Category Archives: Television

This year’s Super Bowl is now the most-watched show in U.S. history

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On Sunday Super Bowl XLIV was crowned the most-watched show in U.S. history.  Averaging 106.5 million viewers, this year’s Super Bowl dethrones M*A*S*H, the previous record holder that garnered 106 million viewers during its two-hour series finale in 1983.  M*A*S*H star Alan Alda has this to say about the loss of such a coveted record: “I’m happy for New Orleans. I want to see that city come out first in every way that it can, even if it means giving up a record that M*A*S*H held for a long time.”  With M*A*S*H out of the way, TV viewers and analysts now have Super Bowl XLVI as a new comparison to look at when discussing most-watched television programs.

In related Super Bowl news…want to know which ad people liked most?  According to the USA TODAY ad meter, Snickers’ ad with Betty White and Abe Vigoda getting pushed around in the mud playing football earned the top spot.  The ad meter panel gave the Snickers commercial a rating of 8.68 out of 10.  Lesson learned?  People like watching old people playing rough sports.  Missed out on the commercials?  Check out a bunch of ’em here.

[Via NYT; AC]

Super Bowl XLIV commercials

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Overall I found this year’s collection of Super Bowl commercials to be stale.  Super Bowl commercials are supposed to be top notch, big budget, and make you fall over laughing by surprise.  In fact, there are some people out there who watch the Bowl just for the commercials.  The smorgasbord of reusable ads from GoDaddy and the beer companies simply didn’t cut it this year.  Anyhow, I’ve collected this year’s favorite ads and pasted them below.  At least Megan Fox was featured in one of them!

Motorola, featuring the Motorola Devour with MOTOBLUR w/ Megan Fox

Bud Light, autotune with T-Pain

Look after the break for more Super Bowl commercials, including those from Vizio, Bud Light, Snickers, Doritos, Audi, Coke, FLO TV, Cars.com, Intel, and Google. Continue reading Super Bowl XLIV commercials →

The Big Bang Theory sans laugh track makes things ..awkward

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The laugh track is something we all take for granted in today’s sitcoms.  (Although it is worthy to note that a handful of shows like The Office, Parks & Rec, and Modern Family are taking a different route.)  Watch how things quickly become awkward for Sheldon Cooper in this scene from an episode of CBS’ The Big Bang Theory that’s stripped of a laugh track.

[Via EW]

David S. Goyer steps down from FlashForward

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Just before ABC’s FlashForward went on its lengthy hiatus in December, a number of production-related changes came to light.  Namely, co-creator and co-showrunner Marc Guggenheim (Eli Stone) dropped out to focus on other projects.  Today brings news that fellow co-creator and head showrunner David S. Goyer (The Dark Knight) is also stepping down from his top position.  A new showrunner has yet to be announced.  There’s no need to fret, FlashForward fans.  Goyer will remain behind the scenes in some form, and he assures that the show will be put into “great hands:” “As my feature projects have started ramping up again, I felt I was being pulled in too many directions. I’m proud of the show and excited about the relaunch. It’s in great hands.”  I am excited about the relaunch, too.  During its first run of episodes, FlashForward proved to have much potential and this reshuffling of showrunners might just add a pinch of freshness the show needs to step things up to whole new and exciting level it certainly can achieve.

FlashForward returns March 18 on ABC.

[Via IGN]

Andy Samberg is coming to Parks & Rec

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Andy Samberg joins Fred Armisen as the second Saturday Night Live alum to guest star on the NBC comedy Parks & Recreation.  According to the NYPost he is going to play “Carl, the head of park security who butts heads with Leslie (Amy Poehler) after someone gets mugged in one of their parks.”  And it gets even better.  Parks’ Aziz Ansari (he plays Tom Haverford) twittered that the Samberg episode is going to be “a great Jerry heavy episode.”  Let’s just say I’m already in knots.

[Via IGN]

Lost premiere a ratings winner, finale moves, Darlton takes questions

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Lost: The Finale Season premiere event lived up to the hype and proved to be a mind-bending good time.  The premiere captured an average of 12.1 million viewers, and according to EW, this “is 1 million more than the series’ average audience for season 5 and less than 1 million more than the audience for its season 5 premiere. About 6 percent more people tuned in at 9 p.m. than finished the two-hour episode at 11 p.m.”  This is interesting to say the least…you’d think that Lost would maintain a steady viewership this far into its lifespan, especially because it’s a highly serialized show.  (You can thank the marketing blitz for the recent upsurge.)  Anyhow, I’m glad it fared well.

The Lost series finale (I can’t believe I just said that) will air May 23 from 9PM to 11PM.  Note the 23rd is a Sunday, not a Tuesday.  Though it won’t really matter for Lost fans, the move to Sunday was likely decided so that the finale does not pit itself against part one of American Idol’s season finale.  On Sunday there’s virtually no competition.  Sunday, May 23 will be LOST DAY.  Per usual, a special one hour recap episode will lead into the finale starting at 8PM.

Lastly, on the night of the premiere Lost fanatic Jimmy Kimmel had Darlton (that’s Lost exec producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof) on his show.  Jimmy framed his questions looking for “coincidence or fate” answers, and Darlton did their best to answer them appropriately without giving away too many spoilers.  Check out the interview in the video below (there are two parts).  Also, look after the break for a comedy sketch where Jimmy places himself in the Hurley-Jacob scene from the premiere.

[Via EW, here, here & here; IGN]

Continue reading Lost premiere a ratings winner, finale moves, Darlton takes questions →

THE BEGINNING OF THE END

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Lost: The Final Season is almost here.  To celebrate the anticipation I will be adding new Lost-related content to this post leading up to the premiere event on Tuesday, February 2.

UPDATE: Lost: The Final Season starts tonight!  Get pumped by watching  two new trailers, the second of which includes a gun-toting Claire and makes you believe Juliet did the deed.  Check it out and see what I mean.  Following the two trailers is a Lost recap of all important events ranging from season one to season five, as reenacted by an extended Italian family (it’s hysterical!).

 

Tons more Lost-related content can be found after the break. Continue reading THE BEGINNING OF THE END →

NBC renews Parks & Rec

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This is very, very good news!  NBC has decided to pick up Parks & Recreation for a third season to debut next fall.  Apparently the show had “production timing issues” which made such an early renewal necessary.  Whatever that means…it looks like Parks & Rec is here to stay.  Just can’t get enough of Leslie Knope, Tom Haverford, Ann Perkins, Ron Swanson, and Andy Dwyer.  Oh yeah, Jerry too.  Season 2 has brought Parks & Rec into the mainstream and has already proved itself to be a worthy contender in TV comedy.  Having dropped the overly recurring theme of building Leslie’s dream park, the writers have taken the show in a new, better direction this season, following the antics of the bumbling yet lovable Leslie Knop.  If you haven’t seen The Office-esque Parks & Rec, please do yourself a huge favor and watch “Hunting Trip.”  It’s not only the funniest episode of this season thus far, it also happens to be one of my all-time favorite episodes from any comedy.

In other related TV show renewal news, CBS picked up How I Met Your Mother, NCIS: LA; and The Good Wife.

[Via The Wrap; EW, here, here, & here]

Jack Bauer set to wield the Apple Tablet in upcoming episode

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According to Rodney Charters, director of photography on 24, the show will try its best to somehow incorporate Apple’s still unannounced tablet device, pending Apple’s cooperation.  Charters tweets: “Hmmmm looks like we may get an iSlate into Jacks hands for Ep 20 getting giddy with excitement” and later updated with: “Got a bit too excited probably more likely Episode 22 but Apple provided fingers crossed.”

As exciting as this proposition sounds, it all hinges upon the actual existence of such a tablet.  We will know by tomorrow.  Oh, and it better be announced.  Because if it isn’t, you can be sure Jack will stationed outside the keynote doors waiting to interrogate Jobs (re-created for visual purposes above).

[Via Twitter page; Gizmodo]

Watch Lost’s Oceanic 815 crash in real time, 24-style

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This has got to be one of the best well put together videos I’ve come across in quite some time.  A rabid Lost fan took it upon himself to splice together various scenes from a number of seasons to create this ten minute collage that reveals all events (that we know of) that occuried immediately before and during the fateful crash of Oceanic flight 815.  What makes it even more special is the split screen action, a la 24.  This allows the viewer to follow all the crucial moments side-by-side with each other, in real time.  Job well done, pyram1dhead.  As we get closer to the Lost season premiere (it’s only one week away!), expect a “sequel of sorts” from pyram1dhead this weekend.

[Via SciFiWire]

House spin-off is still a possibility

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For some time now rumors have swirled that House‘s Michael Weston (Lucas Douglas, the private detective who’s now lovey dovey with Cuddy) would star in a House spin-off series backed by Houseexecutive producers David Shore and Katie Jacobs.  Time had passed and with no word about such a spin-off I had all but lost hope.  But then this–FOX network president Kevin Reilly spoke with EW’s Ausiello and today reports that the spin-off idea is not dead.  In fact, the concept of another show helmed by Shore and Jacobs is very well alive.  Right now they have a “standing offer” to create a new FOX series for the 9PM time-slot.  Says Reilly: “It could be a direct spin-off or a completely new show.  Ideally, I would love David and Katie to have their own [two-hour block].”  When asked about the Lucas Douglas spin-off idea Reilly noted, “…they kind of stuck their toe in the water and just didn’t feel like it worked. The [character] worked [on] House, but [he] didn’t really work as [his] own thing.”  He also added, “They have really high standards.  These are not guys who commercially are going to chase something just to announce they have a spin-off and then figure out the show later on. They’re probably the most thorough producers… I’ve ever worked with.”

A House spin-off or a completely new Shore-Jacobs show?  I’d take either honestly.  They make a great team and I believe a new project, House-related or not, would strike gold yet again for FOX.  What say you?

[Via EW]

Gleeks, rejoice! (again!); NPH joins for Whedon-directed episode

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The headline says it all, really.  According to EW, Dr. Horrible himself, Neil Patrick Harris, is expected to join forces with Dr.H creator Joss Whedon for an upcoming episode of FOX’s hit show Glee.  In fact this would be quite a reunion for NPH; not only will he team with Whedon but he’ll also work with Zachary Woodlee who helped choreograph the song-and-dance inspired 100th episode of How I Met Your Mother.  NPH is expected to both sing and dance in the role, no surprise here.  The only road block is CBS allowing NPH to jump over to FOX for the shoot.  EW’s Ausiello points out that HIMYM and Glee are both produced by 20th Century Fox, so there really shouldn’t be an issue.  Glee returns with all new episodes April 13 on FOX.

[Via EW]