'Dr. Greene' to Return to ER

(NEWSER) - Set your TiVo to stunned: George Clooney will make a return appearance on ER tonight, Entertainment Tonight reports. Clooney, who left the show in 1999, will star with his onetime on-screen love interest, Julianna Margulies. “I want their story to be very fulfilling in the end,” the episode’s writer said. Also appearing: Noah Wyle, who will run into Eriq La Salle while awaiting his kidney transplant. Oh, ER… More»

Dish Network's Hopper can automatically skip commercials

(NEWSER) - How awesome would it be if your DVR automatically skipped commercials on shows recorded off the major networks? Probably not very awesome if you were one of those same networks, which is why they're outraged over the Dish Network's upcoming "Hopper," which, Dish announced last week, would be able to do just that with its "Auto Hop" feature. Fox released a statement today saying it would no longer accept ads for Hopper, and other networks have publicly expressed displeasure as well. More»

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.

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»

As anchors fawn, foreign athletes described with 'hoary cliches'

(NEWSER) - Shaun White may be introducing new tricks during these Games, but NBC’s coverage of him, and Team USA in general, remains an unchanged lesson in "network heavy breathing," writes Alessandra Stanley. “Hyped-up commentators” explain the action “often incomprehensibly,” but once the race is over the cameras are “instantaneously intrusive.” Take Lindsey Vonn’s moment with her husband after her downhill win. Touching, yes, but also like a “convict trying to talk to a visiting spouse.” More»