Donald Trump got about as much TV ratings mileage as he could out his blustery talk of running for president of the United States.

And now with NBC trying to sell advertising time for the new fall season during the upfronts this week, it is time for him to give up the charade and let the folks on Madison Avenue know what they will be getting if they purchase ads on NBC's "Celebrity Apprentice" next year. They will be getting Trump, and I guess that's a good thing by the sleazy standards of reality TV.

I swear, watching Trump and and another TV pretender, Fox News host Mike Huckabee, bow to Mammon and their corporate masters in recent days, I am starting to think President Barack Obama might be the last politician in America who can't be bought and sold. And in the case of both Trump and Huckabee, they are bought and sold for what is walking around money in the TV world. What a couple of sorry characters.

Did you see both of them on Huckabee's show Saturday night? Maybe Fox News can launch a new Saturday night show to pair with Huckabee's. This one can feature all the possible GOP candidates who have been compromised by Fox money dressed as clowns jumping in and out of compact cars and honking bicyle horns as they jump around the stage.

Actually, being clowns would a step up for most of the members of this crew.

Continue reading "Trump: Another TV pretender who won't run after all" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 1:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: TV and Politics, new fall season
        

Here's the new Fox schedule with lots of big names both in front and behind the camera.

I will reprint the entire release and all the new program synopses. But I have to just take a shot at Fox chairman Peter Rice saying in the release that "nothing impacts culture the way a television show does."

Oh, really? How about a presidential election -- or attack on the World Trade Center? The tunnel vision, myopia and hype of Hollywood is astonishing even to me after 30 years of reporting and writing about it. And this from the network, by the way, that gave us "Joe Millionaire."

I have made a career out of saying how culturally powrerful television is. For decades, we have been a TV culture in some way. But some perspective, please.

With that bit of context, enjoy the hype.

New York (Monday, May 16, 2011) – Peter Rice, Chairman, Entertainment, Fox Networks Group; and Kevin Reilly, President, Entertainment, Fox Broadcasting Company, today unveiled the FOX primetime schedule for the 2011-2012 television season to the national advertising community during its annual Programming Presentation at The New Beacon Theatre.
 
“Nothing impacts culture the way a television show does,” said Rice. “And here at FOX, we have the most talked about, most followed, most creative shows that build connections between viewers and brands.”
 
“Going into next year, we've rejuvenated AMERICAN IDOL, built a core strength across the week and developed a really fresh, creative new lineup for next season," said Reilly. “From razor-sharp comedies to epic dramas to a massive talent competition series, I think we have the goods to continue to be pop culture’s most vibrant platform, as well as the top network.”
 
Launching this fall is the highly anticipated singing competition series THE X FACTOR, which marks the return of Simon Cowell to FOX. Cowell, along with Antonio “L.A.” Reid, Cheryl Cole and Paula Abdul, will judge the U.S. version of the international television phenomenon that will award an unprecedented $5 million recording contract with Syco/Sony Music to the next global superstar or breakout music group.
 
Epic family adventure series TERRA NOVA, executive-produced by Steven Spielberg (“Saving Private Ryan,” “Jurassic Park”), Peter Chernin, René Echevarria (“Castle,” “The 4400”) and Brannon Braga (“24”) and starring Jason O’Mara (“Life On Mars”) and Stephen Lang (“Avatar”), premieres in the fall. The ambitious series follows an ordinary family on an extraordinary journey back in time to prehistoric Earth as a small part of a daring experiment to save the human race.

Continue reading "New Fox schedule: Simon, Spielberg, J.J. and Kiefer" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 10:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Fox, Network TV, TV and Pop Culture, new fall season
        

One of the oldest rituals of network TV, the upfronts, takes place this week as the broadcast networks unveil their new fall lineups and try to sell them to advertisers in New York.

It used to be a big, big deal, because this is where the business of network television was really done, with the broadcasters showing advertisers the cream of their new crop of prime-time series.

But network TV isn't what it used to be, and it is fascinating, mostly in a cultural sense, to see the aging industry re-eancting the annual ritual with little or none of of the passion and excitement it used to generate. The same steps are being danced, but the magic is mostly gone.

NBC went first on Sunday, and if you want to get excited about an American remake of the sublime Brit crime drama, "Prime Suspect," good for you. No Helen Mirren, of course. And when was the last time an American remake of an edgy and socially-relevant Brit drama proved to be anything but a downer.

Or how about a series set in the 1960s and celebrating Hugh Hefner's Playboy club?

The only series on the NBC schedule that seems at all interesting is "Smash," a drama about the staging of a Broadway musical. Credit "Glee" for getting this one the air, as NBC tries for its own musical drama. But guess what, it doesn't premiere until midseason.

Here's a teaser for "The Playboy Club." And it is all about the tease, isn't it, with a series like this?

Continue reading "Upfronts: Fox up next in empty network ritual" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 12:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (15)
Categories: ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, Network TV, TV and Pop Culture, new fall season