FX may have been one of the first cable channels to air award-winning original scripted drama, but its president, John Landgraf, thinks other networks are tempting fate by trying to cultivate too many original shows. The differing economics of cable and broadcast create risks for cable executives who...
January may turn out to be the cruelest month for TV types this year, with a crush of broadcast and cable premieres threatening to forever change the rules of midseason launches. Networks, particularly on the broadcast side, have long considered the winter months somewhat safer havens for debuting shows...
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Sun, Jan 11 2009
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Filed under: Broadcast, Cable, FX, Showtime, Fox, TNT, ABC, HBO, CBS, NBC, ABC Family, The CW, Print Edition, CMT, A&E
There’s a flood of new television programming poised to hit prime-time broadcast television this month compared to last year’s paltry, strike-reduced menu. But advertising buyers say they won’t be fooled by broadcast ratings that look comparatively good—or cable numbers that look bad. The strike-scarred...
TV critics and Emmy voters don’t always see eye to eye, but when it comes to the delights of Don Draper, the two camps are completely copacetic. Avoiding any signs of a sophomore slump, AMC’s “Mad Men”—which in September snagged the drama series Emmy—soared to the top of TelevisionWeek ’s semiannual...
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Sun, Jan 4 2009
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Filed under: Broadcast, Cable, FX, Showtime, ABC, HBO, NBC, The Office, Pushing Daisies, Mad Men, AMC, Chuck, 30 Rock, Print Edition, Friday Night Lights, Comedy Central, The Shield, The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, True Blood, Dexter, Critics Poll
The Insider is not about give up her TV. Indeed, she feels about her remote control what the late Charlton Heston felt about his right to wield a rifle: You’ll have to pry it from her cold, dead hands. One look at her week’s worth of prime-time entertainment appointment viewing and The Insider’s best...
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Sun, Oct 26 2008
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Filed under: Broadcast, FX, Fox, ABC, HBO, CBS, NBC, AMC, The CW, Print Edition, Insider, USA
Not so long ago, basic cable was a peaceful medium, filled with old movies, network reruns and kiddie shows. Then FX’s “The Shield,” starring Michael Chiklis, kicked in the door and changed all that. FX, an upstart network, gambled that producing the kind of high-quality, grown-up programming previously...
Michael Chiklis is pleased with the way FX’s “The Shield” is coming to an end—with a bang, not a whimper. “I feel like we really finished it in an incredibly strong way,” said the series’ Emmy Award-winning lead actor. “Especially the last seven episodes, it becomes like a moving freight train and it...
Award nominations, with winners in bold 2002 Emmy, lead actor in a drama* (Michael Chiklis) Emmy, writing for a drama series* (Shawn Ryan) Emmy, directing for a drama series* (Clark Johnson) Television Critics Association, individual achievement in drama* (Michael Chiklis) Television Critics Association...
The final season of “The Shield”—a show almost no major advertiser would touch when it debuted on FX in 2002—is being sponsored by Anheuser-Busch. THE THIN BREW LINE Anheuser-Busch is sponsoring the final season of FX's "The Shield," starring Michael Chiklis. The King of Beers...