Fox just released its 2008-09 schedule, which has relatively few new shows (two for the fall, a few more in the winter/spring) but includes sci-fi-ish offerings from two producers with a couple of TV’s most feverish fanbases: J. J. Abrams’ Fringe (for fall) and Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse (for midseason). All that, and a Mitch Hurwitz …
O Viewer, Where Art Thou?; or, How Much Time Art Thou Shifting?
Here’s a little work-alternative for you this morning. As we’ve seen this week, two big themes of the upfronts have been (1) primetime network viewers are disappearing and (2) many of them are watching shows recorded on DVRs or online, often skipping ads in the process.
So I thought we’d do a little volunteer market-research exercise. …
CBS's Trailers: Back to Basics
At Carnegie Hall yesterday, CBS screened trailers from five new fall shows and one midseason pickup. After a brief period of experimentation (Jericho, Viva Laughlin), the network went back to its tradition of crime procedurals and domestic sitcoms. And I …
Kaufmann House Update
I spent two days earlier this week blogging about the pending sale by Christie’s of Richard Neutra’s Kaufmann House in Palm Springs. But the news on Tuesday morning of Robert Rauschenberg’s death overshadowed for me the outcome of the auction that night. So let’s back up. For the record, the house sold for $15 million — $16.84 …
The Morning After: We've Got a Final!
Spoilers for American Idol coming up… after the break!
MTV Is Invading My Hood
So it turns out that I live in the 21st coolest place in the world. At least by one measure: Season 21[!] of The Real World will be taping this summer in my home borough of Brooklyn.
This is part of a larger wave …
Corporate Press Release Theater: Turner to Debut Slew of New Shows, Unless It Doesn't
Turner Entertainment Networks (known to you as TNT, TBS and truTV [formerly known to you as Court TV]) piggybacked on the broadcast upfronts with their own announcement today. I’m only one man, and a lazy one at that, so I didn’t attend, but the networks announced a number of shows. Theoretically. Most of the announcements concerned …
Over Eggs and Bacon, CBS Serves Up Meat and Potatoes
Leave it to CBS to maintain some sort of tradition in this strike-and-ratings-collapse-disrupted upfront. For years the network has had a ritual of revealing its schedule to reporters over a buffet breakfast at its Midtown headquarters. Even though the Eye is—in this year’s trendy spirit of austerity—canceling its Tavern on the Green …
The CW, CWickly
I had to bail on The CW’s schedule presentation after ABC’s last night, but having heard that there were no clips of the 90210 remake—the main thing I would have wanted to see—I don’t feel quite so bad. But here’s the roundup of the network’s news in brief:
* …
Rauschenberg: A Tribute
It’s not possible to sum up briefly all of the ways that Rauschenberg changed the way we think about art. Here’s my attempt to summarize some of them.
The Morning After: Three for Three
My American Idol reviews are now up at time.com. My prediction this week—Syesha—is not exactly rocket science, but even though I don’t think she deserves to win the thing (she’s looking at a nice Broadway career), I still feel bad for her …
ABC Upfront: TV Defeats Television
ABC’s upfront at Lincoln Center begins with a video, interspersed with scenes from ABC shows, of people riding unicycles with cellphone symbols inscribed on the wheels, riding a surfboard into a computer logo, juggling little black balls with iPods on them. The (apparent) message: television may be fading away, but TV shows are …
Robert Rauschenberg: 1925-2008
One of the pivotal American artists is gone. I’ll have more to say later. Meanwhile, here’s a link to what I had to say in 2006, when his “Combines” show opened at the Metroplitan Museum in New York.