Modern Family Is 'Startlingly Good'

NBC musical dazzles critics... mostly

(NEWSER) - If you watched the Super Bowl, you just might have heard of Smash, NBC's new drama about the making of a Broadway musical. It premiered last night, and critics are (mostly) giving it a standing ovation:

• The buzz has gotten so intense that the conversation isn't even about whether it'll be good. "Good? Darling, it's great!" gushes Mary McNamara of the LA Times . The creators have "managed to capture the grand and sweeping gesture that is musical theater and inject it with the immediate intimacy of television," an impressive, unprecedented feat.

Anti-profanity group wants episode pulled

(NEWSER) - Turns out there's something called the "No Cussing Club," and its membership doesn't want you to see tonight's episode of Modern Family, in which a toddler appears to swear. The group has asked ABC to pull the episode of the sitcom because of a storyline in which a 2-year-old girl shocks her parents with a curse word. The toddler said "fudge" during filming, but it will be bleeped to give the impression that she used the F-bomb, reports the AP . More»

NBC gives Handler a lot of freedom: 'LAT'

(NEWSER) - If you were worrying that a Chelsea Handler sitcom on network TV would tame the bawdy comedian, you can stop. Tonight's NBC debut of Are You There, Chelsea? features bartender Chelsea, played by Laura Prepon, behind bars for drunk driving, where she prays (to vodka) and promises to change her life. No, not to quit drinking ... just to relocate within walking distance of the watering hole. The show also includes the sex term "lady wood," the Los Angeles Times notes. More»

Modern Family, by a lot

(NEWSER) - The Vulture blog of New York magazine finds that ABC's Modern Family is the favorite of well-to-do TV fans. It not only has the highest median income ($83,000) of viewers in the 18-49 range, it boasts by far the highest number of viewers who pull in at least $100,000 a year. It gets a 13.6 rating among that camp, with Two and a Half Men a distant second at 9.0. More»

Some producers agree to pay cuts; no word yet from actors

(NEWSER) - Don't say sayonara to the Simpsons just yet: Sources say several top-level producers will take pay cuts in order to keep the show on the air. Not all of the producers are on board, and cast members have not yet agreed to any terms. Variety notes that any money saved from a producer pay cut likely does not come close to the amount that would be saved if the actors agreed to the 45% reduction demand. But, as Entertainment Weekly points out, all sides believe something will be worked out, because no one wants to see the 23-season-long series end without a real finale. A final decision is expected tomorrow. More»