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The Daily Trade Round-Up / The TV Whore
Feb. 13, 2008
Trade News | February 13, 2008 | Comments (66)
Well, the big news of the week, of course, is that the strike is over. Things have been steamrolling this way since late last week and last night the WGA finally gave the official word: Put down your pickets, pick up your pens, and get back to that writing thing you do, folks! I haven’t read the full (still-tentative) deal which the WGA and the AMPTP settled on, but I did spend too much time going through a pretty detailed summary and the WGA Presidents’ overview, and it seems pretty decent. We’ll have to see how things shake out over the next three years, of course, but it looks like the writers will at least get some of what they should be getting, if not all of it. So congrats to you writer-types and, my desire for good TV aside, I’m happy that the many writers and other folks will be able to get back to work.
So where does this leave the state of the TV Nation? Well it appears that many of the newer shows, like “Chuck” and “Pushing Daisies,” aren’t going to return immediately, which makes sense. Rather than just toss a handful of episodes at us, the networks will essentially hold off and just give these shows relaunches next fall. Some of the serials like “Heroes” and “24” are done for now, too. But we will get at least a few new episodes of a lot of the other shows, starting about a month from now. You can find out the current early status of your favorite show’s return over at douchebag-extraordinaire Michael Ausiello’s TV Guide blog. And USA Today has a pretty good article (I know, I was shocked that they could put a decent article together as well!) talking to some showrunners and their ilk about how particular shows will handle things.
… You know, I must admit that, as Dustin said in his “Eli Stone” review (with which I agree 100%, by the way), it has been sorta nice to have my TV load lightened (heh … I typed “load”). And while I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about TV’s impending return, when the strike finally ended, the TV Whore in me has come alive, and I’m a bit giddy, frankly. Can’t wait to put the Xbox controller down and pick the remote back up!
Meanwhile, I recently told you that NBC was getting out of the pilot business for a while, and we’ve now seen the first solid example of that. The Peacock has given a small series order to a new comedy, “Kath & Kim,” ordering up six episodes of the based-on-an-Aussie comedy without having seen a pilot. The show stars Molly Shannon and Selma Blair as a mother/daughter with a complicated relationship. Eh — sounds like a bit of “different process, same shit result” to me, but what the hell do I know? I guess we’ll find out when/if NBC decides to air this. And over at ABC, the Alphabet has signed Mike Judge up for a new animated series, “The Goode Family.” Between “Beavis & Butt-head,” which was amusing for what it was at the time, and “King of the Hill” (not to mention Office Space, son!), Judge has a pretty decent track record, so it’ll be interesting to see what he can do with the 13 episodes he’s been given for this show, focusing on “a do-gooder family that tries to do the right thing in all facets of life.” Aside from the new, ABC is also looking at the old, giving several shows pickups for next season. The veteran orders are relatively unsurprising, with “Brothers & Sisters,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Lost” and “Ugly Betty” getting new orders. Meanwhile, the freshman did ok too, with “Dirty Sexy Money” (yeah!), “Private Practice,” “Pushing Daisies” and, surprisingly, “Samantha Who?” getting sophomore seasons. “Boston Legal” is a minor surprise to not be on the list, but this early in the game, it doesn’t mean the show is done yet, particularly with the light crop of new fall shows the network will be looking at.
But a show that does look to be done, or is at least getting buried again, is Parker Posey’s series debut, “The Return of Jezebel James.” The show was slated to get the cushy post-“American Idol” results slot, but Fox has decided it would rather stretch the results show to an hour (fuh-uh-uh-uck me). So “Jezebel” is getting bumped to Thursdays, according to one report, while another says it’s being buried on Fridays. Either way, not a show of faith on the part of the network. Maybe you should just stick with the movies, Parker.
Looking to good news, the final season of “Battlestar Galactica” has been given a return date. April 4, ladies and gents! And you can whet your appetite the week before when SciFi airs two half-hour specials on March 28, one recapping the show, the other looking at its pop culture “impact.” Whatever with those — I am absolutely giddy with anticipation of how our four new Cylon buddies deal with the shit that just rained down on them. Frakking bring it! And to help tide you over, new episodes of “South Park” are dropping on Wednesday nights, starting March 12. Plus, “The Riches” and its shortened seven-episode run hits FX on March 18.
But you know what? Fuck it all. I’m done talking TV for this week — those who only care about the boob tube can skeedaddle. I’d like to take up something with our newest Pajiba “contributor,” one Mr. Holland Oates. I won’t point fingers or name names, but I think we all know which Pajiba writer is responsible for that little piece. And I have two things to say to you, sir. Firstly, everyone knows that most folks in Pennsyltucky are Steelers fans, not Eagles fans. There’s not much animosity between the two sets, mind you — I have nothing against the Stillers, and I suspect most of their fans have little against the Iggles — it’s just that the hicks love the Steelers. I think it’s because they relate so closely with Terry Bradshaw.
But secondly, and more fucking importantly, anyone with a drop of the Eagles green in their blood knows that you never, never, ever, leave a dangling “Eagles.” To throw out the “E-A-G-L-E-S” without the requisite follow-up is simply unfathomable. It’s just like how Jets fans must follow-up “J-E-T-S” with “Jets! Jets! Jets!” (Which, in turn, is just before they shoot themselves in the head for, you know, being a Jets fan and living in Jersey.) So god frakking damn it — the next time you’re going to try to suggest that numbskull Eagles fans have no taste and love movies like Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins, at least do us the fucking courtesy of not short-changing our Eagles’ fandom. For fuck’s sake, it’s really all we’ve got anymore.
Oh, and Megan Fox, you can call me too, honey.
E … A … G … L … E … S … EAGLES!!!
…And for no good reason, other than the fact that a recent behind-the-Pajiba-scenes e-mail discussion got this sucker stuck in my head:
Seth Freilich is Pajiba’s television editor. He will admit, all animosity aside, that “Holland Oates” may just be the best fake name he’s ever heard.
Comments
Posted by: PieHo at February 13, 2008 8:30 AM
I'm a little disappointed that I'll have to wait even longer for my "Pushing Daisies" fix, but at least it still has a shot of outliving Brian Fuller's other, equally brilliant efforts. I was beginning to think that the poor man was cursed.