Posted Feb 15th 2010 3:29PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Daytime, Celebrities, Emmys, Reality-Free
One of the biggest stars of daytime,
David Canary, has chosen not to renew his contract with 'All My Children,' in large part because of the soap's relocation to Los Angeles according to Soap Opera Network. ABC hasn't confirmed the information, but the creator of
'All My Children,' Agnes Nixon, did. And prior to her confirmation, David Canary's daughter Tweeted about it to David's fans.
David Canary has been on
'All My Children' as Adam and Stuart Chandler since 1983, winning five Daytime Emmys (out of eleven nominations), and he's a fantastic actor. The roles of Adam and Stuart have been integral to the show, even after it was revealed that Adam was responsible for shooting – and killing – Stuart last year.
Continue reading David Canary Is Leaving 'All My Children'
Posted Feb 12th 2010 11:00AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Daytime, Celebrities, NCIS, Casting, Emmys, Reality-Free
There's more details coming out about
Gena Rowlands' upcoming guest turn on 'NCIS,' thanks to a report from TV Guide soap expert Michael Logan. When Rowlands appears on
'NCIS' March 2 as Gibbs' former mother-in-law, Joann, the show will flashback to a time when Joann and Jethro were much younger.
The younger Gibbs will be played by Sean Harmon, Mark's own son, and the younger version of
Joann will be portrayed by 'Days of Our Lives'' Emmy-winner Leann Hunley.
Hunley (pictured), who plays Anna DiMera on
'Days of Our Lives,' told Logan that she was thrilled to play Joann in flashback, especially because of her admiration for Rowlands. "When I first saw her back in the '70s in 'A Woman Under the Influence,' I thought, 'That woman looks like me! She has my eyes!'" Hunley told Logan.
Continue reading More on Gena Rowlands' 'NCIS' Episode
Posted Feb 12th 2010 8:01AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Daytime, Celebrities, Awards, Casting, Emmys, Reality-Free
Since April 1, 1963,
'General Hospital' has been broadcast on ABC. If you're keeping count, and they are at the network, that means 'General Hospital' will air episode 12,000 on February 23. It's a remarkable achievement, especially when coupled with the fact that in that the past 47 years, 'GH' has won the Daytime Emmy as Outstanding Drama Series ten times. That's more than any other soap opera; and the Daytime Emmys only began being doled out in 1971!
To commemorate the 12,000th show, SoapCentral.com reports that
'General Hospital' has conjured up a new opening for the show. The current one, with music by Dave Koz, includes a collection of images of the stars. It also ends with one of the best endings ever for a credit sequence. All the men are gathered for a big group shot, sitting and posed in a variety of ways. They're all in black and white on a white set.
Continue reading 'General Hospital' Hits 12,000 Episodes
Posted Feb 8th 2010 11:00AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: 24, Ratings, TV Squad Lists, Emmys, Reality-Free
What is going on with Jack Bauer? Have you been watching '24' this season, the first time set in New York City? There were high expectations that this might be the best season yet for
'24' because we'd be seeing a lean, mean, older Jack who has been through the wringer and knows all the tricks and turns of the business. Comparisons were made to Jason Bourne, but with the Bauer edge.
Unfortunately, we're not seeing the vim and vigor of
'The Bourne Identity' or any of the other Bourne pictures. We're not even seeing the quality of
'24' from seasons past. Instead, '24' has turned into something else entirely -- an empty shell of its former self. It's time to call it a day for '24.' The show has definitely jumped the you-know-what.
Continue reading Six Reasons Why '24' Has Jumped the You-Know-What
Posted Feb 5th 2010 1:02PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Industry, Emmys, Reality-Free
When I was working the
TCA beat on the west coast last month, I had a bit of cognitive dissonance when NBC aired the
Golden Globes live at 5 PM. I watched it with a bunch of critics in a conference room we reserved for the purpose, then watched the rest in my room. After Ricky Gervais bid everyone goodnight, I started stretching and thinking it was time for bed, like I do at the end of every grueling award-show watching experience I ever had.
Then I turned and saw the clock: It was 8 PM. I could have gone for dinner and come back and still had time to work before calling it a night. It was disconcerting and refreshing all at once.
NBC is hoping people have that same experience with the Emmys on August 29, as they're toying with the idea of dumping the west coast tape delay and
broadcasting the ceremony live across the country, according to Broadcasting & Cable.
Continue reading NBC Wants to Dump Emmy West Coast Tape Delay
Posted Jan 31st 2010 1:29PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, Celebrities, Awards, Casting, Emmys, Reality-Free
You could say that most people's interest in a
new comedy from Friends' star Matthew Perry called Mr. Sunshine, would be pretty high. He's a popular actor.
Friends was a popular show. People reacted favorably to Courteney Cox's new comedy
Cougar Town... You see where I'm going here.
Well, the interest meter just moved up considerably because
West Wing Emmy-winner
Allison Janney will co-star with Matthew in Mr. Sunshine.
Mr. Sunshine is an ABC pilot they'll be filming, and it's about a guy who reaches his 40th birthday and wonders if he can continue just getting by on his charm and nonchalant style.
Mr. Sunshine is set in San Diego, where Perry's character manages an aging stadium. Janney is playing Crystal Cohen, the lady in charge of the place. That's right; she's Matthew's boss.
Continue reading Allison Janney joins Matthew Perry's Mr. Sunshine
Posted Jan 25th 2010 1:03PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Programming, OpEd, The Office, Celebrities, Pickups and Renewals, 30 Rock, Ratings, Judges, TV Squad Lists, Emmys, Reality-Free, Modern Family
A couple of weeks ago, Kona wrote about the campaign to convince
ABC to save Better Off Ted. Despite these grassroots efforts, the rating for
Ted continue to be dismal and ABC probably has "cancel
Better Off Ted" on the corporate to-do list.
That's a shame, because the more I watch of
Better Off Ted, the better I think it is. Smart, funny, observant and surreal,
Ted is an office comedy that makes deserves to survive. If more people gave it a shot, I think it would be a success. Maybe not a monster hit, but there aren't many of those in the sitcom field right now. Emmy winner
30 Rock is anything but a ratings hit.
Continue reading Five keys to saving Better Off Ted
Posted Jan 13th 2010 8:33PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Daytime, Celebrities, Casting, Emmys, Reality-Free
Daytime soaps have always had a sketchy history when it comes to life and death. In short, like science fiction and fantasy, death is not a finality. Soap characters can return from the dead, not really have been dead at all, reappear as missing twins, turn out to have been victim of a coffin switch, and if all else fails, death become a way to bring a character back as a ghost or guardian angel. All that is part of Soaps 101, a college course taught at most universities today, I believe.
That was a long introduction to reveal that fan fave and multiple Emmy winner
Cady McClain is returning to All My Children. Cady was more recently on
As the World Turns as Rosanna, but left about a month ago when her story line wrapped. That means she was free to sign up with another soap and ABC came a callin' for the actress.
Continue reading Cady McClain returning to All My Children
Posted Jan 11th 2010 7:54PM by Nick Zaino
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, TV on DVD, Emmys
The best thing about making fun of the daily failings of celebrities and other public figures, as is Kathy Griffin's bread and butter, is that you can write a new act every few weeks. Griffin's Bravo special,
She'll Cut A Bitch, originally aired in April of 2009, and comes out uncensored with a few extra routines (about 12 minutes total) on DVD January 12.
She also released a CD last November, called
Suckin' It For the Holidays, which had almost nothing to do with the holidays. There was very little overlap between the special and CD. Griffin has released a steady stream of specials for the past several years, in addition to shooting her reality show,
My Life on the D-List.
Continue reading Kathy Griffin's She'll Cut A Bitch on DVD
Posted Jan 11th 2010 7:00PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Programming, OpEd, Emmys, Breaking Bad, Reality-Free
On March 21,
Breaking Bad is back. That's right, AMC is bringing back one of the best dramas on television that's not
Mad Men when
Breaking Bad returns for Season Three with an episode starring and directed by Emmy-winner Bryan Cranston.
The episode, "No Mas," means "No More" in Spanish and it will be interesting to see how creator Vince Gilligan picks up the threads from the Season Two finale. For fans of the show, that means we're finally going to know what's happened to Walter during and after the plane crash. That's just an assumption because when it comes to
Breaking Bad, you're never truly sure what's going to happen next.
Continue reading Breaking Bad returns in March
Posted Jan 8th 2010 1:15PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, Celebrities, Pickups and Renewals, Casting, Weeds, Emmys, Reality-Free, Nurse Jackie
When I first heard the title of Laura Linney's new show for Showtime, I thought it was going to be something salacious. Well, I was wrong. It's about cancer. And now
Showtime has greenlit The Big C, placing an order for 13 episodes.
The title, actually, is altered from the original announcement. Instead of
The C-Word, it's now
The Big C. Linney's character is a wife and mother who is diagnosed with cancer and her life is dramatically altered.
That sounds like a simple -- perhaps obvious -- situation. However, cancer is something that has touched nearly everybody's life in some way and
The Big C should have instant universal appeal.
Continue reading Laura Linney's The Big C gets Showtime pickup
Posted Jan 1st 2010 5:00PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Daytime, Video, Awards, Emmys, Reality-Free
On soaps, every now and then the powers that be -- usually the head writer who's overdosed on Red Bull and jelly beans months before -- comes up with the idea of doing a special episode. They'll focus on a single character and think outside the box. Sometimes they hit the jackpot; sometimes they create a clunker.
The Young and the Restless offered a very special New Year's Eve episode yesterday and it was a home run.
Headwriter Maria Arena Bell and her talented team, including
Hogan Sheffer, decided to put the character of Billy Abbott under the microscope and, as it turned out,
Y&R pulled off a great episode.
It wouldn't have worked nearly as well if not for the riveting performance of actor Billy Miller. He rose to the occasion and this could be an award-winner if it's submitted for the next round of Daytime Emmys. If you haven't seen it yet or it's in your DVR waiting to be viewed, be warned that there are SPOILERS ahead.
Continue reading The Young and the Restless serves up a winner
Posted Jan 1st 2010 11:02AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Battlestar Galactica, Grey's Anatomy, Celebrities, Awards, TV Squad Lists, Damages, Emmys, Reality-Free
More of our best of the decade coverage, which started on Tuesday. You can read the other posts at the link above. Here, we talk about the best dramatic actresses of the decade.
Television has always been good to the ladies. Actresses have flourished in dramatic series, and in the past decade, we've seen some amazing performances. There have been lawyers, cops, a U.S. president, nurses, doctors, judges, mothers, daughters and even a real housewife from New Jersey whose husband was in the waste disposal business.
Many of these women have already been honored with Emmys and Golden Globes... and now they get the recognition of TV Squad.
Here, then, without further vamping, the best dramatic actresses of the past ten years:
Continue reading Best TV of the '00s: Dramatic Actress
Posted Dec 25th 2009 2:08PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, CSI, Video, Awards, Emmys, Reality-Free, Burn Notice
Have you received all your Christmas gifts? Would you like one more? Okay, here it is, when
Burn Notice returns for the winter season on January 21, the first episode will include guest star Tyne Daly. That's right, Tyne will be reuniting with her
Cagney & Lacey co-star
Sharon Gless. This is will be the first of seven new
Burn Notices till next summer.
There's another
Cagney & Lacey story in the news.
CSI creator Anthony Zuiker wants to revive the show for CBS. For those who don't recall,
Cagney & Lacey was the top female cop drama of the 1980's -- actually of all time. It was a serious police drama, unlike something jiggly like
Charlie's Angels or safe and pedestrian like
Police Woman.
Continue reading Cagney and Lacey reunite on first Burn Notice of 2010
Posted Dec 21st 2009 2:29PM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Awards, Emmys, Reality-Free
The Emmys have been the reigning king of awarding television excellence and snubbing true television excellence since the dawn of the medium.
Many have tried to topple the immovable giant, but none have succeeded. That doesn't mean no one is willing to still try.
The Paley Center for Media is shopping their own television awards show to the networks.
So far, none of the networks have made an official deal and the Center denies that their show is attempting to knock Emmy off the face of the Earth, but the timing seems to suggest otherwise. The Emmys' deal with the network runs out next year and has grown tired of its stale ratings and favoritism towards the cable shows. Well maybe if the networks stopped airing the Emmys, they would have more time for shows that are actually good.
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