On Gear Live: Samsung S95C: The OLED TV You Can’t Afford (to Ignore!)

Grey's Anatomy Bright and early this morning, the Emmy nominations were announced from Hollywood. There’s certainly an interesting mix this time around with the change in nomination procedures – you’ll notice no mention of Lost in the major categories and none of the leading ladies of Desperate Housewives. Here are the major categories:

Best Drama
Grey’s Anatomy
House
The Sopranos
24
The West Wing

Best Comedy
Arrested Development
Scrubs
Two and a Half Men
Curb Your Enthusiasm
The Office

Click to continue reading Emmy Nominations Announced

Read More | CNN

Gallery: Emmy Nominations Announced


Advertisement

David Boreanaz in BonesThe “median age” of a show is the age at which an equal amount of its viewers are above and below that age. For instance,  The West Wing’s median age is 54 (meaning that half of the show’s viewers are younger than 54 and half are older than 54). E-Ring, the new West Wing spin-off based in the Pentagon, also has a median age of 54.

Many of today’s new shows have relatively high median ages; something that might cause concern in an industry that tends to cater to a younger demographic. It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that last season’s Commander in Chief had a median age of 55 years, while CBS’s NCIS has a median age of 56. Cold Case also had a median age of 56. 

What was unpredictable was the median age of Fox’s Bones: 44. Any show starring heartthrob David Boreanaz (of Angel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame) certainly expected a younger audience than that! 24 also had a relatively high median age at 45 years, which is interesting considering Fox’s youth-centric reputation.

On the other hand, The Simpsons – which has been on the air for a whopping seventeen seasons – has the same low median age of 29 that it had several years ago.  Despite being an “old” show, it hasn’t had any trouble engaging younger viewers. 

Read More | Washington Post

Gallery: Which New Shows Have “Old” Viewers?


Grey's AnatomyDisney announced on Monday that ABC.com’s trial run of free TV episodes streamed online has been a success.  The episodes included 30-second advertisements, and, apparently, an online exit survey from the first week of the trial showed that 87 percent of respondents could remember the products advertised in the ads.  Execs are so pleased that a reworked version of the current site will appear in the Fall.  In fact, not only did the free episodes outperform the $1.99 ABC episodes offered on iTunes, but actual televsion viewership increased rather than decreased during the trial period.  The trial run will still end on June 30 as originally planned.  As much as I like the iTunes model, I can see why this is working.  Like my mom says, “If it’s free, it’s for me!”

Read More | Reuters

Gallery: ABC’s Free Internet TV Trial Run a Success


Lost StreamingEarlier today ABC launched an online interface, allowing you to stream spisodes of popular ABC shows directly within your web browser. Shows like Lost, Desperate Housewives, Alias, and Commander-in-Chief are all ready to be consumed at your leisure. The shows feature limited advertising, which include four thirty-second spots within each episode. The shows are updated weekly, and will be available from May 1-June 30 as part of an initial trial period.


Read More | ABC Episode Streaming

Gallery: ABC Launches Free Internet Episode Streaming


If the writing on the wall wasn’t already obvious for ABC’s Commander in Chief, it’s clearly evident now.  The troubled show is now being moved to the competitive 10pm Thursday night time slot— during May sweeps.  Due to the bump, Primetime will temporarily move to Thursdays.  You can watch Geena Davis again (or not) starting Thursday, April 13th.

Gallery: Commander in Chief:  New Day and Time


Commander In ChiefWhen the 2005-2006 broadcast network television season began in September, ABC-TV’s Commander in Chief was the highest-rated new series.  But the honeymoon and high ratings ended prematurely for the Geena Davis drama. Only two episodes had aired when Commander‘s creator and executive producer Rod Lurie was replaced by NYPD Blue auteur Steven Bochco. Focusing on high tension world issues, rather than on the family life of the series’ first female president Mackenzie Allen, the Bochco episodes were unpopular with viewers.  Making matters worse, a five-week holiday hiatus saw the series’ audience turning elsewhere for entertainment.

Now Bochco is out and Rod Lurie crony Dee Johnson is in command.  But, even if Johnson returns to Lurie’s original vision of a series powered by First Family events, Commander in Chief may be a lame duck.  It will be difficult, if not impossible, to regain momentum.  Commander‘s last episode aired two months ago, and the next episode is almost a month away.


Read More | TV Guide

Gallery: Commander in Chief - A Lame Duck Series?


Commander in Chief

As we’ve been hearing lately, the approval ratings for the President of the United States have been reaching all-time lows.  Now just one day before Pres. Bush’s State of the Union speech (snore!), ABC is delivering news about their own fictional POTUS:  her ratings stink too.

Despite early success for the first-term show - and a recent Golden Globe win for Geena Davis - it seems that the novelty may have worn off for President Allen’s constituents.  (Of course, the powerhouse better known as American Idol probably had something to do with that).  Not even bothering to stick it out through the upcoming February sweeps, ABC is already putting the show on hiatus to make room for the network’s new comedic offering: Sons & Daughters. 

Of course, ABC execs claim that they are not abandoning the show— they are simply allowing it to return in the spring with all new episodes.  Because watching new show uninterrupted, as opposed to

not at all

, makes a lot more sense?

Gallery: Commander in Chief Declines in Approval Ratings


iTunes Commander In ChiefABC recently announced that it has added its hit show Commander In Chief to the list of television series available through your iPod. Episodes will be available after the day they originally appear on television, and will cost 1.99 each to download. Commander In Chief joins fellow network shows Lost and Desperate Housewives in this iTunes service.


Read More | Zap2it

Gallery: Commander In Chief Joins iTunes Line-Up


Commander in Chief

I must admit, for weeks now I have been wondering why I like this show.  Although I have always found White House-related dramas interesting, that factor alone has not brought me back to The West Wing on a consistent basis.  In fact, sometimes I feel like Commander is a seriously-dumbed down version of its predecessor.  But then it occurred to me—the reason I DO like the show is because it IS a dumbed-down version of The West Wing.  No serious intellect required.  I get enough of the juicy behind-the-scenes stuff while being allowed to kick back at the same time.  If I’m dozing off and miss a sentence here or there, I am not forever lost. I GET IT.  While The West Wing can be far too serious for its own good, Commander has just enough fluff to keep me amused.

Of course, it is also delicious fun to compare Mackenzie’s fictional administration to our real-life one.  Do I think it is possible for any administration to make decisions as easily as Mackenzie’s makes them?  No.  Do I think our current President makes it harder than it really should be?  Yes.  Does President Allen avoid making rash decisions?  No.  But does she speak far more eloquently than our real President does?  Yes.

Click to continue reading Commander in Chief:  First Dance

Gallery: Commander in Chief:  First Dance


Commander In ChiefObviously pleased with the success they’ve had so far this year, ABC has already announced that two of its shows will be picked up for a full-season:  Commander in Chief and Invasion.  While Commander in Chief has obviously been a runaway hit for the network (it placed 9th in the Nielsens last week), I can’t imagine that Invasion would be able to survive without ‘Lost’ as its lead-in.  Nevertheless, ABC should be pleased with any success they can get, no matter how they achieve it.

Gallery: ABC Shows Invasion and Commander in Chief Survive Freshman Year


Advertisement