sacred bird » networks

another change to cnn’s ‘list’ing

180 — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 06:09:49 +0000

the latest installment of the cnn saga has daytime anchor/mr. twitterman rick sanchez moving to primetime –he’s getting campbell brown’s vacated spot at 8 p.m. luckily it won’t be on for too long, it’ll be a filler until former governor and former frequenter of ladies of the night eliot spitzer starts his show there this fall. of the move, sanchez said “pretty soon we’re going to have two things going on. A: We’re going to be doing this newscast at 8:00 at night. We’re excited about that, and my book is going to be coming out.”

all i know is that 630 is going to be kinda unhappy about this.

[tvnewser]

live from the edge

180 — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 05:21:50 +0000

rachel maddow will be reporting this week from afghanistan. in an interview with tvnewser she said of the trip “I do think there are questions that need to be asked and answered about the war that are going to benefit from me being there to be telling them. The McChrystal controversy has focused the nation’s attention on Afghanistan in a way that nothing else in the past year has been able to.” while over there, maddow will be meeting with our hero, richard engel, so i know i’ll be glued to the television tuesday and wednesday night for a glimpse of the desert iguana.

[tvnewser, image of maddow courtesy of paul schultz, image of engel via msnbc]

hanging up his suspenders

180 — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 01:04:59 +0000

larry king announced today that this fall, he will end his nightly program larry king live. in a statement to his audience he wrote “talked to the guys here at CNN and I told them I would like to end Larry King Live, the nightly show, this fall and CNN has graciously accepted, giving me more time for my wife and I to get to the kids’ little league games.” while he’ll still do the occasional special, he said it was time to hang up the suspenders.

the show is the longest running program with the same host and time slot, according to the guinness book of world records. enjoy your retirement, larry.

[cnn]

so the trip to mogadishu was…r&r?

180 — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 15:06:31 +0000

richard engel, our beloved desert iguana is now embedded with the 82nd airborne division in afghanistan and is once again delivering some amazing reporting (see video below). just a couple weeks before engel took a trip to mogadishu,somalia one of, if not the most dangerous place(s) on earth to see what life is like there in the place most famous for blackhawk down. he likened reporting there to ‘reporting on the moon’.

engel is one of my favorite reporters and i have this dream of meeting him and going out with him on a date someday but with all the work he’s done covering the wars in iraq and afghanistan and the general happenings in the middle east, i’m beginning to wonder if engel’s next trip should be to intensive therapy at an undisclosed location. another reporter the passionate michael ware had to quit his job at cnn a while back because the network would not give him time to deal with his ptsd. anyone who watched wares reporting on cnn could detect that something ‘wasn’t right’ with ware. the war clearly took a toll on him.

so richard, if you want our date to be perfect, please take a little time to ‘take care of you’.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

[mediabistro]

‘must see’ tv?

180 — Mon, 17 May 2010 20:32:49 +0000

after the jay leno debacle, nbc must have been a little nervous to announce the fall schedule but they did it anyway (they kinda had too). the line-up has drama back at the 10 o’clock hour and is minus one longstanding show law & order (the one based in nyc without the special victims or criminal intent). here’s the list of things to come in the fall (all new shows are in CAPS):

NBC FALL 2010 SCHEDULE

MONDAY
8-9 p.m. – “Chuck”
9-10 p.m. – “THE EVENT”
10-11 p.m. – “CHASE”

TUESDAY
8-10 p.m. – “The Biggest Loser”
10-11 p.m. – “Parenthood”

WEDNESDAY
8-9 p.m. – “UNDERCOVERS”
9-10 p.m. – “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”
10-11 p.m. – “LAW & ORDER: LOS ANGELES”

THURSDAY
8- 8:30 p.m. – “Community”
8:30-9 p.m. – “30 Rock”
9-9:30 p.m. – “The Office”
9:30-10 p.m. – “OUTSOURCED”
10-11 p.m. – “LOVE BITES”

FRIDAY
8-9 p.m. – “Who Do You Think You Are?”/”SCHOOL PRIDE”
9-10 p.m. – “Dateline NBC”
10-11 p.m. – “OUTLAW”

SATURDAY
Encore programming

SUNDAY
7- 8:15 p.m. — “Football Night in America”
8:15-11:30 p.m. — “NBC Sunday Night Football”

SUNDAY (beginning March 2011)
7-8 p.m. – “Dateline NBC”
8-9 p.m. – “Minute to Win It”
9-11 p.m. – “The Celebrity Apprentice”

here are my initial thoughts:

drama: i’m most excited about the show “undercovers” because it is a j.j. abrams show (he writes, directs, produces) and i loved me my alias and lost. the show “the chase” sounds kinda lame –it’s a chase/us marshalls show (but truth be told i kinda think jerry bruckheimer stuff is lame) and i was interested to see that jimmy smits will be back in action on “outlaw”.
comedy: paul reiser is back with the “paul reiser show”, it kinda sounds like a “curb your enthusiasm” for the non-hbo crowd and cindy chupak, writer for sex and the city has a show called “love bites” which could be cool, except for the fact that jennifer love hewitt will be on it (but she’s only in the pilot so we’ll see). no one will be happy that “parks and recreation” will be a mid-season replacement.
reality: “biggest loser” is back (that’s always good for a few tears) and “school pride” makes an entrance–it’s a tear-jerker about reviving public schools.

[time]

cbsnn?

180 — Wed, 05 May 2010 01:11:35 +0000

there’s a rumor that cnn is about to cut a deal with cbs to share talent with cable network cnn in an attempt for the cable channel-less network to get some cable time. as you know, our favorite reporter anderson cooper is already a somewhat regular guest on 60 minutes but one of the rumors floating around is that katie couric will take over for larry king. the report in cnn said that “A merger could help CBS, bringing up the rear at 6:30, and CNN, sweeping up after the parade in primetime, financially.” couric’s contract is up next year and they’ll have to decide whether to keep her. as a life long today show watcher, i miss seeing katie on regular tv but i’m not sure if the change would have me watching the 9 o’clock hour on cnn–she’d be competing with rachel maddow and until may, LOST.

what do you think?

is this the killer app that’ll bring down fnc?

180 — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 01:50:26 +0000

this summer, forget about the return of jersey shore (in miami), all eyes will be glued on the launch of the right network–a new network sponsored by comcast that focuses on all things conservative. the promo (which i think is clever) is helmed by kelsey grammar and in it, he talks about things that are not right with the world. i’m not sure i agree with his notion that left-handed scissors are wrong (i’m not a leftee) but i do agree that anyone in speedos and cats on leashes should be no-nos.* according to a blurb on their website “RIGHTNETWORK launches on television, web and mobile in the summer of 2010. Our mission is clear: to entertain, engage, and enlighten Americans who are looking for content that reflects and reinforces their perspective and worldview. RIGHTNETWORK will consistently impact the political and cultural discussions of Americans. Accessible anywhere, anytime, from every device.”

they also have trailers for a reality tv show called “running” that follows rookie candidates; a comedy show called “right2laugh” that features comedians with conservative point of view; and a show called “politics and poker” and a video that explains the tea party.

i’m excited to see programming that designs content for mobile devices right out of the gate. here’s the launch announcement featuring grammar.

* i’d like to ask kelsey if giggling while waving a flag is wrong.

laid back…

180 — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 05:00:30 +0000

remember how we mentioned that cnn and our beloved anderson cooper is ratings challenged? jon stewart followed our lead and added a little commentary. he used some old-school references and no, he wasn’t sippin’ on gin and juice.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c

CNN Hires Erick Erickson

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor

Health Care Reform

jonah360?

180 — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 19:04:54 +0000

mr. andy cooper went swimming with the sharks for a story on 60 minutes (see below). he didn’t get eaten. unfortunately for him though his show is getting swallowed up (jonah in the belly of the whale-style) in the ratings along with his home network, cnn. according to a recent report from the new york times, “CNN continued what has become a precipitous decline in ratings for its prime-time programs in the first quarter of 2010, with its main hosts losing almost half their viewers in a year.” the main host refers to larry king but andy’s ratings for anderson cooper 360 (ac360) aren’t doing much better–”Mr. Cooper has long been regarded as the strongest host at CNN, but his show has suffered badly as well. For the quarter, Mr. Cooper dropped 42 percent in viewers and 46 percent among the 25-to-54-year-old audience that the news channels use for their sales to advertisers.”

at night time, cnn is getting killed by rachel maddow and glenn beck. i’m thinking maybe andy should reconsider a few options, like one with kelly or the one to take over for katie?

Watch CBS News Videos Online

i’ll never make fun of bill hemmer again

180 — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:41:10 +0000

i’m always busting on flying fish, bill hemmer for being a faux reporter (or one that does the kinda fluff pieces like this one and this one). this, i think, ended after i saw this clip from the today show. al roker and matt lauer are reporting live from afghanistan and this is the news they brought us. i bet that desert iguana (richard engel) is trying to get them deported. hemmer looks like woodward and bernstein compared to these two.

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