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Smash Opens to Rave Reviews

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
... More »

Expect Bawdy Humor in Tonight's Chelsea Debut

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... More »

ABC Cancels Desperate Housewives

Once-dominant drama will end after next season, source says

(Newser) - Things might have just gotten a little more desperate than usual over on Wisteria Lane: ABC is canceling longtime stalwart Desperate Housewives, the network confirmed today to the AP. "We want to make sure it has its victory lap," ABC Entertainment President Paul Lee said in making the... More »

16 Awful TV Spinoffs

Joanie Loves Chachi, but this list doesn't

(Newser) - PopCrunch rounds up 16 of the worst TV spinoffs of all time: Here's a sampling:
  • Joanie Loves Chachi: "A mewling stillborn abomination that starred two people who obviously hated each other." Happy Days deserved better.
  • Galactica 1980: Bad acting and a lame plot doomed this spinoff of the
... More »

Prime-Time Swearing? Who Gives a $#*!?

CBS comedy bares eroding concern about profanity

(Newser) - When the prime-time comedy $#*! My Dad Says hits CBS this fall, most viewers and advertisers won't give a $#*! about the title—a sign of just how far attitudes about TV swearing have come since the days when Lucy Ricardo had to say she was "expecting" rather than... More »

We Need Better TV Critics

Shows are getting smarter, but criticism isn't

(Newser) - If it's true that television is becoming the "future of the filmed narrative"—and just listen to all that chirping in academia about The Wire—then it's time for smarter TV critics, writes Vadim Rizov. The job goes beyond just snarking at the latest episode of American Idol.... More »

NBC's Rah-Rah Coverage of Team USA Nauseates

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... More »

Minorities Finally Get Lead Roles in TV Dramas

This year's network pilots include four with non-white stars

(Newser) - The upcoming crop of pilots for network TV offers hope that the industry taboo against minority leads in dramas can finally be put to rest. Four of the most high-profile projects in the works feature non-white actors, notes the Hollywood Reporter , including Forest Whitaker in a spinoff of Criminal Minds... More »

Zucker's On His Way to Killing NBC

Leno switch is the just latest in a string of dismal decisions

(Newser) - He used to be network television's wunderkind, but now Jeff Zucker might go down as the man whose misguided moves dealt a death blow to NBC. The flip-flop over Jay Leno—"shaping up to be one of the biggest debacles in television history"—is just the latest of... More »

Quit Bitching About Lost vs. State of the Union

You're a citizen before you're a couch potato, Roston writes

(Newser) - There is perhaps no “greater sign of our civilization’s decline” than the uproar about President Obama’s State of the Union address possibly preempting the season premiere of Lost or an episode of American Idol, Michael Roston writes. “Before we are couch potatoes, we are citizens,”... More »

Diane Sawyer Slips Quietly Into Evening News Slot

As ABC tries to avoid another Katie Couric

(Newser) - Diane Sawyer is taking a page from Katie Couric—on how not to debut as an evening news anchor. After Katie's much ballyhooed launch on CBS—and almost immediate crash in the ratings—ABC is using the opposite strategy, moving Sawyer in with no fanfare during one of the quietest... More »

After 34 Years, Gibson's Done at ABC

Anchor, 66, signs off for final time

(AP) - Charles Gibson signed off for the last time from the ABC News anchor desk tonight, bringing to a close his 34 years at the network with Friday's edition of ABC World News . Gibson, 66, called the job he's leaving "a labor of love." Since joining ABC in 1975,... More »

ABC Offers Morning Show to Stephanopoulos

He's in talks now over move to 'Good Morning America'

(Newser) - George Stephanopoulos is in negotiations to replace Diane Sawyer on ABC's Good Morning America, reports Howard Kurtz. While the network has offered him the job, it's not yet clear if he'll take it—Stephanopoulos is pushing to change the show to suit his preference for hard news. He also wants... More »

Emotional Oprah: 'It's Time'

Winfrey tells fans 25 seasons the 'perfect number' to end on

(Newser) - Oprah Winfrey fought back tears today as she officially announced the end of her show, telling the audience the decision came from the heart. “You may hear speculation in the press about why I am making this decision,” she said. “Here is the real reason: I love... More »

By Ending Show, Oprah Bets Big on Cable

Move will wound ABC, CBS—and Winfrey?

(Newser) - Oprah's decision to end her network show in 2011 is a risky bet on cable TV that will cost CBS millions of dollars and ABC stations millions of viewers. Oprah will concentrate solely on her long-delayed cable channel, OWN, though it’s not clear how yet. She’s told her... More »

Jay Leno Not the Only Prime-Time Loser

Networks retune their lineup to court young viewers

(Newser) - Network TV's big hits—Modern Family, The Cleveland Show, NCIS: Los Angeles—join a pack of losers and losing news: NBC viewership is down 10% among young adults, ABC and CBS have slipped, too, and Eastwick, Hank, and Trauma have already been canceled. The LA Times surveys the playing field,... More »

To Save NBC, Rethink Leno Strategy

CEO Jeff Zucker to blame for slump

(Newser) - Cable giant Comcast wants to buy a controlling interest in NBC Universal. Sure, the company's movie business and cable channels are appealing, but what about the broadcast network? NBC is floundering, and CEO Jeff Zucker is to blame, Mark Harris writes in New York. One big problem is The Jay ... More »

Say Goodbye to NBC as We Know It

It's probably going be more like a cable network

(Newser) - Monday was a milestone for NBC’s misbegotten Leno experiment: only 4.6 million tuned in, the worst Monday of the year, writes Matthew Greenberg. This is getting so bad it may signal the beginning of the end of NBC as we know it. The network’s rationale for putting... More »

It's Stephanopoulos vs. Cuomo to Replace Sawyer

The two are the leading candidates for 'Good Morning America'

(Newser) - Diane Sawyer's impending departure for ABC's evening news leaves two top contenders for her post at Good Morning America: George Stephanopoulos and Chris Cuomo. Stephanopoulos has the edge, writes Howard Kurtz, because he's got the bigger name and has performed well as host of This Week. But he has one... More »

30 Rock in Danger of Growing Stale

Tina Fey's show starts new season tonight

(Newser) - Tina Fey and crew return tonight with the season premiere of 30 Rock, and critics are worried that the show is losing its edge:
  • Todd VanDerWerff, AV Club: "30 Rock is still nowhere near a bad show, but it risks turning into a show where one-dimensional people spend a
... More »

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