tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post6584057409455176367..comments2023-11-03T06:02:02.128-07:00Comments on By Ken Levine: Will Reilly and Silverman save Fox and NBC?By Ken Levinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305293821975250420noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-20702228714055818452007-07-12T15:50:00.000-07:002007-07-12T15:50:00.000-07:00Ok, I'll be the one to say it. Like everyone else...Ok, I'll be the one to say it. Like everyone else, you're quick to point to Reilly's "bad" calls (Studio 60)-sorry, mrfandi - and not his good ones. So I'm going to point them out, in the interest of fairness:<BR/><BR/>MY NAME IS EARL<BR/>THE OFFICE (US) -- standing by the show in the beginning when the ratings didn't justify it AND when the critics were savaging it. Don't remember that? I do.<BR/>30 ROCK -- great show. Does NOT have the numbers to justify a second season renewal. Is it on the schedule next year? Why, yes. Good job, Kevin.<BR/>FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS -- see above. Times a million. Plus the promotion NBC put into this show to try and get people to watch it. It hasn't worked yet, but they haven't given up hope. CBS would've cancelled it long ago. Fox pre-Kevin, too. Again, well done Kev.<BR/><BR/>It's likely these programming decisions are what got him fired. I don't know what you watch, but these are some of my favorite shows. Still, he shouldn't have lost his job.<BR/><BR/>The standard for any network president is that he has one new hit show for every year he's been in charge. Reilly's done that. (Earl, Office, Heroes). <BR/><BR/>The problem with NBC is that Zucker thought Friends would last forever, ignored development, and now the network is paying the price. But Zucker is Zucker, and must look to someone else to blame for why NBC consistently places 4th. <BR/><BR/>I hope Reilly does daring, great things at Fox. It looks like he has the support there that he never fully had at NBC. But please don't let him kill FNL in the process.<BR/><BR/>--SDAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-53874895064850819392007-07-12T12:39:00.000-07:002007-07-12T12:39:00.000-07:00I, for one, am going to miss Studio 60, and partic...I, for one, am going to miss Studio 60, and particularly liked the last arc, after cancellation was a forgone conclusion. I laughed, I cried, etc, etc.<BR/><BR/>I guess Studio 60 will just have to go into that special file of shows I liked and everybody else trashed..."Cop Rock", "Hot-l Baltimore", "My So Called Life"<BR/><BR/>Go ahead, fire away. I can take it!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-77039547361083251552007-07-12T05:20:00.000-07:002007-07-12T05:20:00.000-07:00The MOST merciful thing about the cancellation of ...The MOST merciful thing about the cancellation of Studio 60 is that I no longer will have to read snide comments about both the show and its creator in which the authors make the same points over and over again.<BR/><BR/>Studio 60 criticism is to 2007 what "Al Gore invented the internet" jokes were to 2000.<BR/><BR/>Was it great television?<BR/><BR/>Heck no. <BR/><BR/>Was it as bad as its smug, superior critics made it out to be?<BR/><BR/>A resounding heck no.howiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16301928540246901286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-29858685884539268632007-07-11T19:30:00.000-07:002007-07-11T19:30:00.000-07:00I don't understand why nobody liked Studio 60. Fi...I don't understand why nobody liked Studio 60. <BR/><BR/>First off, the premise was totally believable. Hot female studio executive spends all of her time punching up a late night TV show that in its glory days got half the ratings of the number one show on the network. <BR/><BR/>Brilliant cast of writers and performers is given to long speechifying and witty banter without ever resorting to a dick joke. <BR/><BR/>Late night show manages to bring in more "very special" moments where we learn something than the entire Blossom DVD boxed set. <BR/><BR/>Show mocks Christians by naming a sketch with the scandalous name, "Crazy Christians" <BR/><BR/>Seriously, sign me up for a five season run of that. <BR/><BR/>I'm guessing that Ken could come up with 1,000 funny things that happen in the course of writing and producing a comedy show, and only two or three of them would involve having to fly out to bail a cast member from drug charges by a racist judge.Robhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08923161793979910495noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-84610283411652314412007-07-11T16:08:00.000-07:002007-07-11T16:08:00.000-07:00The teevee critic for the San Francisco Chronicle ...The teevee critic for the San Francisco Chronicle blogs what he calls "Death March With Cocktails" aka gosees. Pretty amusing stuff:<BR/><BR/>http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/indexn?blogid=24<BR/><BR/>and yes, he gave up on Studio 60 about the third show...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-23972996316538402502007-07-11T15:49:00.000-07:002007-07-11T15:49:00.000-07:00For me, the best thing about the merciful cancella...For me, the best thing about the merciful cancellation of "Studio 60" is that I will no longer have to read any more scolding articles from condescending critics about how stupid the public is for not supporting such a brilliantly-written series. The critics were wrong, and the public got it exactly right. I don't care how much lingering nostalgia they had for "West Wing," the cold fact is that "Studio 60" was lousy, and the writing was the culprit. It was dull, dour, melodramatic, pretentious, completely out of touch with reality and totally lacking in humor or even any understanding of what humor is -- and it was about the making of a comedy show! <BR/><BR/>Apparently, no episode of the show-within-a-show ever made it to air without enduring at least five simultaneous, deadly-serious personal and geopolitical crises. What with having to save the world every week, I guess they can be forgiven for never writing one remotely funny sketch. Most writers I've known on sketch shows would fight to get their stuff in, but the "Studio 60" staff seemed appalled that anyone expected them to take time out of debating, say, the war on terrorism and actually write something funny. And before anyone accuses me of damning what I didn't see, let it be known that I forced myself to watch that dreck week after week, waiting for it to finally get good. That never happened. So just let it expire and go to DVD Heaven already.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-69254772120351978692007-07-11T13:18:00.002-07:002007-07-11T13:18:00.002-07:00I must be tired. I read your quip about Law & Orde...I must be tired. I read your quip about Law & Order: Sorority Crackdown, as "Law & Order: Sorority Crack Whore." Truthfully, is there any difference??Alto2https://www.blogger.com/profile/04383871934188791511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-7751811368897839042007-07-11T13:18:00.001-07:002007-07-11T13:18:00.001-07:00Have fun in Seattle...You'll be covering the new s...Have fun in Seattle...You'll be covering the new start for the M's with Ichiro locked up long term and Adma Jones in right...I look forward to hearing the dulcet tones of Mr Levine this weekend...Phil H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/18186767969583523486noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-7721803964924220792007-07-11T13:18:00.000-07:002007-07-11T13:18:00.000-07:00Punky Brewster in Farsi! Ha! Good one Crutnacker. ...Punky Brewster in Farsi! Ha! Good one Crutnacker. And, sadly, I agree.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-84436257398723141232007-07-11T12:19:00.000-07:002007-07-11T12:19:00.000-07:00[i]Of course, I suppose that's how we get not one,...[i]Of course, I suppose that's how we get not one, but two bad shows where people have to remember the words to songs to win. [/i]<BR/><BR/>On NBC and Fox. Coincidence?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-85924847581057704082007-07-11T09:50:00.000-07:002007-07-11T09:50:00.000-07:00I think I would have been more impressed with Ben ...I think I would have been more impressed with Ben Silverman's homework skills if he said he wanted to be the next Hubble Robinson.<BR/><BR/>Mark B.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-8838954637167085542007-07-11T08:41:00.000-07:002007-07-11T08:41:00.000-07:00fwanltmThe World Series numbers are down. How does...fwanltm<I>The World Series numbers are down. How does Kevin plan on fixing baseball?</I><BR/><BR/>Don't be surprised if all AL contenders other than the Red Sox and all NL contenders other than the Mets, Cubs and Dodgers find themselves victims of food poisoning -- nothing lethal, mind you, just enough to knock them out of World Series participation. Sorry, Vlad, your "Q" rating isn't high enough.<BR/><BR/>Seriously, I'm crossing my fingers about "Back To You"; I don't know if it can be a monster hit, but with luck it could lead to a revival of the sitcom genre, or at least be the "Cheers" to some sitcom of the future's "The Cosby Show." Did Reilly have a good relationship with Kelsey while he was at NBC? Grammer produces "Medium," of course, but I also sense some people associated with "Frasier" thought NBC ignored their show in favor of promoting "Friends." (Then again, with Jennifer Aniston seemingly on the cover of every TimeWarner magazine at one time or another a few years ago -- does she own stock in the company? -- I could understand the resentment.)VP81955https://www.blogger.com/profile/11792390726196611188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-8545340860309763292007-07-11T07:19:00.000-07:002007-07-11T07:19:00.000-07:00To follow up the success of "Ugly Betty" Silverman...To follow up the success of "Ugly Betty" Silverman's going to move all of Telemundo's programming over to NBC and convert it to English, and maybe try to swipe "Sabato Gigante" from Univision (hey, Bob Barker's got some free time to host a show with babes fabuloso right now...)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-47282384338343681512007-07-11T06:57:00.000-07:002007-07-11T06:57:00.000-07:00Those pesky quilt clubs in Sweden are always tuned...Those pesky quilt clubs in Sweden are always tuned in to the latest show biz rumors. And great blogs they are, with all those patterns and stuff.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-85413145808099191922007-07-11T05:58:00.000-07:002007-07-11T05:58:00.000-07:00That was hilarious. You should get a pundit column...That was hilarious. You should get a pundit column, Ken.?https://www.blogger.com/profile/14647785358402031920noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-43908740383402103962007-07-11T05:41:00.000-07:002007-07-11T05:41:00.000-07:00Boy, nothing more exciting than the midsummer madn...Boy, nothing more exciting than the midsummer madness of network executives playing musical chairs and making programming decisions that no one in the general public understands or cares about (and then complain about next season's schedule)... Time to go back to clipping my toenails (yawn)....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-64250895869883973812007-07-11T03:52:00.000-07:002007-07-11T03:52:00.000-07:00Although it is nothing new, the majority of TV exe...Although it is nothing new, the majority of TV execs, like execs in most other big businesses, are lazy, scared, risk averse, and quick to blame forces outside their control for their problems.<BR/><BR/>Of course, I suppose that's how we get not one, but two bad shows where people have to remember the words to songs to win. <BR/><BR/>Reality, and most likely the FCC is what's killing the network audience. I'd rather watch an entire season of Punky Brewster in Farsi than watch one minute of the next Survivor/Bachelor rip off or a game show based on a premise so weak it wouldn't have survived on Nickelodeon 20 years ago. <BR/><BR/>There is still good stuff on TV, but good character driven sitcoms (like the kind Ken tends to work on) are few and far between.Robhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08923161793979910495noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-37493363400990738612007-07-11T01:41:00.000-07:002007-07-11T01:41:00.000-07:00deliciously funny kendeliciously funny kenAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-22405534721982324832007-07-10T23:12:00.000-07:002007-07-10T23:12:00.000-07:00I love it when you talk politics and tv. And than...I love it when you talk politics and tv. And thanks for mentioning Brandon Tartikoff. If he were still 1) alive and 2) in charge of NBC, Studio 60 might have had a second season. And you'd have a gig writing great comedy. Since I read Brandon's book, does that mean I can run a network too?<BR/>-KathyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com