What are you watching this summer?

[Miss Mary]

Pfft! My husband liked Back to You. I thought it was good and liked the character Ty Burrell (most recent sitcom was short lived Out of Practice) the best. I wonder if this show would have made it if more time had lapsed between when Debra Barone and Frasier Crane left the air? Kelsey Grammer's character felt the same, Patricia Heaton was nicer in Back to You, so it felt to me like Debra Barone minus the in-laws and Ray - LOL! Anyway, it is sad when a show had potential and then it's cancelled b/c of this strike - I read in an article, not a message board, that it was cancelled. But remember, Jericho was cancelled too!

[lurkey]

I might have to take that back. . . it looks like Back to You will be shown this winter.. . hmmm I could have sworn I read it was cancelled. .

[Brent]

NEW YORK - For one night at least, viewers were more interested in seeing how the late-night shows without writers coped than the programs where writers were working. Jay Leno's "Tonight" show on NBC scored a 5.3 rating and 12 audience share in the nation's 55 largest markets.

His return after two months off because of the writers strike earned him his best ratings in two years, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Leno's ratings were up 47 percent over what he achieved before the strike. Meanwhile, David Letterman's CBS (nyse: CBS - news - people ) "Late Show" had a 4.3 rating and 10 share, or 39 percent better than his pre-strike average.

Leno's writers are still on strike, while Letterman's production company (Worldwide Pants) struck a deal last week to bring his writers back to work.

It was the same story for Conan O'Brien's "Late Night" on NBC and Craig Ferguson's "Late Late Show" on CBS. O'Brien, without writers, had a 2.5 rating and 8 share, up 56 percent from his pre-strike average. Ferguson, whose writers are working because his show is owned by Worldwide Pants, had a 1.9 rating and 6 share. That's up 27 percent.

NBC averaged 13 million in prime time and outpaced Fox, which attracted 11.5 million to the Fiesta Bowl. Those are preliminary numbers, though, and Fox could find itself with a bigger audience.

The rest: ABC with 8.9 million, CBS with 7 million and The CW with 2.1 million.

Fox easily won the 18-to-49 age group, followed by ABC, then NBC.

The night's most-watched show: The 9 p.m. edition of "Law & Order" with 13.9 million. ABC's "Supernanny" drew 8.9 million to its season premiere. A rerun of "Criminal Minds" pulled 7.9 million to CBS. A new "Gossip Girl" on The CW was the talk of 2.2 million viewers.

At 10 p.m., a second "Law & Order" absorbed 12.9 million. ABC's "Supernanny" was the favorite of 9.1 million. A "CSI: NY" repeat was the stop for 6.5 million.

At 8 p.m., NBC was on top with "Deal or No Deal" gaining 12.2 million fans. ABC's "Wife Swap" opened a new season with 8.5 million viewerss.

But Drew Carey couldn't drum up a lot of in CBS' "Power of 10": Just 6.7 million showed up. And The CW's "Crowned" won't win any ratings race. It drew only 1.9 million.

[Miss Mary]

I might have to take that back. . . it looks like Back to You will be shown this winter.. . hmmm I could have sworn I read it was cancelled. .

I read it somewhere (reliable source too!)...nice that we're wrong huh?

[Miss Mary]

Frustrated TV viewers - do you need help in sifting thru all the many strike updates/articles to find out just what new shows are airing and when? If so, read on.....TV Guide did some of the work for you - God bless them! Here's your January fix........LOL Be sure to click on the link, each individual show has a link too. We're KyleXY fans so it's nice to know it resumes this season Jan. 14th - yeah!

Mary

____________________

http://community.tvguide.com/blog-entry ... tch-Guide-

January

TVGuide.com's Strike Survival Guide

What to Watch: Your Guide to January Premieres

Egads, 24 isn't on Mondays at 9! What's there to watch? What will I do without my fresh Office episodes?! As the 2007-08 TV season takes new shape, the Strike Survival Guide will keep you up-to-date on the latest series and season premieres, so that you can ably plan your alternative viewing schedule. Here's what you can look forward to this month; we'll post the most-recent February lineup once it solidifies over the next couple of weeks.

Thursday, Jan. 3
9 pm The Celebrity Apprentice (NBC) | Read Donald Trump's preview

Friday, Jan. 4
8 pm 1 vs 100 (NBC)
8 pm Flash Gordon (season resumes; Sci Fi Channel)
9 pm How to Look Good Naked (makeover series; Lifetime) | See news story
10 pm Stargate Atlantis (season resumes; Sci Fi Channel)

Sunday, Jan. 6
9 pm American Gladiators (new unscripted; then airs Mondays at 8; NBC)
9 pm The L Word (Showtime)
9 pm The Wire (HBO)
10 pm Cashmere Mafia (ABC; then airs Wednesdays at 10)

Monday, Jan. 7
8 pm Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann (six-week series; ABC)
10 pm Medium (NBC)

Tuesday, Jan. 8
9 pm One Tree Hill (two-hour season premiere; The CW)

Wednesday, Jan. 9
9 pm Ghost Hunters International (new series; Sci Fi)

Thursday, Jan. 10
9 pm The First 48 (series returns, A&E)
10 pm Big Shots (season resumes; ABC)
10 pm Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew (new unscripted; VH1)
10 pm Make Me a Supermodel (new unscripted; Bravo)

Friday, Jan. 11
9 pm Monk (USA Network)
10 pm Psych (USA Network)

Sunday, Jan. 13
8 pm Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (then airs Mondays at 9; Fox) | Catch Episode 1 preview
9 pm Comanche Moon (three-night miniseries; CBS)
9 pm Rock of Love 2 (VH1)
Check local listings Masterpiece Theatre: Persuasion (PBS)

Monday, Jan. 14
8 pm Kyle XY (season resumes; ABC Family)
8 pm Prison Break (season resumes; Fox)

Tuesday, Jan. 15
8 pm American Idol (also airs Wednesdays at 8; Fox) | Find episode details here
11 pm 10 Items or Less (TBS)

Wednesday, Jan. 16
10:30 pm Reno 911! (Comedy Central)

Sunday, Jan. 20
10 pm Breaking Bad (new series; AMC)

Monday, Jan. 21
9 pm Wildfire (ABC Family)

Wednesday, Jan. 23
9 pm Moment of Truth (new quiz show; Fox)

Saturday, Jan. 26
9 pm Torchwood (BBC America) | Read our Season 2 preview

Monday, Jan. 28
9:30 pm In Treatment (new series, HBO)

Thursday, Jan. 31
9 pm Lost (ABC) | Check TVGuide.com/LostBuzz for updates
10 pm Eli Stone (new series; ABC)

[lurkey]

WGA staffers threaten the WGA with a strike over promised pay increases

[Brent]

WGA staffers threaten the WGA with a strike over promised pay increases

So we've had the WGA threaten Jay Leno and now this... and on top of that, TV that doesn't need writers is outpacing scripted shows. This strike is not going well for the WGA, while the networks don't care if it ends before the summer.

[Brent]

Will next Sunday's Golden Globes be cancelled? No one is showing up...

http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/n ... 13-awards/

SAG president Alan Rosenberg has announced that not one of the more than 70 actors nominated for a Golden Globe will attend the Jan. 13 ceremonies.

The event's been thrown into turmoil and uncertainty due to the WGA's refusal to grant a strike waiver to Globes producer Dick Clark Prods., which offered to accept the same terms as David Letterman's Worldwide Pants banner. Instead, the guild's asserted that it will picket the Globes, skedded to air on NBC, which has become a prime target of the WGA’s strike campaign in the past few weeks.

Rosenberg, who made the announcement Friday afternoon, has been a staunch supporter of the two-month strike.

"After considerable outreach to Golden Globe actor nominees and their representatives over the past several weeks, there appears to be unanimous agreement that these actors will not cross WGA picket lines to appear on the Golden Globe Awards as acceptors or presenters," he said. "We applaud our members for this remarkable show of solidarity for striking Writers Guild of America writers."

Rosenberg also announced SAG is urging its members to appear on the two Worldwide Pants shows that have waiver deals with the WGA -- "Late Show with David Letterman" and "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" -- but indicated they should avoid other shows. That would include "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno," although Rosenberg did not specify any other show by name.

"Actors who are asked to appear on the struck network talk shows will have to cross WGA picket lines, creating the same situation that has led to the consensus among actors to skip the golden Globes," Rosenberg said. "As I have said since this strike began on November 5th, we must stand united with our brothers and sisters at the WGA."

[lurkey]

Why don't we just cancel all the award shows (Golden Globes and Oscars)? Just shut them down. . . mail the trophies to the winners. The actors, directors and the writers have just as much to lose by shutting down the awards as the studios and the networks. Better PR for AMPTP anyway (I'm not taking sides, just pointing the obvious PR value here). . . if the WGA can pull stunts like this????

There's a mutiny underway at the WGA. . . Alec Baldwin is calling for the firing the WGA negotiators. "Scab" writers are over the place in Hollywood and New York. I doubt Jay wrote all the joke material the last two nights. (Though I actually thought it was funnier than it used be) The reports of writers invoking the financial core (f-core) portion of WGA guidelines are growing.

Brent, new source of info for ya . ..

[Brent]

Thanks for the link...

and I think the WGA is losing the battle here also. The networks are doing just fine if not BETTER with more reality, so they aren't in a hurry to end the strike. The WGA staff is already hurting from not working for 2 months now and it's only going to get worse.

CW's strike schedule:

CW Launches New Schedule 'Experiment'

The CW is shaking up its schedule, relocating the Monday comedy block to Sundays and putting freshman dramas "Gossip Girl" and "Reaper" on new nights.

On the reality front, "Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious" is set to debut Feb. 18, airing Monday nights, while "Beauty and the Geek" will debut March 11, leading into "One Tree Hill" on Tuesdays.

"We are really trying to take advantage of admittedly a very changed schedule now because of the strike," said Kelly Kahl, senior executive vp program operations at CBS, who oversees scheduling for both CW and CBS. "With the strike, we have an interesting opportunity to experiment, and with the nice stability from our reality shows, we can get a look at how some of these (scripted) shows do in other time periods."

On Feb. 10, the Monday comedy block -- comprised of "Everybody Hates Chris," "Aliens in America," "Girlfriends" and "The Game" -- will move to Sunday nights, where it briefly aired when the CW launched in September 2006. It will displace freshman drama "Life Is Wild," which has aired its initial order.

"Our Sunday schedule has not been setting the world on fire," Kahl said. "The comedies have very loyal audiences, and we're going to give them a chance to thrive somewhere else. To be fair, we really never gave them a chance (on Sundays) the last time."

Starting Jan. 28, "Gossip Girl" will move from 9 p.m. Wednesday to anchor Monday nights at 8 p.m., leading in to "Pussycat Dolls." The move to Mondays will get "Gossip Girl," which has been getting a lot of buzz but has garnered only modest ratings, out of the path of Fox's "American Idol."

"We're trying to get it away from heavy competition and get it some sampling on Monday night because it's such an important show for the CW," Kahl said. "No one is expecting miracles, but it's all kind of additive at this point."

Meanwhile, "Reaper" will return at 8 p.m. Jan. 15 before moving to 9 p.m. Thursdays on Feb. 28, leading out of "Smallville." "Reaper," which had previously led out of "Beauty and the Geek," will replace "Supernatural," which is taking a break from the schedule.

"We're trying to give 'Reaper' a chance as well, moving it away from (Fox's) 'House' on Tuesday (at 9 p.m.) and seeing if we can find a bit more of a compatible lead-in in 'Smallville,' " Kahl said.

CW's dramas are running out of originals because of the writers strike. "Gossip Girl" has one new episode remaining before going into reruns, "Reaper" has three, and "Smallville" and "Supernatural" have several. Things look better on the comedy side, where "Chris" has completed its season and the other comedies have a number of episodes in the can.

"Pussycat Dolls" also will repeat on Wednesdays after "Top Model," which is returning for its 10th season with new judge Paulina Porizkova. The strategy worked well during the first season of "Pussycat Dolls."

"Putting the two numbers (from the first-run and repeat episodes) together made it a very strong show," Kahl said.

Still to come is dating competition series "Farmer Wants a Wife," which Kahl said will likely debut in May after the season finales of "Top Model" and "Pussycat Dolls."

[lurkey]

United Artists (UA) is about to make a deal with WGA. . . this would be surprising except Tom Cruise (a SAG member) is the co-head of UA.. . .

WGA is going to make an example out of Jay Leno. . . They are rumored to start disciplinary action against Jay soon. I hope someone was smart enough get video/audio of the meeting with the head of WGA where he allegedly didn't disapprove of the idea of a monologue. I guess Leno can always carry out his threat to go fi-core. . .

[lurkey]

Dancing with the Stars Season 2 is being re-run on BBC America Sundays @ 8 pm

[lurkey]

oh, I forgot -- new DH on

[CajunMama]

aaaack! A new DH...thank goodness for dvr! I'll have to watch it at 9

[Brent]

You know when I almost forget it's bad...

But I did remember. It's the final episode made before the strike and a great episode.

[CajunMama]

I laughed at Gabby going to the accountants home. They were holding the wake there! It could only happen to her.

[Miss Mary]

It was great to have a new DH episode. But sad b/c this will probably be the final one for this season, right? So many unanswered questions. Just what did Katherine do to her daughter Dylan? And how could her husband leave her in that house? I know he's just the step-dad but still, he should have some rights! Julie's comment to Susan - paraphrasing - [Bree] having her here is like having the mother I never had, no offense! That was the best line of the night. Wait, a close second would be Andrew's - you're pimping me out for a new roof? Bree's comeback - and windows.

I'm excited to have Lost return and of course Jericho, and then Survivor but now that we've had this remaining new DH ep, I want more - much, much more.

Can't the fans do something? Bombard the union with letters, emails, faxes? We should be able to do something here!

[GalvestonDuck]

Can't the fans do something? Bombard the union with letters, emails, faxes? We should be able to do something here!

Don't bombard the union -- go after the AMPTP. They're the ones refusing to budge and accept a fair deal.

[lurkey]

Can't the fans do something? Bombard the union with letters, emails, faxes? We should be able to do something here!

Don't bombard the union -- go after the AMPTP. They're the ones refusing to budge and accept a fair deal.

Miss Mary, various fandoms are bombarding the networks and studios with various stunts (stunts, only b/c I don't think they are worth the time and effort).

GalvestonDuck, I think the WGA did a couple of massively stupid things at the last round of talks and are paying for it. Some of their own members are upset with them right now. Instead of focusing on forcing animation writers and reality show writers on joining the WGA, they should not gave up on the increase on DVD residuals and more emphasis on "new media" residual.

[GalvestonDuck]

GalvestonDuck, I think the WGA did a couple of massively stupid things at the last round of talks and are paying for it. Some of their own members are upset with them right now. Instead of focusing on forcing animation writers and reality show writers on joining the WGA, they should not gave up on the increase on DVD residuals and more emphasis on "new media" residual.

The question is -- What talks? The AMPTP refused to negotiate unless the WGA took the DVD residuals off the table. The WGA did that, and yet, the AMPTP still refused to negotiate and walked away. Then, the WGA dropped six other demands -- and the AMPTP still refused to talk. It's a tactic by the AMPTP to see how low they can get the WGA to go with their demands. The WGA wants to negotiate, but the AMPTP just wants to keep walking away.