at 9 p.m.
New Adventures of Old Christine, The (CBS), Sept. 23 at 8 p.m.
Numbers (Numb3rs) (CBS), Sept. 25 at 10 p.m.
Office, The (NBC), Sept. 17 at 9 p.m.
One Tree Hill (The CW), Sept. 14 at 9 p.m.
Parks and Recreation (NBC), Sept. 17 at 8:30 p.m.
Private Practice (ABC), Oct. 1 at 10 p.m.
Project Runway (Lifetime), Aug. at 10 p.m.
Psych (USA), Aug. 7 at 10 p.m.
Sanctuary (SyFy), Oct. 9 at 10 p.m.
Saturday Night Football (ABC), Sept. 5 at 8 p.m.
Saturday Night Live (NBC), Sept. 26 11:30 p.m.
Saturday Night Live Weekend Update (NBC), Sept. 17 at 8 p.m.
Scare Tactics (SyFy), Oct. 6 at 9 p.m.
Shark Tank (ABC), Sept. 29 at 8 p.m.
Simpsons, The (Fox), Sept. 27 at 8 p.m.
Smallville (The CW), Sept. 25 at 8 p.m.
So You Think You Can Dance (Fox), Sept. 9 at 8 p.m.
Sons of Anarchy (FX), Sept. 8 at 10 p.m.
Southland (NBC), Sept. 25 at 9 p.m.
Stargate Universe (SyFy), Oct. 2 at 9 p.m.
Supernanny (ABC), Oct. 16 at 8 p.m.
Supernatural (The CW), Sept. 10 at 9 p.m.
Survivor: Samoa (CBS), Sept. 17 at 8 p.m.
Three Rivers (CBS), Oct. 4 at 9 p.m.
Til Death (Fox), Oct. 2 at 8:30 p.m.
Trauma (NBC), Sept. 28 at 9 p.m.
Two and a Half Men (CBS), Sept. 21 at 9 p.m.
Ugly Betty (ABC), Oct. 9 at 8 p.m.
V (ABC), Nov. 3 at 8 p.m.
Vampire Diaries (The CW), Sept. 10 at 8 p.m.

Source: Cinemastatic

BONUS ITEM: Cash For TV Clunkers

Need a chuckle to get you through this current political/economic turmoil? Head over to TV Tango and have a look at their “Cash For TV Clunkers” program – a listing of the top 10 famous TV cars that could stand to be sent to the scrapyard.

Hilarious!

Source: TV Tango

That’s it for now. Talk to you again during the commercials.

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Weekly TV Wrap Up – August 13th, 2009

Bruce Simmons — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:31:26 +0000

In today’s Weekly TV Wrap Up, we’re going to talk about Fringe realities, Supernatural & Smallville news & True Blood setting records.

We’re then going to touch on some news from Fox’s House, and wrap things up with an NCIS tidbit and some more summer time ratings.

Let’s get to it, shall we?

Fringe

Despite the possibility of there being multiple realities, the showrunners for Fringe are only going to torment the viewers with one alternate reality at a time. Thank god. I have enough trouble with my own reality as it is!

As they put it, there’s “over here” and the alternate reality referred to as “over there,” where William Bell (Leonard Nimoy) lives.

The upcoming season will take place mostly “over here,” but what occurs “over there” will have a great impact on what happens “over here.” (Did you follow that?)

Leonard Nimoy has already filmed one episode for season 2 and will be making numerous appearances throughout the season.

Fringe returns Sept. 17 at 9 p.m. on Fox.

Source: TV Guide

Supernatural

I call this when worlds collide! I know you’ve all been waiting for this one moment in time, but Paris Hilton is going to guest star on Supernatural. Crickets…

She’ll be playing a demon that takes the form of, all things, Paris Hilton. I so can’t wait for the Winchester brothers to stake her!

Eric Kripke calls it a “… a fun, irreverent episode.” I call it frightening.

The episode, titled “American Idol,” will air on October 8, 2009.

Source: The CW

Smallville

According showrunner Brian Peterson, they’re backing down from claims made earlier in the off-season that the upcoming 9th season of Smallville will be darker.

After they dropped that bombshell, fans started to get grumpy saying “Superman fans don’t do dark.” and “Nobody watches a TV show to become depressed.” LOL… I’m guessing they weren’t Battlestar Galactica fans.

Peterson went on to sooth the fanbase by adding that season 9 will not be all gloom and doom and backpedaled saying that Clark will just have some hard decisions to make.

WARNING: He did warn us that sparks may very well fly between Clark and Lois… and they’ll be fighting zombies and … well crap, I may have said too much already. Zombies? Am I reporting on Supernatural or Smallville?

Source: EW

True Blood

2 weeks ago, True Blood on HBO hit a record number of estimated viewers, at 4.3 million. But then last weekend they dusted the record books again and the show brought in an estimated 4.4 million pairs of eyeballs, breaking their own personal best.

It is an awesome, well-written show and I am not surprised that they’re pulling in the viewers.

Source: EW

House

For you Cameron and Chase fans from House, good news: They’re going to be back in their old jobs and off the sidelines. Of course, nothing comes easy and with them working side-by-side, that may put some strain on their brand new marriage!

We’ll also be seeing Foreman filling in as the top doc while Dr. Gregory House is on “leave,” which promises to be a rocky transition for Foreman.

As far as Cuddy and House go, don’t be sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for anything to develop anytime soon between them. Despite the tease of the imaginary hook-up, the showrunners are taking a step back and letting this premise simmer for a while.

Of course it all makes sense, right? They want us to go stir crazy, but really, speaking of crazy, House does have to sort out a few things as he tries to re-balance his sanity. He’s apparently not going to have an easy time of it.

Sources: EW: Link 1, Link 2

NCIS

According to sources, be sure you do not miss the very first minute of NCIS when it starts up its new season. According to exec producer Shane Brennan, you’re going to be asking yourself if you’re seeing things or not!

The new season of NCIS premieres on September 22nd.

Source: EW

If you missed my prequel TV News article to this one, I chatted about Dollhouse, 24, Lie To Me, Damages, Lawman, King of the Hill and the The Office

Ratings

Well, without really digging up a lot of info, amongst all the reality shows, repeats of NCIS (3rd with 9.9 million viewers), CSI:NY (9th w/ 8 mil viewers), CSI Miami (11th), The Mentalist (13th) & CSI (15th) eeked out their spots in the top 20.

On cable, Burn Notice, The Closer, Royal Pains and Monk chipped out 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 6th respectively amongst the top 10 cable shows.

Source: TV By The Numbers

Thanks for coming by. Questions and comments are always welcome, here on Screen Rant.

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Solved: Fox Mystery Viral Commercial

Bruce Simmons — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 11:45:33 +0000

Fox is catching on and trying to tease folks with some form of mystery advertising.

While my wife was watching the So You Think You Can Dance finale, I just happened to notice a 5 or 10 second ad. Note: My wife was watching… I was in the background writing articles. I mean, I only watch the show for the ads, right?

Anyway, the ad flashed the above image on the screen and below the image was a website address.

As you’ve probably noticed, the above image is a live countdown and I have done the math and the investigation for you. The mystery seems pretty apparent to myself. When I do the math, it adds up to September 21st, 2009.

If you check my very own post on Fox’s 2009 fall premiere dates, you’ll see that the only show that Fox has premiering on September 21st is the 2-hour premiere of House with Hugh Laurie.

And as we all know, he’s committed himself to the funny farm to deal with some imaginary conversations and other issues.

It’s a nice little twist on another movie name, but that’s not a Fox property.

So, for now, I dare say, mystery solved before we go crazy. Time will tell!

Site: Snakes On A Cane

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Weekly TV Wrap Up – July 2nd 2009

Bruce Simmons — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:39:19 +0000

Today we’re going to talk a little bit about House’s next season, plus casting news about Gossip Girl and Ugly Betty.

We’ve got contract news on Law and Order:SVU, insight into Wentworth Miller’s (Prison Break) next role, and some bits about Sons of Anarchy and Nip/Tuck.

We’ve also got some late-breaking bits we’ve added this afternoon with regards to the creator of My Name Is Earl, and the final season of Lost.

We have the usual weekly recap of ratings from the previous week, but it’s not the usual list. The source is having issues distributing the information, so I’ve done the best I can this week.

And of course we wrap up with the ratings from last week.

A Thought About House’s Upcoming Season

With the new season of House coming up, we all know that House has committed himself.

But have you thought about how things will be once he’s out and back at work?

Neither did I, but according to executive producer Katie Jacobs, we should be prepared for the hospital to be working differently.

“A doctor can’t check into a mental institution and just walk back into his job like nothing happened. We will not start forsaking reality. This [story] will have consequences.”

Source: EW

Lost Gets One More Hour

The mythos of ABC’s Lost is so big that the last season of the show couldn’t contain the entire story. At least that’s one take on why ABC has added an extra hour to the next season.

Now, instead of 17 hours, you’ll have 18 hours of getting Lost.

No facts are concrete, but rumors say they’ve added an additional storyline to the season.

Not to be a horrid tease, but with all the supposition about Charlie, I have to wonder if that’s the extra storyline?

Source: THRFeed

Gossip Girl Casting News

Hillary Duff will be joining the cast of Gossip Girl for a guest appearance in a multi-episode story arc.

She’ll be playing a movie star (shocking) named Olivia Burke who ends up rooming with Vanessa (Jessica Szohr).

Duff’s first episode will air on October 5th.

Source: EW

Ugly Betty Cast Update

If anyone is wondering about Daniel Eric Gold’s status on Ugly Betty, wonder no more.

Gold is returning to the show and he’s becoming a full-time series regular.

Source: EW

Greg Garcia Heads To Fox

It was a sad day earlier this week as production staff cleared out the facility that was being used as the set location for My Name Is Earl. With the show gone, folks are looking for work and the creator / executive producer of Earl, Greg Garcia, was one of them.

News is that he’s landed a gig over on Fox developing a new pilot for the network.

This new pilot is about “a 25-year-old who winds up having to raise an infant with the help of his quirky family. The kid was the result of a one-night stand with a woman who ended up on death row for murder.”

If you feel like it sounds familiar, even Garcia admits that this comes from the kind of world that Earl inhabited. At least he’s honest.

Source: Variety

Law And Order:SVU Contract Renewals

Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni have successfully extended their contracts for 2 more years.

Unconfirmed sources say that the pair will be making roughly $325k per episode, or $6.5 million a year, each. I’m wondering if they’d pay me to be in just one episode. I’m not greedy!

Source: E Online

Where Will Wentworth Miller Show Up Next?

After playing a felon on the run in Prison Break, Wentworth Miller will next appear in a guest role on Law and Order: SVU’s season premiere episode, and this time he’ll be on the other side of the badge.

He’ll be playing a member of the NYPD Blue named Nate Kendal who ends up saving a rape victim.

Wentworth fans, set your DVR’s. The episode will air September 23rd.

Source: TV Guide

FX Programming Reminders

Sons of Anarchy returns to the cable network with fresh episodes beginning on September 8th and Nip/Tuck returns in October.

Ratings

Either my source or Nielsen are having issues with the data, so I’ve only got the top 20 ranked shows from last week to share with you.

As you can see, America’s Got Talent dominated while a repeat of NCIS takes the title of highest-rated scripted drama. Considering all the fanfare going on, I’m a bit surprised that the Michael Jackson special on CBS was only at 13th on the list. A pleasant surprise is that The Philanthropist landed in the top 20, settling in at 16th. I’m glad it ranked where it did and considering the quality of its story, I hope it improves. You can check out my quick review of The Philanthropist to see what myself and others thought of the show.

Rank, Show Title, (Repeat, Premiere, Special), Network, Viewers in the Millions

1. America’s Got Talent-Tue (P) NBC – 11.5 < NBC’s best performer
2. NCIS (R) CBS – 11.1 < CBS’s Best performer
3. America’s Got Talent – Wed (P) NBC – 10.4
4. The Mentalist – Tue (R) CBS – 9.1
5. 60 Minutes (R) CBS – 8.8
6. CSI (R) CBS – 8.7
7. Two And A Half Men (R) CBS – 8.7
8. 20/20 Special Edition on 6/25 (S) ABC – 8.2 < ABC’s best performer
9. CSI: Miami (R) CBS – 8.0
10. Wipeout ABC – 7.8
11. So You Think You Can Dance – Wed Fox – 7.6 < Fox’s best performer
12. Criminal Minds (R) CBS – 7.6
13. CBS News: Michael Jackson (S) CBS – 7.5
14. CSI: NY (R) CBS – 7.4
15. The Big Bang Theory (R) CBS – 7.2
16. Philanthropist (P) NBC – 7.1
17. 48 Hours Mystery Tuesday (R) CBS – 7.0
18. So You Think You Can Dance – Thurs Fox – 6.9
19. The Bachelorette ABC – 6.8
20. Dateline Friday NBC – 6.7

Selected Top Cable Shows

As you can see, break-ups help reality TV as Jon & Kate ratings spiked, marking another good week for TLC with The Closer, Royal Pains, Burn Notice and NCIS snagging spots in the top-20 cable slots for their respective networks.

1. BET Awards Show, BET – 10.7
2. Jon & Kate Plus 8, TLC – 10.6
4. WWE Entertainment, USA – 7.3
5. The Closer, TNT – 6.4
8. Royal Pains, USA – 5.9
9. Sprint Cup Racing/Loudon, TNT – 5.6
12. Burn Notice, USA – 5.3
17. NCIS, USA – 4.2
20. Confed. Cup Soccer, ESPN – 3.9

I’m looking forward to how they mix up the chemistry of House with the new equation of his having been committed and it’s good to see that Law and Order: SVU will retain the steadfast cast that’s been in place since 1999. I was a bit worried, considering how the network had renewed the show before the two lead actors were resigned. For you Gossip Girl fans (who ask me to cover news on the show), I’m wondering if you feel like having big-name stars come and go on the show is great to see or just distracting? Do you think it’s only a ruse to boost ratings?

As always, questions and comments are welcome here on Screen Rant.

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Fox Fall TV Premiere Dates & Times

Bruce Simmons — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 20:29:10 +0000

If you remember, back on the week of May 18th we let you know what shows were renewed and dumped with the following:

The only snags with these listings were that they were just lists of shows renewed or dropped, with no specific dates.

Fox has released their list of dates and times. Just to be thorough, we’re including all shows that they’ve announced.

A few items of note is that Fringe has moved to Thursdays, and in their effort to continue to murder the ratings, Dollhouse stays on Fridays. OK, to be fair, we’re a small minority and I do think we’re lucky that Dollhouse stayed with us for a 2nd season. Even if it’s just to draw out their DVD sales.

Saturday, Sept. 12

8:00-8:30 PM ET/PT – COPS (Season Premiere)

8:30-9:00 PM ET/PT – COPS (All-New Episode)

9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT – AMERICA’S MOST WANTED (Season Premiere)

Wednesday, Sept. 16

8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT – SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE (Season Premiere)

9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT – GLEE (Series Premiere)

Thursday, Sept. 17

8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT – BONES (Season Premiere)

9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT – FRINGE (Season Premiere)

Friday, Sept. 18

8:00-8:30 PM ET/PT – BROTHERS (Series Premiere)

8:30-9:00 PM ET/PT – ‘TIL DEATH (Season Premiere)

9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT – DOLLHOUSE (Season Premiere)

Monday, Sept. 21

8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT – HOUSE (2-Hour Season Premiere)

Sunday, Sept. 27

8:00-8:30 PM ET/PT – THE SIMPSONS (Season Premiere)

8:30-9:00 PM ET/PT – THE CLEVELAND SHOW (Series Premiere)

9:00-9:30 PM ET/PT – FAMILY GUY (Season Premiere)

9:30-10:00 PM ET/PT – AMERICAN DAD (Season Premiere)

Monday, Sept. 28

8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT – HOUSE (All-New Episode)

9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT – LIE TO ME (Season Premiere)

Tuesday, Sept. 29

8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT – HELL’S KITCHEN (All-New Episode)

9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT – SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE (Time Period Premiere)

Tuesday, Oct. 27

8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT – SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE (Time Period Premiere)

Saturday, Nov. 7

11:00 PM-Midnight ET/PT – THE WANDA SYKES SHOW (wt*) (Series Premiere)
*Bruce’s note: “wt” means working title.

And there you have it. The upcoming season of unstoppable excitement, the likes of which we’ve never seen before. OK, I couldn’t help myself.

On a serious note, don’t fret if you don’t see 24 with Kiefer Sutherland on the list. This is just a list of shows starting around the same time the other networks are kicking it in gear for the 2009 / 2010 season. 24 is airing in January of 2010.

I know a lot of these shows may not appeal to most of the faithful Screen Rant readers, but thorough is thorough. Hey, I had to type it so quit grumbling!

All joking aside, if there’s a show in here you like and you want more details than what we may have covered, don’t be shy. Let us know. We’re a civil and understanding group of hooligans here! Thanks for coming by.

Source: Fox Press

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Weekly TV Wrap Up – January 29, 2009

Bruce Simmons — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 19:10:46 +0000

Here is yet one more edition of Thursday’s Weekly TV Wrap Up on Screen Rant!

This week we have news on new shows that FOX has ordered, a bit of news on Dead Like Me, we touch on some House info and more on yet more guest appearances on E.R..

In the confused department, I’ve got some news sort of related to Smallville, and we chat about Ugly Betty getting dumped temporarily.

We wrap it up with a little bit of new news for our overseas readers on a new set of episodes of Red Dwarf. Let’s get on with it!

1. FOX Network ordered itself a bunch of pilots. Four comedies and three dramas. Of the three dramas, two of them are of the sci-fi genre.

One is Human Target, based on the DC Comics title about a man for hire whose job is to assume the role of people who find themselves in life threatening situations. John Steinberg writes the scripts and is executive producing alongside McG.

The other project is untitled at this time, but focuses on past-life investigators using the concept of reincarnation to solve present day crimes. Source: THR.com

2. For the Dead Like Me fans, a direct-to-DVD movie is being released on February 17th, 2009 titled Dead Like Me: Life After Death.

I’ve always found the show interesting and wouldn’t mind catching a full length movie version. Of course after watching a movie, I would probably end up wanting more. Source: TVShowsOnDVD

3. In case you missed the news and missed the show, House has moved to Monday nights. (SPOILER) Later this season Gregory House and Cuddy will, um, well… you know, they um, well… they “hit it” off pretty good, if you know what I mean. Of course the creators of House warn us that even though House and Cuddy settle into the sheets together, they’re going to do this the only way it can be done, House style. Sigh. Source: EW.com, Image: FOX

4. As Niall reported a few days ago regarding George Clooney returning for a reprisal of his role of Doug Ross on E.R., Julianna Margulies is following suit and also reprising her role as Hathaway on the final season of E.R. on NBC. Source: ET Online.

There are also some rumors that Susan Sarandon will be appearing in the same episode with Clooney. Source: E Online.

5. First it’s good news, then it’s not. I can’t decide if The CW really knows what’s up.

In the process of getting a reboot of Melrose Place up and running, The CW is talking to Darren Swimmer and Todd Slavkin about helming the Melrose effort. Yes, the same Darren Swimmer and Todd Slavkin who are 2 of the 4 show-runners for Smallville.

If for some reason they move on to tackle Melrose Place, that would leave Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson as the executive producers for the 9th season of Smallville. It’s being reported that Warner Bros is finalizing deals with the cast for a 9th season.

So my question to you would be what do you think would happen to the quality of the show if they split up this four-some? Source: EW.com,

6. It’s been thought that ABC’s Ugly Betty was their workhorse signature series, yet they’re shelving the show starting March 26th in favor of Samantha Who?, and then In The Motherhood. claiming that the Thursday night time slot is a great spot to launch these shows.

According to ABC, Ugly Betty will return after these two shows run their set number of episodes. Though the network is not saying when the show will return, by some calculations, it should probably air sometime in June. The dreaded summertime slot. Source: EW.com.

7. Channel Dave is a network over in the UK. If you have access to the network, and you’re a fan of Red Dwarf, then you are in for a treat. Red Dwarf is returning with a brand new two-part series. Dave Lister gets to return home!

Red Dwarf: Back to Earth starts filming their two-part episode in February.

Over the Easter weekend, four new episodes will come at you. After the two episodes of Back to Earth, prepare yourself for Red Dwarf: Unplugged. Unplugged will have no sets, no effects and egads, no cue cards! Then you get to watch Red Dwarf: The Making of Back to Earth. Source: Dave TV.

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