10:24: Seacrest is wearing a Tudors hand-me-down and making the obligatory gay joke. What can I say about his performance tonight? He did his thing, dawg, but it was just aight for me.10:25: Wayne Brady's looking all angular, setting up a Don't Forget the Lyrics gag in which Rainn Wilson and Kanye West compete to give out the next award. The category is "The Songs of Kanye West." The loser will have to retire from showbiz. Can't Ryan compete?10:27: Wayne disqualifies Kanye for saying "you" instead of "ya." This is falling flatter than Amy Winehouse's hair during an AquaNet shortage. Why is Kanye wearing sneakers to the Emmys? Are they orthopedic shoes?10:29: "I never win," Kanye mopily tells Rainn as they announce the reality-show nominees. Kanye's so short. And he doesn't look like he'd be such a sore loser, but from everything I've read, he is. Wonder if it's because he's so short.10:30: Amazing Race wins best reality show. Is that show still on? Obviously, the Academy never tuned...
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Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Zuleikha Robinson by Julie Dennis-Brothers/Fox
It’s become a pattern every year that after Fox announces its new fall schedule, one of its new shows disappears as if it’s gone into the Witness Protection Program. So you’ve got to wonder if we’re ever going to see New Amsterdam, the drama that stars Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as a 400-year-old NYPD detective. Last week the network bumped it to midseason, turning its Tuesday at 8 pm time slot over to Bones instead.Despite a tepid reception for New Amsterdam at the recent Television Critics Association press tour, a Fox insider insisted the show would turn up in 2008 when it could be launched with an American Idol lead-in. The thinking is why take a risk with a new show when the network — which has been a perennially slow starter in the fourth quarter — has its first shot in years to be competitive in the ratings this fall. What will make this fall different? Fox doesn’t have the typically low-rated first round coverage of Major League Baseball’s ...
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David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel in Bones by Art Streiber/Fox
In recent years the Fox network has ended each season on such a high (thanks to hot franchises like American Idol, 24 and House) that we almost forget how badly Fox struggles to get traction in the fall.Perhaps sensing another fall disaster in the making, with two dark new dramas threatening to drag down its Monday and Tuesday lineups, Fox has rejiggered its fall lineup by postponing the murky New Amsterdam (about an immortal detective), originally intended for Tuesdays at 8 pm/ET, until midseason. In its place goes Bones, shifting from a tough Wednesday slot (9/8c) where this appealing procedural would have faced CBS' Criminal Minds, ABC's high-profile Grey's Anatomy spin-off Private Practice, NBC's Bionic Woman and CW’s Gossip Girl.This makes Tuesday a pretty powerful night for Fox, with the often underappreciated Bones leading into the mega-hit House. Given the level of angst I tend to hear from Bones fans who can't help themselves from expecting the worst, having been burne...
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Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Zuleikha Robinson in New Amsterdam by Julie Dennis-Brothers/Fox
Your poor TiVo is gonna be so confused. Let me try to help. Bones is moving to Tuesdays at 8 pm/ET, frosh series New Amsterdam has been bumped to midseason, Kitchen Nightmares has been relocated to Wednesdays at 9 ET, and Don't Forget the Lyrics! is staying where it is on Thursday nights. Got all that? More immediately, the summer series Anchorwoman has had its premiere date changed to Aug. 22.
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So You Think You Can Dance by Kelsey McNeal/Fox
Stop me if you've heard this one. On Thursday, Fox's So You Think You Can Dance came in first in the 18-49 demo, with a 3.3 rating. Don't Forget the Lyrics came in second with a 3.0 rating in that age group. CBS' lineup brought up the rear, with Big Brother 8 (2.7, third in the demo), CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2.6, fourth in the demo) and Shark (2.1, fifth in the demo). Because, really, what says "young" and "hip" and "now" like cranky ol' James Woods?
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So You Think You Can Dance by Kelsey McNeal/Fox
In the 18-49-year-old demographic — i.e., the only one the networks seem to care about — Fox kicked tail on Wednesday, winning every half-hour between 8 and 10 pm. First the 90-minute episode of So You Think You Can Dance enticed eight million viewers in that age range for a 3.0 rating and a 9 share, then Don't Forget the Lyrics! drew 7.4 million young-'uns for a 2.8 rating and an 8 share.Speaking of So You Think You Can Dance, the top 10 hoofers from this season will be kicking up their heels in 14 more cities than last year's group, for a total of 49 North American dates. Most tix go on sale at 10 am on Aug. 11.Friday's Today's News was written by Ben Katner.
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Aaron Standford in Traveler by David Gray/ABC
Wednesday's ratings recap:• So You Think You Can Dance averaged 7.96 million total viewers over its 90-minute run, a week-to-week increase of 460 thou. Leading out of that, some 760,000 appeared to forget the Lyrics, though the sing-along still claimed the No. 2 spot in the 9:30 half-hour.• Next Best Thing's next-to-last episode served up a typical 7.07 mil.• American Inventor (6.1 mil) was up 370K. That led into Traveler (3.78 mil), which picked up 750K for its season (series?) finale. Whoa, did the exculpatory recording blow up with that guy?! Bummer.
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Pimp My Ride courtesy MTV
Fox has picked up the two-week-old, Wayne Brady-hosted sing-in-the-blanks game show Don't Forget the Lyrics! for a second, 13-episode season, says Variety.... MTV has announced that Pimp My Ride this Sunday is launching what will be its final season. The Xzibit-fronted series' new lead-out is a new car-makeover competition, Trick It Out, hosted by onetime Idol contender Becky O'Donohue.
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