I’m still not convinced that NBC’s Life is a great series, but tonight’s episode (Nov. 13) is the best I’ve seen to date of a show that has toned down some of the elements that irritated me when it premiered. Detective Charlie Crews (the charismatic Damian Lewis), who is still trying to unravel the circumstances of the unjust murder conviction that kept him behind bars for 12 years, remains something of an acquired taste. But he is indulging his quirks (spouting Zen aphorisms, munching fruit) with far fewer mannerisms. There’s not quite as much of the aren’t-I-just-adorable mugging that turned me off in the first episodes.It helps that tonight’s case is a doozy, involving a corpse that would make TV’s various CSI teams do a double-take. Crews and his typically skeptical partner Dani Reese (nicely underplayed by Sarah Shahi) are called to a house that’s nearly as empty as Crews’ own mansion — his settlement after his release earn...
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Question: The recent release of Kidnapped on DVD and the upcoming release of Kitchen Confidential, both shows that didn't last more than five or six episodes, surprised me and left me wondering about more creative uses of the TV-show box set. It must be lucrative for the production companies or they wouldn't do it. Do you think that in the next four to five years, high-quality, creative, outside-the-box TV shows that don't make it on their network will instead go straight to DVD? I think it would be great if there were limited-run miniseries that were heavily promoted (maybe even a one-episode run on network TV) but weren't then dumped onto networks and time slots where they can't possibly survive. This proposal would also solve the recent problem of the serialized dramas that we all know won't make much sense after one season (Reunion, Day Break) while still rewarding creativity and experimentation. Since you know more about the industry than I do, I would love to know what you think.
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I'm extremely excited for April 24, because that's the day one of my most anticipated titles is released. No, it's not WKRP, which is plagued with music-licensing issues. It's the BBC release of Planet Earth. This 11-episode series explores our planet like no other series has done, from the North Pole to the South Pole, it's all covered in this program. They spent $25 million and 2,000 days in the field shooting material for the program, and they did it all using high-definition cameras. Narrated by the legendary David Attenborough (the Discovery Channel version is narrated by Sigourney Weaver), this series is being released on DVD, Blu-ray and HD DVD, and all formats are among the top sellers on Amazon (as of now, DVD is No. 1, HD DVD No. 8 and Blu-ray No. 19 — their list is updated hourly). The DVD set also includes a bonus program, "Planet Earth: The Future," and 110 minutes of behind-the-scenes material that isn't available on the higher-priced Blu-ray and HD DVD releases.T...
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Super Bowl XLI MVP Peyton Manning visits Late Show with David Letterman on Feb. 13.... The first season of One Day at a Time — not starring Jack Bauer, but Bonnie Franklin — arrives on DVD Apr. 24, as does the complete 13-episode run of NBC's Kidnapped.... YouTube has inked a deal with Digital Music group to post more than 4,000 hours of content, including such classic TV shows as I Spy and Gumby (damn it), in the coming weeks, says the Wall Street Journal.
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Because I get questions about it every single week, I figured I'd weigh in on the CW's announcement this week that the former WB Friday sitcom Reba (once a bright spot on that dim night) is finally coming back on air. But very much on the margins. And there's a reason for that.November is becoming an unexpectedly busy month for series and season premieres: ABC's Day Break is filling in for Lost, CBS' 3 LBS is replacing Smith on Tuesdays, and ABC's wedding-day sitcom Big Day and NBC's long-awaited return of Scrubs (as part of a new Thursday two-hour comedy block) will both bow the week after Thanksgiving.And now Reba joins the party. But you'll have to make an effort to find her. The CW has scheduled the show for Sundays, in the unenviable slot of 7-8 pm/ET. On the first night back, Nov. 19, two new episodes will air back-to-back. After that, starting Nov. 26, an "encore" Reba will air in front of a "fresh" episode (as they used to be called on the WB). If it looks like the CW is bur...
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