Although Wednesday's Fiesta Bowl was a blowout, a blowout is exactly what Fox execs threw over the Nielsens for the game: a 4.3 rating in adults 18-49. ABC came in second for the night with the return of Wife Swap and back-to-back episodes of Supernanny. NBC was third, with the season premiere of (the sorta-new and definitely improved) Law & Order improving on its Deal or No Deal lead-in. Also of note, CBS' second-season run of Power of 10 looked weak with an 18-49 rating of only 1.7, and as much fun as it is, the CW's Crowned only mustered a 0.9. Got something against sequins and pasted-on smiles, do ya? Well, do ya?! — Ben Katner
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The Game Plan courtesy Walt Disney Pictures
USA Network has grabbed basic-cable dibs on the big-screen hit The Game Plan, to air in October 2009.... Lifetime has picked up rerun rights to ABC's Wife Swap, to start unspooling October '08.... Aaron McGruder has inked a deal with the comedy site Super Deluxe to create The Super Rumble Mixshow, a live-action series chockablock with the Boondocks creator's racially charged humor.... WE TV on Jan. 4 premieres Ugliest House on the Block, a six-episode home makeover series... about my neighbor? Seriously, those blue shingles are ghastly.... PETA invites you to give the Olsen twins a shake. (Fun stuff, frankly.)
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Oh, how I’ve missed the eccentric families of Wife Swap. Their general wackiness can cure any case of the Monday blues. That said, let’s start with Sheila Rush, an avid dog lover, whose husband, Ray, and son, Tyler, felt that they came last in Sheila’s set of priorities. For Sheila, her six dogs are her entire world. She doesn’t want friends because she wants to have more time with her dogs. She makes her husband sleep in the downstairs guest room, while the dogs sleep with her in the bed. She spends a hundred thousand dollars a year on dog clothes (which seems atrocious and kind of sad, since that much money could probably clothe and feed so many needy people) and $3 a week on dog food. Her dogs eat fine steak off fine china, but her husband and son eat fast food off of paper products.Sheila made me cringe a lot. She was definitely mean, like a little kid trying not to listen to anyone else’s point of view because she considered herself the only mouthpiece ...
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I had a few problems with Ashley Pitney. One, she had this whole theory that real men shouldn't tap dance. Gene Kelly tap danced. So did Fred Astaire. Both were men. Neither one was really a "girly man." Men can tap dance or do ballet. But Ashley seemed to be against that. She wanted her boys to play sports and be tough men. She said dancing was for little girls in tutus, which bothered me. Because both boys and girls can dance, play sports, do whatever. Ashley Pitney seemed to have a very specific idea of gender roles that kind of rubbed me the wrong way. She waited on her husband and boys hand and foot, which is fine if that's what she prefers. While Alan Pitney gambled online for hours and her sons played video games, she did everything. But she didn’t mind. Ashley Pitney didn’t know what to do when she was transplanted into the Silver household, where the man waited on the wife hand and foot and the boys enjoyed tap dancing more than sports. Instead of trying to engage...
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Scheduled to debut next season are four new comedy entries — Carpoolers, Cavemen, Miss/Guided and Sam I Am; along with seven new drama series — Big Shots, Cashmere Mafia, Dirty Sexy Money, Eli Stone, Private Practice, Pushing Daisies and Women's Murder Club. Oprah's Big Give is also slated to debut.In addition to the new series, ABC previously announced season renewals for Brothers & Sisters, Men in Trees, Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy, Lost, Desperate Housewives, Boston Legal, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Dancing with the Stars, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, The Bachelor, Supernanny, America's Funniest Home Videos and Wife Swap. October Road and Notes from the Underbelly will also return for second seasons.As previously announced, Saturday Night College Football will return for a second season on Saturday, September 1 (8:00 pm, ET).ABC's fall prime-time schedule is as follows (all times listed are Eastern, with new shows in bold):MONDAY: 8 pm Dancing with the Stars9:30 pm Sam I ...
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Finally, we have a new episode of Wife Swap. Yes, it seems to be that ABC has moved it to Friday nights, but hopefully that’s only temporary. At least we have a new episode. And I have to say, I wasn’t disappointed by these quirky families. I’ve missed seeing the families each week, getting a glimpse into their lives and witnessing how they react to drastic differences from what they’re used to in their households. It’s entertaining and calming to me, for some reason, to know that such unique families exist out there. I always wonder where they find these families and if they’re real. And I always wonder how I’d fare in each of the households. I’d definitely find it hard to stay in the Browne family. The dad, Trenton, seemed like a sweet enough man who found it hard to discipline his kids. His wife, Christie, liked to have fun with her boys, which meant she drove the getaway car when they toilet-papered neighboring houses. (I wonder if their n...
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You could get whiplash trying to keep track of shows’ comings and goings during a network mid-season as chaotic and badly managed as this one is turning out to be. Some thoughts about the latest news, much of which surfaced in the trades and some of which has yet to be confirmed by the networks:First, the no-brainer: 7th Heaven is officially being laid to rest. Again. The family-friendly drama, which was brought back from cancellation a year ago when the new CW decided it needed to launch with as many familiar franchises as possible, is now gearing up to say goodbye to the Camdens once more, when the 11th season wraps May 13. This was hardly unexpected. The show went decidedly under the radar when the CW moved it from Mondays to Sundays, where it was stranded amid a sea of repeats and second-runs of shows like America’s Next Top Model. It was time to go a year ago. This is just sad.Now on to this spring’s roster of mid-season losers. Hope you didn’t get too attac...
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I was a little nervous about the Grimes family when I saw them making that answering-machine message — “We’re not in Japan, but we’ll get back to you as soon as we can,” or something like that. I don’t mind musical answering-machine messages, but it was something about Lori Grimes’ eyes. Her eyes were always wide open and she was always smiling and happy. I know that smiley, happy people exist in the world, but those eyes of hers made me nervous. It was a combination of her slightly crazy eyes and her penchant for singing whatever action she was doing, like making cheesecakes or getting kids out of bed. I just didn’t trust her and I don’t know why. Lori Grimes seemed like a sweet, nice enough person, but whenever she or her husband, Doug, or her kids used the word “training,” that familiar sense of nervousness returned to me. Why do they use the word "training" when discussing how they “teach” their kids? Why not use t...
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So, let’s talk about this explosive table meeting. I’d heard whisperings about the explosive scene and seen the frantic previews, but I had never seen this episode until the repeat tonight. I’m still trying to figure out what caused it. First, Kim Carrao leaves the house because cowboy Randy Ridgely is being belligerent. On the way to the table meeting, Randy’s gearing up to fight Kim’s husband Louis. They get to the table meeting. Kim talks first. She accuses Randy of not doing anything she asked. He responds by saying she didn’t do anything at all, and she was a bad influence on the kids. He says she brought a “trough” of candy into the house, which makes Louis laugh (it made me laugh, too, 'cause it wasn’t really a trough, it was just a bowl and he was freaking out over candy of all things), which makes Jen angry at Louis for laughing. “What’s so funny?” she barks at Louis. Then Louis starts telling Kim how much of a pru...
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This is the second episode in a row in which we’ve had some kind of meat-related contention between the families. Tonight’s meat of choice was deer. And I never thought I’d have to put these words down, but a main issue of the episode was deer urine. While initially I was kind of grossed out/weirded out by a family that together bottled deer pee, I have to say I enjoyed them more than the Hamiltons, the family of pampered princesses. I would never bottle deer pee or eat deer meat, but everybody’s different. And if it were a choice between bottling deer pee and spending an hour shopping with Chastity Hamilton, I don’t know what I’d choose. But I’d probably go with bottling deer pee, as long as I could have nose plugs and cocktails while doing it. Chastity Hamilton was more than just a typical sassy 14-year-old. She called her dad Tim; it always surprises me to hear children call their parents by their first name. She racked up $200 cell phone bills,...
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