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I love this stuff. That, in five words or less, sums up why I consider myself beyond blessed to have spent virtually the whole of my adult life getting paid to write about television. True: At this very moment, things are glum in the land of make-believe and fairy dust. Business models that for decades...
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Sun, Apr 26 2009
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Filed under: Broadcast, John Landgraf, How I Met Your Mother, Chuck, Print Edition, Mike Darnell, Josh Schwartz, Nina Tassler, Medium, Lauren Zalaznick, Glenn Gordon Caron, Peter Roth, Carter Bays, Craig Thomas, Susan Zirinsky
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Blockbuster comedies such as “Friends” and “Seinfeld” left prime time years ago, but Must-See TV is alive and well. It just moved to CBS. While many in the industry have been wringing their hands (and flapping their jaws) about the supposed death of the sitcom, the network that introduced Americans to...
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Mon, Mar 9 2009
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Filed under: Broadcast, CBS, How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, Print Edition, Chuck Lorre, Nina Tassler, Two and a Half Men, Gary Unmarried, The New Adventures of Old Christine
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Starting with “Everybody Loves Raymond,” Nina Tassler and Wendi Trilling have been instrumental in CBS’s comedy comeback. The duo first began working together in 1997, when Ms. Tassler came to CBS with Leslie Moonves. Ms. Trilling was already at the network, having joined in 1990 as a staffer in the...
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Sun, Mar 8 2009
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Filed under: Broadcast, CBS, How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, Print Edition, Q&A, Chuck Lorre, Nina Tassler, Two and a Half Men, Everybody Loves Raymond, Wendi Trilling
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JoAnn Alfano is starting to put her stamp on Lifetime. Ms. Alfano, who in September joined the top-rated women’s network as executive VP for entertainment, earlier this month put the original series “Drop Dead Diva” into production. She said the show—about a shallow fashion model who dies in an accident...
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Sun, Jan 25 2009
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Filed under: Cable, How I Met Your Mother, Print Edition, Lifetime, Army Wives, JoAnn Alfano, Rita Rocks, Drop Dead Diva, DietTribe, Reba
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Among the thin lineup of fresh programming heading into syndication next year, Sony Pictures Television’s “Dr. Oz,” with its Oprah-backed pedigree, is getting a hearty recommendation from TV consulting firm Katz Television Group. According to a report released today, Katz cautioned stations to consider...
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Sun, Jan 18 2009
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Filed under: Syndication, The Wendy Williams Show, How I Met Your Mother, Print Edition, Dr. Oz, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, Judge Jeanine Pirro, Marie, Katz Television Group, Street Court
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Is it over yet? Queen Elizabeth famously described 1992 as her “annus horribilis.” For the rest of us, including much of the TV industry, 2008 no doubt will merit a similar epitaph. The year began with the Writers Guild of America still on strike, and lots of bad reality shows filling in for much better...
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The Business of Television
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Fri, Dec 19 2008
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Filed under: Broadcast, Showtime, HBO, CBS, NBC, Pushing Daisies, How I Met Your Mother, Katie Couric, Print Edition, Heroes, Rachel Maddow, WGA, The Jay Leno Show, Stike, Reality TV
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Off-network syndication offerings for 2009 are slim, but with syndicators and stations concerned about the tough economy, the segment’s importance will grow considerably in the next couple of seasons. Along with being the network’s top-rated show, NBC Universal’s “The Office” makes its way to broadcast...
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The Business of Television
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Sun, Dec 14 2008
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Filed under: Syndication, The Office, Grey's Anatomy, NBC Universal, How I Met Your Mother, Print Edition, Sci Fi Channel, Lifetime, Twentieth Television, My Name Is Earl, Ion Television, CSI, Law & Order: SVU, Criminal Minds, Medium, Disney-ABC, CBS TV Distribution, Ghost Whisperer, Bones, Everybody Hates Chris, Trifecta Entertainment & Media, The Hills, Laguna Beach, Cold Case Files, Numb3rs, CBS Domestic Television, CSI: NY
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Twentieth Century Fox Television Co-Chairmen Gary Newman and Dana Walden celebrated their first pickup of the fall season last week—but it wasn’t for a series at one of the Big Five broadcast networks. Instead, they broke out the Champagne for the second-season greenlight for FX’s “Sons of Anarchy.”...
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Sun, Oct 12 2008
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Filed under: Cable, Dollhouse, Family Guy, How I Met Your Mother, Print Edition, Sons of Anarchy, Do Not Disturb, The Ex List, Cleveland Show, Twentieth Century Fox Television, Gary Newman, Beauty and the Geek, Dana Walden, Fox 21
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Now that the U.S. government has gotten into the bailout business in a big way, is it too much to ask that Congress next consider legislation to shore up the small screen’s sorry sitcom industry? OK, as the sentence above suggests, my joke-writing ability clearly poses no danger to Chuck Lorre, Tina...
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It could have been a lot worse. That’s the bottom line from the first few days of the 2008-09 television season, which got under way last week amidst a higher-than-normal level of angst among network suits. With so many shows taking nine-month hiatuses due to the writers strike, and fewer newcomers than...
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The Business of Television
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Sun, Sep 28 2008
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Filed under: Fringe, Broadcast, Ratings, Grey's Anatomy, Dancing With the Stars, How I Met Your Mother, 90210, Print Edition, Heroes, Knight Rider, The Mentalist, Do Not Disturb, Worst Week, Boston Legal, Criminal Minds, Two and a Half Men