Jeff Probst by Monty Brinton/CBS, William Petersen by Robert Voets/CBS
As NBC and Fox already have done, CBS has revealed its premiere plan for this fall. And it looks like this:Thursday, Sept. 18: SurvivorMonday, Sept. 22: Big Bang Theory, Mother, Two and a Half Men, Worst Week* and CSI: Miami Tuesday, Sept. 23: NCIS, The Mentalist* and Without a TraceWednesday, Sept. 24: Old Christine, Project Gary*, Criminal Minds and CSI: NYSunday, Sept. 28: 60 Minutes, Amazing Race 13, Cold Case and The UnitFriday, Oct. 3: Ghost Whisperer, The Ex List* and NumbersThursday, Oct. 9: CSI and Eleventh Hour** Denotes new seriesThe delay for some series (such as CSI) is being attributed to a couple weeks' worth of presidential debates.Review our COMPLETE FALL TV GRID | Read FALL TV HEADLINES
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Padma Lakshmi by Chuck Hodes/Bravo Photo
So does the U.K.'s media minister, who has made the shocking announcement that he is banning all product placement on British TV shows, according to Variety.Despite the practice having already been approved by the European Union, Andy Burnham, the secretary of state at the Department of Culture, Media, and Sport, said that he won't allow it to "contaminate" the favorable international reputation of British programming. "There is a risk that, at the very moment when television needs to do all it can to show it can be trusted, that we elide the distinction between programs and adverts," he said.I understand the chap's point; it's definitely a slippery slope. I am an avid TiVo user who is delirious with glee at the prospect of getting through an ep of Grey's Anatomy in 40-odd minutes. (Sidenote: Has anyone noticed there are "un-skippable" commercials now? Benjamin Moore Paints, I curse thee!) Plus, most product placement on TV is so obvious and bombastic, it takes me out of the moment ...
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Survivor host Jeff Probst by Monty Brinton/CBS
Outwit... outplay... outlast... outhippo? Production on Survivor: Gabon — Earth's Last Eden has hit several snags, among them wild hippopotami roaming the area.Host Jeff Probst told the Associated Press, "We have a danger problem with animals that we're trying to figure out how to handle. We don't want the animals around for safety reasons, but we'd love to have a hippo sneak in every so often. I just got a call from our executive producer that we've got hippo tracks at base camp."Other mishaps include month-long shipping delays, a missing cargo hold containing $100,000 worth of food, a fallen crane, and housing for the crew. "We're going to be fine on the show," Probst said, "but the crew housing is not there. We're going to be in tents."He added the snafus were not likely to bring production to a complete halt.Filming in the West African nation is scheduled to begin later this month and premiere — in high definition — this fall. It's the program's first return to Af...
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Eliza Orlins, Survivor: Micronesia
She made America laugh when she "outed" Jason Siska's idol as a mere "stick," but when Eliza Orlins knowingly played her false idol, she joined a small, but growing, number of survivors who had been stung by the show's get-out-of-jail-free card. However, this 25-year-old law student from New York never surrendered, despite her ever-dwindling alliances — marked by the early exits of Yau-Man, Jonathan and Ami — or her battles with the couples' alliance.
With her last words, spoken through the smoke of her snuffed torch, Eliza exposed the idol’s true holder and may have turned the game upside-down. Now the first member of the jury, Eliza is still in a position to impact the game’s outcome, and, as TVGuide.com discovered, she has a lot to say about that.
TVGuide.com: Would you say that your worst moment on
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Survivor: Micronesia by Monty Brinton/CBS
CBS' eight-year-old Survivor franchise is finally going hi-def, when it launches its 17th edition this fall. "Survivor's locations and natural elements have always served as another character in the show and an important part of the competition," Ghen Maynard, executive VP of alternative programming at CBS Paramount, said in making the announcement. "With HD, viewers will feel as if they are on location instead of in their living room." I'm already stocking up on Off! — MWM
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Survivor: Micronesia---Fans vs. Favorites by Monty Brinton/CBS
CBS Consumer Products is moving the Survivor brand into the extremely lucrative world of health and fitness. The first product extension comes in the form of Survivor Supercharged Sunflower Seeds (try to say that five times fast), which boast 100 percent of the daily recommended dose of vitamins B and C and will hit stores in March. Also on the horizon is the "Survivor Fitness Program," which relies on Survivor-style challenges to get participants in shape.Further down the line, you can expect to see Survivor camping gear, active apparel and more energy-based food, as well as branded corporate team-building and leadership adventure experiences.Survivor: Micronesia — Fans vs. Favorites premieres tonight on CBS at 8 pm/ET. — Erin Fox
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Survivor's Jeff Probst by Monty Brinton/CBS
With Season 16 of Survivor arriving Thursday, Feb. 7 (see Interviews & Features for a rundown of the Fans vs Favorites cast), CBS has ordered not one but two more cycles of the reality competition. "Survivor is a show that defies ratings gravity," CBS reality boss Ghen Maynard tells Variety. "It is a truly remarkable feat to be winning your time period in all ratings categories after 15 editions." In its most recent season, Survivor averaged 15.2 million — continuing a year-to-year slide but still drawing plenty to best its Thursday-at-8 rivals.The real Survivor in all of this, of course, is host man Jeff Probst, who himself has signed on for the two new seasons as well. Dude must earn serious coin. His Off! budget alone....
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Jonny Fairplay by John Sciulli/ WireImage.com
CBS has unveiled the "favorites" for Survivor: Micronesia — Fans vs. Favorites, and there are some doozies. Two from the most recent season — China's James (aka the gravedigger who had two immunity idols and still managed to get blindsided) and hiking guide Amanda (who came in a distant third) — have signed on, as have Vanuatu's female-power queen Ami and the self-proclaimed "most-hated man in reality television" (and really, who are we to argue?), Pearl Islands’ Jonny Fairplay. Among the most exciting repeat players are Cook Islands' "Ozzy," who impressed everyone with his even temper and his incredible swimming and tree-climbing abilities, and Fiji's Yau-Man, the likable underdog who might have won it all had Dreamz not broken his word to give Yau immunity in exchange for a Ford truck.Those of us watching from the comfort of our own couches (instead of from a leaky, lumpy shelter) surely will be psyched to see how Survivor's "10 ultra-fans" (per CBS' press rele...
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Skeet Ulrich in Jericho by Cliff Lipson/CBS
Just a thought: If the strike lasts much longer, do you think CBS' Big Brother house has room for all of us? I joke, of course, but I also fear that if things don't get resolved soon, it's going to be a long, cold winter indeed for fans of good old everyday regular non-reality TV.In the last few days, we’ve seen cliff-hanger episodes of Desperate Housewives and Heroes that felt like season finales, and for all we know, that’s what they might be, if production doesn’t resume early in the new year for the back half of their seasons. For the first month of the writers’ strike, viewers didn’t feel much pain (except for fans of late-night comedy, the first casualty) because we were in a sweeps month chock-full of original episodes. Life went on as usual. That’s about to end. There are scattered episodes of many series yet to air in December, and a few leftovers for early 2008. But come the new year, the TV landscape’s going to start looking mighty diffe...
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Skeet Ulrich and Esai Morales by Patrick Wymore/CBS
CBS late Monday unveiled its "revised programming schedule" for January and February, and the highlights include return dates for Jericho (the seven-episode Season 2 kicks off Tuesday, Feb. 12, at 10 pm/ET) and New Adventures of Old Christine (Mondays at 9:30, starting Jan. 28).Other dates to denote:Wednesday, Jan. 2, at 8 pm: The Power of 10 returns.Sunday, Jan. 13, Tuesday, Jan. 15 and Wednesday, Jan 16: The six-hour miniseries Commanche Moon.Monday, Jan. 28, 8:30 pm: The Captain premieres, starring Jeffrey Tambor, Chris Klein and Raquel Welch.Thursday, Feb. 7 at 8 pm: Survivor's Season 16 premieres.Tuesday, Feb. 12 at 9 pm: Big Brother returns.How I Met Your Mother, Two and a Half Men, CSI: Miami, NCIS, Criminal Minds, CSI: NY, CSI, Without a Trace, Ghost Whisperer, Moonlight, Numbers, Cold Case and Shark will remain in their usual time slots, airing reruns as fresh fare runs out.
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