| Critic: NBC's cost-cutting plan bad for viewers | | Posted Sunday, November 05, 2006 3:12:17 PM by Blog57 Team | | The cockeyed optimism of "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" routinely flies in the face of real life.The premise of this NBC drama finds a pair of brassy writer-producers hired to rejuvenate a faded late-night sketch-comedy show (think: "Saturday Night Live") airing on the National Broadcasting System (you guessed it: NBC). And who stuck her pretty neck out to recruit these mischief makers? None other than newly appointed NBS president Jordan McDeere, a network exec whose idealism makes Mister Rogers a hard-bitten cynic by comparison.On a series that presumably means to be more than a fairy-tale version of the industry it's set in, Jordan is straight out of dreamland.And never so much as on the Oct. 16 episode, when she put her job on the line by turning down a sure-fire ratings smash -- a new relationship show not unlike Fox's bygone "Temptation Island" -- because she found the concept sleazy: "It appeals to the very worst in our nature," she said, her baby blues flashing, "and whoever airs it will play a measurable role in subverting our national culture."Later, on the same "Studio 60" episode, Jordan (as played by gorgeous Amanda Peet) begged the young creator of an ambitious new dramatic series to please let her network have it, rather than HBO, where he naturally assumed such a high-minded venture would find a more receptive audience."Your show is good," Jordan cooed.... | |
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| | | Nbc Will Ask News Talent To Take Pay Cuts | | Posted Monday, October 23, 2006 11:12:50 PM by Blog57 Team | | As part of NBC Universal's planned budget cuts, some on-air news talent will be asked to take smaller paychecks, NBC News chief Steve Capus has told the Philadelphia Inquirer. "Some of the salaries have gone crazy out of control," Capus told the newspaper. He said that if enough on-air personalities agree to the cuts, it may save some jobs. Capus made it clear that he's planning to do some serious arm twisting. "We may go to somebody and say, 'We may ask you to take less money in your new deal. If you're not interested in that, we may have to part ways.'" Capus indicated that he's not planning to ask Brian Williams or Meredith Vieira to take less than their current salary of $10 million a year. He explained, "We're not going on the cheap. We're still investing in our people, those who are the faces of NBC News." 23/10/2006 .... | |
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| | | TV Review: 30 Rock: The Light Side of NBC's Narcissism | | Posted Thursday, October 12, 2006 1:12:00 PM by Blog57 Team | | After watching the pilot episode of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, the other NBC series that pokes fun at the increasingly waning live sketch comedy genre, viewers should have been relieved to discover that no former SNL stars are members of its cast and that the show uses an invented network, NBS, as its headquarters. Creator and SNL-vet Tina Feys '30 Rock,' in a brazen move away from any hint of self-consciousness, makes no such tasteful attempt to mask its blatant influences, making NBC the home network of its fictitious show-within-a-show and employing numerous SNL alums on its cast. The shows unabashed attitude results in heavy-handed efforts at hilarity that occasionally work, but ultimately could use some self-control. Liz Lemon (Fey) is the perpetually cranky head writer of The Girlie Show, an SNL-type sketch show featuring comic Jenna DeCarlo (Jane Krakowski), who must now deal with the demands of first-day-on-the-job NBC Vice President Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin).... | |
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| | | NBC Bets on Poker After Dark | | Posted Thursday, October 12, 2006 3:16:24 AM by Blog57 Team | | NBC is continuing to bet on the poker craze; the network will launch Poker After Dark on weekdays Monday-Friday at 2:05 a.m. beginning Jan. 2. NBC will also air a Saturday night recap show at 1 a.m. after Saturday Night Live. The hour-long show will be hosted by former World Poker Tour personality Shana Hiatt and feature six poker pros vying each week for a $120,000 first-prize. .... | |
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| | | NBC's 'Kidnapped' not making the cut | | Posted Saturday, September 30, 2006 7:14:51 AM by Blog57 Team | | LOS ANGELES, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- NBC's new drama "Kidnapped" is looking like it may be the season's first show to take the plunge into bad ratings. The second airing of the show, starring Dana Delaney and Timothy Hutton as worried parents of a missing teenage boy, finished third place in its timeslot with 6.3 million viewers, the Los Angeles Times reported. CBS's "CSI: NY" took first place with 16.1 million viewers and ABC's "20/20" special devoted to "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin took second with 13.3 million viewers. "Kidnapped" also only kept 60 percent of the lead-in, NBC's "The Biggest Loser," among adults aged 18-49. The low ratings are bad news for "Kidnapped," since it is one of the most expensive new shows, costing an estimated $3 million per episode, 50 percent more than the typical one-hour drama.... | |
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| | | NBC Offers Streaming Primetime Shows Online | | Posted Sunday, September 17, 2006 7:17:20 PM by Blog57 Team | | NBC's joined ABC this season in offering streaming versions of their prime-time shows on online for free. You can watch ad-supported shows on NBC.com after October 1 using their proprietary video player. In addition, NBC is forcing their shows to do a live blog after their premiere episode this season, so you can catch that online as well. The first four episodes of the shows 30 Rock and Twenty Good Years, plus the first eight episodes of Kidnapped, Friday Night Lights, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and Heroes will be online for streaming. Will this online content save NBC from being the last place network again this season? We'll see. – Jason Chen .... | |
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| | | South Asian awarded at US comedy fest | | Posted Saturday, September 02, 2006 9:27:15 PM by Blog57 Team | | Rehana Mirza, an American filmmaker of Pakistani-Filipina heritage, has won the Audience Award at the NBC Universal Comedy Short Cuts Film Festival for her short film Modern Day Arranged Marriage. Starring Debargo Sanyal, Poorna Jagannathan and Tyler Pierce, the short film relates the comedic story of a man and a woman who discuss their matrimonial suitability for an arrangement with a twist. Competing against 11 other semi-finalists, the New York-based filmmaker and her sister producer Rohi Mirza Pandya took home the award that includes an Avid Composer Package sponsored by Avid Technology. Comedy Short Cuts is a unique showcase of independent short comedy films and videos with a culturally diverse production team, cast or theme. The 12 semi-finalists were selected from over 850 submissions and a grand winner will be chosen by a jury of industry professionals.... | |
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| | | NBC-17's Gaines signs off | | Posted Monday, August 28, 2006 3:18:00 AM by Blog57 Team | | Bill Gaines will no longer co-anchor the 6, 7 and 11 p.m. newscasts on Raleigh TV station NBC-17.The management at WNCN NBC-17 made the announcement Friday morning. Gaines made his final appearance as co-anchor on Friday's 11 p.m. newscast.Gaines, 50, said his contract was to be up in October, and that NBC-17 officials decided he should leave now. He was with the station for almost seven years."They said they didn't want me to feel as though I was solely responsible for the low ratings, but they said they wanted to go in a different direction," Gaines said.NBC-17's newscasts rank No. 3 in the Raleigh-Durham market, behind WRAL and WTVD.Gaines said that NBC-17 may have contributed to its own ratings woes by shifting afternoon programming and on-air news talent.NBC-17 representative Maryann Balbo said the station does not comment on personnel matters.... | |
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| | | Indian American actor to star in new NBC TV series | | Posted Tuesday, August 22, 2006 9:35:32 AM by Blog57 Team | | NEW YORK: Indian American actor Sendhil Ramamurthy will feature in a starring role in American TV channel NBC's much-hyped upcoming series 'Heroes'. Ramamurthy will play the role of Mohinder Suresh, an Indian geneticist turned New York taxi driver, who, following his father's disappearance, discovers a secret theory - there are people in this world who have super powers. Ramamurthy's role actually will reflect the overall theme of the new series, which, NBC says, will chronicle the lives of ordinary people who wake up with incredible abilities. Among others, the series will feature characters like a lowly paid office worker in Japan who can teleport at will, a struggling artist in New York who can paint the future and a discontented beat cop in Los Angeles who can hear the thought of others.... | |
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| | | NBC aims to score with fantasy football | | Posted Wednesday, August 16, 2006 3:12:01 AM by Blog57 Team | | NBC will air National Football League games this fall for the first time since the end of the 1997 season. And now, the network is also hoping to make a splash in the increasingly popular fantasy football realm as well. The Peacock Network announced Monday that it will launch a fantasy game tied directly to its Sunday night prime-time football telecasts. The free game was designed by AllstarStats/Rotoworld.com, a company that focuses specifically on fantasy sports. .... | |
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