Monsters of Television

Jaime Weinman already kind of yawned about today’s Emmy nominations. Let me extend his yawn to a full on yawp.

She's shiny and pointless

YAWP.

While Myles has done some extensive Emmy coverage and Cory did some Emmy ballots, I’ve done nothing. And I’ve had the time. Kind of (another project has cut in on some of my time for the past month or so), but I haven’t had the motivation. Because I kind don’t care about who wins at the Emmys.

It isn’t that I’m not glad to see some folks nominated (The Friday Night Lights fans can be a little less bitter now), but it’s just, well, I’m tired of seeing everyone else who was nominated get nominated (Tony Shalhoub…again!). I’m tired of knowing who and what will win before it ever happens (Congrats, AMC (it’ll be Mad Men or Breaking Bad) and Modern Family!).

There’s mildly interesting things, like Leno getting snubbed while Conan will go on to win an Emmy (TBS is thrilled) or the debate about whether Glee is a comedy (it isn’t). But, in the long run, the Emmys tell us more about the industry than anything else, and that’s ultimately all they’re good for.

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“Dzintra loves to twirl.”

Last week’s recap was a bit more straight-up (and thankfully shorter) than the first week’s. This week will not have a lot of the snark and pithy comments that I’ve been using (maybe next week), because we need to talk a bit more about how this show is AN AMAZING marketing device for Food Network. Because it is. The competition is painfully (obviously) secondary.

I wish this was causing me to dislike the show more (this show is pretty dull), but it just drives up my fascination as I try and guess not what the contestants will make or do or say, but how everything, and I mean everything, will synergize and cross-promote around this show. Read more »

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“In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the police, who investigate crime, and the district attorneys, who prosecute the offenders. These are their stories.”

chung CHUNG

Law & Order was cancelled today after 20 years on the air with 4 (soon to be 5) domestic spin-offs and a few international variations. The series will tie Gunsmoke as the longest running prime time drama at the end of this season. Certainly not the show that invented the procedural series, Law & Order nevertheless perfected it. Creator Dick Wolf’s goal to look at the development of a case from the police perspective and then to the lawyer perspective allows the show to essentially be a police procedural and a law procedural in one show. Drawing from shows like Dragnet and Trial and Arrest, the series never delved into the personal lives of its characters, one its signature narrative goals, something that most procedurals these days can’t live without. Read more »

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In light of April being the cruelest month, I’m taking a small, academically mandated vacation for a couple of weeks. Reviews will still be posted by me (Nick will keep chugging along, I’m sure), just less consistently. I guarantee Lost and probably Doctor Who, but anything else will hinge entirely on my schedule and how well the final push of the semester goes. This week, for example, will be a little sparse. (Maybe HIMYM later in the week; I haven’t even watched the episode yet.)

To make up for it though, I’m giving you some brief thoughts on two things near and dear to my heart: Conan O’Brien and Law & Order. Read more »

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With Lost’s upcoming return, I wanted to take a brief moment to discuss the shows that aren’t exactly innovative in terms of narrative or character or having a big honking mythology. Yes, I’m talking about the other hour-long dramas that are on TV and that, let’s be honest, may not necessarily get the critical love and attention that they may deserve. More importantly though, I want to, hopefully, parse out some of the differences in between these shows and see how they ultimately survive compared to other shows like Lost that burns us up inside, but fizzle on screen.

I’ll admit that Lost’s return isn’t the only motivating factor here. Burn Notice is on tonight, one of my favorite formula shows, and ABC’s Castle was just given two more episodes (presumably based on either the strength of last week’s series high ratings or to cover some post-Ugly Betty spots in the schedule, but in either case it’s a sign of confidence in the series), so it seems appropriate to discuss the issue of formula on TV right now. Read more »

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As opposed to a long-winded ranted by me about the Golden Globes (geeze were they dull), there’s a more thoughtful and interesting roundtable discussion feature me, Myles McNutt, Lindsay H. Garrison, Kelli Marshall, and Kristen. We were all hosted by the welcoming, charming, and brilliant Anne Petersen. I thank everyone for a great discussion (and Anne for bringing us together), and I also thank this group of very smart people for letting me participate. Goodness know I’m the least profound person in the bunch, so hopefully I look smarter by association. But I doubt even I could manage that feat!

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Single sponsorship programs have been around since TV was a wee infant (why do you think they call them soap operas?) so when I read that Subway’s special deal with Chuck is difficult to recreate, it gave me pause. I’m no industry fat cat or anything, but it seems like, with dwindling audiences (some might say even “concentrating”) and better research, it might be easier to pare down the number of advertisers, distill what specific demographics look for, and match ads to the viewers accordingly.

Again, I don’t own any cigars, top hats, or monocles, but it seems like, if a single-sponsorship is too hard, maybe looking at a decreased and targeted sponsorship might be the way to go. The aforementioned Ad Age article brings up the point of “Remote-Free TV” and how Fox had to scrap it because they couldn’t charge a premium that compensated for what they got with more populated yet disparate commercial breaks. But with all the great things that happen with fewer commercials (“less ad skipping, better recall, better engagement”), to abandon the idea altogether is reckless. Somehow, with historical or even current models (Hulu — if only its legacy media owners would take advantage of the focused potential of the internet) to look to, why are single- or few-partners-sponsorships so out of the question?

What do you think, dear readers? I’m willing to learn.

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We here at Monsters of Television have no love for Jay Leno’s comedy. The only thing staler than the stand-up’s jokes are jokes about the size of his chin, his denim fetish, and the unintelligible squealing people do when they do “impressions” of him. So news that NBC might be cancelling (or scaling back) Leno’s 10pm comedy wasteland, The Jay Leno Show, driven by the network ordering a number of new pilots of scripted programming (none produced by John Wells, to be sure), brought us considerable pleasure.

And then TMZ had to go ruin it: Leno was returning, significantly less than victorious (but having performed up to NBC’s incredibly low expectations and killing news affiliates’ ratings) to his old time slot, leaving Conan out in the cold (we remain convinced that Conan never really wanted the gig anyway, but nervous schoolboy Jimmy Fallon was already promised Conan’s desk).

And then the New York Times had to go and (more or less) confirm it. Read more »

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As Nick noted, USA Network is rapidly becoming the spy-procedural channel, much in the way CBS has become the cop-procedural channel. Their recent announcement of Covert Affairs (punny), a show about  CIA newbie Annie Walker (portrayed by Piper Perabo) who for some reason becomes a field operative and is dealing with the break-up with a mysterious boyfriend who happens to be of interest to her boss. (You can read the full rundown from THR here.)

But what’s more is that while CBS has replicated its procedural approach across many of its dramas, USA is hybridizing its shows to create its network identity without getting the ribbing CBS does for its CSI-cloning. Read more »

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