Media Scribbler

Jay Leno is about to shake the television landscape merely by changing timeslots.
According The New York Times writer Bill Carter, who wrote an incredible book called “The Late Shift” about Leno’s original ascent to The Tonight Show after a protracted public battle for the slot with David Letterman),  the longtime Tonight Show host is signing a new deal with NBC to host a show every weeknight, only 90 minutes earlier.

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So what’s going to win the night – the “Dancing With The Stars” finale or the super-hyped episode of “House” where he and his team are hijacked and “someone dies”? I think most will stick with “House” for an hour and then skip over to ABC to see the final result. Or skip the dancing entirely for the series finale of “The Shield”, which I would personally do.

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In a country where each day seems to bring more “reality” with job losses and stocks plummeting, could TV watchers be looking for a little less reality television? This season’s ratings point toward “yes”.
According to the Los Angeles Times, several network mainstays are performing so badly that their futures are now in doubt. Fox’s “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?,” has lost nearly half its share of the 18-to-49-year-old demographic since last year, and viewership for NBC’s “Deal Or No Deal” has falled nearly 29 percent for its Wednesday show. Even ABC’s “Dancing With The Stars” has lost 9 percent …read more

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It should have been a grand time to remember the good ol’ days of sudsy primetime TV, as the cast of “Dallas” reunited at the famed Southfork Ranch to celebrate the show’s 30th anniversary.
But after more fans showed up than expected, the event ended up causing as much drama as J.R. ever did on the show. And some fans who had shelled out up to $1,000 to get a chance to meet stars like Larry Haglund and Patrick Duffy were left feeling cheated.
“It was a huge letdown — totally not worth it,” Elizabeth Knight told Dallas station WFAA after paying …read more

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It’s going to be a bad night to find anything but wall-to-wall election coverage. But there’s dramatic new episodes of “90210″ and “Privileged” on, as well as so many reality shows that it’s possible to completely divert attention away to such random subjects as sex changes, Las Vegas showgirls and the random quest of a hip-hop artist to start his own catering business.

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If you’ve somehow missed and of Tina Fey’s “Saturday Night Live” Sarah Palin skits this season, you get one more chance to catch them all and look back at SNL’s political coverage this year and before, as the remaining contestants on ‘Dancing With The Stars” compete to make it through one more week.

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Today is a very, very sad day for many in the “Doctor Who” fandom. The actor who has portrayed the 10th regeneration of the Doctor, David Tennant, will be leaving the TARDIS behind in 2009.
Tennant, who made the announcement after winning the outstanding drama performance award at the National Television Awards on Wednesday, said “When Doctor Who returns in 2010 it won’t be with me.”
The show, which is slated to return for a full season in 2010 after five specials starring Tennant in 2009, will also be changing executive producers that year. Russell T. Davies, who …read more

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One of the best uses of modern statistics and polling has done is in bringing things out of test screenings and focus groups to let them know women hate one character or think another is too stereotypical, et. al.
But by the power of the Internet (and a great little webcasting platform called Seesmic) a producer of the show “Heroes” to find out one thing — how many people watch his show on the Web through Hulu or P2P shares, downloaded them from iTunes or simply TiVo it. He also wants to know what you like about that method you like.
Where …read more

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It’s a night of repeats for CBS — a smart move because it’s hard to compete against Fox and NBC tonight.
Fox: The World Series: Game 5 — Philadelphia Phillies vs. Tampa Bay Rays — The Phillies are leading 3-1, so this is the last chance for the Rays to pull something out. Don’t count on it.
ABC: Dancing With the Stars — The rumor is that the folks behind the scenes (in particular, Susan Lucci) really, really, really want Cloris Leachman gone. It’s kinda like what happened with Mel B. last year — no one expected her to be around for …read more

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ABC: Wife Swap –A Cajun swamp wife switches places with a ballet dancer in California. Cue to culture shock.
Supernanny — Jo tries to make piece in a family where a father and his 16-year-old daughter fight over issues of trust. In the meantime, the kids come and go from the house as they like. Sounds like a bit of a double-standard here.
CBS: Ghost Whisperer — As Melinda tries to enjoy a romantic cruise with Jim, she encounters an angry ghost who’s haunting an elderly couple. Man, you can’t take her anywhere…
The Ex List –Bella reconnects with a surfing boy ex, …read more

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