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Late Night Repeats for Writer-less Talk Shows

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Daytime, Late Night, Talk Shows, ABC, Cable, NBC, Syndication, General Hospital, Saturday Night Live, News,

SNL Amy Poehler If the Writers Guild of America strikes on Monday as scheduled, you can expect a slate of late-night reruns to put you to bed. Assuming a last-minute Sunday mediation session doesn’t prevent the 12,000 WGA members from walking out, daily productions ranging from The Colbert Report to Late Night with Conan O’Brien will immediately go into repeats. So much for November sweeps.

The impact will not necessarily be limited to evening fare; daytime chatfests like The Ellen Degeneres Show may be affected as well. Fortunately soap operas like my fave, General Hospital, have stockpiled scripts that should leave them immune for months to come.

Tonight’s Saturday Night Live with Brian Williams could also be the last Lorne Michaels production for some time. But given SNL’s lame tendency to air repeats anyway, who’d even notice?

No Agreement Yet Between Writers and Producers

Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Reality, Syndication, News,

Hand writing Despite a federal mediator and plenty of bargaining sessions, the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers failed to come to terms on a new three-year contract. Talks ended after several not-so-fruitful hours, three hundred and sixty minutes before the current contract expired. The writers and producers are stymied over one central issue: the pay writers receive when work is released on DVD. DVD sales are huge, and have been since the discovery that people will actually pay to own episodes of television shows they watched the first time they aired. Even syndication hasn’t hurt the DVD sales of old TV episodes, and the writers want their cut. Well, the producers don’t want to give it to them. That, in a nutshell, is what all this strike talk is about.

Click to continue reading No Agreement Yet Between Writers and Producers

Howie Mandel Strikes a Deal

Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Daytime, Games, Prime Time, NBC, Syndication, Ratings,

And it didn’t even involve a call from the mysterious “banker.” Howie Mandel, who seemed to fade from the spotlight in recent years, has made his comeback. And then some. Don’t hate me, but I found his hyper comedy routine with the latex glove blown up on his head funny. Then again, I was 11 years old, so that kind of stuff is funny. So, he’s been doing Deal or No Deal since December 2005 and it’s been big business. Who would have thought that this former funnyman and sometimes dramatic actor (hey, he was good on St. Elsewhere) would rise from the ashes and recreate himself as a game show host? For anyone who watches Deal, you know how truly addictive this show can become. I try to steer clear of it because it immediately pulls me in and doesn’t let go. And I’m not alone. The show averages between 8 and 10 million viewers and airs Wednesdays and Fridays. And now, it’s been given the “deal” for syndication, with a special half-hour version that will air five days a week. Mandel, clearly no dummy, will also host the syndicated version (in addition to the regular primetime deal). No changes to the set or those briefcase models when it goes to a half hour, however, the big prize will be reduced from $1 million to $250,000. Still nothing to scoff at. Go Howie!

Elisabeth Hasselbeck Forces Barry Manilow to Cancel

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Daytime, Talk Shows, ABC, Syndication,

Barry Manilow I’m not sure whether to consider this silly or hilarious…but I’m going with the latter.

Crooner Barry Manilow has apparently canceled a scheduled appearance on tomorrow’s episode of The View. The reason? A disagreement in politics. The Copacabana singer told TMZ that he considers conservative Elisabeth Hasselbeck to be ‘dangerous and offensive’. Although he’s currently on a promotional tour, he is refusing to ‘share the same stage as her’ because of their differences in opinions. It’s not clear why the gig was ever scheduled to begin with.

Any guess how long it will take Rosie O’Donnell to write a haiku about this?

This Week on TV (9/10-9/16)

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Award Shows, Comedy, Daytime, Drama, Food & Home, Games, Music, Prime Time, Reality, Specials, Sports, Talk Shows, ABC, Cable, ESPN-HD, FX, FOX, NBC, Syndication, TNT-HD, Oprah Winfrey Show, Cable/Satellite,

MONDAY (9/10)

Today (NBC, 7-11am): The show expands to an unnecessary 4 hours.
Oprah (syndicated): Season premiere includes a first appearance by David Letterman.
Rachel Ray (syndicated): Ray’s Second Season premiere includes guests from High School Musical 2
The View (ABC, check local listings): The official introduction of their final new host (a.k.a. Sherri Shepherd).
Wheel of Fortune (syndicated): 25th season premiere.
Monday Night Football (ESPN): A double-header special. Cincinnati Bengals vs Baltimore Ravens (7pm ET)/ San Francisco 49ers vs Arizona Cardinals (10:15 ET).
The Closer (TNT, 9pm): Part-two of the season finale.

Click to continue reading This Week on TV (9/10-9/16)

This Week on TV (9/3-9/9)

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Award Shows, Comedy, Daytime, Games, Kids, Music, Prime Time, Reality, Sci-Fi/Horror, Specials, Sports, Talk Shows, ABC, Bravo, Cable, FOX, HBO, MTV, NBC, Syndication, Oprah Winfrey Show,

Justin Timberlake MONDAY (9/3)

Justin Timberlake Concert Special (HBO, 9pm): JT brings sexy to Madison Square Garden
Kyle XY (ABC Family, 8pm): mid-season finale

TUESDAY (9/4)

The View (ABC, check local times): Whoopi Goldberg officially joins the looney bin today
Oprah (syndicated, check local times): Special appearance by President Bill Clinton
The Singing Bee (NBC, 8pm): fall premiere

THURSDAY (9/6)

Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style (Bravo, 10pm): Project Runway‘s guru revamps fashion disasters with the help of model Veronica Webb
Sunday Night Football (NBC, 8:30 EST): Special Thursday kickoff day (New Orleans Saints vs. Indianapolis Colts)
Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader? (FOX, 8pm): fall premiere
Don’t Forget The Lyrics (FOX, 9pm): fall premiere

Click to continue reading This Week on TV (9/3-9/9)

A Thumbless Ebert & Roeper?

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Syndication,

For nearly 30 years, Roger Ebert has been sealing his movie reviews with a signature Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down. Unfortunately, potentially-heated contract negotiations between Ebert and his distribution company have forced (temporary?) changes to the Ebert & Roeper program. Now both sides are pointing fingers at those allegedly responsible for pulling the digits.

Viewers of the most recent episode may have noticed a slight change in the program. No thumbs! Richard Roeper and his guest co-host made their opinions on such movies as The Nanny Diaries and Resurrecting the Champ as clear as possible without a ‘pointed’ summary. (For the record—they disliked

both

films).

Disney-ABC Domestic Television claims the renowned critic put the copyrighted move on hold during negotiations (Ebert and the estate of the late Gene Siskel hold the rights to the critiquing method). But through a statement posted on his website, Roger denies making that request. In addition, he says that Disney (as of 8/24) had not gotten back to him after what he feels was an ‘offensively low’ offer.

As most you already know, health problems have kept Roger Ebert from fronting an episode of the show for over a year. But he has been contributing in other ways and still posts through his own site. I just pray that the distribution company isn’t trying to take advantage of his current status during their contract talks. But then again—they wouldn’t do something like that, would they??

Las Vegas Signed on for Fifth Season

Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Drama, Prime Time, NBC, Ratings, Renewals,

Las Vegas seems like one of those shows that just floats by, quietly… and the next thing you know, it’s in its fifth season! I feel like I must have dozed off during a couple of seasons in there, because I had no idea that it had been on that long. Now I realize, just because I don’t watch it, doesn’t mean that there aren’t plenty of viewers out there. In fact, about 9 million viewers tune in each week. The renewal will put Las Vegas into the 2007-08 season, leading to the 100 episode mark, which translates to syndication. According to Kevin Reilly, NBC Entertainment Chief, “The cast and producers have consistently given us what we want from Las Vegas—pure entertainment—and we’re looking forward to another fun ride next season with the show.” The last episode for this season airs March 9th.

Jennifer Aniston May Appear on Cox Arquette’s ‘Dirt’

Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Comedy, Drama, Prime Time, Cable, FX, Cable/Satellite, Rumors,

While Courteney Cox Arquette and Jennifer Aniston have ruled out a Friends reunion, there is a chance that Aniston may appear on Cox Arquette’s new FX series, Dirt. The former Friends co-stars spoke out at the Television Critics Association Conference, saying of a Friends reunion, “It’s too hard to get everyone together. The writers are doing their thing, and I just can’t see it happening – not that I wouldn’t do it, because it would be fun.” On Dirt, Cox Arquette works as editor-in-chief at a tabloid magazine. While no firm plans have been made about Aniston’s appearance, the two have been in discussions about the type of character that Aniston would play on the series.

Oprah Being Sued by Audience Member

Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Daytime, Talk Shows, Syndication, Oprah Winfrey Show, Gossip,

Oprah Winfrey When I first read that an audience member at one of Oprah‘s tapings was going to sue Winfrey, it immediately brought to mind those Saturday Night Live sketches where the women are going crazy and fainting because of Oprah’s giveaways. Seems the reason for this lawsuit is that the woman allegedly was injured during the stampede that occurred while trying to find a seat for the show’s taping.

Tayna Milner’s lawsuit says that the studio did not control the crowd properly, resulting in Milner being pushed down the stairs and suffering injuries on April 11th. She is seeking more than $50,000 in damages from Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Studios.

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