NBC 'Philanthropist' Takes 1st Place in Time Slot , NBC & CBS Announce Their Premiere Dates. RIP McMahon, Farrah and Michael Jackson

I'm off to a late blog today, as I have been so very busy. I'm even behind on my DVR watching but I'm catching up.

Last night I DVR'd and then watched the Philanthropist with my hubby. I liked it.

Listen, let's face it. While the networks are putting out new shows during the summer months, they are not exactly coming out with their best material. That is being reflected in the numbers we are seeing for the shows. The exception, of course, are the already established summer hits like 'So You Think You Can Dance' and 'Wipeout'.

The 'Listener' has not been fairing very well in the ratings. 'Merlin' also did not open strong. Honestly, 'Merlin' didn't appeal to me and I had it on while I was doing other things today and wasn't really paying attention. It could have nothing to do with the show itself, I'm just not much into that whole Harry Potter type thing (I have not seen all the movies). While I like ' The Listener', if I'm really being honest about it, compared to what is on during the Fall/Winter TV season, it is comparatively weak.

That being said, 'The Philanthropist' is probably one of the stronger of the summer network scripted shows coming on this summer. It premiered at a modest 7.4M and was the #1 show in it's time slot. Bear in mind that that number , 7.4M, during the regular TV season would not be a good opening, but for this summer season it's okay. I look forward to more of it and while it is fiction (although it is billed as being based on a real person) it is nice watching someone of that type of wealth actually doing something positive, as opposed to what we have been witnessing of CEO's in real life lately (large excessive bonuses while taking tax payer bailouts, for one.. woops.. I got a little political again..sorry).

Now, on to other business. Over the past two days both NBC and CBS have come out with their fall premiere dates. In a future blog I'll be sure to put this all together in a more cohesive manner and I'll even lay out my DVR strategy (my very first blog made reference to how I have to plan which shows get recorded on which DVR in my house as to avoid overlap and possibly losing out on recording of one show over another.. eek!!). Believe me, it takes a while to figure out what's on what night and what time and then programming your DVR to record. What adds to the difficulty is that my current DVR (provided by my cable company) doesn't really allow you to search from the title of the show and then selecting a "season pass". Instead you have to find it on the guide then set to record series and only new episodes. The Guide, of course, can only go up to the previous day of the next week. While my DVR is sufficient and I love it, I will say that nothing compares and comes even close to how conveniently cool TIVO is.

Moving on... CBS & NBC Premier dates are listed below. All the shows I will definately be DVR'g are in dark red color.

NBC Premier Dates

Sunday, September 13
7-8:15 pm. – "Football Night in America"
8:15-11 pm – "NBC Sunday Night Football"

Monday, September 14
10-11 pm – "THE JAY LENO SHOW" (Series Premiere)

Tuesday, September 15
8-10 pm – "The Biggest Loser"
10-11 pm – "THE JAY LENO SHOW"

Thursday, September 17
8-8:30 pm - "Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday"
8:30-9 pm - "Parks and Recreation"
9-9:30 pm – "The Office"
9:30-10 pm – "COMMUNITY" (series premiere – moves to Thursdays 8-8:30 pm on October 8; "30 Rock" returns October 15, 9:30-10 pm)
10-11 pm – "THE JAY LENO SHOW"

Monday, September 21
8-10 pm – "Heroes" (two hour premiere, then TRAUMA premieres 9-10 pm Monday, September 28)
10-11 pm – "THE JAY LENO SHOW"

Wednesday, September 23
8-9 pm – "PARENTHOOD" (Series Premiere)
9-10 pm – "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"
10-11 pm – "THE JAY LENO SHOW"

Friday, September 25
8-9 pm – "Law & Order"
9-10 pm – "Southland"
10-11 pm – "THE JAY LENO SHOW"

Saturday, September 26
8-9 pm – "Dateline NBC"
9-10 pm – "TRAUMA" (encore broadcast)
10-11 pm – "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (encore broadcast)
11:30 pm - 1:00 a.m. - "Saturday Night Live"

CBS's 2009-2010 Premiere Dates:

Thursday, Sept. 17
8:00-9:00 pm "Survivor: Samoa" (19th Installment Premiere)

Monday, Sept. 21
8:00-8:30 pm "How I Met Your Mother" (5th Season Premiere, OAD 9/19/05)
8:30-9:00 pm "Accidentally on Purpose" (Series Debut)
9:00-9:30 pm "Two and a Half Men" (7th Season Premiere, OAD 9/22/03)
9:30-10:00 pm "The Big Bang Theory" (3rd Season Premiere, OAD 9/24/07)
10:00-11:00 pm "CSI: Miami" (8th Season Premiere, OAD 9/23/02)

Tuesday, Sept. 22
8:00-9:00 pm "NCIS" (7th Season Premiere, OAD 9/12/03)
9:00-10:00 pm "NCIS: Los Angeles" (Series Debut)
10:00-11:00 pm "The Good Wife" (Series Debut)

Wednesday, Sept. 23
8:00-8:30 pm "The New Adventures of Old Christine"
(5th Season Premiere, OAD 3/13/06)
8:30-9:00 pm "Gary Unmarried" (2nd Season Premiere, OAD 9/14/08)
9:00-10:00 pm "Criminal Minds" (5th Season Premiere, OAD 9/22/05)
10:00-11:00 pm "CSI: NY" (6th Season Premiere, OAD 9/22/04)

Thursday, Sept. 24
9:00-10:00 pm "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (10th Season Premiere, OAD 10/6/00)
10:00-11:00 pm "The Mentalist" (2nd Season Premiere, OAD 9/23/08)

Friday, Sept. 25
8:00-9:00 pm "Ghost Whisperer" (5th Season Premiere, OAD 9/23/05)
9:00-10:00 pm "Medium" (Network Debut, OAD 1/23/05)
10:00-11:00 pm "Numb3rs" (6th Season Premiere, OAD 1/21/05)

Saturday, Sept. 26
8:00-9:00 pm Crimetime Saturday
9:00-10:00 pm Crimetime Saturday
10:00-11:00 pm "48 Hours Mystery" (Season Premiere)

Sunday, Sept. 27
7:00-8:00 pm "60 Minutes" (42nd Season Premiere)
8:00-10:00 pm "The Amazing Race" (15th Edition Premiere)
10:00-11:00 pm "Cold Case" (7th Season Premiere, OAD 9/23/03)

Sunday, Oct. 4
9:00-10:00 pm "Three Rivers" (Series Debut)

I can not let this blog today go by without expressing how sad the passing of Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcet and the sudden surprising death of Michael Jackson is. It seems like the death comes in threes (particularly among celebrities) appears to have come true these past few days. I really remember Ed McMahon more from his Star Search Days and the Practical Jokes shows he did more so than Johnny Carson, as I never watched that show (I was too young). I also was really too young to have watched Charlies Angels when it was on TV (I did watch it in syndication as a child). Of course, I grew up listening to Michael Jackson and I'll never forget the first time MTV Broadcast the much anticipated extended 'Thriller' video. God bless those three celebrities as their souls take their new journey back home.

Jon & Kate Plus 8 Divorce is Sad, Royal Pains is #1 Watched Show Knocking Closer to #2

I don't watch Jon & Kate Plus 8. I tend to spend more time on the network shows and less time further down the dial, with exception of TNT and as of late USA and of course the HBO and Showtime series. I can't really comment or blog about them individually or as a couple, as I never observed them on their TV Show. But, apparently , the American public didn't really see a problem until photos of them separately outside of their reality TV show indicated there were issues.

I did capture a clip of the announcement of their separation and it made me sad. It made me sad for them and sad for their children. They started out so full of hope with dreams of this wonderful family. I so wish that while the cameras were capturing the "family bliss" that they captured the TRUE reality that obviously lurked in the background along with everything else. I know that wasn't the premise of the show, but it would have been an honest real look at the American family. Can you really call yourself a "reality" show when you actually HIDE your reality and give us a "faked" image of your family and your marriage? If I had been a watcher of the show and a fan, I would be upset that what you were putting out there was not really real or honest.

I did think it interesting that rather than having the kids move back and forth in and out of the home, that the parents will actually rotate , each spending time in the house when it is their time with the kids. I wonder if that is the first time anything like that has ever been done.

What I think would make an even BETTER reality series is if Jon & Kate really sought therapy for their marriage. Rather than file divorce, they live separate and work on trying to hammer through their issues with a neutral third party. I believe that every marriage is worth trying to salvage before coming to the ultimate decision of ending it. They wanted to be "real" for the camera, and show a REAL American family. Divorce is so much (and unfortunately so) part of the real American family these days that documenting it on TV is perhaps what the public would need to see. Even more so, we'd need to see how a marriage can or can't be saved through working on whatever issues they have with each other. Jon & Kate need to reconnect and find each other again to remember what they fell in love with in each other or at least try to. THAT to me would be interesting to watch along with the family dynamic.

Perhaps that would be to close to the cuff for them and way too personal, but it would be more real. If they still ended up divorced, then they divorce. If not, it could teach us all how to find each other again. I wonder how the show will work now and what the new title should be , should they continue the show as they say they will.

FYI a new episode is not scheduled till August 8th. It is also interesting to note that the show that aired last night had the highest ratings for the series ever at 10.5M viewers. But, prior to this weeks show it had lost 1.3M viewers knocking it off the top 20 List.

In other cable TV News, the Closer shrunk by half a million viewers from it's opening the week before and down to the #2 spot on the Cable's most watched series list. Royal Pains is now #1 having grown by 1M viewers over the last week. USA is having a hot summer I'd say.

I did watch Hawthorne again with my husband. While I initially liked it, I think it's okay. It needs to grow more on me and hopefully it will. It's not GREAT it's okay, as it is not full of as much depth as say shows like Saving Grace is or even the Closer. I will keep watching and hopefully the second episode will improve upon the first.

Blogging about or Visiting Your Favorite Shows Webpage May Just Save It From Cancellation This Coming Season!

The way we communicate, heck the way we do everything has so evolved in the last few years it's amazing. It's no wonder that the internet is changing TV. The industry may finally be catching up.

We first noticed the internet playing a part when the writers went on strike in the 2008-2009 season. One of their bones of contention was getting more rights to the online portion of proceeds from their show. And, they have every right to that. Internet is changing the way we watch TV and networks capitalize.

Many shows are available for download on the net. P2P platforms even have "leaked" pilots that you can download and view before their air date (I've signed up to a few so that I can keep my eyes open for leaked pilots and blog about them). In its opening season, for example, 'Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles' was leaked via P2P platform. Some say it is purposefully leaked by the networks to start the "buzz". However, online popularity does not always translate into a hit on TV. Shows that got a lot of attention via the net have still ended up canceled from major networks.

That may be about to change. As reported by THR.com, the website creation service Webpaint has launched a measurement system that tracks fan interest in popular TV shows via the web.

Why is this so important? Well, it makes sense from a marketing perspective. The ability of a TV show to stay on air always had a large part to do with how many people were watching. The higher the rating, the more valuable the ad space to advertisers. Low ratings doesn't generate enough ad revenue to keep the show alive. But what if that show had a strong fan base that spent time on the networks website and the TV shows actual page on their net? Or their fan pages on social networking sites like Facebook, Myspace or Twitter? That right there is a huge magnet of clicks to a networks sites, thereby increasing the advertising value and revenue to the networks through ad space, DVD sales, etc.

I say finally. I'm tired of good shows with a solid fan base like 'Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles' being cancelled. According to information from the first week of Fandex rankings , 'Terminator' is the six most popular show among Internet users ('True Blood' from HBO topped the list). Perhaps if this tool was actually in place last season we may have seen shows like 'Terminator' saved from cancellation.

So, if you like a show this season please be sure to buzz about it somewhere on the Internet or visit the shows web page. If it's not getting the ratings on air, it's fan base on the Internet may just be able to keep some good shows on TV and out of the TV Wasteland!

To View the top Fandex Shows on the net you can go to www.fandex.com

NBC's Kings; A Great Show People Weren't Watching

Last night I was watching 'Kings', another canceled show that started showing up on my DVR. I truly enjoy the show, and as I was watching it I couldn't help think why wasn't this show a hit?

If you haven't watched the series, it is about a fictitious country Gilboa who is at war with neighboring Gath. It is ruled by King Silas with his wife , his son and daughter at his side. His son, next in line for the throne is, on the outside, the "playboy". We find out, however, that his antics with woman are only a disguise and he is indeed gay. He has an army at his command and is saved by another young soldier, David Shephard. Shephard finds himself a hero, having saved the Prince, and is brought into the world of his King and its politics.

What is really cool about it is that Gilboa resembles modern America, only with a monarch. Even down to health care issues , with the princess championing the cause of reform for the people with her father. There is a history there in the country of Gilboa and in Gath, the neighboring enemy. There are also very spiritual type mythical undertones that I found really fascinating.

This show started out the gate with lots of dimension and depths to be explored. Yet, the American public didn't really tune in to the premiere back in March and it only opened to an audience of 6.3M viewers. That sounds like a lot , but by major network standards it's not. It finished fourth in it's time slot. It dipped 19% in it's second week. The show was eventually canceled and it's remaining episodes will be aired on NBC through July 25th.

I really did like the fantasy tied in with the soap operatic element. The Princess, who is promised to another (and that promise was actually revealed to us in last nights episode), and the regular everyday hero who enters the Kings world, of course falls in love. It is a love that can not be because of the promise of the Princess to another. The prince whose father knows of his gay affairs and who, as a result, treats him with some disdain , treats Shephard more like the eventual air to the thrown then he does his own son. Who are the people of Gath and why are the two countries at war? How did these two countries form and Shenandoah come to be? It hurts to watch because those questions may never be answered, as the series has been canceled. I just hope that NBC is nice enough to redo the last episodes of what was to be the first season so that there are some answers and some conclusion.

One more thing I wanted to point out. I was a big fan of Jericho on CBS (another series that was cancelled, but thanks to rabid fans CBS brought it back and brought the series to some conclusion for us) . What I found interesting, and is probably completely unrelated, is that Jericho left off with the United States divided into two separate governments; one that was emerging from the ruins of the nuclear attacks and the other the re-emerging government of the U.S trying to gain footing and hold on to its Constitution. In Kings, I noticed that it felt somewhat like it was in the U.S with two different governments at the end of Jericho, almost as if it picked up years in the future from where Jericho left off. Again, they are probably unrelated, but I couldn't help note that feeling or idea that came to me.

Some shows I don't really miss when they get canceled. This one, however, will be. I want more. I want to know more and delve more into the story. On that note, here's an idea for a new network. How about a network that picks up all the canceled series from the other networks and keeps them goin?. I'm sure that they would be happy with all those millions that stopped watching those shows gathering on their networks to watch. It can be like a TV series purgatory.