Austin360 blogs > TV Blog > Archives > 2011 > February
February 2011
Dish Network subscribers might lose KXAN and KNVA
Sigh.
Another ongoing retransmission fight might result in Dish Network subscribers losing access to Austin NBC affiliate KXAN and The CW outlet KNVA beginning March 5.
These stations are important assets to the local community,” Eric Lassberg, president and general manager of KXAN and KNVA said via press release. “Without a fair agreement, we will not be able to provide the premiere news, sports, entertainment, weather, traffic updates, political coverage and other local and national programming that is most important to you.”
The same press release says that it appears unlikely that a new agreement between the satellite television provider and Lin Media, owner of the stations, will be reached by the midnight, March 4 deadline.
In the event of an impasse, viewers are being urged to seek alternative methods of viewing such as switching providers or obtaining the signal via over-the-air antenna.
More information on the dispute can be found at the KXAN website.
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This week’s TV picks
Monday:
“The Bachelor” 7 p.m., ABC: Yeah, Brad and his babes are headed to Africa. But the real excitement tonight comes from the announcement of the next “Dancing With the Stars” cast (if you’re into that sort of thing).
“The Cape” 8 p.m., NBC: Elliott Gould and Li’l Romeo win this week’s “most mis-matched guest stars” award.
“Alan K. Simpson: Nothing Else Matters” 9 p.m., PBS: This look at the former Wyoming Senator features one of the last interviews with the late Sen. Ted Kennedy.
Tuesday:
“American Idol” 7 p.m., Fox: Voting begins as the guys kick off the competition phase of the musical reality competition.
“In Performance at the White House” 7 p.m., PBS: Michelle and President Barack Obama host a tribute to Motown.
“Cuff Me If You Can” 9 p.m., Investigation Discovery: The premiere of this documentary series about criminals on the lam profiles a 2007 murderer.
Wednesday:
“American Idol” 7 p.m., ABC: And now it’s the girls’ turn.
“Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior” 9 p.m., CBS: The gang tracks down a serial killer who removes a victim’s eyes. Where was he or she before I had to watch “Shedding for the Wedding?”
Thursday:
“Islam and the West” 7 p.m., Smithsonian: This new series’ title says it all.
“KLRU Civic Summit: Planning the Future” 7:30 p.m., PBS: Former mayors of Austin, Houston, Dallas and San Antonio discuss Austin’s transition to a major city.
“Fairly Legal” 9 p.m., USA: Kate takes on Homeland Security.
Friday:
“The Defenders” 7 p.m., CBS: Kathy Griffin guest stars. Who knew the “D” in D-List stood for “Defenders?”
“NAACP Image Awards” 7 p.m., Fox: Wayne Brady and Holly Robinson Peete co-host this tribute to African American artists.
Saturday:
“Lobster Wars” 7 p.m., Green: Where do they get those tiny guns and uniforms?
“Secrets from a Stylist” 8 p.m., HGTV: Hey — I thought stylists were supposed to keep secrets, like bartenders and therapists.
“Kenny Chesney: Summer in 3D” 9 p.m., GAC: The country crooner performs his greatest hits.
Sunday:
“Secret Millionaire” 7 p.m., ABC: Season 2 of the reality series kicks off with millionaire Dani Johnson, who started the first of her five businesses from her car’s trunk.
“America’s Next Great Restaurant” 7 p.m., NBC: It’s probably not America’s next great TV show, but who knows? The series opener finds 21 contestants competing to open their own restaurant chain.
“Celebrity Apprentice” 8 p.m., NBC: 16 celebs including Gary Busey and Meat Loaf kick off Season 11.
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Zach Anner wins show on Oprah’s network
Meet Zach Anner, national television star. In a surprise move, Oprah Winfrey awarded both the Austin resident and his co-finalist, Kristina Kuzmic-Crocco, their own shows on the Oprah Winfrey Network. Anner will produce a humorous “travel show for people who never thought they could travel.” Anner knows something about the topic, having spent his life in a wheelchair as a result of cerebral palsy.
As one of ten out of 15,000 applicants chosen to appear on the reality competition “Your OWN Show: Oprah’s Search for the Next TV Star,” Anner excelled week after week, charming the show’s hosts and celebrity mentors, and earning the respect of his competitors as they fell away one by one.
In Friday’s finale, Winfrey expressed concerns about the physical toll his own show could take on Anner but, in the end, he was just too good to pass up. The pair’s prizes also include a new car and $100,000 from sponsor Kohl’s
“On the day of my pilot shoot I had a fever of 100-and-something. So when you saw me coughing (during the finale), it’s because I was dying,” Anner joked to a crowd of friends and fans at a private Alamo Drafthouse watch party. He had high praise for his competitor, asking the crowd to root for Kristina as well. “We were legitimately rooting for each other,” he said.
“I’m a lucky dude, because I really have no talent,” Anner said, adding that he wants to film an episode in Austin. “Without this city, I would never have learned the skills to do so well,” he said.
Anner’s show is expected to premiere sometime this summer.
FROM THE ARCHIVES
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Trailer for Friday’s ‘Fringe’ throwback episode
Tonight’s episode of “Fringe” is a good one, focusing almost entirely on young Olivia and Peter, as well as both Walters and their wives. Learn how Walternate discovered the alternate universe (and a technology never fully realized in our universe that he was responsible for creating in his) as well as a peek into Olivia’s abusive childhood home life.
Check out this trailer and watch the entire episode tonight at 8 p.m. CT on Fox.
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Shami to appear on ‘Celebrity Apprentice’
Maybe former Texas gubernatorial candidate and self-proclaimed “hair king” Farouk Shami can give the Donald some grooming tips.
An NBC press release reveals that Shami, who lost the 2010 Texas Democratic primary nomination to former Houston mayor Bill White, will appear with host Donald Trump as a guest judge on the May 1 episode of “Celebrity Apprentice.”
Watch the drama unfold beginning Sunday, March 6 at 9 p.m. Eastern! NBC’s hit show The Celebrity Apprentice returns to primetime for its 11th consecutive season. Making a guest appearance amid the all-star line up will be Farouk Systems Founder and Chairman, Farouk Shami, who will appear as a guest judge during a special task in episode 9 airing May 1st.
“The next season of The Celebrity Apprentice will be the most exciting yet,” said Donald Trump, the show’s star and executive producer. “We are thrilled to bring back the celebrity format with 16 new and unbelievably talented celebrities who will help me make The Celebrity Apprentice one of the hottest shows on television this spring. Our cast and the tasks they perform in conjunction with our sponsor partners are just outstanding. As the top television shows for product placement and brand integration, The Apprentice proves the extraordinary value we offer to our sponsor partners.”
This season’s cast includes Real Housewives of Atlanta star NeNe Leakes, actresses Lisa Rinna and Marlee Matlin, model Niki Taylor, singer Dionne Warwick, former The View co-host Star Jones, Playmate Hope Dworaczyk and LaToya Jackson. On the men’s side, rapper Lil Jon, actor Gary Busey, former baseball player Jose Canseco, Survivor winner Richard Hatch, former teen idol David Cassidy, and singers Meat Loaf, John Rich and Sugar Ray lead singer Mark McGrath.
“Watch me, the Hair King, on The Celebrity Apprentice with my good friend Donald Trump,” Shami said. “We are proud to have gotten the opportunity to share in this experience. You won’t want to miss out on this season!”
The newest season of The Celebrity Apprentice premieres Sunday March 6th at 9 p.m. on NBC.
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OWN renews ‘Our America with Lisa Ling’
From an Oprah Winfrey Network press release:
OWN: OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK ANNOUNCES SECOND SEASON PICK UP FOR ORIGINAL SERIES ‘OUR AMERICA WITH LISA LING’
Announcement Comes As Series’ Second Episode Grows 24% From Its Premiere Week
Los Angeles, CA —- OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network has picked up a second season of the popular doc-series “Our America with Lisa Ling” (Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT), it was announced today by Lisa Erspamer, chief creative officer, OWN. The new season will include six investigative specials in the series.
“‘Our America’s’ thought-provoking programming has resonated with our audience,” said Ms. Erspamer. “In the second season Lisa will dig even deeper into our society covering provocative issues that spark discussion and conversation.”
“I am truly elated that OWN’s audience has responded to ‘Our America,’ and I’m thrilled to get the chance to produce more episodes,” said series host and executive producer Lisa Ling. “We set out to create shows that don’t tell viewers what to think, but rather, to take them along to experience different aspects of this country that we inhabit. It has been a most scintillating journey.”
The pick up announcement comes as the series’ second episode on Tuesday, February 22 (10 p.m. ET/PT) grew 24% from its premiere week with a .51 W25-54 / 733,000 P2+, ranking #16 in the hour among cable competition.
From religious movements to sex offenders to drug addiction and online brides, “Our America with Lisa Ling” takes viewers along for an in-depth look at some of the most controversial and thought-provoking issues in the United States today. In each episode, Lisa immerses herself into the lives of the people she meets, offering compelling accounts of varied experiences and providing insight into some of our nation’s most contentious issues. In sharing these stories, Lisa challenges viewers to understand different perspectives and even question what they themselves have always known to be true in “Our America.”
“Our America with Lisa Ling” is produced by part2pictures. Lisa Ling, David Shadrack Smith and Greg Henry are the executive producers.
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Recap: ‘The Bachelor’ week 8, Feb. 21
So, I struggled with this week’s recap, which is why it’s being posted two days late. Maybe I’m suffering “Bachelor” burnout, but it just didn’t seem like much happened in this episode — much that I could find any interesting way to write about, in any event. I did my best, but you’ve been warned.
It was so bad that I had to resort to artificial means of entertainment to make it through a re-watch: Every time Brad said either “This was the girl I liked the first time I met her” or “more than you know,” I ate a Girl Scout cookie (and, by the way, calling them “Thin Mints” is just flat-out deceptive). It’s the middle-aged homebody’s version of a drinking game. I gained about six pounds. Don’t judge.
In this week’s episode, Brad’s going on hometown dates with the four remaining contestants, but not before he tells us where he stands with each one. Chantal, he says, has taken him on an emotional roller coaster (and I’m assuming he could only get on it because there was a sign that said “you must be this dull to ride.”) Brad says that he and Ashley have hit some speed bumps. Maybe that’s because they’re moving way too fast. Shawntel, he claims, has never subjected him to drama, games or a roller coaster. Perhaps that’s why she’s the long shot. Finally, he claims that there’s something very real between him and Emily. There’s something between them, alright but, oh, Brad … ghosts aren’t real and Ricky Bobby is always in the room!
Brad says he’s so excited to meet the young women’s families and all I can think is, if you’re truly excited about something, do you have to keep saying how excited you are about it? Shouldn’t it just be kind of obvious?
Continue reading about Brad’s trips after the jump.
Brad first heads to Seattle to meet Chantal and I hope he stops at Starbucks because a.) the ones in Seattle are the best, and b.) a little caffeine couldn’t hurt this guy, right? Anyway, I like Chantal. She’s cute and she seems like a lot of fun. But here are two red flags: she lives four blocks from her parents and she owns cats (and I’m not talking about the original Broadway cast soundtrack). Chantal was afraid her dog, Boca (that’s Spanish for “mouth,” right?) would bite Brad, but Boca’s all “I don’t bite tools, I use ‘em to fix stuff.” Brad has made it clear that whoever he ends up with is going to have to move to Austin. Chantal asks Brad if he has ample closet space. He admits that he doesn’t and then, in one of my flights of fancy, promises her that he will clear one of them out for her and the dog to live in.
Later, Brad and Chantal travel the four blocks to Madame Tussaud’s — er, Chantal’s parents’ house (they don’t show it, but I’m sure they take a helicopter). There’s plenty of room in the Chantal Family Mansion, but not on mom Billie Joe’s face, which is a tight squeeze. I’m just saying, the woman probably has her own branded scalpel like Fender has a Stevie Ray Vaughan signature guitar model. While visiting the Mansion family, Brad bonds with Chantal’s dad, who owns a huge sculpture depicting a self-made man. And it’s depicting that concept by actually being a sculpture of a man chiseling himself out of bronze. Dad is literal. I think that might explain Billie Joe’s nips and tucks: She was probably doing bills or something one night and Chantal’s dad started bothering her and she said, “Honey, I’d like to get some work done” and he took her literally and called a plastic surgeon.
Anyway, the family loves Brad, so he decides to bolt on a high note and head to Maine to reunite with Ashley and meet her family. And eat french fries slathered with cheese and gravy. If I were Brad, I would be, like, “Umm, where’s the lobster? This is Maine, right? The couple heads off to meet the parents, but not before Brad responds to the waitress’ French query with a resolute “Si.” Knucklehead.
Dinner with Ashley’s fam goes pretty well, but her dad pulls Brad aside and tells him that Ashley’s in dental school and she intends to finish. Brad starts to worry that he might hold Ashley back by marrying her and I’m thinking that he’s probably holding her back by just having dinner with her.
Next Brad heads off to Shawntel’s hometown, Chico, California. Actually, he heads straight to her place of business, which happens to be a funeral home. She tells Brad she wants to be cremated (but not right now, I guess) and she shows him the vault where their ashes will sit, side by side, when they eventually kick off, probably in some rappelling mishap or another. She takes him into the embalming room and makes him lie down on the cold, metal table while the camera man scans the creepy tools of her trade. Brad asks how many stiffs have been on that table and, in my dreams, Shawntel asks, “including you?” Because, seriously … I never thought Brad could be more lifeless, but the dude is like a chameleon and really blends seamlessly into his surroundings. He decides to get up after a while, which is a smart move because anybody who saw him lying there for more than a minute would try to stuff him into a box and plant him in the ground.
If that part of Brad’s visit is grim — and it is — things get even darker and colder at Shawntel’s folks’ place when drops the bombshell on her dad, who has apparently had plans forever for his daughter to take over the family business, that if Brad proposes to her she’ll be moving to Austin. He does not take this news well. By the end of the night, dad says he’s okay with whatever happens and just wants Shawntel to be happy, but he’s not and he doesn’t. He clearly hopes that his daughter will lose the contest and remain stuck in Chico, so she won’t — as he told her — destroy his plans. I feel really bad for Shawntel because I am afraid she’s going to live and die in Chico.
Three down and one to go, Brad heads off to catch up with Emily in Charlotte, North Carolina. And Emily’s daughter Ricki, who he keeps annoyingly referring to as “little Ricki.” Emily calls her “Ricki Ticki,” which would be cute if we hadn’t just seen all of those bugs in the previous weeks’ tropical locales. Brad tries to bribe the child with a kite, but that doesn’t fly (see what I did there?). He wonders why Ricki won’t “open up to him” and I know he doesn’t mean anything bad by it but I’m still skeeved out that he’s using the same terminology about the child’s unwillingness to get close to him that he uses with the ostensibly grown up women on the show.
Eventually the kite is up in the air. Unfortunately, so is Brad’s future with Emily. Back at her home, Brad gets to play daddy (and Candy Land, at which Ricki is apparently some kind of shark) and talks about how, if this works out, he could have an “instant family” (just add mope). Emily calls him upstairs to say goodnight to Ricki. The two tuck her in and it really is kind of sweet. Then they switch off her light, leave and close her door and Ricki shuts her eyes and smiles, even though there’s still a cameraman in her room. Sometimes I really hate TV.
Back downstairs, Brad says that he respects Emily and he wants nothing more than to make out with her, but tells her that he’s not going to because Ricki is sleeping upstairs. Emily reminds him that if they end up together — which really is seeming much less likely than it did just a week ago — Ricki’s always going to be upstairs. Brad keeps pushing the idea of a hug being good enough, and seems bewildered that Emily’s not buying it. She ought to say, “Listen, dude — you pushed and pushed to meet my daughter and I let you do so against my better judgment and now you won’t even give me a peck? I don’t think so.” But instead, she just shakes her head in disbelief.
As he’s leaving, she pretty much has to reach up and pull his oversized melon down to plant one on him. Brad might not have noticed, but Emily is really her most beautiful and interesting when she’s around her little girl, who is going to be really confused when she never sees you again. Way to blow it, dope.
It’s pretty much a foregone conclusion that Shawntel is a goner, even though host Chris Harrison tries to manufacture some drama by pointing out that Ashley is the only one who hasn’t yet claimed to have fallen for the Bachelor. It doesn’t work, and Ashley gets the first rose. Emily is next and it’s more clear than ever that there’s no way Brad is giving up Chantal’s dad and his cool copper statue for the cold, grey mausoleum table.
Shawntel is predictably sent packing and wipes the tears from her eyes in the limo as she talks about how dreamy Brad is and how she’s never been treated so well and how she hopes that someday she’ll find somebody else who treats her like a princess. Sorry, Shawntel. I sincerely mean that. Because I think your dad’s got other plans.
Next week it’s safari so bad as Brad and his babes head to Africa. It’s a pretty drastic strategy to inject some wildness into this show but, after this boring week, it’s really necessary.
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Rob Thomas’ new Fox pilot set in Austin
Industry website deadline.com reports that a new comedy pilot from Austinite and “Veronica Mars” creator Rob Thomas is set in Austin.
The single-camera series, “Little in Common,” will star Rob Cordry and Paula Marshall as a couple that relocates with their children from San Jose, California to Austin and clash with two other families via their kids’ participation in youth sports.
There’s no word yet on whether or not the pilot (or a series) will actually be filmed here.
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Zach Anner makes it to Oprah’s ‘OWN Show’ finale
Terey Summers, a comedic motivational speaker whose dream was to host a traditional talk show, was eliminated from “Your OWN Show: Oprah’s Search for the Next TV Star” Friday night. That means Austin’s Zach Anner and fellow contestant Kristina Kuzmic-Crocco advance to the final episode where they will compete for their own show on the Oprah Winfrey Network.
Terey had difficulty articulating her show concept to the reporters, while Kristina had to defend her stance in her frequent battles with departed contestant Elizabeth Espinosa. Only Zach went through this segment of the episode unscathed, utterly charming the reporters and disarming them with his quick wit.
The contestants were each surprised by Oprah herself, who showed up to interview them about their proposed shows, philosophies and their motivations. Each of the three competitors — once they got over the shock of being interviewed by Oprah — performed well under pressure, getting high marks from their prospective boss for their answers to her questions.
But if they all skated through, Zach turned in a gold medal performance. At the end of his interview, instead of just thanking Winfrey, he turned the tables by saying he wished he could ask her some questions. And when Winfrey told him to go ahead, he had several good questions to toss at her — questions Winfrey aide (and the week’s mentor) Gayle King said her friend and boss had never before heard.
The contestants’ final task was to interview King. Again, Terey lagged behind Kristina and Zach.
In the judging phase, both Terey and Kristina were grilled by hosts Nancy O’Dell and Carson Kressley along with King. The trio pointed out that Zach was the only one of the remaining three contestants who had never landed in the bottom two and sent him back to green room safety.
In the end, it was Kristina’s on-camera comfortableness and Terey’s unclear vision for her show that led the judges to send Terey home, leaving Zach and Kristina to battle it out this Friday to decide a winner. The previews showed both of the remaining contestants seeming to have problems, so I’m sure there’s some drama left to be seen, enough to fill an extra 30 minutes — Friday’s finale will be 90 minutes long instead of the usual hour.
“Your OWN Show”
8 p.m. CT Fridays, OWN
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This week’s TV picks
Monday:
“The Bachelor” 7 p.m., ABC: Brad visits the final four’s hometowns, presumably via helicopter since he seems to take one everyplace else.
“World’s Deadliest Towns” 7 p.m., Animal Planet: There are still places on the globe where animals pose a very real threat to humans. This new series takes humans to those places. Yeah, I don’t know why, either.
“Hawaii Five-0” 9 p.m., CBS: Dane Cook guest stars, which should put to rest those persistent rumors that this show might actually be a comedy.
Tuesday:
“No Ordinary Family” 7 p.m., ABC: Anthony Michael-Hall guest stars as somebody’s dad and I start swigging Geritol and comparison-shopping for walkers.
“Raising Hope” 8 p.m., Fox: Amy Sedaris! Amy Sedaris!
“Traffic Light” 8:30 p.m., Fox: Week three; still funny.
“The Real Housewives of Miami” 9 p.m., Bravo: You know the drill. Same channel, different housewives in tonight’s spinoff kickoff.
Wednesday:
“The Middle” 7 p.m., ABC: “I have had it with these @#$@$$@!!! Hecks on this @#$@$$@!!! plane!”
“America’s Next Top Model” 7 p.m., The CW: As Season 16 begins, I think this show might be on the bubble. No, wait — it the models who are walking a pool runway inside of bubbles. Of course.
“Modern Family” 8 p.m., ABC: Claire and Phil’s arguments are so rare that, while he continues to engage in the battle, Phil has no idea what it’s about.
Thursday:
“American Idol” 7 p.m., Fox: The Top 20 — ten females and ten males — are revealed and the competition can finally begin.
“Overheard with Evan Smith” 7 p.m., PBS: Evan pulls Whole Foods CEO John Mackey off the shelf for tonight’s interview.
“Private Practice” 9 p.m., ABC: A patient complains of multiple personality disorder and a patient complains of multiple personality disorder.
Friday:
“Fringe” 8 p.m. Fox: Tonight’s episode is titled “6 Months Later.” If there’s actually any chance of a new episode of “Fringe” in six months, I’ll be a happy TV writer.
“Your OWN Show” 8 p.m., OWN: Tune in and see if Austin’s Zach Anner gets his own OWN show in tonight’s season finale.
“Supernatural” 8 p.m., The CW: Sam and Dean find themselves in an alternate universe, where they are the real actors who actually play those characters on a TV show called “Supernatural.” Viewer headaches abound and a mass run on Excedrin causes a nationwide shortage.
“Austin City Limits” 9 p.m., PBS: Willie Nelson and Asleep at the Wheel perform in this terrific rerun.
Saturday:
“Must Love Cats” 7 p.m., Animal Planet: Stop telling me what to do, basic cable network.
“2011 Film Independent Spirit Awards” 9 p.m., IFC: Joel McHale, host of “The Soup” on E! and star of NBC’s “Community,” hosts this celebration of independent cinema.
“An Idiot Abroad” 9 p.m., Science: Karl explores Brazil’s gay scene.
Sunday:
“Amazing Race: Unfinished Business” 7 p.m., CBS: Broadcast TV’s only original counter-programming picks up all the Oscar-intolerant viewers.
“83rd Academy Awards” 7:30 p.m., ABC: Anne Hathaway and James Franco host. Hopefully the broadcast won’t seem to last 127 hours.
“CSI: Miami” 9 p.m., CBS: (See first Sunday listing, above.)
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KidVid: Here’s what’s coming up in childrens’ programming
I’m not sure what it has to do with Presidents’ Day, but that is the marketing tactic PBS Kids is using to get parents and their tots to tune in for three new episodes of “Curious George” Monday though Wednesday, Feb. 21-23 on PBS. The new episodes feature the mischievous monkey “imagining a world where everything is monkey-sized; building a soapbox derby racer; making a George-O-Matic dessert vending machine; and meeting some ewe-tiful sheep.”
TV by the Numbers has a press release from DisneyXD stating that its Mitchell Musso (“Hannah Montana”) vehicle, “Pair of Kings,” has been picked up for a second season. The second season will begin airing later this year.
“High School Musical” fans: TV Guide has posted an item with casting information about spin-off project “Madison High,” in which “HSM” drama director Ms. Darbus bolts for another school with another student body full of ridiculously-talented singers and dancers. Paul Hoen (“Camp Rock 2”) will direct the pilot episode. No word yet on a start date for the potential series.
Jack Black is returning to host Nickelodeon’s “Kids’ Choice Awards,” airing at 7 pm CT April 2.
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More Top TV tweets
David Simon, Paul Scheer, Mary Lynn Rajskub and … you?
Here are some of my favorite, recent Tweets from the people who make — and watch — television. Did I include yours?
Find out after the jump — and follow me on Twitter here.
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Round Rock’s Stony Point students on C-SPAN (video)
The C-SPAN Digital Bus stopped by Stony Point High School in Round Rock on Wednesday, Feb. 16. Students were given an opportunity to address Rep. Gwen Moore with questions about the national budget and its impact on education during a live taping of the cable network’s “Washington Journal.”
You can find video of the show, including those students, at the C-SPAN website. Time Warner Cable is the sponsor of the Digital Bus’ Central Texas tour.
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Felicia Day visits Fallon’s ‘Late Night’
Day, who appeared in Joss Whedon’s “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” and her own Web projects — and who occasionally pops up on series television — visited “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” last night and spoke about her new project, a web video series based on BioWare’s “Dragon Age” video games. Head on over to Digital Savant to view video from her appearance.
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Readers weigh in on ‘Fringe’ (and ‘Glee)
From the reader mailbag:
Like you, I like “Fringe” and have seen every episode. However, unlike you, I also like “Glee” and have seen every episode (my wife thinks I’m trying to revert to sixty years ago). Yes, I’m almost 70 so it may not make sense but I want to be entertained and I enjoy a diverse universe (no pun intended) of TV shows.
D.O.
I’m glad you’re a fellow “Fringe” fan. Unfortunately, the ratings trended down again this week and it seems as if its chances for renewal are getting slimmer each week. That’s disappointing, because I enjoy it so, so much.
As far as “Glee” goes, you’re not alone, as you know. It’s hugely popular. If you’re a regular reader you probably know that I was a huge fan of the show when it premiered and remained so until about half way through the first season, when I feel that it went off the rails. While I still think it remains entertaining, I have so much that I have to watch for my job that I just can’t allot time to a show that frustrates me because I feel that the characters’ personalities change so much from episode to episode and are twisted around to serve increasingly ridiculous plots. Every so often I tune in again just to see if I think it’s heading back in the right direction.
There’s no way my preferences are ever going to match every one of my readers’, and I really wish I still liked “Glee” as much as you and so many others do. Maybe that will happen eventually.
In the meantime, we’ll always have “Fringe.” Well, at least for a little while longer.
Loved your article today and your continuing support of my favorite show!!!!!!
At 69, I am probably one of the older viewers, but I love it. Not only the storyline, but especially the acting.
J.M.
I’m discovering that love for “Fringe” (and “Glee,” apparently) knows no age boundaries. I agree that the acting is good over all and John Noble, in particular, is top-notch.
Good column and great update. Unfortunately, I’m still ticked at the years I wasted on “Lost” and don’t think I’ll commit to another TV drama.
You’re right about “Glee” though - the writers aren’t even trying. Too bad - I really enjoyed some of the musical numbers in season 1. The only memorable bit from season 2 is the masterful re-purposing of “I Want To Hold Your Hand.”
Thanks for the great columns!
J.
I agree that “Lost” turned out to be somewhat less than the sum of its parts. Although I do not consider the time I spent watching it wasted (well, maybe the first half of Season 3 and the last half of the final season) I was disappointed by the ending.
I take a lot of heat for being down on “Glee,” but it’s really just tough love. I was a huge supporter when it premiered and it pains me to see the muddled mess it has become.
We really enjoyed your article on “Fringe.” As much as I think about the show I did not get the with/without drugs as a reason for the contrast in our Walter and alter Walter. Thanks for the article. My other reason for emailing is that I cannot find when the next season of “Friday Night Lights” can be viewed. I started watching that one on the advice of your predecessor. I’ve looked on NBC and on HULU. Thanks Again.
S.M.
That’s interesting. I may have overstepped by implying that that was the cause for the difference in personality between Walters over here and over there. To what would you attribute the difference? I guess the fact that Bell had parts of Walter’s brain removed probably has more to do with it, now that I think of it. Also, having one’s son stolen away to another Universe could be a factor.
The final season of “Friday Night Lights” hits NBC on April 15. And it’s a good one. “FNL” would have died on Fridays if DirecTV had not stepped in and saved it.
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Recap: ‘The Bachelor’ week 7, Feb. 14
Three one-on-one dates this week and one group grope. How Anguilla it all turn out?
The first date card from Brad reads “Three things I will bring to a desert island: A picnic lunch; champagne; and Emily.” Awww. But, really, that’s four things because Emily brings the memory of her deceased race car driver fiancee Ricky Bobby with her everywhere. I hope the destination island is big.
Because they’re going more than twenty paces, a helicopter flies in to whisk them away. The sandbar they land on is not really that big, and I’m afraid that if the waves get too high they could both be drowned. I scan the horizon to see if Michelle is bobbing up and down anywhere on the coastline trying to make that happen.
They drink champagne because, well, Emily’s quiet and she seems to be one of the more chaste women in this mess and, so, there’s probably not much else to do. They each admit that the other makes them nervous and I’m thinking, “brilliant, secluded, activity-free spot for a date, then.” Emily says their relationship will only work if the sun and moon are out at the same time. Somewhere off camera, a prop master curses then dives into action. Because, suddenly, both heavenly bodies are out together — and the sun and moon are, too — and Brad and Emily kiss.
Over dinner, Brad pops the question: Can I meet your daughter? It’s an appropriate question because next week is the episode where Brad goes to the surviving women’s hometowns to meet their families and tries to explain to them why he’s dating their daughters but making out with three other chicks. Emily is hesitant and says she knows she is overprotective, but that’s a big step. She promises to consider it. Brad tells her he knows that he’s breaking the rules, but that’s okay because he’s a loner, Dottie, a rebel! He’s going to give her a rose at the end of the week, so he doesn’t want her to worry about that. He tells her to do whatever she has to do — make phone calls, buy cases of Chapstick — to prepare for his visit.
Shawntel N. gets the next one-on-one date. Brad takes her through the streets of Anguilla. I still think he’s pronouncing it wrong, but I pronounce the double l’s in ‘tortilla,” so what do I know? They ride bicycles to the farmers’ market because, I don’t know, maybe the chopper is out of gas after lugging around Brad, Emily and all that extra champagne weight. They drink from coconuts and then Brad passes out and Shawntel surgically harvests his kidney for sale on the Caribbean black market. Just kidding, but she works with dead bodies and she totally could.
They meet and chat up some locals and Shawntel says she likes seeing Brad interact with other people (mostly, I’m figuring, other people who aren’t her Michelle). Look at them jump rope! Cute! Brad’s voice-over says he’s seeing a different side of Shawntel today and, from the camera angles, I’m guessing it’s her backside because that’s all they’re showing (not that there’s anything wrong with that).
Brad tells Shawntel about his daddy issues and she responds by admitting that she’s falling for him (Brad, not his pop). Brad thanks her and tells the camera that this makes him happy (hey — that’s the same line that worked for Chantal!). It rains during dinner, which is like Viagra for these kids, so there’s lots more kissing. Then they’re treated to a reggae serenade (which, frankly, makes about as much sense as a romantic break-dance) by some big-deal Anguillan artist who probably sold more records there than The Beatles.
Next, Britt finally gets her one-on-one date. Sadly, it’s also going to be her one-and-only-one-on-one date. Brad walks her out to the beach and tells her he’s picked up women in helicopters, he’s picked them up in convertibles and he’s picked them up in boats, but he’s never picked one up in a yacht (he’s probably also picked up women in the HEB, too. I’m surprised he doesn’t mention that). Britt asks how they’ll get to the vessel and Brad says there’s only one way. So they wade out into the water and the next thing you know they’re standing on the deck. I’m guessing the editors conveniently cut the segment where the helicopter picked them up and flew them to the yacht.
Then Brad tells Britt to go jump off a cliff and she does. To be fair, they’re cliff diving and he jumped first. Still, though poor Britt is petrified she finally does it “for Brad,” who says he is proud of her for overcoming her fears. Of course.
Sitting on the beach, Brad tries to get something going but just isn’t feeling it. The couple make wee, tiny small talk but it is pretty clear that they have no connection. He tells the camera that he just doesn’t get it: here he is in one of the most romantic spots on Earth with a beautiful woman but he has no inclination to grab her and kiss her. I’m figuring that’s because Britt hasn’t told Brad that she’s afraid to kiss him. If she’d only done that he would have to move in — you know, to help her overcome her fear.
During dinner, Brad admits to Britt that he doesn’t see himself spending the rest of the evening with her, much less his whole life, and sends her home. I feel bad for Britt because she stuck around this long without a solo date with Brad when some of the other women have had, like, three. Hmmm … why do you think that chemistry hasn’t developed, Brad? I imagine Brad didn’t do very well in chemistry.
In the wee hours of the morning, our bachelor sneaks into Chantal O., Ashley and crazy Michelle’s bedrooms with a flashlight and wakes them up. You just know he wanted to dip their hands into a bowl of warm water while they were still asleep and see if he could make them pee. Anyway, the girls are kind of grumpy because it’s early and they don’t have time to shower or put on make-up. Judging from what they’re wearing when they leave, they didn’t have much time to choose outfits, either.
It turns out they’re headed to the beach for a sunrise photo shoot for the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition (which, not coincidentally, hits newsstands today). Frankly, I’m not sure what sport this show falls into, but it’s competitive, I’ll give you that.
Ashley goes first. The photographer convinces her to drop her top and cover her chest with conch shells. I imagine it was all Brad could do to avoid grabbing them and making honking noises, but instead of saying “honk, honk!” he’d say “conch, conch!” Chantal, a front-runner but so insecure, drops her top as well. Crazy Michelle says she can’t be talked into stuff like that. But you now who is good at being talked into stuff? Brad. Michelle says she wants to do a shoot with him and they go all “From Here to Eternity” on the sand, except it really does feel like an eternity because Michelle is really pushing it and, clearly, everybody else is uncomfortable.
After the shoot, the foursome enjoy a pool party, except “enjoy” is the wrong word because everybody is really tense and uncomfortable. They’re all mad at each other and Brad feels guilty. He especially feels guilty about making out with evil Michelle, so he pulls Chantal and Ashley aside and tries to apologize in his own “I didn’t do anything wrong; open up to me and tell me what you’re feeling” kind of way. This is the only date this week with a rose and Brad gives it to Ashley, which ticks off crazy Michelle and freaks out Chantal. “If you can’t pick me fir-fir-first out of three women, then just send me ho-ho-home,” she chokes out through her tears.
Just before the weekly cocktail party, Brad tells host Chris Harrison that he’s already made his decision and he wants to skip the party and go straight to the Rose Ceremony. Harrison says, “Let me play devil’s advocate,” which I’m pretty sure is a sneaky way for him to imply that Brad is, in fact, the devil. I’m pretty sure he’s going to point out to Brad that he’ll be giving up a few hours at an open bar, but instead he asks if conversations with the women might sway Brad’s opinion. But Brad stands firm.
The ladies assemble at the beach and Brad hands out the roses. Ashley’s already got hers. Emily (Brad kept his word!) and Shawntel get them first, leaving Chantal and crazy Michelle. Chantal gets the final rose and Michelle says her goodbyes to the other girls. Actually, I think she only says goodbye to Emily and Ashley. We probably couldn’t print what she likely said to Chantal and Shawntel.
I think Michelle is in shock but, whatever — she’s speechless for once and that’s all that really matters. She is silent as Brad walks her to the limo and puts her inside. She is wordless as the limo drives off. She stares silently into the camera and then flops down on the back seat and stares intently and noiselessly into the camera. I’m going to say she’s in the fetal position even though she’s lying flat because, well, I just picture her stretching out in the womb, too, because she instinctively knew it would cause discomfort to her human host. Anyway, yeah. The one time you want to see her freak out she keeps her composure. Way to go, Michelle … twist that knife ‘til the bitter end.
Next week, Brad visits the four remaining ladies’ hometowns. That’s a lot of helicopter fuel.
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Pamela Ribon lands new ABC Family project
ABC FAMILY has bought the rights to WHY MOMS ARE WEIRD! Yes, we’re going to try to make my life as a sitcom. My mom’s not very happy about this one, but my sister is! “LET ME NO WHN U NEED ME 4 CASTING,” she texted.
There are a few more details on the series, as well as her new novel, “You Take It From Here,” on her site.
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‘Bones’ creator nabs AFF’s Outstanding Television Writer Award
The Austin Film Festival has announced that “Bones” creator Hart Hanson has been named recipient of the 2011 Outstanding Television Writer Award and will appear at the Festival in October along with “Bones” stars Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz.
Hanson will accept the Award at the Festival’s annual Awards Luncheon on Saturday, October 22, 2011 at the Austin Club.
Awards Luncheon tickets are $50 each and are available for purchase by Conference and Producers Badge holders only. For additional information on the 18th Annual Austin Film Festival & Conference, panels and film screenings, and how to purchase everything from a Producers Badge to a Film Pass, visit the official website or call 1-800-310-FEST (3378).
Read the AFF’s press release after the jump.
PRESS RELEASE FROM THE AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL:
CREATOR OF “BONES” COMES TO AUSTIN WITH EMILY DESCHANEL AND DAVID BOREANAZ
HANSON WILL LEAD THIS YEAR’S LINEUP OF TELEVISION WRITERS & SHOW CREATORS AT THE CONFERENCE
AUSTIN, TX (February 14, 2011) - The Austin Film Festival (AFF) proudly announced today that this year’s recipient of the 2011 Outstanding Television Writer Award will be Hart Hanson, creator, executive producer, show runner, and writer of 20th Century Fox Television’s “Bones.” “Bones” stars Emily Deschanel (COLD MOUNTAIN, GLORY ROAD) and David Boreanaz (“Angel,” “Buffy, the Vampire Slayer”) will present Hanson with the Award at the Festival’s annual Awards Luncheon held on Saturday, October 22, 2011 at the Austin Club. “I am thrilled the Austin Film Festival is recognizing the talents of Hart Hanson,” said Deschanel. “He is such a gifted writer and storyteller, and is truly the voice of our show. It’s been a joy to work with him, and it’s a great honor to celebra! te his work.”
Hart Hanson is perhaps best known for his current work on the highly acclaimed television series “Bones,” now in its sixth season, where he serves as creator, executive producer, and show runner.
A native Canadian, Hanson received a B.A. from the University of Toronto and an MFA from the University of British Columbia. He began his writing career on the iconic Canadian show, “Beachcombers” and went on to write and produce episodes of many acclaimed Canadian shows including “North of 60,” “Road to Avonlea,” “The Odyssey,” “Ready or Not,” “Poltergeist,” “Street Legal,” “Neon Rider,” and the made for television movies “Trust in Me,” “Whale Music,” “Guitarman,” and “African Sky.” Hanson created and ran the show “Traders”, which was nominated for multiple Gemini Awards (Canadian Emmy’s).
Upon moving to the United States, Hanson served as a writer and producer on the television shows “Joan of Arcadia,” “Judging Amy,” “Snoops,” “Cupid,” “Stargate SG-1,” and “The Outer Limits.” He is a CTU fellow at the Banff Television Festival, A Trustee for the Humanitas Foundation, and an Advisor to the Canadian Film Centre.
Hanson will speak on panels during the Conference, including ‘A Conversation with Hart Hanson’ moderated by producer - and Austin Film Festival board member - Barry Josephson (LIFE AS WE KNOW IT, ENCHANTED, HIDE AND SEEK). In addition, Hanson, Josephson, Deschanel, and Boreanaz will present a special screening of an episode of “Bones.” The show is produced by Far Field Productions and Josephson Entertainment in association with 20th Century Fox Television. Hanson, Stephen Nathan, Ian Toynton and Barry Josephson are executive producers. In honoring Hanson, the Austin Film Festival is especially pleased to reach out to and be involved with the Canadian screenwriting and filmmaking community and the Writers Guild of Canada.
The Austin Film Festival annually recognizes an Outstanding Television Writer for their elevation of and impact on television writing and contributions to the culture of television. Previous recipients of the award include David Simon (“The Wire”), Mitchell Hurwitz (“Arrested Development”), Greg Daniels (“The Office”), David Milch (“Deadwood”), Garry Shandling (“The Larry Sanders Show”), David Chase (“The Sopranos”), Tom Fontana (“Oz”), Darren Star (“Sex and the City”), and Mike Judge (“King of the Hill”), among others.
Since 1994, Austin Film Festival has been dedicated to furthering the art and craft of filmmaking by inspiring and championing the work of screenwriters, filmmakers, and all artists who use the language of film to tell a story. The AFF’s Conference offers over 125 panels, craft sessions and roundtable discussions led by more than 100 industry professionals. Focusing on the art, craft and business of film and television writing and production, it provides registrants unparalleled access to the best writers in the field. Some of the speakers confirmed for 2011, schedules permitting, include:
- Alec Berg, “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” “Seinfeld”
- Shane Black, “KISS KISS, BANG BANG,” “LETHAL WEAPON,” “THE LONG KISS GOODNIGHT”
- Lindsay Doran, producer “Nanny McPhee,” “Nanny McPhee Returns,” “Sense and Sensibility”
- Rodrigo Garcia, “In Treatment,” “MOTHER AND CHILD”
- Ted Griffin, “OCEAN’S ELEVEN,” “MATCHSTICK MEN”
- Lawrence Kasdan, “RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK,” “THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK,” “BODY HEAT,” “THE BIG CHILL”
- Luisa Leschin, “Are We There Yet?” “Everybody Hates Chris,” “George Lopez”
- Craig Mazin, “THE HANGOVER 2,” “SCARY MOVIE 3 & 4”
- Tim McCanlies, “ALABAMA MOON,” “SECONDHAND LIONS,” “THE IRON GIANT”
- Peter Murrieta, “Wizards of Waverly Place, “Hope and Faith”
- Pamela Ribon,”Samantha Who,” “Romantically Challenged”
- Alvaro Rodriguez, “MACHETE,” “FROM DUSK TILL DAWN 3: THE HANGMAN’S DAUGHTER”
- Alex Smith, “DANCE WITH THE ONE,” “THE SLAUGHTER RULE,” “SON OF THE GUN”
- Donald Todd, “Samantha Who?,”Caroline in the City,” “Dave’s World,” “ALF”
The Conference will also include representatives from Overbrook Entertainment, 20th Century Fox Animation/Blue Sky Studios, Fortis Films, CAA, UTA, and many more. The complete list is available at www.austinfilmfestival.com or upon request. Film screenings, additional panelists and special events will be announced in the coming months. Attendance of Conference speakers is schedule permitting and subject to change without notice.
Awards Luncheon tickets are $50 each and are available for purchase by Conference and Producers Badge holders only. For additional information on the 18th Annual Austin Film Festival & Conference, panels and film screenings, and how to purchase everything from a Producers Badge to a Film Pass, visit the official website at www.austinfilmfestival.com or call 1-800-310-FEST (3378).
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This week’s TV picks
Monday:
“The Bachelor” 7 p.m., ABC: Find out why Brad cancels tonight’s cocktail party, then chat about it at www.austin360.com/tvblog on Tuesday.
“Mad Love” 7:30 p.m., CBS: Yeah, the girl from “Scrubs” and the guy from “American Pie” are in it, but the real reason to watch this kind of average new sitcom is that Judy Greer is in it, and I would DVR a half-hour of her sitting in a chair and staring at the camera.
“Searching For …” 8 p.m., OWN: Looking for that long-lost birth mother or an estranged brother? No access to Facebook? Maybe Oprah can help in this series premiere.
Tuesday:
“Prime News” 5 p.m., HLN: Austin radio personality Bobby Bones is slated to make his debut as a panelist on the current events cable show.
“Breaking Down the Bars” 8 p.m., OWN: Women inmates are followed in Oprah’s new reality series.
“Parenthood” 9 p.m., NBC: Ben from “Lost” drops by and, you know, probably bugs his eyes out a lot at the Bravermans.
Wednesday:
“Survivor: Redemption Island” 7 p.m., CBS: “Boston” Rob and 17 other castaways land in Nicaragua in the 22nd Season kick-off.
“American Idol” 7 p.m., Fox: Tune in to see if any of the four Austinites or two Georgetown hopefuls are still in the game.
“Modern Family” 8 p.m., ABC: Matriarch Shelley Long is back and she’s toting Matt Dillon as Claire’s high school boyfriend.
“Mr. Sunshine” 8:30 p.m., ABC: Popular Jonas Brother Nick guests along with Kathy Najimy.
“Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior” 9 p.m., CBS: It’s a competent spin-off, but remind me why we seem to have an unending thirst for dramatized child abductions?
Thursday:
“Bones” 8 p.m. Fox: The remains of a wedding planner are found on a tanning bed. I told you those things were bad for you.
“The Battle for Marjah” 8 p.m., HBO: A marine, NATO and Afghan mission to free the Afghanistan town from Taliban control is documented by embedded journalist Ben Anderson.
“The Office” 8 p.m., NBC: Michael premieres his action film, “Threat Level Midnight.”
Friday:
“The Defenders” 7 p.m., CBS: Dan Aykroyd plays a judge caught on the other side of the bench.
“Who Do You Think You Are?” 7 p.m., NBC: Yeah, Rosie O’Donnell? Who? I asked you a question!
Saturday:
“Over the Hedge” 8 p.m., ABC: Bruce Willis stars in the role he was born to play — a wiseacre raccoon — in this animated theatrical romp.
Sunday:
“Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” 7 p.m., ABC: A soldier wounded in the Fort Hood rampage gets a dream wedding and a new home.
“Amazing Race: Unfinished Business” 7 p.m., CBS: Former teams return in the Season 18 opener.
“Saturday Night Live: Just the Commercials” 7 p.m., NBC: Little Chocolate Donuts!
“Saturday Night Live Backstage” 8 p.m., NBC: This new special goes behind the scenery of Studio 8H and includes appearances by “Mad Men” star Jon Hamm and frequent host Alec Baldwin.
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Preview: ‘Mad Love’ (video)
So, it’s Valentine’s Day. Did you screw up and forget to make a dinner reservation? Here’s a back-up plan: run to the grocery store, purchase ingredients for several dishes that don’t really go well together, cook ‘em up and serve ‘em to your beloved on TV trays while you check out CBS’ new relationship comedy, “Mad Love” (7:30 p.m. CT Mondays, CBS).
The pilot episode was not bad, as cookie-cutter comedies go. In terms of new fare, it’s not as good as “Traffic Light,” but much better than “Perfect Couples.” It’s probably trying to be “How I Met Your Mother.” And it sports some relatively big name stars.
Sure, that guy from “American Pie” is in it, and the girl from “Scrubs.” And they’re cute as the cute, new couple. But the mad love in “Mad Love” (at least the mad part, for now) comes from the couple’s best friends, played by poor-man’s-Jack-Black Tyler Labine and the most awesome Judy Greer, whose snarky characters can’t stand each other. The pair gets the funniest lines, often muttered in the background while Jason Biggs and Sarah Chalke moon at each other in the forefront.
Labine is much funnier here than he was in Fox’s recent “Sons of Tucson” and Greer (“Arrested Development,” “Archer”), well … honestly, I’d watch Greer silently wash dishes for half an hour every week. On her own, she’ll make me a regular viewer, even with the show’s archaic and unnecessary laugh track.
Check out this preview below and leave your thoughts in the comments section:
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Recap: ‘Your OWN Show’ week 6, Feb. 11
Well, I didn’t see that coming.
I don’t know if Oprah told hosts Carson Kressley and Nancy O’Dell to step it up or what but, in surprise move, both contestants who landed in the bottom two on Friday’s episode of “Your Own Show: Oprah’s Search for the Next TV Star” got pink slips.
The tattered remains of the two teams were tasked to create a financial segment with money maven Suze Orman. Austinite Zach Anner’s team sported a not-so-secret weapon in Alicia, whose specialty is real estate and finance. As we’ve learned on this show, however, those competitors whose passions lie in the same area as the challenge topic often find themselves in trouble and this week was no different.
The professional but cold Alicia had trouble connecting emotionally with the guest family in Team Focus’ segment, which grated against Orman’s annoying mantra of “People, then money, then things.”
Team vision had no such problem with Terey and the super-annoying “I can make myself cry on command — try me!’ Kristina. However, they left out all traces of facts and figures from their segment, which Orman also claimed was a mistake.
Each of the segments was among the worst I’ve seen on this program, so it’s no surprise that the judges had few positive notes for either of them. In the end, Team Vision was declared the victor and so we’ll see Kristina and Terey again.
The judges declared Zach safe which, again, was not surprising — he really didn’t do anything this week except fall on his sword and beg forgiveness for not speaking up when he saw his team’s segment heading off the rails.
Back-stabbing Ryan (who got a huge “Suze smack down” when he tried to place the blame on Anner) and Alicia headed off to prepare for their last-chance one-on-one interviews with Orman. Those were both … okay. Ryan always skates through these interviews and Alicia took the judges’ notes to heart and actually improved.
At this stage in the game, however, the stakes are high and, in the end, the judges told the pair that neither of them deserved to stick around.
So now it’s down to three contestants: Annoying Kristina and her less-annoying toady, Terey; and Zach. Next week the three have to go through some kind of press junket exercise and then it looks like they’re going to have to go one-on-one with Oprah herself, pitching their proposed shows for a spot in the finale.
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‘Fringe’ falls further on Fridays
According to our friends over at TV by the Numbers, “Fringe” dipped to a 1.4 adults 18-49 rating in its fourth Friday episode, down 12.5% from last Friday.
That’s not good.
Commenters to that post are all but declaring the brilliant Fox show, which I just praised in my Sunday column, to be dead.
Beginning the night in second place in its time slot, behind only CBS’ “CSI:NY,” the show went on to lose viewers in its second half hour, falling to fourth place, ahead of only “Supernatural” on the CW.
Fox head Kevin Reilly said that “Fringe” would be safe on Fridays as long as it held it’s Thursday ratings, which it did for a few short weeks. Alas, that trend seems to have ended.
Do you think “Fringe” is doomed? Sound off in the comments, below.
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Austinites absent from ‘Idol’ Hollywood week
I didn’t see a single one of our six local contestants in the first episode of “American Idol’s” Hollywood week Thursday on Fox, did you? Instead, we were treated to the same roll call of hopefuls spotlighted during their respective city’s audition episodes.
It’s becoming clear that “Idol” works backwards. I don’t believe they begin even editing the audition episodes until after Hollywood week has concluded and they know which contestants are actually moving on to the main competition. Then they must edit the Hollywood week shows to showcase those particular contestants. Lastly, I think, they put together the audition episodes, to introduce those featured singers and their back-stories.
It seems particularly obvious this season and the whole thing seems a lot more manipulative when viewed in this light. What fun is Hollywood week if you already know that most of the featured audition contestants will make it through?
Perhaps next week when the Hollywood rounds continue with group performances, we’ll finally get to see some Austin and Georgetown faces, since the anointed few will by design have others around them with whom to create conflict.
Who’s your favorite “Idol” contestant so far? Do you think any of our local peeps have a chance?
Sound off in the comments below.
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Colleagues comment on Robert Schenkkan
Here are a couple of comments from former co-workers of Robert Schenkkan.
Schenkkan, a public media pioneer, died on Wednesday, February 9 of complications from dementia.
Maury Sullivan, Senior Vice President for Community Engagement, KLRU
“Bob was truly an amazing person and KLRU would not be what we are today
without him.”
Terry Lickona, Executive Producer, “Austin City Limits”
“Schenkkan was only there a few more years after I arrived, then retired, but everyone who worked there always called him ‘Mr. Schenkkan.’ No one ever would have thought to call him ‘Bob!’ He was a formidable figure in more ways than one. It was only later in his retirement years that he took on a less serious demeanor and insisted that everybody refer to him as Bob.”
Charles Vaughn, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at KLRN in San Antonio
Vaughn praised Schenkkan’s efforts in travelling around the southwest, drumming up community support for public media. Vaughn worked for Schenkkan at KLRU when it was still called KLRN. “He was a visionary leader and a very fine man,” Vaughn said.
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KLRU reschedules State of the State rebroadcast
Due to technical difficulties on Tuesday, Austin PBS affiliate KLRU was not able to re-broadcast Gov. Perry’s State of the State address. Thanks to KVUE, which is providing the content to KLRU, the station will be able to re-broadcast the address at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 13 on KLRU digital channel 18.1.
More information can be found here.
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Robert F. Schenkkan tribute video
This 11-minute video, “Robert Schenkkan, Ninety Years of Vision,” was produced for Schenkkan’s 90th birthday tribute in March 2007. KLRU CEO Bill Stotesbery kindly granted us permission to show it to you.
Schenkkan, a public media pioneer, died on Wednesday, February 9 of complications from dementia.
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Robert F. Schenkkan, giant in public broadcasting, dies
Note: This entry was edited Thursday, 02/10/2012 at 1:50 p.m. to include the surviving children and grandchildren of Phyllis Schenkkan as well as the cause of Robert Schenkkan’s death; and again at 9:58 p.m. to add information about the memorial service and to correct Gerard Schenkkan’s employment.
Robert F. Schenkkan, a founding father and tireless defender of public broadcasting, spent five decades nurturing public radio and television in Austin. He also served with distinction in the United States Navy in World War II and inspired thousands of students at the University of Texas’ College of Communications during his more than two decades as a professor and mentor.
Schenkkan, a soft-spoken man of powerful passions, died in Austin on Wednesday at age 93 from complications of dementia according to his widow, Phyllis (Rothgeb) Schenkkan, leaving behind a rich and profound broadcast legacy.
“He was the first to understand the immediate meaning and ultimate importance of public broadcasting. He really got it,” said Jim Lehrer, anchor and editor of PBS’s “NewsHour.” “It was ‘educational’ TV when he started, and he realized it could be so much more. He also believed very strongly that if public broadcast was going to deal with news and public affairs, it couldn’t be seen as a political branch of government or special interest. He protected that from all who might have thought otherwise and did so stridently, eloquently and repeatedly.”
Recruited by UT from the University of North Carolina in 1955, Schenkkan helped launch KUT radio in 1958 and KLRU television in 1962. He became a national force in organizing educational TV stations into the PBS network and worked with President Johnson on passing the Public Broadcasting Act in 1967 that established congressional funding.
“Only Bob could have persuaded LBJ to see that it was a good thing for Austin to have a non-commercial television station, even though it would compete with Johnson’s own KTBC,” said veteran TV news journalist Bill Moyers. “But Bob was a visionary in his quiet-spoken way, and he had this talent for persuading people without any histrionics — because he made such sense, was so principled and sought nothing for himself from the outcome. I’ve never known anyone more dedicated to the community’s interest. … And others fell behind him from sheer admiration.”
In what became a heated and dramatic public battle, Schenkkan locked horns with the White House in the waning days of President Nixon’s troubled presidency. Nixon had felt threatened by PBS and some of its tough journalists, so he loaded the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (the congressional body that funds PBS) with partisan appointees who threatened to stop money for public affairs programming.
“Bob really got his dander up, and thank God he did,” Lehrer said. “He was forceful, and he had credibility. He was a natural defender against the onslaught. Our defense against the Nixons of the world is that we’re instruments of nobody — not Nixon or any other administration.” Born in New York of Dutch immigrant parents, Schenkkan studied drama at the University of Virginia and earned a graduate degree from the University of North Carolina after fighting at Guadalcanal during World War II. His arrival in Austin launched the beginning of public broadcasting in Central Texas.
“Bob Schenkkan was a quiet warrior for an independent press,” said Roderick P. Hart, dean of UT’s College of Communication. “He stood among a few men and women who helped create the public broadcasting system we know today, including PBS and NPR. His leadership role continued as he helped preserve a national treasure when political forces tried to dismantle the public broadcasting system. Children-friendly television, including the beloved ‘Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,’ owes a special debt to Bob Schenkkan. As one of the three founding administrators of the College of Communication, Bob Schenkkan’s legacy has been etched for the ages at U.T.-Austin.”
For Schenkkan’s 90th birthday in March 2007, KLRU and KUT hosted a tribute that brought together 150 friends and family. Written and filmed accolades included messages from Bill Moyers, former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Newton Minow, legendary public TV and radio executive Ward Chamberlin and Jim Lehrer.
“Bob Schenkkan’s vision for KLRU not only helped create the station, but his constant support and advice over the decades have played a major role in the station’s continuing growth and success,” said KLRU General Manager Bill Stotesbery. “We owe Bob a great debt of thanks.”
While he was on leave from the Navy, Schenkkan married his college sweetheart, Jean McKenzie, and the couple had four sons: Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Robert Schenkkan Jr.; Gerard “Tex” Schenkkan, an executive with the San Francisco firm Digidesign, which makes hardware and software for the music business; Pieter “Pete” Schenkkan, an attorney in Austin; and Dirk Schenkkan, an attorney in San Francisco.
Schenkkan was by Jean’s side when she died in 1985. Four years later, he fell in love with and married Phyllis Rothgeb, and the couple traveled and enjoyed life until Schenkkan’s health became frail. Schenkkan is also survived by Phyllis and her sons John Reese Rothgeb, Jr. and David Rothgeb.
Schenkkan joked that he retired from UT in 1976 “but it didn’t take.” He was recruited by the Agency for International Development in Washington, D.C., and promoted educational television in developing nations. But he ended his career for good when Jean became ill.
“When my brothers and I were boys, my father took us fishing and camping,” Pete recalled. “We waded in shallow Texas Hill Country rivers. We canoed in the Quetico (Ontario, Canada). He taught us to see and hear the natural world. And my father listened to us. He had strong views and deep knowledge, and yet still wanted to hear what you thought, and why. My father made the world better. KUT and NPR, KLRU and PBS — these are great achievements of 20th-century Austin and America. He led in each, constructively and creatively. My father aged and died the same way he lived, with unforced dignity and decency.”
Among Schenkkan’s dozen grandchildren is Pete’s son, actor Benjamin McKenzie (“The O.C.,” “Junebug,” “Southland”), who grew up in Austin before heading to the University of Virginia and, after a brief stint in New York, to Hollywood. Family loyalty, acting, writing, law and academics permeate the Schenkkan clan.
“At family gatherings, over terrific food, my grandfather and his grown sons and daughters-in-law and his grandchildren would discuss, well, everything,” McKenzie recalled. “Politics, religion, philosophy and the arts were just some of the subjects. We’d bicker and argue — Schenkkans love to argue — but mostly we’d laugh. My grandfather had a big, genuine laugh that showed deep, honest pleasure. When I said something that made him laugh, it made me feel like the most important child on earth.”
A memorial service will be held on Sunday, March 6 in the College of Communications Auditorium at the University of Texas at Austin with a reception following in the Lady Bird Johnson Room, 5th floor. The time of the service will be determined Friday morning.
Correction: Gerald Schenkkan is no longer with Digidesign. He remains in San Francisco, where Phyllis Schenkkan describes his occupation as “computer industry executive.”
Correction: The memorial service for Robert Schenkkan will be held Sunday, March 6.
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Local filmmaker Grappell’s ‘Quadrangle’ lands on HBO
Austin filmmaker Amy Grappell’s documentary “Quadrangle,” a SXSW 2010 Best Documentary Short and Wholphin Best Short Film award-winner, premieres on HBO2 at 8 p.m. Wednesday, February 16.
From the film’s press release:
Blending photographs and modern-day interviews, director Amy Grappell reveals how two bored suburban couples began swapping partners, in the era of “free love,” searching for an alternative to divorce. They fancied themselves social revolutionaries, but their four-way marital bliss was only temporary as tangible factors like living arrangements sunk in, gossip took its toll and individual egos trumped idealism.
Among the film’s other awards: An Honorable Mention Jury Prize at Sundance; Best Live Action Short at AFI 2010; and Best Short Doc at the Dallas International Film Festival. The film will have repeat HBO2 showings on Feb. 19 at 10:30 a.m.; Feb. 22 at 10:00 a.m.; and Feb. 29 at 12:30 p.m.
Finally, “Quadrangle” will also be screening live in Houston at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema at 7 p.m. Feb 13. Further information on the film can be found at this website.
“Quadrangle” began as an art installation. Read jeanne Claire van Ryzin’s 2009 story about the exhibit after the jump.
Secrets of suburbia exposed in artist’s love ‘Quadrangle’
Quiet video installation tells the story of a tumultuous times
By Jeanne Claire van Ryzin
AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Sunday, July 19, 2009
In an art exhibit brimming with the exuberant brio typical of emerging artists, visitors to “NAT 24: New American Talent, the Twenty-fourth Exhibition” at Arthouse drift back through galleries of the Congress Avenue contemporary arts center and find their way to a quiet bench.
Opposite the bench, a flat-panel video monitor hangs next to a half-dozen black-and-white photographs depicting what appears to be typical family scenes for suburban life in the early 1970s. Fathers with shaggy haircuts and wild print shirts hug wives in peasant blouses. Children play in neatly manicured front yards. On the monitor, overlapping diptych-style footage shows two people now in their mid-60s, one on each video channel.
The piece is “Quadrangle,” a video installation by Austin filmmaker Amy Grappell.
The footage appears to be just innocuous interviews. But don the headphones to hear the soundtrack. What quietly unrolls in a 20-minute continuous loop is a compelling story about two middle-class professional couples — each with two young children — on Long Island. Encouraged by the free-love zeitgeist of the ’60s and ’70s, this pair of couples found a way out of their disappointing marriages by striking up an unusual four-way love affair. That affair eventually resulted in both families sharing a home — an oddity in suburban Long Island and far from the stereotypical notion of a hippie commune. But eventually the foursome’s communal home fell apart, with both couples divorcing and marrying the opposite partner.
In “Quadrangle,” Deanna and Robert, seen against the leafy yards and neat streets of Long Island, articulately reflect on what drew them into a complex relationship as a twentysomething middle-class married couple.
And in our reality television-blasted, social media-obsessed world where people seem all too eager to broadcast their most intimate thoughts and actions, “Quadrangle” proceeds in a remarkably subtle and quiet fashion. There’s no salacious expos?, no emotionally charged confrontations and none of the self-indulgent navel-gazing that typically plagues confession-based contemporary art. Deanna and Robert emerge as likable, intelligent people judiciously reflecting on the choices of their past.
That authorial distance is admirable given that “Quadrangle” is Grappell’s own story. Deanna and Robert are her parents and Grappell is one of the doe-eyed dark-haired little girls seen in the photographs. The photos were taken by Robert, Grappell’s father.
Grappell, 44, had always wanted to tell the story of her parents and their unconventional choices. But it wasn’t until a couple of years ago that she decided to give it a try. A decade in Texas far from her East Coast upbringing along with her own decision to marry for the first time a few years ago provided the necessary emotional break from her past. “I needed to feel that I had enough distance,” Grappell says. “I didn’t want this to be an indictment of my parents. I wanted it to be bigger than just my story. And that meant that I had to let my parents emerge as independent characters in the story and not let them be seen through a daughter’s eyes.”
Always admiring of the free-spirited experiments of the 1960s, Grappell says she nevertheless has always found it ironic that the great social and psychological tests of those times have mostly failed.
Grappell is one of 26 artists chosen from a pool of nearly 700 for “NAT 24.” Arthouse organizes the survey of new national talent every summer, inviting a guest curator to make the selection. This year’s curator was Hamza Walker of the University of Chicago’s Renaissance Society, a contemporary arts center. Of the 26 artists in “NAT 24,” 12 are from Texas, eight of whom are from Austin.
“Quadrangle” is Grappell’s first video art work. Since landing in Austin in the mid-1990s after a decade as an actress with famed LaMaMa experimental theater troupe in New York City, Grappell has devoted her energy to filmmaking. Her documentary, “Light From the East,” about a theater collaboration in the Ukraine during the collapse of the Soviet Union, aired on PBS. She also produced and acted in the feature film “Shady Grove” in 1996, which premiered at South by Southwest. Grappell also works as a casting agent, selecting actors for such films as Richard Linklater’s “The Newton Boys.”
Grappell says her parents were at first hesitant to participate in her documentary art project when she proposed it two years ago. So Grappell set up clear boundaries. Her parents were interviewed separately but each was asked the same questions. Cameraman Christian Moore shot the footage, and Grappell is never seen nor heard.
In fact, there’s only subtle evidence in “Quadrangle” that gives the viewer any idea that the artist is a part of the story.
“I wanted the audience to connect with the characters independently and to make their own decisions about the story,” Grappell says. “So I had to remain separate myself from the story.”
Grappell is working on a feature film screenplay of her parents’ story as well as developing “Quadrangle” into a more conventional documentary film. The whole process of making the video installation has proved cathartic for her and her parents, Grappell says. “In the end, it was healing for all of us.”
jvanryzin@statesman.com; 445-3699
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“Friday Night Lights” series finale tonight on DirecTV
For five seasons, Austin-shot “Friday Night Lights” has maintained a remarkably high bar for a TV drama, giving us a clear-eyed view into the lives of coaches and students in fictional Dillon, Texas.
Tonight, at least for DirecTV views who’ve gotten an early look at the show’s last season, the stadium lights finally go out on Coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler), his wife Tami (the incomparable Connie Britton) and all the surrounding characters fans have come to love.
In the Christmas-themed finale, the Taylors face one big surprise and must make a life-changing decision that will affect the entire town. Quarterback Vince Howard (Michael B. Jordan) faces a future where even the existence of the team he’s led is in doubt. And the Riggins family may finally get the peace it deserves after an epic run of bad luck.
Without spoiling plot specifics, we can say that the series ends its run in extremely satisfying ways, tying up more than a half-dozen storylines involving current players and returning favorites from the original cast.
A major theme of Season 5 has been having the grace to know when it’s time to walk away from something or someone you love. In its swan song, the town of Dillon is at an intersection familiar to longtime views: a financial crisis has divided the town even as residents are perched at the edge of jubilation over a potential football state championship.
At a welcome 61 minutes (most episodes run about 45), “Friday Night Lights” is allowed to revel in the details one last time in the sharp, yet humanistic ways it always has. There’s not a play of actual football until close to the end of the episode, and it’s in near-silent slow motion, a beautifully shot meditation on and all that Coach Taylor and his team (and fans of the show) have been through. Chandler and Britton have some of their best scenes together ever in this finale (and that’s saying a lot given the consistent high quality of their work); it’s an emotional wringer for anyone who’s followed the series.
“FNL” was never a ratings hit, but it’s always been a darling of TV critics and has been especially beloved in town where many of our landarks and locales are prominently featured in the series. For those without DirecTV, the last season will begin airing on NBC on April 15. If you’re still waiting for that, let us reassure you in advance: You will not be disappointed.
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“Friday Night Lights” series finale 8 p.m. 101 Network on DirecTV
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Review: ‘Traffic Light’ (8:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Fox)
“Traffic Light,” premiering at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday on Fox, is a great new sitcom with an inexplicably awful name. The pilot episode, sent to critics last summer under the much better title “Mixed Signals,” is a full of laughs, interesting and relatable characters and awkwardly funny situations.
The show focuses on a trio of 30-something buddies: Mike (David Denman, Roy on NBC’s “The Office”) as lawyer/family man Mike; confirmed bachelor Ethan (Kris Marshall); and Adam (Nelson Franklin, who also appeared on a handful of episodes of “The Office”). The show’s humor comes from these guys’ efforts to navigate their relationships and love lives — Mike with wife Lisa (Liz Lapira) and Adam with live-in girlfriend Callie (Aya Cash). Ethan’s bachelor status leaves the door open for a continual series of mismatched female guest appearances.
The set-up is not exactly original, but it is written in a believable style that favors organic humor over set-ups and punchlines. The combination of a family man, a bachelor and a guy entering his first serious relationship provides a deep well of contrasting opinions and hilarious and heartwarming potential situations. Denman, Marshall and Franklin have a natural and authentic rapport — it’s easy to believe they’ve been friends forever.
Contrast it with NBC’s similarly set-up but dreadful sitcom “Perfect Couples,” and it becomes crystal clear how miraculous “Traffic Light” is. Don’t let the awful name stop you from watching.
“Traffic Light”
8:30 p.m. CT Tuesdays, Fox
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‘When I Rise’ to air on PBS tonight
The documentary “When I Rise” by Austin filmmaker Mat Hames is set to air on PBS’s “Independent Lens” tonight.
The film tells the story of Barbara Smith Conrad, who, as a music student at the University of Texas in the ’50s, found herself at the center of a racial controversy.
“Independent Lens” airs tonight at 9 on KLRU.
Jeanne Claire van Ryzin talked to Conrad and Hames when the documentary debuted at the South by Southwest Film Festival last March. Read her story after the jump.
Barbara Smith Conrad never shed a tear when, as a young University of Texas student in 1957, she became the central figure of a highly publicized chapter of civil rights history. But she recently had a private screening of “When I Rise,” a documentary about her life made by Austin filmmaker Mat Hames that premieres Sunday at the South by Southwest Film Conference and Festival. And the tears started flowing.
The movie charts Conrad’s compelling story - a gifted young singer from East Texas when she landed at UT, among the first African American students to be admitted to Texas’ flagship university. Almost immediately she was cast to star in a production of the opera “Dido and Aenas.” But when word got out that Conrad would sing opposite a white male classmate, a backlash from segregationists as well as members of the Texas Legislature ensued. Under pressure from two state representatives - Rep. Joe Chapman of Sulphur Springs and Rep. Jerry Sadler of Anderson County - then-UT President Logan Wilson ordered Conrad removed from the opera. Campus protests erupted, and the incident attracted national headlines. Conrad endured numerous threats and harassments. At one point, she was spit on by a white student as she crossed the UT campus.
“I never cried all those years,” she says of her decision to stay and complete her music degree at UT, even though pop superstar Harry Belafonte offered to pay for her education if she wanted to transfer to another university. “It was a matter of pride.”
Then she watched Hames’ re-telling of the incident, of her years as a successful international opera singer and of the celebrations last year when the Texas Legislature honored Conrad with a resolution.
This time, she didn’t hold back. “I cried for a good 15 minutes,” Conrad said, speaking by phone from her home in New York. “It was quite cathartic. It really felt OK to let go like that.”
The film also captures much of Conrad’s current relationship with UT, particularly with the Butler School of Music, where she returns often to teach master classes, and the Briscoe Center for American History, where her papers are archived and where she consults with the center’s American Spirituals Initiative project.
Briscoe Center executive director Don Carleton is the movie’s executive producer and spearheaded the efforts to raise the estimated $500,000 needed to finance the film.
“I’d been looking for a way to make a documentary about Barbara’s story for a while,” said Carleton. “Part of the Briscoe Center’s mission is to create ways to educate the public in history, and a film is a great way to get that history out to a much larger audience.”
In 2007, Carleton asked Hames to film a master class that Conrad was teaching at UT, an effort to kick-start the process of making - and finding funding for - a full-length film. Carleton and Hames had crossed paths before on “Last Best Hope,” Hames’ award-winning documentary about the Belgian Resistance during World War II, which used materials housed at the Briscoe Center.
Hames found Conrad’s story compelling.
“There’s a lot about Texas during the civil rights movement that’s often not discussed,” says Hames, who grew up in Arlington and studied film at the University of North Texas. “I wanted to talk about (that period) of Texas’ history - and UT’s history - because no other film really confronts it. And if you don’t talk about (the history), it really isn’t resolved.”
Still, Hames had some initial trepidation about how a white man such as he could tell the story of an African American woman. “How could I not?” he asked. “I knew it would be a challenge.”
Shortly after capturing that first footage of the master class, Hames traveled to the small East Texas town of Center Point, where Conrad grew up and where the opera singer was being celebrated during the town’s annual reunion in 2007. The filmmaker brought his wife and two young children, hoping that having the family with him would give Conrad an immediate sense of who he was and where he was coming from.
It worked.
“He has an honesty,” the singer said. “And he’s compassionate. I trusted him right away.”
And she trusted that this was a good time, too, to finally share her story. During “the incident,” as Conrad calls it, she gave one media interview, then assiduously avoided the press for the rest of her time at UT.
“I never wanted to sensationalize any of it,” Conrad said. “I just wanted to do what I had been dreaming of, and that was study music and learn to be a classical singer.”
After graduation, Conrad moved to New York with the encouragement and support of Belafonte. (Hames found footage of Conrad in the chorus of a televised Belafonte special.) Longtime New York City Opera conductor Julius Rudel - who is interviewed in the film - took a particular interest in Conrad’s career, offering her several roles. Conrad also sang with the Metropolitan Opera and numerous European companies.
Hames found footage and other visuals by plumbing archives in New York, writing to opera houses around Europe where Conrad had performed and contacting people who figured large in the singer’s life. He interviewed Belafonte when the famed pop star made a 2008 visit to Austin.
After an American-Statesman story ran last year about Conrad’s celebration by the Texas Legislature, Hames was contacted by Harley Clark, who was the student-elected UT head cheerleader from the time of the controversy and who is credited with introducing the Hook’em Horns hand signal. Unbeknownst to Conrad at the time, Clark, who had never met her, personally petitioned UT president Wilson not to have the young singer removed from her role in the opera. Clark, now a retired state district judge who lives in Wimberley, is interviewed in “When I Rise.”
At the beginning of his research, Hames came upon a thick file of letters sent to the UT president in 1957 as news of Conrad’s dismissal broke. What struck the filmmaker was the support of Conrad by UT alumni, opera fans and other people across the country. Toward the end of “When I Rise,” in a particularly poignant moment, Conrad reads aloud from some of the letters, the first time in more than 50 years that she intimately re-visits the event that put her name in national headlines.
“High on my list is that this film enlighten people. This cancer (of racism) has not been eradicated as of yet, and we keep making the same mistakes over and over again,” she said. “Why keep making the same mistakes over and over again? Why can’t we move past this place where everything is determined by race?
“Why can’t it be about getting to know each other better? Maybe we can reach out to each other more. The awkwardness comes from not having enough rehearsal time with each other. Folks are just folks.”
jvanryzin@statesman.com; 445-3699
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Recap: ‘The Bachelor’ week 6, Feb. 7
Michelle’s black eye is gone this week. Well, except for the one that she continues to give network television.
So here’s the deal … the producers must have had a private talk with Austin “Bachelor” Brad Womack and told him something like this: “Yes, we know Michelle is psychotic. No, you can’t send her home. Yes, we know she scares you — she scares us, too. No, you can’t send her home.”
While I’m sure part of their reason for wanting Brad to keep her around is that they must be genuinely afraid of what she’ll do when she gets cut, I think they have an ulterior motive … she’s too crazy good of a character in an otherwise pretty dull and lifeless cast led by “The Bachelor” himself. Still, if tonight is any indication, she’s not going to be around much longer. Just to be safe, her next one-on-one date with Brad should be at Restful Acres Sanitarium.
Monday’s episode begins with the harem’s trip to Costa Rica where they hike to their luxurious digs in the middle of the rain forest and all find out why it’s called the rain forest. Seriously, Brad — you could have just taken these women to a wet t-shirt contest in Santa Monica and saved ABC a whole lotta’ coin.
What happens next? Continue reading after the jump …
Anyway, the other women are disappointed and jealous to discover that Brad has chosen Chantal O. for a second one-on-one date, especially since at least a couple of them hadn’t been on a single one yet. Michelle was especially angry and stated that she hoped that Chantal got attacked by monkeys or apes. And then — and this is the really crazy part — she didn’t look up and say, “Oops, did I say that out loud?” because she can’t hate loudly enough.
It’s hard to guess exactly where Brad’s taking Chantal, because she hasn’t mentioned anything new that she’s afraid of yet this episode and we know the producers love to torture these women by playing off of those fears for these dates. For example: if you were afraid of elevators, the producers would have Brad chopper you off to the world’s tallest building where they would rig the elevator so that it would suddenly drop eight floors when it reached the 127th story, then climb back up and then drop again and then climb back up seventeen times. If you were allergic to peanut butter, they would use it to fill the hot tub. And you’d jump right in, because Brad asked you to.
It turns out that Brad and Chantal are going zip-lining, which looks like a lot of fun (way more fun than zip-locking, anyway, which is just opening and closing self-sealing sandwich bags for a few hours). It also gives Chantal a chance to wrap her legs tightly around Brad and make a stupid comment about how she could get used to that.
Later, their romantic dinner is interrupted by a deluge (I think Costa Rica must translate to “Damn, it sure rains a lot here!”) but that’s okay, because swingin’ Brad has a “Bachelor” pad waiting and it gives him an excuse to get Chantal out of those wet clothes and into something dry — no, not his sparkling wit, one of his shirts. Which he does. Then he picks up three things: Chantal’s pants-less signals; his jaw from the floor; and a rose, which he asks her to accept.
Back at harem central, the other contestants are trying to predict Chantal’s fate. I think Michelle loses, because she predicts Chantal will be sent home and won’t come back and, instead, Chantal does come back. With a rose. And Brad’s shirt (even though I’m pretty sure her own is dry by now and probably some pants, too). So, yeah, pretty far off there, Michelle.
The group date finds Michelle brooding all day because the activity is rappelling down a waterfall and, apparently, when she and Brad scaled the side of that skyscraper a couple of episodes ago, they made some kind of stupid deal (she kept calling it a pact, which only convinces me that she’s got cult experience in her past, which would explain a lot) that they would only forever thereafter go pointlessly climbing down the sides of things with each other and nobody else. So, once all of the other girls bounce their way over and down the cliff — including poor Jackie, who is afraid of heights (I knew the producers wouldn’t let me down) — Michelle actually starts punching Brad for breaking their vow and, you know, I think she could take him. I’m not sure that the edge of a cliff is where you want to be slapping somebody around, but then again I am not bat-crap crazy.
Brad calms her down and tells her that he didn’t break their creepy pact because they are going to rappel down the waterfall together (except they both keep calling it “repelling” which, again, is a much more accurate assessment). When they get to the bottom Brad starts to worry that the other girls might be jealous of Michelle. Going on a date with Brad is like going to my grandma’s house with my brothers when we were kids — she would always give us each a bag of M&Ms, but we would dump them all into a big bowl and count them out to make sure we each got the exact same number. I guess the difference is that my brothers looked awful in bikinis and the only M&Ms in “The Bachelor’s” swinging Costa Rica jungle pad are the ones in the “mmmmmmm” sounds everybody’s making during all the relentless smooching.
On the post-date hot tub date, Michelle tells the cameraman in no uncertain, four-letter terms exactly what she wants to do to Brad and I am surprised to learn that it’s a different four-letter word than “kill.” Emily tells Brad that she has a tendency to sabotage good things that come her way, which scares him a little. Then Michelle starts giving him crap about the other women, which scares him a lot. Brad decides not to hand out any roses. He says it’s because he wants to be sure he makes the right decisions, but it seems like a well-deserved punishment for everybody bringing him down. Michelle tells the cameraman that she will take matters into her own hands if she has to, and I think I start to see the camera’s image perceptibly shake.
Meanwhile, Alli and Chantal — back at the harem house because they didn’t go on the group date — run across a some kind of black beetle and we learn that Alli is terrified of insects. This means, of course, that Brad will be taking her to meet a beekeeper or something on their upcoming one-on-one date.
Alli’s date card reads “Meet me at the altar.” This sends the pun-challenged contestants into jealous flights of fancy and Alli starts picking out a china pattern and registering at the Costa Rica Bed, Bath and Beyond. Brad shows up on horseback and the couple heads off into the jungle. I guess all the country’s helicopters are unavailable because, seriously, I think Brad hops into one when he wants to go from the living room into the kitchen.
The spelunkheads climb down into a crevice into a millions-of-years-old cave filled with bugs — there ya go — which Alli knew she was afraid of, and bats, something brand new for her to discover scares the bejabbers out of her. Alli says that going through the cave is symbolic of her journey on the show and I think she’s right because love on this show is claustrophobic, moist and dark.
On a side note, it’s interesting to hear Brad reel off facts about these landmarks and their wildlife, because you know that it’s just like Alex Trebek admonishing “Jeopardy!” contestants by reading the correct answers off his cards in that dismissive, arrogant tone as if he’d known them all along.
Unfortunately, Brad and Alli’s dinner conversation, in the middle of some kind of pool of water, is about as deep and interesting as the pre-game chatter Trebek has with his contestants. “We’re sinking,” Alli says with zero irony, and she’s right. Brad sends her packing. Sunk. Farewell, Alli, we hardly knew ye.
No, seriously. Have we met before?
A defeated Brad heads back to his “Bachelor” pad to unwind, when a scary and possessive knock on his door reveals evil Michelle. She has busted out of the harem to clandestinely pay Brad a visit and tell him in which order to send the other girls home. She does this by grabbing his open hands and pushing down one of his fingers for each girl to go: Britt, Jackie, Chantal, Shawntel, Emily and Ashley. Brad asks if the remaining extended finger is her and I’m hoping it’s the middle one because that’s what she just gave all the other women on the show.
At the cocktail party, Emily apologizes to Brad for something — being wonderful and normal, I guess. Her honesty gives Brad the courage to pull Michelle aside and tell her that she’s smothering and scaring him. He doesn’t say exactly what has scared him the most, but I’m guessing it was either almost being pushed off a cliff or having her suddenly appear in a puff of smoke in his locked bachelor pad. Brad says he feels like they had something special but that they have taken ten steps backwards. Later in the smack-down, Michelle says she is upset that Brad feels they’ve taken two steps backwards. No, Michelle, he said ten. Y’all have taken ten steps backwards, not two.
“I don’t know if I’m crazy,” Michelle says, and America collectively says “we do!” in such perfect unison that some kind of magical, harmonic event occurs that stabilizes the world economy and fixes that mess in Egypt.
Shawntel offers to help a stressed-out Brad relax by playing the “silent game.” They can do anything they want, according to Shawntel’s rules, except speak. Apparently “silence” is a loose term in the “silent game,” because a lot of slurpy, lip-smacking sounds ensue.
A newly-relaxed Brad is cornered by Chantal O. who wants to tell him that she’s fallen in love with him. She points out that, since she already has a rose, she has nothing to gain by her admission and explains that it’s not a strategic ploy. She just plain loves the big spelunkhead.
Awwww.
Brad’s response? “Thank you.” He tells the camera that he is glad to hear Chantal profess her love, because that means that the show is working and he is confident that he will find a wife, which is his goal.
Much kissing ensues.
The rest of the roses go to Ashley, Britt, Emily, Shawntel and — sigh — Michelle. Bad choice, good TV. That means Jackie gets to head home and resume her Rachel Berry “Glee” tribute concerts again. Ah, well … here’s looking at you, kid. You and Brad will always have Seal.
Brad and his harem are off to Anguilla next week. I’m not sure of the correct way to pronounce Anguilla, but Brad says it as if it rhymes with “vanilla” (which he is), “armadilla,” (which reminds him of home) and “Magilla Gorilla” (which I’m assuming is his favorite cinematic work).
It’s gonna’ be a thrilla’.
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KVUE reveals “Oprah” replacement
Have you wondered what’s going to happen locally when Oprah Winfrey packs up her powerhouse nationally syndicated talk show and moves it over to her own cable network, OWN?
Wonder no more! Patti Smith, President and General Manager of Austin ABC affiliate KVUE, says that “Ellen” will replace Oprah in the station’s lineup in September (since Winfrey’s show is syndicated, stations carrying the broadcast are free to replace the departing talk show with whatever programming they desire).
But can anybody really replace Oprah? Is Ellen DeGeneres up to the challenge? Sound off in the comments below after you check out this clip of DeGeneres — pre-Oprah retirment announcement — suggesting that Winfrey pack it in and get out of her way:
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Groupon vs. Homeaway: Which Super Bowl ad offended you more?
Two commercials run during the Super Bowl have received especially strong negative reaction — spots by Groupon and Home Away.
Do you think these spots went too far? Did one offend you more than the other, or do viewers just need to lighten up?
Take another look and sound off in the comments below.
Groupon:
Homeaway:
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Recap: ‘Your OWN Show’ week 5, Feb. 4
Austin’s Zach Anner sailed through another week on “Your OWN Show: Oprah’s Search for the Next TV Star.”
His team won the episode’s challenge, which was to produce a commercial for sponsor Kohl’s, in what was the show’s least subtle example of product placement to date (and that’s saying something!)
Celebrity mentor Daisy Fuentes wasn’t much help. So, since the show couldn’t make the Kohl’s commercials the entire point of the episode, the teams were also tasked with interviewing Fuentes for half their score.
Both team’s commercials were decent, although there’s no way the contestants put them together on their own (and, if they’re smart, Kohl’s probably wouldn’t let OWN show any that they had). So that part of the competition was a wash and it came down to the interviews.
I was a little worried because though Zach is funny and wildly charismatic, his competition had what should have amounted to a slam dunk in Elizabeth Espinosa, a television news reporter in Los Angeles. You’d think a 3-minute celebrity interview would be right up Elizabeth’s alley, but her segment was flat and awkward.
Zach, on the other, hand, charmed Fuentes by asking about her charity work and revealing, when Fuentes admitted that she learned English by watching “I Love Lucy” reruns, that he had learned it the same way.
Because the women of Elizabeth’s team had been bickering (again) throughout the challenge, Elizabeth ended up facing elimination along with her team’s producer, Kristina (who remains as annoying and controlling as ever). Since elimination hinges on who conducts the best interview with the week’s celebrity guest, Elizabeth should have had it in the bag. Never mind her professional experience — she’d already interviewed Fuentes once and been told what she had done wrong in the eyes of the judges.
But in spite of Kristina’s lackluster, low-energy performance, Elizabeth blew the challenge a second time by stealing questions from Zach’s much more successful interview and was sent packing.
Next week, money guru Suze Orman leads the teams (and “teams” is becoming a specious term with just two contestants left on one side and only three on the other) in producing a financial segment. Remaining contestant Alicia is the only original hopeful who wanted to produce a financial show, so that could work for or against her, depending on her attitude and her chemistry with Orman.
Are you still watching? Do you think Zach can take it all and win his own OWN show (sponsored by Kohl’s)? Sound off in the comments. below.
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Cowell’s “X Factor” to hold Dallas auditions
Contestants will compete for a $5 million Sony record deal.
“I like the idea that a 12-year-old on this show can compete with an older singer and a singing group,” said Cowell. “I’ve never believed there should be a cut-off age for talent, and we are going to put our money where our mouths are with the $5 million recording contract. I’m doing this show in America because I genuinely believe we can find a superstar.”
Register for audition information at the show’s website and check out the full press release after the jump.
From a Fox press release:
“THE X FACTOR” … HAVE YOU GOT IT?
“THE X FACTOR” ANNOUNCES $5 MILLION SONY MUSIC/SYCO RECORD DEAL FOR WINNER
SINGERS AND VOCAL GROUPS AGE 12 AND OVER ELIGIBLE TO AUDITION IN FRONT OF AUDIENCES OF THOUSANDS
Young Guys, Young Girls, Older Singers and Vocal Groups Who Have What It Takes To Be a Global Superstar Are All Invited
Auditions Begin Sunday, March 27, in Los Angeles; Chicago, Dallas, Miami, New York/New Jersey and Seattle Also to Host Auditions
Sign Up Now for Audition Information at www.fox.com/theXfactor
Simon Cowell, Sony Music, FremantleMedia North America and FOX announced today that the highly anticipated singing competition series THE X FACTOR will award the show’s winner with a record-breaking $5 million record deal - the largest guaranteed prize in television history - with Syco, a joint venture between Sony Music and Cowell.
THE X FACTOR is looking for talent young and old alike - with no upper age limit - to audition for a shot at becoming the next global music sensation. Auditions for the inaugural season of THE X FACTOR begin on Sunday, March 27 in Los Angeles at the L.A. Sports Arena. Chicago, Dallas, Miami, New York/New Jersey and Seattle will also host auditions. Specific dates and venues to be announced.
“I like the idea that a 12-year-old on this show can compete with an older singer and a singing group,” said Cowell. “I’ve never believed there should be a cut-off age for talent, and we are going to put our money where our mouths are with the $5 million recording contract. I’m doing this show in America because I genuinely believe we can find a superstar.”
“I have always been proud of the achievements of THE X FACTOR worldwide, and am looking forward to its American launch,” said Sir Howard Stringer, Chairman, CEO and President of Sony Corporation. “I have no doubt THE X FACTOR will find winners worthy of international acclaim and career longevity, and believe with Sony’s worldwide effort, the winners’ potential can be unlimited.”
“THE X FACTOR has become a worldwide phenomenon and is unlike anything we’ve seen in America,” said Mike Darnell, President of Alternative Entertainment, Fox Broadcasting Company. “The British version is wildly entertaining, but also has a penchant for stirring up controversy. You never know what Simon has up his sleeve, and since he will be working both behind and in front of the camera, the country should brace itself to expect the unexpected.”
“Since its U.K. debut in 2004, THE X FACTOR has proven itself a global success story in numerous territories worldwide,” said executive producer Cecile Frot-Coutaz, CEO of FremantleMedia North America. “Now, as we bring this widely popular format to U.S. audiences, I look forward to building a new franchise for a new decade with the return of the inimitable Simon Cowell.”
THE X FACTOR judges will travel the nation searching for undiscovered talent 12 years old or over - both solo artists and vocal groups - who are willing to brave the panel for a chance to make their dreams come true. In a departure from other singing competition series, the first time a contestant auditions for the judges, he/she will do so in front of an audience of thousands - raising the stakes and increasing the pressure to impress not only the judges, but also a potential legion of fans. This will be the ultimate test to prove they have the vocal ability, charisma and stage presence that it takes to become a global superstar and win a $5 million recording contract with Syco/Sony Music.
In the coming weeks, THE X FACTOR host and judges panel will be unveiled and announcements will be made about audition opportunities that will give everyone 12 or over in America - no matter where they live - the chance to show that they’ve got it. There also will be reveals of unprecedented initiatives that will make THE X FACTOR unlike anything else on television.
Solo singers and vocal groups who believe they have what it takes to compete on THE X FACTOR should sign up now for audition information at www.fox.com/theXfactor. Additional details, including eligibility requirements, are also available on the site. Hopefuls should check back regularly for updated information and complete audition rules and registration forms.
As previously announced, Pepsi will serve as an official sponsor of THE X FACTOR. The comprehensive sponsorship includes an extensive, multi-platform off-air marketing partnership; weekly in-show integrations and placements; and an immersive content experience online.
THE X FACTOR is produced by Syco Television and FremantleMedia North America. Simon Cowell, Rob Wade and Siobhan Greene are executive producers for Syco Television. Cecile Frot-Coutaz, Richard Holloway and Andrew Llinares serve as executive producers for FremantleMedia North America.
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‘The Chicago Code’ premieres Monday
“The Chicago Code,” Fox’s mid-season police drama premiering today at 8 p.m., comes with high expectations. These are built in, for better or worse, when your new series’ creator is Shawn Ryan, who brought to television last season’s often lamented “Terriers” and the insert-superlative-here FX cop drama, “The Shield.”
While I’m not sure it’s worthy of its hype as the second coming, “The Chicago Code” looks to meet most of those expectations.
For starters, the show is set in Ryan’s hometown of Chicago, so the settings and plot lines — encompassing routine police fare, deep undercover work and corrupt politics —have an organic, authentic feel. And the series is beautifully shot in a gritty, cinematic style.
The cast does a (no pun intended) uniformly good job with well-drawn characters, especially Jason Clarke as difficult Detective Jarek Wysocki and Jennifer Beals as his ex-partner, Teresa Colvin, who also happens to be the city’s current Superintendent of Police. The pilot uses the fairly conventional and slightly disappointing “dismissing of potential partners” tactic to deliver Wysocki “Friday Night Light’s” Matt Lauria as his new ride-along Caleb Evers, but the dominoes must be set up. Delroy Lindo (late of NBC’s 2006 drama “Kidnapped”) is menacing, yet subtly so, as dirty Alderman Patrick Gibbons.
Chicago and its corrupt politics are hot right now, courtesy of CBS’ hit legal drama “The Good Wife.” While “The Chicago Code” won’t spend as much time in court, it seems to be melding the seamiest political elements of that show (minus the heavy-handed exhibitionism) with authentic police drama.
I’m a little burned out on cop shows, but the complex characters and relationships — as fully defined as I’ve seen in a pilot — its creator’s exceptional pedigree and the fact that it’s not just another procedural mark “The Chicago Code” as a quality effort. If cop shows are your thing, I think you’ll like this one.
“The Chicago Code”
8 p.m. Mondays, Fox
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This week’s TV picks
Monday:
“The Electric Company” 4:30 p.m., PBS: Season 3 kicks off with a round of wordball. Word.
“How I Met Your Mother” 7 p.m., CBS: Pop tart Katy Perry guest stars.
“Intervention” 8 p.m., A&E: Local drug and alcohol treatment center Austin Recovery is featured in tonight’s story of an inventor and dad fighting both of those addictions.
“The Chicago Code” 8 p.m., Fox: “The Shield” creator Shawn Ryan sets his sights on the windy city in the premiere of this cop series with political corruption and deep undercover work.
Tuesday:
“Glee” 7 p.m., Fox: The gang mans a kissing booth, so don’t be surprised to run across sexual themes in this episode.
“Raising Hope” 8 p.m., Fox: The hit freshman sitcom returns after a long hiatus as Jimmy bonds with another single pop.
“Only in America with Larry the Cable Guy” 8 p.m., History: Really? I bet this would be huge in France. Moonshine and frog-jumping are explored in the series premiere. Moonshine. Frog-jumping. Larry the Cable Guy. Yep, that sounds about right.
“Traffic Light” 8:30 p.m., Fox: Don’t let the awful name scare you off of this funny and touching new relationship comedy.
“Top Shot” 9 p.m., Discovery: Season 2 opens with a Civil War-themed challenge.
Wednesday:
“The Middle” 7 p.m., ABC: I’ll bet all the kissing in this Valentine’s-themed episode is a lot more wholesome than what we saw on “Glee” last night.
“Modern Family’ 8 p.m., ABC: Last year’s Valentine’s Day episode was one of the funniest of the series, so I’ve got high-hopes for tonight’s outing.
“Friday Night Lights” 8 p.m., DirecTV: The series ends its run on the 101 Network tonight. If you’re not a DirecTV subscriber, the final season is slated to re-air on NBC beginning in April.
“Human Target” 8 p.m., Fox: Season 2 concludes tonight.
“Mr. Sunshine” 8:30 p.m., ABC: “Friends” star Matthew Perry returns to series television as a grumpier Chandler in this new series.
“Justified” 9 p.m., FX: Boyd Crowder escapes in the Season 2 premiere.
Thursday:
“American Idol” 7 p.m., Fox: The Hollywood round begins. Four Austinites and two Georgetown residents made it to this round; maybe we’ll catch a glimpse of them tonight.
“Community” 7 p.m., NBC: Troy and Abed compete for the librarian’s affections.
“CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” 8 p.m., CBS: A dead body is found in a thrift store donation box. Look — they’re thankful for just about any donation, but even I know they only accept live bodies.
“The Office” 8 p.m., NBC: Okay, I’m betting that Michael and Holly’s kisses will be the most awkward and disturbing of the week.
Friday:
“Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown,” “A Charlie Brown Valentine” 7 p.m., ABC: The blockhead gets a holiday-themed twin spin in back-to-back 1975 and 2002 specials. Meanwhile, we all remember our own little red-haired girls.
“Fringe” 8 p.m., Fox: It’s back to the alternate universe to battle a bio-terrorist with flesh-eating intentions.
Saturday:
“NASCAR Racing” 7 p.m., Fox: Two-time winner Kevin Harvick and other drivers spin you right ‘round, baby, right ‘round in the Daytona Beach Budweiser Shootout.
Sunday:
“Must Love Cats” 7 p.m., Animal Planet: Two stories are explored in tonight’s premiere episode. One is about a San Francisco cat suspected of repeat burglaries and the other is just too gross to mention here. I am not a feline fan, but I think the second tale will give even the most ardent cat lover second thoughts.
“Grammy Awards” 7 p.m., CBS: Eminem and Bruno Mars, who lead the pack in nominations, are both scheduled to perform.
“The Simpsons” 7 p.m., Fox: Marge’s hair turns gray, which leads me to believe that the worldwide blue ink shortage I warned y’all about is finally coming to pass. Are you happy now?
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Super Bowl commercials
Some of the Super Bowl advertisements featured in the Life & Arts TV column today were released in advance of the broadcast. Those ads are embedded below. A number of other spots can be found by clicking here.
Which spots from the big game were your favorites? Sound off in the comments, below.
GoDaddy.com:
Chevy:
CareerBuilder.com:
Cars.com:
Pirates of the Carribbean: On Stranger Tides:
HEB:
NFLPA:
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Fans of ‘The Simpsons’: Check out the McBain movie
“Mendoooooooozaaaaaaaa!!!”
Somebody stitched together those Ranier Wolfcastle “McBain” segments from various episodes of “The Simpsons” and it turns out they make a pretty decent little movie, which I found over at CollegeHumor.com.
Check it out:
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New Kyle Killen pilot picked up by NBC
12:38 p.m.: Updated to add quote from Killen.
The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Austinite Kyle Killen’s hour-long dramatic pilot, “REM,” has been picked up by NBC in a sweep of four projects.
From the article:
“REM,” an hourlong project from Killen, is described as a procedural hybrid that centers on the simultaneous and parallel lives of a detective who can’t let go of any aspect of his fractured family after a car accident. Killen wrote and will executive produce for 20th TV. Killen created the short-lived (and complicated) Fox soap “Lone Star” that debuted to abysmal numbers (4.1 million) in September of last year.
“I’m very excited that NBC has given me another chance to corner the market on shows that people don’t watch or understand,” the self-deprecating Killen told me on Friday. “I will try hard not to let them down.”
Read about the other three pickups, all comedies, in the full article here.
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‘American Idol’ sends Austinites to Hollywood
You wouldn’t know it by watching Wednesday’s Austin “American Idol” auditions (which largely focused on out-of-staters and singers from tiny and obscure Texas towns and cities) but four singers who call Austin home and another couple of crooners from Georgetown were passed through to the Hollywood rounds, which begin Feb. 10 on Fox.
You could head to the show’s website, to meet them, but there are 47 videos there (although Ryan Seacrest said on Wednesday’s broadcast that 50 made the cut) and you’ve got to watch each one to find the locals. And every video is preceded by a commercial you can’t skip through.
Hey, I like Jennifer Lopez’ gams as much as the next guy, but I don’t need to see her dragging a razor over them 47 times (you know, in addition to the hundreds of times I’ve already imagined it).
To save you the trouble, I’ve extracted the videos of the six local hopefuls and embedded them below.
Do you know any of these folks? Do you think they’ve got the goods to be crowned Season 10’s “American Idol?”
Take a look at the videos and sound off in the comments, below.
Corbin Chase, Austin:
Scott Grimes, Austin:
Jonathas Ojeda, Austin:
Dominic Yanez, Austin:
Chase Dean, Georgetown:
Courtney Nowell, Georgetown:
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It’s official: ‘Beavis and Butthead’ to return Summer 2011
As tweeted by teen pop idol Justin Bieber Wednesday, “Beavis and Butthead,” the iconic 1990s animated MTV series created by Austin’s Mike Judge, is returning to MTV.
The cast of the cable network’s controversial teen drama “Skins” revealed the news at the channel’s upfront presentation in New York.
The music video-ripping duo’s return has been rumored for months, but inclusion in the upfront, in which networks reveal their programming plans, makes it official. Besides — the Bieb wouldn’t tweet it were it untrue, right?
Are you a “B&B” fan? Sound off in the comments below.
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Final season of ‘Friday Night Lights’ hits NBC in April
Michael Ausiello at TV Line reports that the fifth season of Austin-shot “Friday Night Lights,” currently running on cable provider DirecTV’s 101 Channel, will premiere on broadcast network NBC at 7 p.m. CT April 15.
The family football drama stars Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler, pictured above. Season 5 is the series’ last hurrah.
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‘American Idol’ Austin auditions air Wednesday
Austin gets the spotlight on “American Idol” tonight at 7 p.m on Fox. The show will make it look like the auditions are taking place at the Frank Erwin Center, but the people you’ll see tonight were actually culled from that August 2010 round and filmed for tonight’s broadcast at the Barton Creek Resort back in October.
Here’s a pretty comprehensive video round-up of all things “Idol” and Austin. Check it out - along with this Erwin Center audition photo gallery — and let us know if you’re enjoying this season in the comments below:
Selected Austin auditions:
See more auditions and videos of the August Frank Erwin Center auditions and “Idol” host Ryan Seacrest’s visit to Austin after the jump …
More auditions from “Idol’s” Austin episode:
Ryan Seacrest at the Frank Erwin Center “Idol” auditions in August 2010:
The promo for Fox ran at the end of last Thursday’s show:
Jenni Jones’ Austin American-Statesman video of hopefuls at the Frank Erwin Center auditions in August 2010:
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Recap: ‘The Bachelor’ week 5, Jan. 31
This is either Brad consoling Emily at the speedway or a scene from the new Power Rangers movie.
On this week’s episode of “The Bachelor,” what happens in Vegas is broadcast to millions of viewers with questionable taste in television and one hapless critic. The episode begins with all of the women getting kicked out of the mansion. No, Austinite Brad Womack hasn’t suddenly realized how tasteless and sordid this whole thing is and decided to put a stop to it — the show is moving to Sin City for some high-rolling shenanigans!
Shawntel is selected for the week’s one-on-one date with Brad. Her clue promises that she and Brad will end the date with a bang, and I am hoping that means he’s going to take her to a Todd Rundgren concert, but I’m afraid I know better. In preparation for her date, Brad sets her loose in a mall and tells her to buy whatever she wants. Look, ladies — isn’t Brad dreamy? He actually likes to go shopping! Maybe later he and Shawntel can sit around in their pajamas, paint their nails and chat about Justin Bieber. Anyway, Shawntel leaves the mall with a lot of baggage. Too bad it’s not emotional baggage, because the only women that Brad is interested in keeping around have closets full of it.
Before her rooftop date with Brad, Shawntel walks into the suite carrying, like, fifty shopping bags. There’s either a bellhop shortage in Vegas or Shawntel is a lousy tipper. This gives the other women a reason to work themselves up into a luxurious, foamy lather of jealousy and self-doubt. Later, Shawntel admits to the camera that she is worried about discussing her job as a funeral director and embalmer with Brad. But during dinner she has no trouble sharing the most nauseating details of inserting draining tubes into veins and replacing body fluids with chemicals in between bites. Shawntel shouldn’t have worried about being comfortable around Brad — after all, she’s got tons of experience with stiffs! The two end of them up watching fireworks over the tacky Vegas skyline (and now I’m hoping that’s the bang) while Shawntel gets a rose and repeatedly checks her date’s pulse. With her tongue.
What happens next? Find out after the jump …
The group daters are revealed and only the two Ashleys are absent from the list. Uh-oh. That means that while both of them will accompany Brad on the dreaded two-on-one date, only one of them will be coming back. It’s like a cage-match without the fisticuffs, and that disappoints me. I’m trying to figure out Brad’s strategy for this date: It would make sense to pick one woman you really liked and then the woman you liked the least, because that would make the decision easy. The only other option I see is this: You already have a good idea of the two women you’re going to dump at this week’s rose ceremony and the two Ashleys are just barely above them on the totem pole. So they’re the next to go, and you have to choose which of them you could most tolerate keeping around for another week. I think that’s what’s going on here.
Or else it’s just too darned confusing for Brad to have two women named Ashley around. I’m not discounting that.
But before that fiasco, the group daters head to the Las Vegas Speedway where the women put on race car driver suits, hop into NASCAR vehicles, speed around a track and are subjected to painful memories of the loves of their lives — race car driver fiancees who died in plane crashes on the way to a race.
Real nice, ABC. I guess your network call letters don’t stand for “Always Be Compassionate.”
I’ll give Brad the benefit of the doubt here, even though I’m pretty sure that Emily told him during their one-on-one date that her deceased fiancee, Ricky Bobby, was a race car driver. But for the producers of this show to put her through this trauma with full knowledge of her personal history is unforgivable. I can just see them coming up with the slimy idea in a brainstorming meeting and yukking it up over their cleverness, and it makes me ill.
You know what else makes me ill? That the other girls become catty and jealous when Brad takes Emily aside to find out what’s upsetting her. It’s as if some of them wish they had an even bigger tragedy in their own pasts so that Brad would spend more time with them. I’m not joking. One of them basically says this.
Anyway, Emily finally gets into a car, cries a bit, then bravely races around the track. It’s kind of sad that she feels like she has to put herself through this to prove something to Brad, but that seems to be what this show is all about: sublimating every natural instinct you have in order to win the approval of this knucklehead.
The two-on-one date finds Ashleys H. and S. vying for the single rose by competing to appear with Brad in a Cirque du Soliel show, except it’s more like Cirque du So-lame because instead of something cool and new-agey, it’s tacky and Elvis-based. Hey — at least Chriss Angel’s not in it (and that’s just as well, because there’s already way too much mind-freaking taking place on this show). It’s really, really funny to watch Brad being hoisted up into the air suspended by wires, doing some sort of goofy air ballet in his tight shorts and tennis shoes. He looks like some sort of god descending from the clouds — if that god were a really geeky cub scout on a camping trip. Look out, whichever Ashley is still down on the stage — if he drops his canteen from that height, you could be a goner!
After rehearsal, the trio sits down to dinner while Brad decides who gets the rose and the honor of dangling from the ceiling with him in front of 1800 tourists who couldn’t get tickets for the Penn & Teller show. Of course, he chooses Ashley H., because she has proven in previous episodes to be cunning, manipulative, whiny and somewhat unstable. He walks Ashley S. to a waiting limousine and dispatches her without much fanfare while the King’s “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” swells in the background. I’m glad it’s not jailhouse rock, because that might make Brad nervous.
I guess ABC couldn’t spring for a plane ticket for Dr. Temp to fly to Sin City, because Brad consults with his part-time show therapist via phone. The good doctor basically tells Brad to listen to the women’s complaints — many of them are starting to express disapproval with being treated as if they are special and then watching Brad treat all their rivals the exact same way — but, in the end, to not let their feelings get in the way of his mission, which is to find a wife.
The cocktail party finally makes me turn on Chantal, as she again appears super-needy and actually complains to Brad about the time he’s spent with Emily. Not cool, Chantal. And Brad pretty much tells her so, too. He tells her that he likes her, but that she needs to dial back the drama. Meanwhile, producers just off camera are frantically whisper-shouting “No! No! Don’t tell her that! What’s wrong with you?!”
Brad has a heart-to-heart with Emily and gives her a rose.
Evil Michelle takes Brad into a separate room, closes the door and goes all dominatrix on him. She puts him in a chair, straddles him and tells him not to speak. Really, Mistress Michelle? Not even the “safe word?” Then she lets him know — in between lip-locks — that she’s in it to win it. He starts to say something and she all but slaps him. She tells him that she will let him speak the next time they are alone together. I see what you did there, Michelle. Very clever. Then she tells him it’s time for the two of them to go back out and “start sending some girls home.”
I’m fairly confident that Michelle’s going to tip her hand at some point and Brad’s going to witness the scheming behavior that the editors have been slathering viewers with week after week, but she’s just too good of an evil character to send home yet, so I’m pretty sure she’ll be safe.
And she is. At the rose ceremony, Brad sends Lisa (who?) and Marissa packing, offering roses to Alli, Britt, Chantal, Jackie and, yes, Michelle. The five join Ashley H., Emily and Shawntel, who received their roses earlier.
If next week’s preview is accurate, the gang heads to Costa Rica which, by the looks of things, translates to “I offer you my tongue.”
Did Brad send the right women home? Who do you think will win what the producers keep telling us is “the most controversial season of ‘The Bachelor’ ever?” Sound off in the comments, below.
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