TCA: Fox comes out swinging

The Fox presentation during TCA was quite feisty as Entertainment President Kevin Reilly touched on a number of subjects from the death of Glee’s Corey Montieth to audience measurement: – Reilly – like other network chiefs – was frustrated about how little respect broadcast network shows get compared to their cable counterparts. He pointed out The Mindy Project was the […]

Stacking up the singing competition shows

How do American Idol, X Factor, and Voice compare to one another? When American Idol debuted on Fox in the summer of 2002, no one knew what a phenomenon the series would turn out to be. Along the way, it spawned successes (X Factor, created by former Idol judge Simon Cowell and NBC’s The Voice) and some flops (The One.) […]

TCA: Fox gears up for “Idol”, “Following”

News Corp.’s two networks (Fox and FX) went back-to-back days at the TCA Winter Press Tour last week and touted the new-look Idol, new drama The Following, and more: Executive session: Fox executive Kevin Reilly addressed the critics at the press tour on Jan. 8 and admitted the fall schedule wasn’t what he hoped for ratingswise – but at least […]

The 2012 T Dog Media Turkey Awards

Get the cranberry sauce ready: it’s time for the 7th annual T Dog Media Turkey Awards where every Thanksgiving, yours truly honors the worst in the media business for the year and 2012 is filled with so many media turkeys! Without further ado, here are this year’s, um… “winners”: Animal Practice. Premiering after the Summer Olympics (or more aptly put, […]

“American Idol” shakes things up. Again.

They might as well have renamed American Idol “Bozo’s Circus”. Become a clown is joining the judging panel. And I don’t mean Keith Urban. In news that leaked a few weeks ago, American Idol’s latest new judges are clownish rapper Nicki Manaj and country artist Keith Urban, announced by Fox early Sunday morning (because I guess observing the day the […]

Oops, they did it again: “The X Flop”

Over the summer, Fox signed Britney Spears and Demi Lovato (who?) to be judges on The X Factor to boost the show’s disappointing ratings from season one. Well, it didn’t exactly get off to a good start now, didn’t it? Ratings for X Factor’s second season premiere drew a 3.4/10 in adults 18-49, with only 8.73 million viewers, according to […]

Fox at TCA: Mariah Carey joins “American Idol” as a judge

Fox became the first broadcast network to hold their presentation at the Television Critics Association Press Tour on Monday, with panels on Fox’s three new shows, a X Factor press conference, and an introduction of a new judge on American Idol. – Fox executive session: Entertainment chief Kevin Reilly met the press on Monday and revealed that Mariah Carey will […]

Fox’s 2012-13 schedule

Fox unveiled its prime time campaign for the 2012-13 season Monday morning, in advance of the network’s upfront presentation later in the afternoon. The biggest move coming out of this schedule is the relocation of Glee from Tuesday to Thursday night to make room for a live-action sitcom block. Fox’s 2012-13 schedule, which is surprisingly skimp on new programming, sees […]

The Sun-Times is a disgrace to Chicago. Again.

  Does the headline of this post look familiar to you? Well, aside from the “again” part. It should. I wrote this headline five years ago when the Chicago Sun-Times decided to put then-Chicago Bear Greg Olsen on the front page of the newspaper amid the controversy over a rap song he participated in while at the University of Miami, […]

Ed McMahon dies

One of television’s most recognizable faces – and voices – has left us. Ed McMahon, best known as Johnny Carson’s sidekick for more than thirty years on The Tonight Show passed away this morning at the age of 86. McMahon’s entertainment career spanned more than fifty years, including stints as a game show host, announcer, actor, and commercial pitchman. Aside […]

Leave The CW Alone!!!

WARNING: Satire ahead. Reader discretion is advised. The latest YouTube sensation… A guy named Burley (who, for some unknown reason is wearing makeup) is crying on his bed… “My name is Burley… To all you dummies out there… (snif) Leave The CW alone!!!! Please!!! They have the greatest shows in the world like Smallville and Beauty and the Geek! And […]

Britney joke backfires

Desperate star meets desperate medium… Clear Channel owned WKQI-FM in Detroit DJ Big Boy started a “Britney suicide watch” and was taking calls on from listeners on when Britney will kick the bucket. The only question now is, when Big Boy’s employment at WKQI will kick the bucket… Mojo, the station’s morning DJ, ripped the stunt on the air this […]

"Cavemen" gets sampled amptly

Cavemen and Carpooling had solid sampling last night, with Cavemen tying for #1 at 7 p.m. (CT) in adults 18-49 and winning the slot in adults 18-34. Given the fact Britney Spears’ Gimme More is number one on iTunes, it’s official – the dumbing down of America is complete.