'OFFICE' SPINOFF-BUT-NOT-REALLY RECRUITS FAMILIAR FACE • "The Office alum Rashida Jones has joined the cast of NBC's 'don't-call-it-an-Office-spinoff' comedy starring Amy Poehler."
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GOOD NEWS FOR FIVE OF YOU • "Despite reports, Brooke Shields says her NBC drama Lipstick Jungle hasn't been scrapped. … 'Our bosses are saying, "You're not canceled, don't worry. We're just trying to figure out how to make this make sense."'"
FEY RETIRES PALIN IMPRESSION; SNL TO BE CRAPPY AGAIN "Tina Fey’s hilarious turn as Sarah Palin put Saturday Night Live on the electoral map like nothing else in recent memory — viewership is up nearly 70 percent this season. But will Fey continue to moonlight as the gorgeous governor, who could be a parody-worthy public figure for years to come? 'I have to retire just because I have to do my day job,' reveals the creator and star of NBC’s 30 Rock (which experienced a 20 percent ratings uptick for its Oct. 30 season premiere). 'I think [Kristen] Wiig would do a really good job.'"
Jennifer Lopez deserves your respect. Here you were, thinking that she was just some middling pop star who's made a career out of having a big booty and being a mediocre triple threat, and then she turns it all around by showing her true face as one of the most devious con artists since that guy who dated Anne Hathaway.
How, you may ask, has J.Lo managed to swindle big bucks from networks like NBC and TLC?
Barack Obama is making a repeat appearance on The Daily Show this Wednesday guys!
The interview, combined with the highly anticipated(?) 30 minute infomercials Obama bought time for on NBC, Fox, and CBS tomorrow, means that ABC is the only major network (besides the CW, which only counts if you are voting Chuck Bass for prez) not featuring anything Obama-related in their prime-time lineup.
So what possible reason is there for ABC not airing a Barack-tastic Wednesday?
The best part of last night's Saturday Night Live was actually a skit featuring Will Forte as a Halloween sexual predator, but stupid NBC won't release the video (much like the amazing Fancy Pants sketch from the season premiere). Instead, here's a clip of the opener, which parodied the Joe Biden and John Murtha remarks made at recent Obama rallies. It was fairly humorous, but not nearly as awesome as Kristen Wiig's tiny hands from a few weeks back.
On another note, why was Coldplay allowed to perform four times throughout the show? That seems a little unfair, no? If anyone has an explanation, feel free to enlighten us.
OK OK, one more thing and then we'll be done: Congrats to Amy Poehler, who had her baby Saturday night and was unable to make the show. Archie Arnett is the luckiest little boy in the world.
Courtesy a court injunction, The Weinstein Co. can't move Project Runway to Lifetime until NBC Universal gets its say in court.
It's hard to distinguish between writer/actor/comedian B.J. Novak and his alter-ego Ryan Howard from The Office, notably because Novak hasn't done much else besides the NBC show. For the most part B.J. is Ryan: a wunderkind who came out of nowhere and rose to the top and seems a little cocky about it. Sort of like NBC executive producer Ben Silverman, the rumored inspiration for the character of Ryan.
With The Office season premiere tomorrow, now is as good a time as any to look back at the solo work of the young man who just told The New York Times: "I don’t see the value in quote-unquote brilliant things that people don’t like, and I don’t see the value in things that people like that I don’t respect."
About a month has passed since the Olympics and Michael Phelps' celebrity is still holding its own — but the appeal of NBC's dolphin boy has already started to wane. Take, for example, this spoof of Grey's Anatomy, featuring the new Dr. McSwimmy. It's cute, sure, but there's only so much a guy with really bad speaking and acting skills can do to stay relevant. Which is why he should look into adopting the "be seen and not heard" policy.
Kathie Lee Gifford has been getting a lot of flack from all sides since she moved to NBC to host the fourth hour of The Today Show. She is shrill and overshares. Other crazy women hate her. She’s a ratings killer (the show has dropped 200,000 viewers since she’s joined). And now The New York Times is criticizing her because she talks over her guests and co-host, Hoda Kotb. Come on guys, she’s not as bad as all that. Here are our three favorite things about the KLG:
At a time when speculation is running rampant that General Electric is looking to unload profit stain NBC, the Olympics are said to be Jeff Zucker's last chance at proving his unit is worth holding on to. So far, he's on the right track: With 3,600 hours of televised programming across NBC Universal's networks, Zucker & Co. surpassed the $1 billion mark in ad sales.
But much of those ad dollars are contingent on viewership. Media buyers aren't writing NBC cheques without the network guaranteeing certain ratings levels. (Thus, NBC's "TAMI," or Total Audience Measurement Index.) Which means, while the Olympics can be expected to ratchet up some 40-60 million viewers at a time, NBC is working overtime to keep viewer interest high — and never peaking.
And that's wear Phelps comes in.
A DATE HAS BEEN SET "Conan O'Brien will take over the Tonight show next June — and what happens to deposed host Jay Leno after that is anybody's guess. Leno's last show will be Friday, May 29, and O'Brien will start the following Monday, June 1, NBC executives told a Television Critics Association meeting Monday."
According to media research firm Magna Global, the median age of television viewers is now 50-years-old, older than ever before and one year outside the all-important 18-49 demographic. Of the top five networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox and CW) CBS's viewership is the most crotchety, with a median age of 54. By contrast, the CW – home of Gossip Girl – has a fan base with a median age 20 years less than that.
Why are couch potatoes graying? Because the olds don't know how to "googlize" things, nor do they get what those darn "virus videos" are all about.
"The median ages of the broadcast networks keep rising, as traditional television is no longer necessarily the first screen for the younger set," [a spokesperson for Magna Global] wrote.
The absolute oldest viewership of all ad-supported cable networks is that of Fox News' daytime and prime time lineup. Presumably that's also the viewership most likely to be "sick of all your lip" and racist.
For this week, at least. No decisions about a permanent replacement have been made. NBC News President Steve Capus says they're making decisions week-by-week.
RIP RUSSERT "NBC's Tim Russert died today after suffering an apparent heart attack, according to TV industry sources."
THAT WAS QUICK "'American Gladiators' stumbled in its return to NBC, while 'House' led Fox to a nightly win Monday. After a strong run during the writers' strike, 'Gladiators' returned to NBC's schedule with an average of 4.9 million viewers and a 1.9 rating/5 share among adults 18 to 49, logging its lowest original rating and finishing a distant third in the 8-10 p.m. time period."
Ryan Seacrest is continuing his effort to take over the universe with a "new" reality dating show that sounds a lot like every other concept as of late — but this time, one of the major networks has been suckered into the black hole.
[NBC] has teamed with Seacrest for a new reality show dubbed Momma's Boy in which mothers of eligible bachelors 'help their sons pick the right woman,' according to a casting notice for the series posted on NBC.com.
'Producers are looking for moms and their sons who are willing to work together as a team to find the perfect mate,' the ad on NBC's Web site said. 'These mothers should have strong opinions about whom their sons should date and be willing to separate the good from the bad.'
Um, has NBC seen Keeping Up with the Kardashians? If we had any faith left in television, it would officially be killed.
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SPEND MONEY TO MAKE MONEY "NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co, plans to say next week that the entry price for a 2009 Super Bowl 30-second ad will be $3 million, the Wall Street Journal said on Tuesday. The $3 million mark has never been the starting price for a commercial at the Super Bowl, though individual slots have sold for that much before, the report said. Prices to buy a 30-second spot for the 2008 Super Bowl averaged $2.7 million …"
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