TV Junkie on the air at 4 PM PDT today

I'll be talking about Nielsen ratings -- what they are, how to decipher them, and the impact that a 19% DVR penetration this season (vs. 8% last year) will have on the ratings for primetime.

Podcast will be available here after the live broadcast.

** CANCELLED DUE TO TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES ** We'll try again next week.

Was it just me, or...

...did "Heroes" last night seem a narrative mess?

The story threads were practically incoherent. The only one that made any sense at all was Claire's and that was pushing it.

I'm disappointed.

Oh, and we were told to check out this site to learn more about Hiro's personal hero (who is apparently Julian Sark) Takezo Kensei.

Fall Season Starts in Earnest Tonight

It's time, people. Time to celebrate TV and the glorious return of our favorite shows!

It's also time to start sizing up the new ones.

If you are on the East coast, you can kibbitz about what you watch tonight with me and my mates on Geekerati Radio. West Coast, our show is at 7 so we'll be previewing the new shows and trying desperately to stay spoiler free.

Call in and join the fun! And listen to my scratch throated voice. Yes, I'm still sick.

Writing while fatigued

I'm trying to finish the first draft of my new pilot spec in the next 8 days. Of course, today I'm feeling under the weather. I can barely hold a thought in my head for more than a few seconds (I find even typing passwords to be taxing). This does not bode well for cranking out pages.

Suggestions? I'm already loading up on Vitamin C and chicken noodle soup...

Decent premiere numbers from 'Kid Nation' & 'Kitchen Nightmares'

If you want the latest and greatest on the overnight ratings, visit The Programming Insider Forum daily, about noon Eastern, 9 AM Pacific for the numbers.

Kid Nation underperformed somewhat, considering all the hype. Gossip Girl was nearly a bomb, losing a significant amount of America's Top Model lead-in audience.

Back to You and Kitchen Nightmares were well sampled on Fox.

'Mad Men' gets a second season

Looks like I can invest the time in the series from this summer, now that it is being renewed.

Link: Variety.com - AMC set to renew 'Mad Men'

K-Ville has a promising premiere

The premiere numbers were a bit better than the numbers "Vanished" got last year. Whether it holds up in week 2, will really depend on how much it loses from going up against 'Heroes' premiere next week.

And really Jill's breakdown of K-Ville's pilot is a must read for aspiring TV writers.

In fact, her blog is now one of the top ones I read every day. Just too much good insight and analysis to NOT read it.

Aaargh, there be squalls n' scribbles ahead...

It's National Talk Like a Pirate Day, me hearties. But I imagine you landlubbers ken that already.

Let yer Jolly Roger fly free today! I may be persuaded to write me latest opus in pirate-speak should the mood strike.

In the immortal words of the greatest pirate of all, Jack Sparrow, "Why is the rum always gone?"

TV Junkie on the air at 3 PM PDT today

Yep, I'm doing it again -- blathering on about TV for an hour. Call in if you want to chat or argue or make funny noises. 3 PM Pacific / 6 PM Eastern. It'll feed here as a podcast when the broadcast is completed.

Of course, you people all have lives and will be out doing things at 3 o'clock, right??

For me, it's procrastinating once more on writing or cleaning or something important...

BlogRush

Thanks to UNK I've added a new widget. I'm starting to think I'm a widget addict.

Let me know if you like / hate any of the widgets I have (the search, twitter, blogrush, etc)

And the ground keeps shifting beneath our feet

So, this new media game is ON, people. Two big names in TV Zwick and Herskovitz (ever hear of a little show called "My So-Called Life"? "Once and Again?") are taking a pilot they developed at ABC and shot two years ago revamped, updated, rewrote, and it's going to be distributed through Myspace. AND it will have its very own social networking site Quarterlife.com (The pilot is called "Quarterlife"). Read the article at Variety today.

Worst new night of the fall season

Wednesday. Particularly, 9 PM.

I was just working on my DVR grid, carefully calculating what will be taped on the various DVRs in my house (I have 3). Wednesday at 9 is a complete logjam -- "Gossip Girl" (CW), "Bionic Woman" (NBC), "Kitchen Nightmares" (Fox), and "Private Practice" (ABC).

Hopefully one of these will get cancelled quickly or I'll hate it so much I can drop it immediately. My money is on "Private Practice" for the show I'll hate, just considering my general disdain for "Grey's Anatomy".

If you find my brain, please call 818-...

I'm not sure I can write a proper blog post at the moment. This weekend I participated in yet another event of pure masochim, the 2nd round of the VISA Invitational via the 48 Hour Film Project. This second round is a Visa sponsored thing -- the top 10 films from Los Angeles, New York City and San Francisco (as figured out through some voodoo beyond the #1 and #2 finishers in each city) were invited to participate in another 48 hour marathon to vie for a prize of $10,000. So, being the greedy little b*stards that we are, we eagerly signed right up.

So last time out (in July) we drew Horror as our genre and found a way not to make a slasher/creepy monster film. At least we could make it 6 minutes.

This time, we got three. And we had to use a VISA card as a prop. I think you see where this is going.

So we get the draw at 7 PM Friday night...oh great, we can choose any genre we want! That's oh so helpful, Visa people. Now we have to contemplate what genre to write for an hour. We finally settle on our genre and set to staring at the walls for another hour or so to come up with a story idea. We finished our first draft by 1:30 AM.

This wasn't like our 12 person production last time out. We had 20 people -- 5 actors, twice as many grips, a dolly, a Director and a Cinematographer, a Make up artist...oh and a kick ass location. Of course, with a larger production comes more challenges, and, oh did we have challenges...

But right now, I don't have a brain, so once it's recovered, I'll spew forth the details of the weekend.

Californication renewed

According to Variety, the show gets another season.

Too Much Reading

Taking a UCLA Extension class:

Pros: Deadlines, bonding with fellow writers, great notes and feedback, make progress on a script.

Cons: After 11 weeks and people are writing drafts, there's too much to read!

I'm in a class with 11 other masochists writers, and we are all producing script pages (well, I'm still on my outline...I've been busy!) Each writer is submitting anywhere between 15 to 60 pages. And I have 2 days to read it all. And give coherent notes.

Good thing I don't have a JOB or my own projects or anything to do...

I do have a job. That was sarcasm.

TBS Renews The Bill Engvall Show

The 06-07 Watch List is winding down. I'll keep updating it, so long as there is news relevant to it, but I expect you'll only care about the new list in another week or two...

The 2006-07 Watch List

Updated 09/07.

Cancelled (new) shows:

• Blade: The Series (Spike)
  
• Smith (CBS)
  
• Runaway (CW)
  
• 20 Good Years (NBC)
  
• Waterfront (CBS) (midseason, never aired)
  
• Kidnapped (NBC)
  
• Happy Hour (Fox)
  
• Vanished (Fox)
  
• 3 Lbs (CBS)
  
• Help Me Help You (ABC)
  
• Justice (Fox)
  
• Daybreak (ABC)
  
• The Wedding Bells (Fox)
  
• The Black Donnellys (NBC)
  
• 6 Degrees (ABC)
  
• In Case of Emergency (ABC)
  
• Andy Barker, P.I. (NBC)
  
• The Nine (ABC)
  
• Big Day (ABC)
  
• Raines (NBC)
  
• Drive (Fox)
  
• Standoff (Fox)
  
• Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (NBC)
  
• The Knights of Prosperity (ABC)
  
• The Class (CBS)
  
• The Winner (FOX)
  
• Creature Comforts (CBS)
  
• Traveler (ABC)
  
• Hidden Palms (CW)
  
• John From Cincinatti (HBO)
  
• Painkiller Jane (SciFi)
  
• Heartland (TNT)
  

Shows likely to be axed:

None at this time.

Ordered full season:

None at this time.

Likely pickups:

None at this time.

New shows on the air, no decision:

NETWORK:

• The Singles Table (NBC) (will it ever air??)
  
  

CABLE:

• Monarch Cove (Lifetime)
  
• The Dresden Files (SciFi)
  
• Tyler Perry's House of Payne (TBS)
  
• Meadowlands (Showtime)
  
• Damages (FX)
  
• Greek (ABC Family)
  
• Side Order of Life (Lifetime) (resumes airing in Sept)
  
• State of Mind (Lifetime) (resumes airing in Sept)
  
• Mad Men (AMC)
  
• Flash Gordon (SciFi)
  
  

Renewed for another season:

• Eureka (SciFi)
  
• Psych (USA)
  
• 10 Items or Less (TBS) (summer 07)
  
• My Boys (TBS) (gets 3rd season for summer 08)
  
• Lincoln Heights (ABC Family) (summer 07)
  
• Doctor Who (SciFi)
  
• Dexter (Showtime)
  
• The Wire (HBO) (last season)
  
• The Office (NBC)
  
• My Name is Earl (NBC)
  
• Heroes (NBC)
  
• Law & Order: SVU (NBC)
  
• Everybody Hates Chris (CW)
  
• Battlestar Galactica (SciFi)
  
• House (Fox)
  
• Bones (Fox)
  
• Prison Break (Fox)
  
• The Simpsons (Fox)
  
• American Dad (Fox)
  
• Family Guy (Fox)
  
• Las Vegas (NBC)
  
• Nip/Tuck (FX)
  
• Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
  
• Boston Legal (ABC)
  
• Men in Trees (ABC)
  
• Brothers & Sisters (ABC)
  
• Ugly Betty (ABC)
  
• Desperate Housewives (ABC)
  
• Lost (ABC)
  
• 30 Rock (NBC)
  
• The Tudors (Showtime)
  
• The Riches (FX)
  
• Dirt (FX)
  
• Medium (NBC)
  
• Blood Ties (Lifetime)
  
• Friday Night Lights (NBC)
  
• Til Death (Fox)
  
• October Road (ABC) (13 episode order)
  
• Notes from the Underbelly (ABC) (13 episode order)
  
• Law and Order (NBC)
  
• Law and Order: Criminal Intent (NBC) (Will go to USA next season)
  
• Shark (CBS)
  
• The Unit (CBS)
  
• How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
  
• The New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS)
  
• Ghost Whisperer (CBS)
  
• Criminal Minds (CBS)
  
• CSI (CBS)
  
• CSI: NY (CBS)
  
• CSI: Miami (CBS)
  
• Cold Case (CBS)
  
• NCIS (CBS)
  
• Without a Trace (CBS)
  
• Numb3rs (CBS)
  
• Two and a Half Men (CBS)
  
• One Tree Hill (CW)
  
• Supernatural (CW)
  
• Smallville (CW)
  
• The Game (CW)
  
• Girlfriends (CW)
  
• Rules of Engagement (CBS)
  
• Jericho (CBS)
  
• According to Jim (ABC)
  
• Robin Hood (BBC America)
  
• Burn Notice (USA)
  
• Saving Grace (TNT)
  
• Flight of the Conchords (HBO)
  
• Army Wives (Lifetime)
  
• The Bill Engvall Show (TBS)
  
• Californication (Showtime)
  
  

Veteran shows death watch:

• The O.C. (Fox) (cancelled)
  
• Stargate: SG-1 (SciFi) (cancelled)
  
• King of Queens (CBS) (cancelled)
  
• Reba (CW) (cancelled)
  
• 7th Heaven (CW) (cancelled)
  
• Gilmore Girls (CW) (cancelled)
  
• The George Lopez Show (ABC) (cancelled)
  
• What About Brian (ABC) (cancelled)
  
• Crossing Jordan (NBC) (cancelled)
  
• The War at Home (Fox) (cancelled)
  
• Veronica Mars (CW) (cancelled)
  
• All of Us (CW) (cancelled)
  
• Close to Home (CBS) (cancelled)
  
• The Loop (Fox) (cancelled)
  
  

A brief explanation of the watch list:

Cancelled (new) shows - these are CONFIRMED freshman cancelled shows (or as close as we can get to confirmation).

Shows likely to be axed - their numbers aren't good, news stories point to it being yanked, it may soon end up in the cancelled category.

Ordered full season - this doesn't mean it is renewed for next year, just that the series has gotten a full season order. (e.g., 'back nine' pickup).

Likely pickups - the numbers are good, all we need is the confirmation from the network (again, this is for full season orders, not renewals).

New shows on the air, no decision - consider this the neutral zone, detailing the premiere dates for new shows and tidbits of info which could forecast a move to another category.

Renewed - Will be back next season.

Veteran show death watch - they've been on the air and their time may be coming. We watch and wait...

TV Tonight 9/4

The ABC Family show returns tonight for its 2nd Season. It's not bad, I recommend it since there's nought else on TV tonight...

What's the Frequency, Shawna?

Special "treat" today -- at 3 PM PST / 6 PM EST. I've decided to do my own Blogtalk Radio Show exclusively about TV. I still plan to appear on Geekerati but I felt like I wanted more time to talk TV, writing and the industry.

So, give me a listen today. Call in and let me know what you think. If you can't listen live, the 'podcast' of the show will be available in the sidebar here or on my Host Page at BTR. I would like your feedback on format, etc...want to know if this is something I should do again!

More unnerving -- I created the show profile yesterday, and Blogtalkradio already pointed me out in their blog as a 'diamond in the rough' people should listen to! Yikes! The pressure is on!