BuzzSugar

Which New Show Will Get Canceled Next?

BuzzSugar — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 05:30:10 -0700

CBS has canceled The Ex List, making it the latest victim in a Fall season that's already claimed Do Not Disturb and Opportunity Knocks. There was a story recently about how networks were picking up shows that normally wouldn't deserve it because of the economy - but apparently that can't save everything.

Some of this Fall's new shows (90210, Fringe, Knight Rider, The Mentalist) have already been given full-season orders, but that leaves a lot of other new shows in limbo. Of them, which do you think will be the next to go?

Which TV Network Is Doing Best This Year?

BuzzSugar — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 16:30:29 -0700

Over at the Hollywood Reporter, there's a pretty hilarious slideshow of how the TV networks are performing so far this Fall, including which animal each would be most like. (CBS is an elephant, strong but wrinkled; the CW is a gazelle, skinny and likely to be gobbled up.) It's interesting to see that almost nobody is doing well this Fall (every single network has gone down in viewers since last year), and - as we've been seeing in the ratings each week - even the one-time powerhouses like Grey's Anatomy and Heroes are really struggling.

But I'm wondering if, for you, there's a network that's clearly been a standout this year. Maybe it's launched new shows you like. Maybe it got rid of shows you hated from last season and is starting to change things up. Maybe it's the network with all your old favorites. Whatever the reason, which network do you think is doing best this year?

Buzz In: Which New Shows Will You Keep Watching?

BuzzSugar — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 08:30:35 -0700

It's hard to believe it's been several weeks since the Fall TV season officially kicked off. This season's been strange so far, with new shows dribbling out over the course of two months (90210 started Sept. 2; Crusoe just started on Friday; we won't see Stylista till Wednesday). Still, nearly everything that's going to debut this Fall has had at least an episode or two by now, which is enough to get a sense of which shows are worth keeping on the ol' TV schedule (or DVR).

So I'm wondering: Which new shows do you plan to stick with for a full season? I've seen enough promising things from Fringe that I'm in it for the long haul. Privileged is also on my list, of course, and - ah, what the heck - I'll probably keep watching 90210, too. What about you?

Photo courtesy of Fox

Which of This Week's Series Premieres Was Your Favorite?

BuzzSugar — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:30:31 -0700

It was almost like September all over again this week, as a whole bunch of new TV series made their debuts, starting with The Ex List last Friday and ending with NBC's Kath and Kim, CBS's Eleventh Hour, and FX's Testees last night. Did you watch any of these shows? And, if so, what was your favorite?

Buzz In: Have You Broken Up With Any "Relaunched" Shows?

BuzzSugar — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:30:18 -0700

The Fall of 2007 came in with great fanfare in the TV world, only to be squashed just weeks later by the writers' strike. For this Fall, some networks focused on "relaunching" those shows cut short because of the strike: Chuck and Life on NBC, and Pushing Daisies, Private Practice, and Dirty Sexy Money on ABC. (Though it's now in its third season, Heroes probably falls into this category, too.)

The good news: Many of those shows might not have gotten renewed without the writers' strike. But the bad news has been coming in droves ever since, with many of these shows finishing last in their time slots and hitting series lows. In fact, not a single one has broken 10 million viewers yet - Heroes included.

A lot of longtime returning shows are down a little this year, too, but not this dramatically. So I'm wondering: Have you dropped any of the "relaunched" shows from your TV lineup? Have you replaced them with anything? And why do you think viewers aren't coming back for this "re-freshman class"?

Which of Tonight's Premieres Are You Most Eager to Watch?

BuzzSugar — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 05:30:37 -0700

It seems like I've been adding a new show to the ol' TiVo lineup every night this month, but tonight really takes the cake with six major premieres, from extra-long versions of Grey's Anatomy and The Office to the start of ER's 15th and final season. Which of these premieres are you most excited to watch tonight?

Get Ready For Fall TV With Our Night-by-Night Schedule!

BuzzSugar — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 05:30:00 -0700

Back by popular demand, it's BuzzSugar's Fall TV schedule! Can't keep track of what shows are on when? Brain filling up with too many premiere dates between now and October? I've got your back with this color-coded beauty.

Just click here to get your hands on the Fall 2008 night-by-night schedule. If you need some help choosing what to watch this season, Pop and I have picked out a few favorites. The necessary caveat: Premiere dates are always subject to change - but this information is as up-to-date as possible, and I'll post any future changes here too. So, what are you waiting for? Get your copy now!

Fall TV's Five Toughest Tradeoffs

BuzzSugar — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 08:30:13 -0700

"What am I going to watch tonight?" Once Fall TV kicks in next week, that question gets more complicated. New series will duke it out with returning favorites for TiVo space, and some of my beloved shows will go head-to-head. Though there are plenty of ways to watch everything eventually, a gal can still only watch one thing at once, so here are the toughest tradeoffs on my schedule - and how I plan to solve them.

No. 5: Dexter vs. True Blood (Sundays, 9 p.m.) - If you have both HBO and Showtime, you're going to have a tough choice come September. Six Feet Under's Alan Ball makes his return to TV with the vampire-themed True Blood on HBO, while Dexter continues his slashing ways over on Showtime. Should you watch what could be the next big cable series - or the one that's a solid hit right now? Verdict: Established Dexter fans should probably stick with that series, but if you're new to the show, I'd TiVo it and watch True Blood live.

For my top four toughest tradeoffs, just read more.

No. 4: Ugly Betty vs. Kath and Kim (Thursdays, 8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.) - ABC vs. NBC has been a good battle on Thursdays for a couple of years now (though ratings-wise, CBS usually wins the night). This year's biggest new entry looks to be Kath and Kim, the Selma Blair and Molly Shannon comedy that's overlapping with the second half of Ugly Betty. Both shows feature a hearty helping of ludicrous fashion, and while Ugly Betty was starting to feel a little stale last season, Kath and Kim is something fresh. Verdict: For at least the first couple of weeks, I'd stick with Betty first. Kath is only a half-hour long, so it's probably easier to squeeze in a TiVo replay.

No. 3: Dirty Sexy Money vs. Lipstick Jungle (Wednesdays, 10 p.m.) - Two shows about rich, well-dressed people are going head-to-head on Wednesdays. Both have intriguing new stars (Dirty Sexy Money has Lucy Liu; Lipstick Jungle has Mary Tyler Moore), and both have promised lots of soapy goodness. Do you want to watch the one whose creators have said will be "dirtier," "sexier," and even "monier" this year? Or should you stick with that other show about money and sex (that is occasionally also dirty)? Verdict: Lipstick is only guaranteed seven episodes this season, so I'd make those my priority. Dirty Sexy Money will be around for a while, so if you end up TiVoing a few, they won't be irrelevant.

No. 2: Friday Night Lights vs. legality. (Constantly, starting Oct. 1) - So, FNL won't be back on NBC till the Winter, but it will be on DirecTV in October - and I can't see how NBC is going to be able to keep it offline after that. Not that I'm encouraging digital piracy, but it's going to be tough to know FNL is out there and still stay away. Yet if people watch illegally, the show might not get the ratings needed to keep it going on NBC. What's a fan to do? Verdict: Blame Zach Gilford for this one. At the TCA press tour, the alter ego of QB Matt Saracen said he'd suggest fans watch the online version but pledge to turn on NBC later anyway. Hey, I'm just the messenger.

No. 1: Gossip Girl vs. Chuck (Mondays, 8 p.m.) - So, which Josh Schwartz show do you like better: the one with all the sex and drama, or the one with the goofy spy stuff? Cause they're up against each other on Monday nights now, and you'll have to pick one to watch first. Granted, Chuck had the better ratings last year - but it's Gossip Girl that gets the buzz. Verdict: If your friends will all be talking about Blair and Chuck in the morning, watch GG first. Chuck deserves a TiVo spot for sure, though.

Photos courtesy of NBC, ABC, Showtime, The CW, Source, and Source

ABC's National Stay-at-Home Week: Brilliant or Baffling?

BuzzSugar — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 16:35:29 -0700

I wonder if Hallmark will be picking up on this new "holiday" anytime soon: To promote its Fall shows, ABC has declared the week of Sept. 21 "National Stay-at-Home Week." Not coincidentally, that's the week that a lot of ABC shows premiere, including Ugly Betty and Grey's Anatomy.

ABC's thought about the campaign (which will have advertising spots and an official website) is that people will be able to avoid high gas prices by plopping themselves on the couch each day - watching ABC programming to pass the time, naturally. The idea may be catchy, but there are a couple of problems: First, presumably people still have to go to work and school (though hey, if ABC wants to explain my absence . . . ). And second, couldn't people stay home and watch programming that's, you know, not on ABC?

Watch the ad below and let me know: Is this ad campaign brilliant or baffling?

Source

NBC's Fall Schedule: My Take

BuzzSugar — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:36:52 -0700

NBC started off this year's Upfronts more than a month early this afternoon, kicking off the frenzy of Fall TV announcements with its no-frills presentation (which took the form of either a PowerPoint presentation or a conference call, depending on where you were). While the format of the announcements wasn't thrilling, the content will give us much to speculate about over the next few months. Here are some of my initial thoughts:

I think Save Friday Night Lights said this one best: Touchdown! The Friday Night Lights/DirecTV deal had been sounding like a sure thing for a while, but it's nice to know for sure that the Panthers will live to play another season. There are more details over here about how the partnership will work, but the short version is that episodes will start airing on DirecTV in October and then be broadcast at 9 p.m. on Fridays on NBC starting in February. I wonder, though, if people will actually wait for the NBC episodes or if BitTorrent and YouTube will be the real beneficiaries here.
The spinoff of The Office is . . . mysterious, to say the least. NBC issued a separate press release about the show, but it's quite vague: "Audiences will follow another comic journey, complete with new faces and new locations, but with the same unique sense of humor and brand of quality from Daniels and his creative team." NBC entertainment head Ben Silverman said they were keeping a lid on things because Office fans are so rabid; when asked if characters from the main show would appear on the spinoff, he responded: "There's a huge ensemble on The Office right now . . . " Come on, man. A title? A setting? Anything?
More on that: Back in October, most of you thought a spinoff would be a bad idea. Now that it's happening, how do you feel? What's your dream setting for the show? Have you changed your mind about which characters it should focus on? Best suggestion I've heard so far: the warehouse.
Also, it's worth mentioning that the big headline from last Spring's NBC Upfront was a Heroes spinoff, and, well, we know how that turned out.
My gal Liberty is wondering what you think of NBC's plan to put special "Weekend Update" segments on the air on Thursdays leading up to the Presidential election in November. There certainly should be enough political mockery to go around by then.

Some other thoughts, plus the full night-by-night schedule, so just read more.

Most of the new shows NBC announced had been rumored for a while - we first heard about Kath and Kim way back at the TV critics' press tour last summer, and once news of a project starring Christian Slater was out there, how could it not become a series? So, no big surprises there.
Knight Rider: the series? Do you think this has any chance of succeeding? Oh, and if you were waiting on the edge of your seat to find out: Yes, Val Kilmer will return as the voice of KITT.
Silverman tried so hard to give us the warm fuzzies: NBC shows might involve losers or bad guys, but they're all just people who really want to do the right thing! Gotta give the guy props for finding a connection between Ian McShane as an evil king and the weight-loss mavens of The Biggest Loser.
I can't tell you how many times Silverman used the words "ER" and "last season" in close proximity to each other. Get it? The show will be back - but only one more time. We promise!
There's officially no Scrubs on NBC's schedule, so I have to assume that means ABC gets it, for sure.

Your thoughts? Here's a full schedule of the shows for both Fall 2008 and Winter 2009 - though, as always, this information is subject to change. New show descriptions follow below:

Fall 2008
MONDAY
8 p.m. Chuck
9 p.m. Heroes
10 p.m. My Own Worst Enemy (new)

TUESDAY
8 p.m. The Biggest Loser: Families
9:30 p.m. Kath and Kim (new)
10 p.m. Law & Order: SVU

WEDNESDAY
8 p.m. Knight Rider (new)
9 p.m. Deal or No Deal
10 p.m. Lipstick Jungle

THURSDAY
8 p.m. My Name is Earl
8:30 p.m. 30 Rock
9 p.m. The Office
9:30 p.m. The Office or SNL Thursday Night Live (new)
10 p.m. ER

FRIDAY
8 p.m. Crusoe (new)
9 p.m. Deal or No Deal
10 p.m. Life

SATURDAY
8 p.m. Dateline
9 p.m. Knight Rider repeats
10 p.m. Law & Order: SVU repeats

SUNDAY
NFL football

Winter 2009
MONDAY
8 p.m. Chuck
9 p.m. Heroes
10 p.m. The Philanthropist (new)

TUESDAY
8 p.m. The Biggest Loser: Couples
9:30 p.m. Kath and Kim (new)
10 p.m. Law & Order: SVU

WEDNESDAY
8 p.m. Knight Rider (new)
9 p.m. Deal or No Deal
10 p.m. Law & Order

THURSDAY
8 p.m. My Name is Earl
8:30 p.m. 30 Rock
9 p.m. The Office
9:30 p.m. The Office spinoff
10 p.m. ER / The Celebrity Apprentice

FRIDAY
8 p.m. Deal or No Deal
9 p.m. Friday Night Lights
10 p.m. Life

SATURDAY
8 p.m. Dateline
9 p.m. Law & Order: SVU repeats
10 p.m. Law & Order repeats

SUNDAY
8 p.m. specials / Merlin (new)
9 p.m. specials / Medium
10 p.m. specials / Kings (new)

New show descriptions (all from NBC's press release):

My Own Worst Enemy - Henry Spivey (Christian Slater, Bobby) is a middle-class efficiency expert living a humdrum life in the suburbs with a wife, two kids, a dog, and a minivan. Edward Albright is an operative who speaks 13 languages, runs a four-minute mile, and is trained to kill with his teeth. Henry and Edward are polar opposites who share only one thing in common - the same body. When the carefully constructed wall between them breaks down, Henry and Edward are thrust into unfamiliar territory where each man is dangerously out of his element. My Own Worst Enemy explores the duality of a man who is literally pitted against himself. And it raises the question: who can you trust when you can't trust yourself?

Knight Rider - On the heels of NBC's hit movie, the iconic 1980s television classic comes roaring back to life as an updated drama series showcasing the new customized KITT (Knight Industries Three Thousand) Ford Mustang. As the sequel resumes, KITT is absolutely the coolest car ever created: its supercomputer capable of hacking almost any system; its weapons systems efficient; and its body - thanks to its creator's work and nanotechnology - is capable of actually shifting shape and color. It is the ultimate car -- and someone will be willing to do anything to obtain it. Knight Rider stars Justin Bruening, Deanna Russo, Sydney Tamiia Poitier, and Bruce Davison.

Crusoe - Based on the legendary novel by Daniel Defoe, this is the tale of Robinson Crusoe. A young man leaves his true love to embark on an adventure - only to end up shipwrecked on a remote tropical island for 28 years, completely detached from the life he once knew. His desire to return to his wife and his strong and unlikely friendship with Friday are the only things that keep him sane. While stranded, Crusoe encounters enemies and braves the elements. Equal parts MacGyver, Castaway, and Pirates of the Caribbean, this series is an inspirational tale of survival rife with action and comedy.

Kings - Kings is an inspiring exploration of the timeless David vs. Goliath struggle. The show is set in a modern metropolis under siege where the fighting has gone on for too long and cost far too many lives. When David Shepherd (Christopher Egan, Resident Evil: Extinction), a brave young soldier, rescues the king's (Golden Globe winner Ian McShane, Deadwood) son from enemy territory, he sets events in motion that will finally bring peace. Suddenly, David is thrust into the limelight, earning the affections of women - including the king's daughter. When he's promoted to captain, he becomes the reluctant poster boy for hope. But for David, the line between his allies and enemies will blur as the power players in the kingdom go to great lengths to see him fall. From the director (Francis Lawrence) of the blockbuster movie I Am Legend comes the ultimate story of David vs. Goliath, and there's no telling who will win.

Merlin - Merlin brings to life a new legend for a modern audience. Merlin is an exciting, hour-long fantasy series set in the mythic city of Camelot - but inspired by 21st Century storytelling. Before Merlin (Colin Morgan, Doctor Who) and Arthur (Bradley James, Lewis) became legends, they were ambitious young men looking for adventure, hoping to live up to their family's expectations, discovering love and finding their own true destiny, making mistakes along the way. The innovative, action-packed drama has cross-generational appeal and paints a picture of Merlin and Arthur's early life that audiences have never witnessed before. Anthony Head (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Richard Wilson (A Passage to India), Angel Coulby (Magicians) and Katie McGrath (The Tudors) also star.

The Philanthropist - This one-hour drama is about a rebel with a cause. Teddy Rist loves women, money and power. After the tragic death of his only child, Teddy has an awakening and becomes the world's first vigilante philanthropist - a renegade billionaire who uses his wealth, connections and power to help people in need. He'll do anything to achieve his goals - bargain with the self-righteous, trade with the nefarious and even tell the truth. Instead of spending $25,000 a plate at a fundraiser, he's dodging bullets in third-world countries to hand-deliver vaccine. It's a global adventure that will take viewers to the ends of the Earth and will inspire them as well.

Kath and Kim - They're the most dysfunctional duo in suburbia. Kath Day (Molly Shannon, NBC's Saturday Night Live) is the mom, a foxy, 40-something divorce who finally has time for herself and her valiant search for love. Kim Day (Selma Blair, Hellboy," "Hellboy II" is the daughter, a self-absorbed princess recently separated from her husband who finds consolation in stuffing her face. When Kim decides to move back home, Kath reluctantly agrees - but to Kim's chagrin, Kath is not about to cater to her every whim as she has in the past. Based on the most successful comedy in Australia of the same name, Kath and Kim are two brassy women who prefer the finer things in life like acrylic nails, big hair and faux diamond chips.