What are you watching this summer?

[Pburgh]

Well since Victor was Gabby's husband, I'm guessing that he's the lost husband. I think Ida will be the lost friend.

I thought it was good.

[Brent]

Sorry guys - one word for the DH episode - cheesy.

Happy to see Victor was one of the dead. Happy to see the new stalker character as another. But the third is up in the air. If the husband is Victor then who is the "friend" that perishes? Karen McCluskey's friend Ida? I'm going with that b/c I want to see Tom and Carlos survive and the Scavo kids.

So yeah, I'm declaring the third casualty is Ida.

And why wasn't Bree concerned about Andrew? Did I miss a frantic call from her to him, to be sure he was safe in that awful apartment he's living in?

On that subject... where was Julie?!

Or the gay neighbors(they were in 2 episodes and have not been seen since).

[Miss Mary]

My daughter thought Julie was away on the school trip, the same one Dylan was on?

Guess my assessment of the show was harsh. My coworkers liked it too! If it hadn't been for that hostage grocery store situation last year, I probably would have loved this episode. And it was wx related to boot!

I did admire the serious attitude from Susan though. That one scene after Mike expected her to give him a pain pill, was superb - worth the entire episode!

Yes, where was the gay couple? At work perhaps? They lost the fountain though....what a shame! LOL

[Brent]

CBS to unveil revamped schedule
Network plans ninth edition of 'Big Brother'
By JOSEF ADALIAN

With hopes for a quick settlement of the WGA strike dimming, CBS is getting ready to unveil a revamped winter sked -- and that includes moving forward with plans for an in-season edition of reality hit "Big Brother."

Ninth installment of the summer staple will make its bow Tuesday, Feb. 12 at 9 p.m., Eye insiders confirmed Monday. Julie Chen-hosted reality skein will also air Wednesday and Sunday nights at 8 p.m.

On Tuesday nights, “Brother” will act as a lead-in for “Jericho,” which will return for its second season Feb. 12 at 10 p.m. CBS revealed that news to fans of the show Monday afternoon via its website.

CBS will announce other January and February sked changes later Monday.

Meanwhile, NBC continues to shake up its post-January sked, dumping "Bionic Woman" and "Life" for a double dose of Dick Wolf.

"Law & Order," which was supposed to return on Sundays next month, will instead be back in its old 10 p.m. Wednesday slot, starting Jan. 2. It'll get a two-hour premiere that night, airing from 9-11 p.m.

On Jan. 9, NBC will begin airing repeats of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" Wednesdays at 9 p.m. Skein's first-run segs have been airing on NBC sister cabler USA Network this season.

NBC didn't offer any word on the fate of "Bionic" or "Life." Latter skein has been renewed for a full season, but NBC hasn't made any official decisions on "Bionic."

Eye scheduling execs, staying true to form, have slotted the winter "Big Brother" in a manner that's minimally disruptive to the net's current sked.

While the Tuesday edition of "Brother" displaces the scripted series "The Unit," the Wednesday and Sunday episodes take the place of reality shows--"Kid Nation" and "The Amazing Race"--- that will have wrapped their respective runs by February.

Winter air pattern for "Brother" is also very similar to the skein's summer sked, in which episodes air on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday nights.

Among the potential skeins on CBS's winter slate: "Jericho," "Swingtown," "Million Dollar Password," "The New Adventures of Old Christine" and "The Captain."

It's unclear if the ninth season of "Brother" will still air in the summer.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR111797 ... =2821&cs=1

CBS's Revised Programming Schedule Effective in January and February:



Wednesday, Jan. 2

8:00-9:00 PM POWER OF 10 (Premiere)

9:00-10:00 PM CRIMINAL MINDS

10:00-11:00 PM CSI: NY



Sunday, Jan. 13

9:00-11:00 PM COMANCHE MOON (Part One)



Tuesday, Jan. 15

9:00-11:00 PM COMANCHE MOON (Part Two)



Wednesday, Jan. 16

9:00-11:00 PM COMANCHE MOON (Part Three)



Tuesday, Jan. 22

10:00-11:00 PM 48 HOURS MYSTERY



Monday, Jan. 28

8:00-8:30 PM HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER

8:30-9:00 PM THE CAPTAIN (Series Premiere)

9:00-9:30 PM TWO AND A HALF MEN

9:30-10:00 PM THE NEW ADVENTURES OF OLD CHRISTINE (Season Premiere)

10:00-11:00 PM CSI: MIAMI



Tuesday, Jan. 29

10:00-11:00 PM 48 HOURS MYSTERY



Thursday, Feb. 7

8:00-9:00 PM SURVIVOR 16 (16th Edition Premiere)

9:00-10:00 PM CSI

10:00-11:00 PM WITHOUT A TRACE



Tuesday, Feb. 12

8:00-9:00 PM NCIS

9:00-10:00 PM BIG BROTHER 9 (Premiere)

10:00-11:00 PM JERICHO (Season Premiere)





Wednesday, Feb. 13

8:00-9:00 PM BIG BROTHER 9 (Wednesday Premiere)

9:00-10:00 PM CRIMINAL MINDS

10:00-11:00 PM CSI: NY



Sunday, Feb. 17

7:00-8:00 PM 60 MINUTES

8:00-9:00 PM BIG BROTHER 9 (Sunday Premiere)

9:00-10:00 PM COLD CASE

10:00-11:00 PM SHARK

[JonathanBelles]

Big brother and survivor are starting early.

[Brent]

Big brother and survivor are starting early.

Survivor is starting when it usually does, but of course Big Brother is starting early. It has never aired outside of the summer before(and I'm really curious to see how different it'll be). Despite how much I hated some parts of last season(notably Dick and Daniele and the producer manipulation), I'll of course be watching and obsessing over it once again.

[lurkey]

Today's strike roundup 12/04/07 7:00 pm EST

A Strike Without Movie StarsWhy are A-listers like George Clooney, Tom Hanks, and Brad Pitt avoiding the picket lines?

LA times:
A story on how the Clinton campaign must relieved at reprieve of "Late Night" jokes
Strike puts TV critics press tour in limbo

Variety:
Fight the "divide and conquer" tactic, WGAW board member sez

Article on BB and Survivor coming back early (see Brent's post)

Writers' Strike, Week Five: Marching orders

Deadline Hollywood Daily (DHD):
"Divide and Conquer" post (see Variety article)

NBC Nickel & Diming On 'Law & Order' Yes, it has do with the strike.

And actually one non-strike article. .. .

TV Guide
Nothing terribly interesting

And on my Google news Entertainment page
NBC is bring "Ice Road Truckers" from the History Channel to primetime NBC - interesting. ..

Hollywood Reporter
Writer Guild to Counter with New Plan

Zucker ducks forecast of strike effect

Where to Get Video During the Writers' Strike

Monday -- Chuck and the last episode of "Heroes"

[grentz7721]

Tonight is the Season fianle of Heroes, right?

[Cyclenall]

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno will be airing more vintage episodes this week from the 90s. I've been waiting to see these for years.

[lurkey]

Today's strike news:

From the TVGuide.com blog:

The Price Is Almost Right for Strikers, But There's Still No End in Sight
Although statements circulated by producers and writers yesterday reveal that only $20 million separates their contract proposals, we still may be no closer to seeing this strike resolved. How can that be? The issue isn't the $20 million — producers drop that over lunch — it's how to assess compensation for ever-changing digital platforms. In any case, talks, such as they are, will resume today. — Ben Katner

From DHD:

WGA Releases Analysis Of AMPTP Offer

In the meantime, here’s a brief summary:

The latest WGA proposal would cost the companies $151 million over three years. It is reasonable, serious, and easily affordable. For instance, it would cost Sony only $1.68 million per year. Paramount and CBS would each pay only $4.66 million per year. MGM would pay only $320,000 per year.

The AMPTP claims its proposal would give us $130 million over three years. Our analysis – and again, please visit the website to see for yourself – tells us their offer is worth only $32 million. But if you factor in the companies’ regressive proposal on “promotional use” (streaming TV shows and feature films in their entirety for free) writers could potentially lose $100 million in income over the course of this contract.

So while we don’t see how their proposal adds up to anywhere near $130 million, we greet their public willingness to make such an offer with real interest. If the AMPTP is serious about this figure, the WGA is confident we are closer to a deal than anyone has suggested, and we are hopeful that the companies will respond positively to our proposal, which is a serious, reasonable, and affordable attempt to bridge the gap between us.

WGA's Counter Offer

Jimmy Kimmel deserves kudos

Carlton Cuse Not 'Lost' In Strike Confusion

From Variety:

AMPTP offer vs WGA counter-offer

Another round of talks tomorrow

From LA Times:
BIG PICTURE: Just what is entertainment worth?

[grentz7721]

At least the writers are still talking.

[lurkey]

Today's update:

Not much news today.
--- Studios have hired new PR people, with political connections. Afraid of gov't intervention in the strike? The new PR people have connections on both sides of aisle.

--- WGA releases counterproposal details

--- Studios pondering WGA counterproposal. Talks resume tomorrow.

--- CBS is planning to "repurpose" (re-edit for network viewing) shows, such as Dexter, from Showtime as replacement programming. Parents Television Council is upset.

--- EW claims: The WGA is confident we are close to a deal

[Brent]

NBC on Thursday announced its schedule for first-quarter 2008, saying that "Medium" will have its fourth-season premiere Jan. 7, while new reality series "The Baby Borrowers" is set to debut Feb. 18.

In addition, the network announced two new series to air early next year: "The Guinness Book of World Records – Live!" on Jan. 27 and "Top 100 Most Outrageous Moments" on Feb. 10.

"The Guinness Book of World Records – Live!" special will feature a countdown of world records leading up to a live "death-defying stunt never seen before on television." "Top 100 Most Outrageous Moments" counts down clips including viewer submissions, TV show bloopers, games show flubs and other new and classic clips. The special is part of NBC's "Outrageous Moments" franchise.

The fourth season of "Medium," airing at 10 p.m. Mondays, will find Allison (Patricia Arquette) and her family's world turned upside down after her abilities are publicly exposed. Anjelica Huston is set to appear in six episodes.

"Baby Borrowers," airing at 8 p.m. Mondays, is based on a British format that puts five teenage couples on a "fast track to adulthood" as they set up a home, get a job and become parents over the course of three weeks.

In addition, "Deal or No Deal" returns to Mondays (9 p.m.) starting Jan. 7 in addition to its 8 p.m. Wednesday telecast.

NBC's midseason schedule follows:


Mondays (effective Jan. 7)
8-9 p.m. -- "American Gladiators"; (premieres 9-11 p.m. Jan. 6)
8-9 p.m. -- "The Baby Borrowers" (premieres Feb. 18)
9-10 p.m. -- "Deal or No Deal"
10-11 p.m. -- "Medium" (season premiere)

Tuesdays (effective Jan. 1)
8-10 p.m. -- "The Biggest Loser"
10-11 p.m. -- "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"

Wednesdays (effective Jan. 9)
8-9 p.m. -- "Deal or No Deal"
9-10 p.m. -- "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (broadcast premiere)
10-11 p.m. -- "Law & Order" (premieres Jan. 2 with a two-hour debut)

Thursdays (effective Jan. 3)
8-8:30 p.m. -- Comedy Series
8:30-9 p.m. -- Comedy Series
9-10 p.m. -- "The Celebrity Apprentice" (season premiere)
10-11 p.m. -- "ER" ("Lipstick Jungle" premieres Feb. 7 in the time slot)

Fridays (effective Jan. 4)
8-9 p.m. -- "1 vs. 100"
9-10 p.m. -- "Friday Night Lights"
10-11 p.m. -- "Las Vegas"

Additional dates:

Jan. 6 (Sunday)
7-9 p.m. -- "Deal or No Deal"
9-11 p.m. -- "American Gladiators" (two-hour series premiere; regular night Jan. 7)

Jan. 13 (Sunday)
8-11 p.m. -- "The 65th Annual Golden Globe Awards"

Jan. 27 (Sunday)
9-11 p.m. -- "The Guinness Book of World Records – Live!"

Feb. 10 (Sunday)
9-11 p.m. -- "Top 100 Most Outrageous Moments"

[CajunMama]

Every time i see a new post in this thread, my spirits soar thinking that maybe the strike is over. C'mon already!

[Brent]

Every time i see a new post in this thread, my spirits soar thinking that maybe the strike is over. C'mon already!

There is a SLIGHTLY positive article I just found.

Striking Hollywood writers may finally be seeing some light at the end of the tunnel, with talks becoming more positive.

The upbeat report came after two days of talks with producers over royalty payments.

The strike is now into its fifth week and the unions comment saying things were beginning to sound positive is the strongest indication yet that a deal may be reached.

The demands from writers has been mainly focused on being paid a greater share of revenue which comes from the internet.

Studios have proposed a $US250 fee for one years use of an hour long tv show on the web, in contrast with the $US20,000 they currently earn per single screening on television.

The strike has become one of the worst crisis' in 20 years for the industry and has halted the production of many television series.

[lurkey]

The Race to See Which Late-Night Show Host goes broke first

It's bring your pooches to the picket line day

"It does seem, to me, that management is taking the spirit of their 'New Partnership' talk seriously"

WGA negotiating committee member Robert King has detailed the current state of negotiations at Craig Mazin's Artful Writer.

King, who's also a member of the WGA West board, indicates that the tone of the talks have been improving, but cautions there's no indication of a deal any time soon.

"My personal observation is that negotiations have moved toward a better place," he wrote. "This might be just a brief respite before Negotiations Armageddon, but for the moment there is dialogue; and dialogue is essential for these difficult new media issues."

King also notes that it's been helpful at recent sessions to operate with smaller groups and in sidebars: "In other words, sometimes there is the illusion of being farther apart than we actually are; and smaller sidebar dialogue helps us discover if that’s indeed the case."

Top Five Strike Theme Days

6:20 p.m.PST: They're done for the day

And now we bring to a close another negotiations day....

AMPTP just hit the 'send' button on a short statement to inform the town that the talks have recessed and will resume tomorrow at 10 a.m.

[lurkey]

Talks Day #7: AMPTP "Stalling Tactics"; Are The Moguls About To Quit The Talks?

[Brent]

Talks Day #7: AMPTP "Stalling Tactics"; Are The Moguls About To Quit The Talks?

Bye Bye TV season.

I'm not even upset about it anymore.

[lurkey]

Talks Day #7: AMPTP "Stalling Tactics"; Are The Moguls About To Quit The Talks?

Bye Bye TV season.

I'm not even upset about it anymore.

It gets worse. The writer-directors are urging the DGA to delay start talks with AMPTP until the writer's strike is over. DGA's contract ends June 30th. I'm sure writer-actors will urge the SGA to do the same. Also, force-de-majure (sp?) letters can be sent start next week, I think . .

[grentz7721]

NOOOOO. Can't the writers just comply with their pay?