Kristen Bell by Alexandra Wyman/ WireImage.com
It was gadget-geek heaven at the Sony Cierge Spring Preview party. The event, held Wednesday at PaliHouse in West Hollywood, gave the by-invitation-only members of the Cierge program a sneak peak at the latest Sony cameras, PCs and TVs. Wearing a sparkly silver minidress, Dancing with the Stars' Stacy Keibler checked out Sony's ultra-thin OLED flat-screen television with some gal pals, while Rachael Harris of Notes from the Underbelly strolled around with her husband, actor Adam Paul. Of her ABC comedy, Harris lamented that the remaining eight episodes might not ever see the light of day. "It's disappointing," she said. "But what can you do?" Staying for the evening's big draw — the Sony PlayStation SingStar karaoke event — were Allison Janney and Missi Pyle. Before jumping onstage with Pyle to launch into Elton John's "Rocket Man," Janney told us, "I need to sing tonight because I'm doing [the stage] musical 9 to 5 and I'm trying to get my voice into shape!" The two recei...
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Christina Applegate in Samantha Who? by Karen Neal/ABC
8 pmWith ABC's Charlie Brown Christmas encore topping the hour (at 9.3 million total viewers), Chuck placed second with 8.36 mil, a 120K increase from last week's impressive outing. Everything else was repeats, with House (8.3 mil) nipping at Chuck's heels and delivering the best demos.9 pmWithout the Dancing stars to give her a lift, Samantha Who? is missing her certain something, this week dropping 40 percent to 7.52 mil. Similarly, Notes from the Underbelly (5.5 mil) shed 33 percent. Heroes' ersatz "season finale" fell just shy of 11 mil, dipping 860 thou week-to-week.10 pmA CSI: Miami repeat was No. 1 with 10.1 mil, followed by Life (6.6 mil, 420K better than Journeyman's most-recent journey) and October Road (5.25 mil, down 750K).
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Dancing with the Stars by Carol Kaelson/ ABC
This Monday's ratings:8 pm/ETDancing with the Stars drew 24.74 million total viewers, a week-to-week increase of 1.65 mil and a 25 percent improvement over last season's final performance night. Chuck placed second with 8.36 mil, its largest audience since Oct. 1 and its best demos since the series premiere. How I Met Your Mother (8.07 mil) dipped 480K. The CW's Chris (2.28 mil, +130K) and Aliens (1.89 mil, +520K) each saw gains.9 pmCBS' Men (15.3 mil) was up 840 thou, while lead-out Rules (11.6 mil) dropped 570K. Samantha Who? (12.63 mil) was down 18 percent, and new lead-out Notes from the Underbelly only held onto 8.25 mil. Delivering 11.86 mil, Heroes soared 11 percent to an eight-week high. Girlfriends (2.28 mil, +480K) and The Game (2.8 mil, +430K) both were up.10 pmCSI: Miami was on top with 15.45 mil, a 770K drop. Journeyman (6.18 mil) edged out October Road (six mil), which shed 360 thou from last Thursday's season premiere.
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Anne Heche in Men in Trees by Sergei Bachlakov/ABC
Perhaps looking to break the time-slot change record set by Bernie Mac, Men in Trees is again being uprooted. The wonderful, deserving-of-a-better-audience series will air two hours earlier, Fridays at 8, starting Nov. 2. (In turn, 20/20 reclaims its 10 pm berth.)Elsewhere on ABC, Samantha Who? will move up to 9 pm Monday starting Nov. 26 — the night of DWTS' final performance show — where its lead-out will be Notes from the Underbelly. And as scooped by Ausiello, October Road returns Nov. 22 with a special post-Grey's outing before settling into its Mondays-at-10 home a few nights later.Related: ABC Says: Play It Again, Sam... antha
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Question: Why is it that networks rarely grab each others' shows after they are canceled? This year there were a few cases where this would have made a lot of sense. For example, a show like The Class had average ratings, but it was canned because CBS didn't have many hours available. Wouldn't it have made sense for ABC, which is starving for even a marginal comedy, to pick it up instead of renewing According to Jim or Notes from the Underbelly? Traveler and Masters of Science Fiction are other shows that I think have some cult following despite the lack of network support and might prove profitable elsewhere. Why do networks put their faith in ratings-challenged or untested shows rather than something that can obviously improve their present situation?
Answer: The reason this rarely happens is the same reason situations like Jericho's (being resurrected after cancellation) are so rare. When a show fails on one network, there usually isn't a clamor elsewhere to keep something alive that
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Question: Could you tell me if Notes from the Underbelly is coming back?
Answer: I believe it's slated to return around midseason — and with a bigger cast. I hear they're introducing parents for Jennifer Westfeldt's character, and they're going after "names."
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The latest pre-upfronts news:ABCDrama pickups: Dirty Sexy Money and Eli Stone (both from Everwood's Greg Berlanti); the Grey's Anatomy spin-off Private Practice, the Sex and the City-esque Cashmere Mafia; Pushing Daisies, Women's Murder Club; Big Shots (Dylan McDermott, Michael Vartan, Christopher Titus and Joshua Malina as CEOs/wannabes). Comedies: Cavemen; Sam I Am (Christina Applegate as an amnesiac); Carpoolers. Other notes: October Road and Notes from the Underbelly will return mid-season with 13-episode runs. (Today's News)FOXDrama pick-ups: The Terminator-inspired sci-fi-er The Sarah Connor Chronicles; K-Ville (concerning cops in post-Katrina New Orleans); New Amsterdam (about an immortal homicide detective). Comedies: Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton's Back to You (FKA Action News); Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino's The Return of Jezebel James (starring Parker Posey); The Rules of Starting Over (courtesy of the Farrelly Brothers) (Today's News).NBCDrama pick-up...
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Our first birth on the show is tonight! Or last night, if you're reading this Thursday.... I missed my deadline, and well, you know how that goes… lame. Me. Not TV Guide.Shooting the hospital scenes for this episode gave me a lot of appreciation for all those who don scrubs on Grey's Anatomy. It's one of my very favorite shows, and I now understand why they get paid the big bucks. They're not paid to act — they're paid to shoot hospital scenes… that take forever. Especially if all the principles have lots to say around a body on a table. There are, at one point, five of us in a scene and we're all standing around mom-to-be Melanie Paxson's hospital bed. So we had to do several scenes in the same room, and instead of shooting each scene individually, we did each scene directionally. What that means is that the camera stayed in one spot through a taping and then it was moved to another spot and we shot the scene all over again. Still nothing? OK, the point is it made...
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Question: October Road and Notes from the Underbelly? Why? Also, if ABC can keep something as idiotic as According to Jim on the air, why can't it find a place for a good show such as Men in Trees?
Answer: Oh, dude, why ask why? You want to see a crazed critic fall apart right in front of you? The only upside to Men in Trees' extended absence is that, as it now appears, the remaining episodes of this season will be added to next season's order, and once the show returns, we'll have a longer season of originals than the norm. That doesn't ease the pain now, but it is an upside. If, that is, ABC lets the show run its course next season, unlike this one. And I still can't explain or fathom them just dumping the show like this for the remainder of the season. As for Underbelly, it's just one symptom of a dreadful disease: the so-called ABC comedy. Here's hoping the network will start from scratch in that arena come fall. There's little reason to worry Underbelly will be an issue beyond May,
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In this episode titled "Oleander," we gather for a meal at one of the hottest new eateries in L.A. The food is great, and the people are very cool. I love doing the group restaurant scenes because you get a nice taste — pardon the pun — of each of the characters and how they all relate to each other. Plus, when we’re not rolling we get to catch up and try our best to crack each other up. Melanie Paxson gets the award for the best, most embarrassing story. It didn’t happen to her but to a friend of hers, and it took our breath away. All I can say is, it involved a girl, a guy and a city. Sad that I can’t go into detail, but I fear Melanie might sue me. This is the thing about blogging... I start to write just for myself and then I realize millions of people are reading my blog. Millions! And I need to be really careful about what I write. It’s very precious. I worked on Evan Almighty last summer and I loved when we were shooting, but I also loved when we...
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