Some 'Grey's' news, Wipeout , SYTYCD and More!

Well, a few weeks ago I blogged about news of Brian Austin Green in talks to join the cast of 'One Tree Hill'. Turns out that the talks fell through. A deal couldn't be reached and so Green will not be joining the cast. Robert Buckley (Lipstick Jungle) will be playing that character. Maybe I should start watching that show. They have yummy eye candy on it.

'I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here' is averaging about 4.17M viewers. I have been watching it and find it somewhat interesting, but it's just okay. That Dickenson chick is wacko! I like Lou Diamond Phillips and I kind of feel sorry for Patty and what she is going through with her husband and the politics of it all. She does seem like a nice person. I don't think it is going to come back next summer. What would be really really interesting is if they got huge stars to do that show. Like, let's get Courtney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt, Mathew McConaughey.. stars like THAT on the show. It won't ever happen. Those stars have way too much respect and credibility in the business to tarnish themselves or their careers in such a manner. But we can dream.

'So You Think You Can Dance' continues to be a ratings gem this summer at 8.7M viewers. It actually took the #1 spot ahead of Wipeout at #2. SYTYCD makes me cry, especially when there is such a beautiful routinelike the very first hip hop number and that beautiful contemporary number to an old Richard Marx song. I believe Tony Bellissimo and his partner are in trouble of elimination. They were the only couple that I truly wasn't feeling last night. I also have to add, why must Mary Murphy scream so much? It's so grating. If the dancing weren't so good and so moving, I wouldn't watch simply because here screaming is getting extremely irritating. It bothered me last season and every year she seems to step it up a notch (unfortunately!). No worries though, I'm looking forward to next weeks routines. This year has a good crop of dancers that it's almost hard to tell who is going to go and who is going to stay!

'Wipeout' came in #2 last night. What a treat it was having 2 hours back to back. I have not yet watched the entire second hour , as it got really late and I needed to sleep (it was 2am when I finally pulled myself away ). I initially was going to save it to watch tonight but thought .. eh I'll watch just a little. Well, I just couldn't pull myself away. Once again I was laughing so hard I cried. I think it's a safe bet that 'Wipeout' will be back for a third season next year.

In case you haven't heard yet ABC announced the dates for premieres of it's new season. 'Grey's Anatomy' will start on 9/24,' Desperate Housewives' 9/27 followed by 'Brothers & Sisters' on 9/27. Mark you calendars!

'Raising the Bar' ratings down, 'Nurse Jackie' Picked up for 2nd Season & More

TNT's Closer had a great opening this past Monday, according to news on THR.com. 'Raising the Bar', however, dropped 53%. Uh oh. I really do like' Raising the Bar'. Man , I wish Nielsen would come into my home.

I finally caught up and watched 'Nurse Jackie 'the other day (episodes 1 and 2 on Demand). I like it, and apparently so does the rest of the country. It was Showtime's most watched season premiere ever. As a result, 'Nurse Jackie' was already picked up for a second season. If you missed it, it's really gritty and probably the most "real" medical drama out there. Has a nice dark humor. Showtime seems to do dark humor quite well ('Dexter' has some humor and 'United States of Tara' ). What you'll find interesting is that Nurse Jackie had 1.35M viewers see it's premiere (it actually had 1M at it's first showing, and 1.35M at it's repeat hour), and it was picked up. Meanwhile shows on network stations that get 5M viewers are canceled. Interesting huh?

Fox is creating a reality series called 'More to Love' to be hosted by the plus size model Emma. It will be a dating show for "average people". Ah.. refreshing change. Getting bored with watching Barbie & Ken dolls on the 'Bachelor & Bachelorette'. There are some other dating/relationship type shows coming this fall , including 'The Marriage Ref' on NBC, 'Arranged Marriage' on CBS and 'Dating in the Dark' from ABC this summer (July 20Th). The one that truly sounds the most interesting is 'The Marriage Ref' from Jerry Seinfeld. It's being billed as an unscripted look at marriage as celebrities, comedians and sport stars decide who is right and who is wrong in disputes of real life everyday couples. That should be fun. Perhaps if my husband and I have a squabble I'll call them. I'd love for them to send me some of my favorite celebrities to tell me I'm right (wink , wink). Wonder if they take requests and if so could they send Brad Pitt?

I'm looking forward to 'So You Think You Can Dance' tonight on Fox. ABC is giving us a special treat of 2 back to back new 'Wipeout' episodes due to the' Goode Family' being booted to Friday (TV death slot as a result of poor ratings). FYI , the 'I Survived A Japanese Game Show' premiere has been moved up to June 17Th from the original July 8Th premiere date to fill in for the moved 'Goode Family'.

The Listener, More insight into "V", New Heroes Cast Member & More

There are a lot of little things to blog about today.

First, let's talk about NBC's new scripted Canadian show 'The Listener' that premiered last night with two back to back episodes. If you missed it, the story is about an EMT who has a special ability to "hear" people's thoughts. He's a telepath (a form of psychic ability). He manages to hear things and know things that help people. Trick is no one can know about his gifts which complicates his ability to get his warnings or the special inside knowledge he has heard.

I liked the show well enough. I like the as yet revealed back story as to who this guy is, his past , etc. It wasn't a very WOW! THIS IS GOOD type of show. However, there are a lot of elements that give this show a lot to work with, which I like. I hope NBC gives it a real chance for it to catch and develop itself a little and aren't so quick to 'ax' it like networks tend to do these days. The fickleness of the networks and the American viewing public however, makes me think that it may not live long enough. According to the numbers from PIfeedback.com, the listener finished #4 in it's 9pm hour and #3 in it's second hour with 5.25M and 5.35M viewers. That may sound like a lot, but to give you some idea of what that actually means you need to compare it to the #1 shows on the networks. For example 'CSI' is CBS #1 drama with an approx average of 19M viewers. NBC's 'Heroes' has over 10M on average. In comparison 5.25M is not cutting the mustard. It is important to note, however, that the NBA finals dominated the evening in ratings and could be what hurt 'The Listener'. That, and there isn't much "buzz" leading into new summer series as there are for the fall ones.

'I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here' continued it's fade. Wednesday night it dipped to 4.8M viewers. Last night, however, it slightly increased to 5.17M. That is still not looking so good. I have not yet caught up and am only half way through Tuesday's episode. Again, that's because I recorded it in my bedroom the first few nights. I have since relocated it to the living room so that I can watch it and be pretty caught up.

If any of you were a fan of 'Prison Break', which ended this past season, you may be happy to hear that Robert Knepper, who played Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell on the series has just been cast as a new villain in NBC's Heroes for this coming season (production starts this week). He makes a good villain.

This article from Variety talks about a writer signed on to Warner Brothers Television as a showrunner for "V" coming this fall. Through the article I was able to get a little more insight into the series. To share, here is a quote from the article;

Just as the original "V" used the story of an alien invasion as an allegory for Nazi Germany, the new "V" will tackle issues of government, devotion, race and faith.

Also, according to ABC, the show is going to have a set beginning, middle and end with its finale date pretty much set (similar to how 'Lost' had set it's finale date years in advance). I like knowing that there is going to be a complete "circle" for this series already established before it begins. This insight makes me even more psyched for the series premiere this fall.

For all you Heath Ledger fans (I am one of them) Cable Channel Ovation TV will be developing an hour long documentary on Heath Ledger's life that will run during it's "Live Fast, Die Young" week which will include documentaries on other stars who died young including Janis Joplin, Marilyn Monroe , Jimmy Hendrix and more. That does sound interesting. I don't necessarily watch or DVR those shows, but I may tune in if I know when and on what channel I can find it. I did so like Heath Ledger. He was very talented. It will be coming sometime this fall.

My 'I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here' Blog

Well, I finally got around to watching 'I'm a Celebrity Get Met Out of Here' today, the first episode at least. Reason it took awhile is because I only had it set to record in the bedroom and I don't spend much time watching TV in there. Note to self; set the DVR in the living room to record it.

I was pleasantly surprised actually. I thought it would be just horrible and was only going to watch it out of curiosity. I figured it would be a bunch of whinny celebrities complaining about "roughing" it. With the exception of the Pratts, the rest of the gang is , at least so far, sucking it up and hanging in there.

But then, perhaps I feel that way only because you wouldn't catch me dead in any sort of jungle and most definately wouldn't catch me laying around with those bugs ala the very first immunity challenge. Never mind eating the gross items they had them eat.

Most, no all , of the celebrities are "B" celebrities, mind you. I never heard of the Wrestler chick nor the two comedians , the basketball player and then the politicians wife. Of course,I have heard of Sanjaya from Idol and the Pratts (even though I don't watch the hills) and then of course Dickinson. Once I would love to see an "A" Lister doing that show, but I doubt that would ever happen.

The only two who delivered exactly what I expected from the entire bunch were Heidi and Spencer Pratt. Although I must say that Heidi surprised me a bit as she ate the gross stuff. Good for her. But, what the hell is she thinking being with that idiot Spencer? I didn't know what they were like before I tuned into this show as I didn't watch the Hills. I knew only the few tidbits you pick up in the tabloids about them. Spencer is a complete (expletive here!). I don't care if he is putting on an act to be the "bad boy" he's just ridiculous. He's really nauseating. He is just a spoiled, arrogant brat. Funny thing is, is that he "prays". How hypocritical can you get? On the one hand you are "religious" and "spiritual" with your praying to Jesus, but then you turn around and be a complete..well mean spirited jerk off! (Roll eyes here) Sheesh. Honestly, I could do without him on that show. So far Heidi is not all that bad, accept she's his little puppy dog (or so it seems). I would not tune in to watch him on anything. I would tune in even if he wasn't on the show. I don't know why the hell America makes people like him into celebrities.

There was one question in the back of my mind the entire time. I was wondering if they really were "outdoors" in the "jungle", or were they in an elaborate studio set made to look like the jungle? Some parts of it just looked like it was a "fake" setting. But who cares, it's still interesting to watch.

I look forward to watching Tuesday and Thursday's episode. Yeah Wednesday is missing because for some odd reason my DVR didn't record it! I hate when that happens. It doesn't too often, but it stinks when it does.

Okay, so now you know how I liked the show. But, did the viewing audience tune in? Well, according to Marc Berman at PIFeedback.com an average of 6.35M tuned in to the premiere of the show and it's viewership grew to the lead in Medium (which, btw, average 7.38M viewers. Go Medium! It was an excellent season ending and glad it's coming back on CBS this fall!). The viewership for Tuesday night was an average of 5.5M viewers and Wednesday dipped further to 4.79M into third. So, while it started strong it is fading. I wonder how it will fair in tonight's ratings?

As as a little side note, Mental dipped by 720K viewers in it's second week and lost 24% of it's viewers in the 18-49 demographic. Ouch!! I knew that show was not going to last.

Conclusion; Celebrity is definitely fluff, but not as fluffy as I had expected.

DVR ALERT: New show 'Listener' Premieres tonight on NBC at 9pm!!

Don't Waste Valuable DVR Space for 'Mental' on FOX

I finally got around to watching Mental on my DVR. It's the new show from Fox that airs on Tuesday nights at 9pm. According to Marc Berman at PIfeedback.com, it finished third in it's hour with 5.8M viewers.

From the minute it opened I felt that there was something not really authentic about it. It was as if I was watching a B movie. If you've ever watched a B movie, you KNOW it's a B movie the minute you turn it on. The acting, not so believable, the camera angles seem amateurish (I'm not an expert, but it just seemed so.. well that is the best word I could come up with). It just seems contrived. It doesn't suck you in to something that seems "real".

When you watch a show that is good, like Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy & Brother's & Sisters, what pulls you in are the characters. They are well developed, well written. There is depth right from the beginning. There was absolutely no depth for me in this show.

It just didn't do it for me and I imagine that it will be quickly canceled, although there have been 13 episodes ordered. I believe one critic said that it was a "House" want to be in a mental hospital. That about sounds right. The only thing I liked about it was that the lead actor Chris Vance (Prison Break) was nice to look at.

Sorry Fox, this is one of the worst shows I've seen on TV in awhile. I may give it one more chance with the second episode, but it won't be one that I'll use valuable hard disk space on my DVR for.

Pushing Dasies, Eli Stone & Dirty,Sexy Money Fans --Remaining Shows to Air in the Summer

Well in case you didn't already know Eli Stone, Dirt, Sexy Money and Pushing Dasies were all canceled by ABC mid season. What you may not have known is that not all the episodes of those shows have aired. Sometimes the network quietly airs the remaining shows in the summer. By quietly, I mean you really don't see any commercials for them so unless you automatically have them on your DVR to "record all new episodes" you won't even know they are on and you'll miss it.

In putting together a list of what shows are airing when I came across the information that these three shows will be airing their remaining episodes on the following dates/times;

5/30 - Pushing Dasies - 10pm on ABC through 6/13
6/20 - Eli Stone - 10pm on ABC through 7/11
7/18 - Dirty Sexy Money at 10pm on ABC through August.

Now, I was devising this list because sometimes schedules overlap and if one happens to fall as the "third" show in the same hour one week or at a certain time, well your DVR will not record one and record the other two and you missed it. As crazy at it sounds you need to strategically place your shows on the appropriate DVR in your house so that this doesn't happen. It's more a problem during the fall season, but can happen in the summer. As a little aside, I also consider which shows my husband really likes to watch so that I can record them in our bedroom where he is most likely to watch them. The ones only I'm interested in I try to recored in the living room. Yeah.. I know it sounds crazy right? But it works. Remember, I watch TV, TV doesn't watch me.

It's also difficult to keep track of all that's on and when, especially with the cable networks adding so many good new shows in the summer. Here is the list I've got so far and that I think is pretty thorough;

Monday
8pm

• NBC - I'm a Celebrity Get me Out of Here (6/1)
  
• ABC Family - The Secret Life of the American Teenager (6/22)
  

9pm

• TNT - Closer (6/8)
  
• ABC - Here Comes the Newlyweds
• NBC - Law & Order Criminal Intent ( 6/8)
• ABC Family - Make it or Break it (6/22)
  

10pm

• NBC - The Listener (6/4)
• TNT - Raising the Bar
• ABC - Dating in the Dark
• Showtime - Weeds (6/8)

10:30

• Showtime - Nurse Jackie (6/8)

Tuesday
8pm

• ABC - Superstars (6/23)
• Fox - Hell's Kitchen (7/28)
• TNT - Wedding Day(6/16)
• ABC Family - 10 Things I Hate About You (7/7)
  

9pm

• TNT - Hawthorne (6/16)
  
• FOX - Mental (5/26) / More to Love (7/28)
  
• Sci-Fi - Warehouse 13 (7/7)
• NBC - America's Got Talent (6/23)

10pm

• TNT - Saving Grace (6/16)
  
• A&E - The Cleaner
  

Wednesday
8pm

• ABC - Wipeout
  
• Fox - So You Think You Can Dance (through 8/5)
• NBC - Great American Road Trip (7/1)
  
• Sci-Fi - Ghost Hunters International (7/8)
  

9pm

• TNT - Leverage (7/15)
  
• NBC - America's Got Talent
• ABC - Goode Family / I Survived A Japanese Game Show (starting 7/8)
• Fox - Moment of Truth

10pm

• TNT - Dark Blue (7/15)
  
• NBC - Philanthropist (6/24)
  
• A&E - Tatoo Highway (5/27)
  

Thursday
9pm

• FOX - So You Think You Can Dance
• NBC - America's Got Talent
• USA - Burn Notice (6/4)
• ABC Family - Lincoln Heights (8/4)
  

10pm

• NBC - The Listener
• USA - Royal Pains (6/4)

Friday
8pm

• USA - Monk (8/7)
  

9pm

• USA - Psych (8/7)
  

Sunday
9pm

• HBO - True Blood (6/14)
  

10pm

• Lifetime - Army Wives
• HBO - Hung (6/28)
  

10:30

• HBO - Entourage

All the shows in Red are the ones that I will definitely have my DVR set to record.

I hope this information helps.

Wipeout Didn't Disappoint Last Night - Goode Family Tanked

Ah.. Yes. Bring on the big red balls! Perhaps they should say bring on those hurdles. Last night made me laugh so hard I cried. There is something just so hysterical about watching adults flail about when they bounce off those balls, try to get through the new "Bridge Too Far" (the name alone makes me laugh) and that sucker punch. Last year it was the Big Red Balls that were my favorite, but I think my new favorite is "The Hurdles". Just thinking about them right now is making me laugh.

For those who missed Wipeout last night, the new obstacle course is even harder. If it is even possible to make this course more Wipeout guaranteed, they have certainly done it. Those hurdles on the first course was the most laugh inducing thing of the entire night. Those things kept popping up and down throwing contestants in the air and flipping them over at times unaware. The best was the one contestant that was sitting on them and, as the host said , was doing a "ride em' cowboy". They improved the "Sweeper" and renamed it the "Sweeper Gyro" , the "Slippery wall".. man I just lost it, and the" Catapult" at the last and final obstacle course.. my goodness. There's much more (like Plank in the Face..LOL).. oh man, I'm laughing so hard as I type this.

And it was a hit last night with TV audiences. According to Marc Berman at pifeedback.com , Wipeout placed #2 in it's hour with 8.64 million viewers. The Goode Family, on the other hand, did not do so well ( I skipped this one. I just can't get into the cartoon family thing) with only 3.93 million viewers. I don't think the Goode Family is going to stick around. But I'm sure glad Wipeout will. I haven't laughed like that since I was a kid.

Remember When Summer TV was full of RERUNS?

Do you remember when the summer meant that there was at least 3 months where there was nothing but re-runs on TV? Before the days of the DVR, it was a great chance for you to get those shows you couldn't fit into your schedule when they re-ran. (At least that's what I used to do). I remember back in 1991 when FOX put Beverly Hills 90210 on in the summer and gave us a special Summer Season. That was the start of what has become a flock of summer shows!

TNT is really heavy on some good solid shows over the summer that also happens to run in the winter. I noticed that their seasons are "shorter" but more frequent and not as much time passes between their "season finale" and their new season. At least that is the case when it comes to shows like The Closer and Saving Grace. Raising the Bar did have a longer wait period between seasons as did Leverage. All of these shows are returning this summer.
Monday Night:
The Closer at 9pm followed by Raising the Bar a 10pm (EST)
Tuesday Night:
Hawthorne (new) at 9pm followed by Saving Grace at 10pm
Leverage and the new show Dark Blue will be on Wednesday at 9pm and 10pm respectively.

Two of my favorite from last summer are coming back. The hilarious Wipeout (ABC 5/27). I've had spontaneous bursts of silly laughter while watching people .. well wipe out. The commentary those two hosts make along with the drawings are just so silly it's hysterical - like milk shooting out of your nose funny . And then there is I Survived A Japanese Game Show (ABC 7/8). Of course, America's Got Talent on NBC is also returning on 6/23 and So You Think you Can Dance (LOVE that show) on FOX, is already under way. I can't wait to see more Mia Michael's choreographed routines. She is my favorite of all the choreographers. Her dances are amazing!

And then there is my ULTIMATE FAVORITE summer guilty pleasure BIG BROTHER on CBS returning in JULY! My mom and I watch that religiously. She even subscribes to the feed. She's fortunate to have a job that she can listen to the streaming feed while she works..LOL.. then she spills all the stuff to me on the phone later. I could technically since I"m at home, but I have a lot to do during the day and spend the time outdoors with my little man and watching a feed like that all day is a little over the top for me, especially when I could be outdoors in the beautiful summer weather. Getting the juicy stuff from my mom though, makes a difference. You totally view each of the housemates in a different light because there just isn't enough time to show all of their high jinx!

The rest of the summer landscape is a lot of reality and fluff TV from the networks. Although the Great American Road Trip on NBC sounds interesting.. especially for those of us foregoing a vacation in this economy. We can live vicariously through the TV families that will be..well taking that Road Trip across the U.S while competing against each other. I'm a Celebrity Get me Out of Here on NBC, while it sounds kind of cool, I have a feeling we'll get bored with it early. My husband is excited to watch that though. Dating in the Dark, on ABC also sounds interesting but pretty cheesy. We get to watch as people date each other over a course of a few weeks.. you got it, in the dark. At the end of the show the lights will come on and they'll have to decide whether they want to see each other or not. Shows like that are like train wrecks. You know their wrong, but you just want to watch to see what's going to happen. I'm not one for Cartoon family shows ala Simpsons and The Family Guy so I'm probably going to skip The Goode Family. Since I'm not much into sports, I'm probably going to also skip The Superstars.. both from ABC

I'm looking forward to The Listener on NBC and the Philanthropist. Not so sure how I feel about Merlin also from NBC.

I hear True Blood is going to be back on HBO this summer.. I really need to subscribe to HBO. but gave it up for Showtime because my husband LOVES Dexter (yeah.. it's pretty awesome) and I love the United Sates of Tara. I did watch he first season of True Blood and found it pretty cool. I may just add HBO to my subscription.

And my DVR thought it was going to get a vacation!