Bernie Mac by John Sciulli/WireImage.com
Bernie Mac, who rose from playing standup gigs on Chicago's South Side to perfect his cool, outsized persona in Hollywood blockbusters as well as creating his own sitcom, has died. He was 50.The comedian died Saturday morning from complications due to pneumonia, his publicist announced, shocking family, friends and fans who had expected him to recover. "The world just got a little less funny," his Ocean's Eleven co-star George Clooney told E! Online . "He will be missed dearly."Born Bernard Jeffrey McCullough, Mac started performing on Chicago's stages in 1977, at the age of 20. But he had been telling jokes in front of a crowd since he was a child, entertaining people at church, in parks and even on trains.When he was 32, he won the Miller Lite comedy search, which soon led to regular appearances on shows like HBO's Def Comedy Jam and the start of his film career.He first played a bit part as a club doorman in the Damon Wayans movie Mo' Money in 1992. Over the next decade he turne...
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Creed Bratton, The Office
Fans of NBC's The Office are slowly learning about Creed, the old guy who spends most of his time with is feet on his desk at Dunder-Mifflin. A deleted scene from one of last season's episodes revealed he was a member of the once-superhot '60s pop band the Grassroots. (Their hits "Midnight Confessions" and "Let's Live for Today" are still oldies-radio staples.) The actor Creed Bratton did play lead guitar in the band for a few of its glory years, and wandered the globe in search of musical stardom. The Biz caught up with Bratton at the TCA Press Tour in Pasadena and talked about the long, strange trip he's blended into his on-screen character.
TVGuide.com: How did you go from being in a pop band to acting?Creed Bratton: Well, I was a drama major in college, b
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Reunion, Love Monkey and Commander in Chief
Reunion. Threshold. E-Ring. Invasion. Emily's Reasons Why Not. Love Monkey. Commander in Chief. Heist.
What do these shows have in common? They all debuted at some point during this soon-to-wrap TV season, yet each saw their run either cut surprisingly short or handicapped by irregular scheduling. Was 2005-06 the worst year ever to sample a new show? Were the networks especially hasty in deciding the fate of freshman series? TVGuide.com consulted a panel of experts with unique points of view to examine this strange little season gone by.
Are New Shows Getting Short Shrift?Jeff Bader, executive vice president of ABC entertainment programming and scheduling, dismisses the suggestion that prime time is a crueler-than-ever proving ground for new series. "
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Kevin James, The King of Queens
This week the networks began meeting with ad-agency execs to talk about what's in development for the 2006-07 season. That means it's time for producers of current shows with less-than-robust ratings to start worrying about getting picked up for next season. Here's what industry insiders are telling the Biz.
ABC: The network's comedies are having a tough year in the ratings, but you can't cancel all of them. Rodney, Hope & Faith, Crumbs and Less than Perfect aren't likely to make the cut. According to Jim, George Lopez and Freddie have a chance of returning. Since ABC has two more hours to program in the fall now that football has moved to NBC, shows that would otherwise be doomed have a chance. We're talking Invasion and Commander in Chief. Their survival depends on the strength of the network's new-program development.
CBS: Another season of The King of Queens depends on whether the n
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That '70s Show
The '70s are over and Malcolm is no longer in the middle, but nearing the end. That's the word from Fox, which announced on Tuesday that it's bidding adieu to two long-running comedies. That '70s Show will air its series finale (and 200th episode) on May 18, while Malcolm in the Middle (rejoining the Sunday lineup starting Jan. 29) will serve up its swan song-150th eppy on May 14. Also from Fox: Prison Break (yeah, I almost forgot about it, too) will return March 13 with a much-needed recap show, then deliver nine consecutive new episodes starting March 20; The Bernie Mac Show starts offering double-episodes on Jan. 20; Bones moves to Wednesdays-at-8 as of March 8; and the ne
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Question: Now that Fox has all but canceled Arrested Development, and Kitchen Confidential looks like it's headed down the same road, does this open room for Prison Break to air Mondays with 24, or is American Idol taking up the spots?
Answer: It's not entirely clear how Idol will be scheduled at mid-season, but the original plan (which still stands for now) is for House to move to Monday as a lead-in to 24, although I'm sure there will be occasional Idol Monday-night specials; Fox would probably just as soon air an Idol element every night of the week if they thought they could get away with it. Tuesdays will pair Idol with Bones, moved an hour later. There is a chance, I guess, that if Stacked continues to tank (we can only hope), then either Arrested or Kitchen will get some shots at a Wednesday slot, in and around Idol episodes. And there are always the graveyards of Thursdays and Fridays (where The Bernie Mac Show and Malcolm in the Middle are now buried). All in all, not a hopefu ...
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WB has benched for the time being both Living with Fran and Blue Collar TV, although both shows will remain in production. Melanie Griffith's Twins (the show, people) will take over Fran's slot, while an encore airing of Supernatural will be offered up to the 17 people who were choosing Blue Collar over the Housewives on Sunday at 9.
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Just call them Endangered Series — those unlucky shows whose declining ratings are killing their chances of survival. Is your favorite on the list? Here's a rundown of the programs that might get the ax to make room for next season's new shows.NBCThe West Wing has chosen Jimmy Smits and Alan Alda as candidates for a post-Bartlet White House, and NBC has reelected Wing for a seventh term, but only after Warner Bros. reportedly offered to halve the show's hefty license fee. Ad-buying executive Tim Spengler believes the political drama's appeal to upscale viewers, which makes it valuable to advertisers, convinced NBC to finance another fictional presidential campaign.
Other shows in NBC's danger zone: Third Watch,
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At 14, Camille Winbush has created one of TV's most complex and affecting teen characters, the vulnerable and attitudinal big sister Vanessa on Fox's The Bernie Mac Show. TV Guide Online caught up with the actress (and accomplished gymnast) during a break in filming.
TV Guide Online: Vanessa had a boyfriend for an episode this season. Did that storyline spring from real life or the imagination of the writers?Camille Winbush: A bit of both. Sometimes, I'll give the writers ideas for things that they hear me talking about, like gymnastics. That's something I really do, so they decided to put it in the script back in 2003. They often take different pieces from my life and put it into Vanessa's.
TVGO: Is it difficult to compete in club gymnastics while also handling your role on the show and your schoolwork?Winbush: At times it's har
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