I Agree... It's Not That Great

The New York Times reviews "The Electric Company", Version 2.0.

New Coke. Some folks never learn.

"ER" and "E/R"

Years before the NBC medical drama "ER", there was a sitcom called "E/R" (note the slash) that was set in an emergency room.

I can think of four performers who were on both shows. George Clooney is the only one who was in the regular cast of both, and Mary McDonnell (who is now on "Grey's Anatomy") was a cast member on slashy "E/R" and a guest star on no slashy "ER". Luis Avalos (always best remembered to me as a cast member from "The Electric Company") and Conchata Ferrell were cast members on the comedy and each did one episode of the drama.

Warner Bros., if they really want to mess with Sasquatch, should bring as many of the old "E/R" cast as they can to one of the final episodes of "ER", which is ending up its 15-year-run in March.

An Earlier Late Night

The New York Times' Bill Carter on plans to move Jay Leno to a new 10 p.m. nightly time slot.

Needless to say, this is a good plan for NBC, which hasn't exactly set the 10 p.m. timeslot on fire in recent years. Acknowledging that basic cable and premium cable now seem to have the edge in producing quality TV drama, the network is going to put Jay Leno in a new 10 p.m. time slot, still doing his show from Studio 3 in Burbank.

Television has gone through many changes, but I really think we're going to see a sea change in how TV is programmed in the next decade, particularly if Jay Leno takes hold at 10:00 p.m.

My only problem with the whole Leno deal is that really undercuts and devalues Conan O'Brien taking over Leno's old time slot. What's the point of going on at 11:37 p.m. when you're still playing second fiddle to Leno?

NOTE: I posted this before I read this - Mark Evanier makes many of the same points, and even uses some of the same phraseology, including "sea change".

ENOUGH ALREADY

In the last two days, I have seen ads for fall shows - and I certainly won't mention which ones - on Fox and CBS. Is it too much to ask, oh mighty TV networks, for us to have a SUMMER first?

Dear ABC,

I find your little television network harder and harder to deal with as the years go by. Back in the day, you had many of my favorite shows on. "Happy Days." "Laverne & Shirley." "Mr. T. and Tina." "Mork & Mindy." "Home Improvement."

Now, what do you give us? More crap per capita than any other network, and shows that have roughly the same effect as steroids (you know that commercial with the deflating balls? Exactly).

And now, you have screwed viewers royally (thankfully because I don't get caught up in this) with your latest "Bachelor" finale in which the guy wound up picking no one.

Wake up, ABC. Love can't be manufactured. Don't do ANY MORE "Bachelor" series. We've all had enough.

(And I hope to God that Lacey Pemberton isn't in charge of the casting any more. Get her back in her little Card Sharks dealer uniform, for goodness sake!)

Thanks, CBS, But I'll Pass

Even if the annoying Julie Chen (whose husband runs the network - NEVER FORGET THAT whenever you watch her) weren't running the show, I'd steer clear of this year's "Big Brother" for this very reason:

On premiere night, Thursday, July 5 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT), Houseguests will learn that some of them will be sharing the house with an enemy, a rival or someone with whom they have unfinished business -- in short, someone from their past who they had hoped never to see again or someone with whom there is an extreme amount of tension.

Nothing like light, happy summer viewing, huh, CBS? My TV's staying off, as promised.

I Get One Of My Gifts from Comcast...

A while back (maybe a year and a half ago) I asked a couple of pretty coy questions about channels that Comcast could add to its cable, including "What do you do when you like to go places?" And the answer to that is Channel 188... The Travel Channel, now on our Toms River system.

Perhaps I'll be watching just the one show I'm interested in on that channel (the one that starts with "World" and ends in "Tour" and has a whole lot of "Poker" in the middle), but at least it's another viewing option.

Probably less viewed will be some other channels being added... Oxygen, CSPAN-2 and TNT HD. Hey, it's more choices... and hopefully more will be added so I can finally justify my $141 cable bill....

Drink Up, You Losers

From MediaWeek:

Bravo will belly up to the bar for the eighth season of Celebrity Poker Showdown, signing a deal with Brown-Forman that will see its Southern Comfort brand integrated into the fabric of the show.

As part of the deal, departing contestants will be interviewed in a specially branded area called the SoCo Lime Lounge immediately following their elimination. The Southern Comfort logo also will be featured prominently throughout the show as well as on the Celebrity Poker Showdown Web site.

I guess the tacit message here is that when you're a losing gambler, you drink to excess.

Great attitude, Bravo.

Stella's Out Of "Jeopardy!"

Well, Stella Daily's stint on "Jeopardy!" has come and gone. Our favorite pajama-wearing crossword solver finished third with an answer of "Who is Maragaret Mitchell?" on a question that practially screamed "Who is Harper Lee?" (rare interview, Alabama).

A Sure Sign of Late Spring

FOX Network is already running promos for its Fall programming. There was one last night during the finale of "That '70s Show". As a teacher, I can only say, knock it the hell off, Fox. Let us enjoy our summer.

And What Of The "That '70s Show" Finale?

Great finale. Tied up all the loose ends and brought some stasis back to Point Place. It ended just as I thought it was going to, with the countdown to midnight. And it was really odd seeing those license plates at the very end of the show with an "80" sticker on them! Thanks to the Turners and Mark Brazill and the skilled direction of David Trainer for bringing these people to life for the last eight years!

It's "Electric" (Boogie Woogie Woogie)

Shout! Factory did us all a favor with its recent DVD reissue of The Electric Company. Even though I watched the show religiously in my youth (strictly for entertainment value, since I already knew how to read), over time I had forgotten how good both the adult and youth casts were. This DVD set brought back lots of good memories of what was an otherwise turbulent period in my life.

The menacing set of eyes in the image above belong to Mr. Morgan Freeman, then just part of the Company, but now an Academy Award-winning actor with a long resume of great roles to his credit. The other performers in the picture, members of the youth cast, are June Angela, the late Gregg Burge, Steven Gustafson and Bayn Johnson - four fifths of the "Short Circus" lineup from 1973-1975 (to me, its golden era).

Except for a few cast fine-tweaks after the first couple of years - including the departure of Bill Cosby - the adult cast became a finely tuned repertory company that could hold its own with the "Saturday Night Live" gang in the comedy department. Judy Graubart, in particular, is a very funny lady. In all, I like to think of "The Electric Company" as the hipper, smarter younger sibling to "Sesame Street" - and its bastard child as well, since it didn't have the longevity or fundraising oomph as "Sesame".

If you click on the link above, you too can relive those 5:30 weekday afternoons where the Blue Beetle tried to make things right, Fargo North decoded, Jennifer of the Jungle hung out with Paul the Gorilla, and the air was filled with piercing screams of "HEY YOU GUYS!"

Conan O'Brien - My Take

I'd like to elaborate on a comment I made on Amy Reynaldo's blog about Conan O'Brien.

There was a word in the NY Sun crossword today CRUNK. I was confusing it with "Krunk", the all-purpose stuff mentioned numerous times on the Conan O'Brien show, "back when it was good", I mentioned.

The truth is that Conan's show just ain't that good any more.

Case in point: about a year ago, one of Conan's newest little bits of business was showing random clips from episodes of "Walker, Texas Ranger", which is a show that appears on a network that had been recently came into the NBC family, USA. He would push some sort of lever on his desk and there's Chuck Norris kicking the teeth out of someone under the thin guise of being a Texas Ranger. (Far as I know, in real life, Texas Rangers don't kick people.)

Since I had developed quite the aversion to "WTR" (which, by the way, was a show my wife just loved), I really didn't think that much of the bit, and that was about the time I decided I should really be in bed at 12:30 to be awake to teach the kiddies the next morning.

A few weeks ago, I chanced into the living room at about 12:50 a.m., and decided to keep it on NBC until such time that "Street Smarts" (which, unfortunately, has been cancelled after five seasons) started on GSN. There's Conan O'Brien, sitting at his desk... and he's got the lever... and he pushes the lever... and there's Chuck Norris kicking the teeth out of someone!

Jesus Christ! At least when Ernie Kovacs did seemingly repetitive things like "The Nairobi Trio", he gave them different little things to do every time. But this "Walker" bit hadn't changed ONE IOTA since Conan introduced it. And not only that but I hear that Conan still does his "In The Year 2000" bit... and it's 2005. (He's still got the great Labamba doing that falsetto bit, which is good because Labamba is a killer bone player.)

And Conan is taking over for Leno in 2009?

Hopefully there'll be someone better who hasn't come to the fore yet to take over for Dave on CBS when his time is up.

It's hard for me to say this, as back in the day, I used to be one of the happy recappers of Conan's show for a fansite, but... now, I'd have to drink rather heavily to appreciate his brand of "humor".

Building A Better INXS

I saw the first episode of "Rock Star: INXS" which is running three nights a week through the summer and early fall on CBS. The conceit of this show is to attempt to find a new lead singer for INXS, which has been largely without one since frontman Michael Hutchence did himself in.

So on the reality show landscape we have now overlaid the rock and roll lifestyle. Therefore, while we anxiously wait for Smoking Gun to find drug busts or DUI's on these folks, we are going to bet the farm on the red-tressed, multiply tattooed Heather to win this thing and take INXS in a new direction as its first-ever female lead singer.

What is really buzz about this show is they somehow got Dave Navarro involved. The singer, who is most famous for stints with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Jane's Addiction (as well as his marriage to Carmen Electra), is sort of a host, sort of an honorary member of INXS, and Brooke Burns is sort of a host as well.

I'd rather watch something like this than the increasingly artificial "Big Brother" and its constantly artifical host, Mrs. Les Moonves.

If Real Life Were Like "Reality" TV

Every other t-shirt, hat, and license plate would be fuzzed out.

Think about it.

A Face That Can Sell Vacuum Cleaners

Remember Trading Spaces? That show that used to be on TLC where people swapped houses and redecorated rooms? I have no freaking idea about the show that replaced it, but what we miss most about the old TS are the people. Those who are walking zombie-like around the hostless landscape of the post-Paige Davis TS are doppelgangers for the real stars of the show.

Take for example this lady. You will remember Genevieve Gorder as the very blonde, very buxom, very crafty designer of many great rooms. Along the way she became the spokesperson for Swiffer. Six months or so ago, Swiffer was all set to roll out the new Sweep Vac, but ran into some recall snafus and an entire ad campaign with Genevieve was trashed. Well, the bugs are out of the vac, and Gen rides again with her most appealing commercial to date for the Swiffer folks. Here's a teaser image; more to come next week sometime when I get back from a couple of days R&R. (Today was the first day of my summer break. I trimmed my lawn and changed the oil and washed and cleaned out my van. That's a big accomplishment for the first day.)

Sweeps Marred By Paramount TV

And with the "American Idol" finale in the books, our long national nightmare - otherwise known as the May 2005 Sweeps - is now over. (Granted, we still have the "Street Smarts" tournament finale at 4 a.m., but everyone will be asleep by then.)

What was the low point of the Sweeps? Paramount Television has to be called on the carpet for its extensive coverage of the wedding of child rapist Mary Kay Letourneau to her victim. I saw nothing romantic or fairytale about the whole thing. M.K.L. was a teacher who violated one of her students. This does not redeem what she did.

And Paramount's sponsorship of their nuptials - they will deny it up and down, but I'll bet they covered everything from the cheesy wedding band to the stale coldcuts that were served at the reception - almost screams out for a boycott of their programs by anyone who thinks that this is helping our nation's moral fabric go straight to hell.

Anyone remember when "Entertainment Tonight" used to cover ENTERTAINMENT? Me either.

And speaking of newlyweds, CBS, please, no more "Rob and Amber" ANYTHING. Don't put them on "Big Brother" with Mrs. Les Moonves, or anything else of the sort.

A Phone Call You're Bloody Not Likely To Hear Made

Hello, Fox Television Network. How may I direct your call?

Yes, I'd like to speak to programming.

What is the nature of your call?

I'd like to speak to the idiot who decided not to run "Life On A Stick" tonight.

"What's Missing" From My Cable

For years, my hometown's church had a sign out front that read "Come to CH--CH - what is missing?" (Of course, the answer is U-R. That church still has that sign, and I believe that sign has outlasted three or four pastors at that church.)

Anyway, to help the folks at Comcast Cable at Toms River, here's a little quiz to help them figure out What's Missing from cable here.

1. What do you throw in Australia that comes back to you?

2. What do you like to do when you go places?

Don't send me the answers, send them to Comcast.

All Sitcoms Should Take This Pledge

With the debut of "Two And A Half Men", Chuck Lorre is back in the sitcom business. If you will recall, the 107 episodes of his previous effort, "Dharma And Greg", each had a different message scrawled in very tiny print on the producer's "vanity card" at the end of each episode (basically his production company logo). Lorre has continued the tradition with "Two And A Half Men" but this time he has a halfway decent show to go with them. Check out the show on CBS and read the text of his latest manifesto here, a pledge every sitcom should heed. We'll check back with you, Chuck.

Happy Birthday, "Biography"

Fifteen years ago tomorrow, the A&E Network premiered the first episode of a resurrected "Biography" series, having previously seen success running the old Mike Wallace-narrated black and white films of the 1950's. Since then, over 900 new "Biography" series have aired and the series has become A&E's signature. A&E is to be applauded to have contributed so much to this country's knowledge of famous and infamous people over the last 15 years.