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Posts Tagged ‘ TV ’

ABC Is “Gayest” TV Network—Study

August 8, 2007

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) has declared that the U.S. television networks are not "gay" enough but that Disney-owned ABC is getting close. The organization, which has been highly successful at bullying corporations into supporting a radical pro-homosexual agenda, issued its first report on the matter after analyzing "the number of ‘impressions,’ or occurrences, of gay characters, discussions or themes counted during 4,693 hours of programming examined from June 2006 through May 2007," according to Reuters:

Media Getting Dirtier But Easier to Clean Up

June 20, 2007

By S. T. Karnick

Media Getting Dirtier But Easier to Clean Up

The media are exposing children to too much overly sexual and violent content, but parents are increasingly finding ways to shield their children from programming of which they don’t approve. That’s the conclusion of a new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation. The Los Angeles Times reports:

More Progress on “Jericho” TV Program Return

June 6, 2007

By S. T. Karnick

More Progress on “Jericho” TV Program Return

As we noted two weeks ago, CBS television has been contemplating resurrecting the series Jericho through some means or another, so as to give loyal viewers a satisfactory ending to the long-from narrative. The network cancelled the show this spring after one season, and loyal viewers inundated the network with dismayed complaints and requests that the net do something to provide them with some resolution of the program’s story line. CBS announced that they would do something of the sort, but provided no details at the time. CBS now appears to be planning to give the show’s viewers much more than anyone might have hoped. The Los Angeles Times reports:

What TV Networks Owe Loyal Viewers

May 24, 2007

By S. T. Karnick

Do producers and TV networks have an obligation to their viewers? Producers and networks are increasingly using long-term plotlines in order to keep viewers returning week after week. In shows such as 24, Lost, Desperate Housewives, Prison Break, and the like, a long-term, overarching plot line keeps moving the narrative forward as each episode resolves lesser elements of the story. It’s a great way to keep viewers interested in a show, and when done well, it gives a program the narrative drive of a Victorian novel by Wilkie Collins or Anthony Trollope. But what happens when such a show gets canceled? Should viewers who have invested multiple hours in a program just be left hanging?

“The Half-Hour News Hour” to Premiere This Sunday

February 14, 2007

By S. T. Karnick

Pascal Fervor kindly forwarded us the following email message regarding the new comedy program The Half Hour News Hour, co-created and -produced by Joel Surnow (24, The Equalizer, Le Femme Nikita): Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2007 17:09:02 -0800Subject: .FOX News Channel will broadcast the first episode of The HalfHour News HourFrom: "Jeffers M. Dodge"To: friends THE LOS ANGELES REPUBLICANS COALITION Good Evening, This Sunday, February 18th, 7:00 pm

“Supernatural” Debate About Religion

February 6, 2007

By S. T. Karnick

Last Thursday night’s episode of the CW drama Supernatural included some interesting Christian-oriented discussion. Sam and Dean Winchester, a pair of brothers who hunt preternatural monsters, encounter a series of murders committed by people who say an angel told them to perform the killings. The angel wants these people killed, it appears, because they are horrendous evildoers—or potential ones. In at least two of the cases, the murder was called for to prevent the person from committing a crime, and the brothers’ investigation confirms that these incidents were indeed about to take place. Much of the episode takes place in a church and its grounds, including a crypt in the basement. The central interest of the episode is the two characters’ discussions about belief in God. Dean, the older brother is a believer in demons and vampires but not in angels and God. He represents an aggressive atheism. Sam disagrees strongly: Dean: Look, I’ll admit I’m a bit of a skeptic, but since when are you all "Mr. 700 Club"? No, seriously, from the git-go you’ve been willing to buy this "angel" crap. I mean, what’s next? Are you going to start praying every day? Sam: I do. Dean (shocked): What? Sam: I do pray every

Lowlanders Tiring of Smutty TV

December 5, 2006

By S. T. Karnick

Who would have thought that the merry Dutch, world pioneers of mass-marketed pornography, would eventually tire of all the smut flowing into their neat and tidy homes? Yet it has happened, according to a Reuters/Hollywood Reporter (HR) story: Despite a long tradition of television that pushes the boundaries of the acceptable in the Netherlands, Dutch viewers are being turned off by a wave of controversial programs. Some weeks ago, Rotterdam-based columnist Hugo Borst was watching the daily news on family channel RTL with his 11-year-old son while having dinner. At 6:45 p.m. — with no warning — father and son were witness to excerpts from a home video showing the goalkeeper of a Dutch professional soccer team being introduced in embarrassingly intimate terms to a sex toy by a girlfriend. Furious about the unexpected images, Borst called the program’s editor for an explanation. The response was that the sex video was considered a news item because it was placed on the Internet that day by the goalie’s vengeful ex-lover. Borst’s reaction was to write a column under the headline: "Have they lost their minds at RTL?" Maybe they have, but until recently such programs drew big ratings. That appears to

Fox’s 24 to Go Even Darker

December 5, 2006

By S. T. Karnick

I’ve mentioned on several occasions the turn toward "darker" programming on network TV this year, and one of the pioneers and models for that approach, the Fox series 24, will become even darker this season. An article in USA Today notes that protagonist Jack Bauer will reach a new low to begin the season: Central character Jack Bauer isn’t dead, but he’s feeling that way going into Season Six (premieres Jan. 14, 8 p.m. ET/PT), said Kiefer Sutherland, who won an Emmy in August for his portrayal of the stoic counterterrorism hero. Bauer, whose kidnapping by Chinese agents closed last season, returns in the premiere, set 20 months later, as a haggard, beaten man. "Jack’s at his darkest place. He’s dead inside. Even in Season Two, when he was terribly mournful at the loss of his wife, he was feeling pain but he was alive. (Now), there’s an indifference which is almost primal. It’s absolutely a new place to start with the character," Sutherland said on the red carpet. As I’ve noted earlier on this site, "darker" new series primetime programming has had a bad run this year, as viewers have not responded favorably in general to the new shows

Closer Returns Tonight

December 4, 2006

By S. T. Karnick

The TV crime drama The Closer returns tonight with a two-hour movie to kick off its third season (or part two of a divided second season; I’m not sure how the producers and cable channel are categorizing it). The program stars Kyra Sedgwick as a harried, middle-aged, unmarried Southern belle who works as a deputy police chief in Los Angeles and has to adjust to professional and personal problems in the unfamiliar milieu of Lalaland. As I noted earler on the Reform Club blog, The Closer is not nearly as arch as it may sound: an unacknowledged Americanization of the long-running British police procedural TV program Prime Suspect. In The Closer, now in its second season, Kyra Sedgwick plays a police detective and homicide team supervisor who solves crimes while stumbling charmingly through a rather bumpy personal life. It’s a good show, made appealing by Sedgwick’s excellent performance. She’s quite likeable as the protagonist, and her various problems are handled by both herself and the program’s writers with a fairly light touch. Unlike most episodes of the program, had a solid puzzle with several suspects, and the viewer had enough info to solve the

Soap Opera to Feature “Transgendering” Character

November 27, 2006

By S. T. Karnick

Soap Opera to Feature “Transgendering” Character

This Thursday, the ABC TV daytime serial drama All My Children will introduce a character who was born male and is being "transformed into a woman" through hormone treatments, surgery, and psychological retraining. This is believed to be the first time an American television show has had such a "transgendering" character. Some programs in the past have had fully "transgendered" characters in the past, but you probably wouldn’t remember them given that nobody watched. The L Word, on the Showtime cable network, has a character who is going the other way, from a woman to a "man." According to the Associated Press, "All My Children" was looking for something new, and knows its audience is always interested in anything to do with sexuality, said Julie Hanan Carruthers, the show’s executive producer. Like most daytime dramas, the program’s ratings have been dropping, falling by almost 2/3 since the early 1990s. Pardon me for thinking that this isn’t going to improve the show’s performance.

Madonna’s Crucifixion Reported Cancelled

October 20, 2006

By S. T. Karnick

Madonna’s Crucifixion Reported Cancelled

The American Family Association has announced that NBC TV has decided to delete the mock crucifixion scene that was to appear in a concert special starring rock singer Madonna. As reported on this site on September 20, NBC TV is pondering what to do about rock singer Madonna’s upcoming TV special on the network. A video of the middle-aged pop star’s latest concert will be broadcast on the network in November. The problem: Madonna sings one song, "Live to Tell," while suspended on a cross, bound by silver cuffs and wearing a crown of thorns. Catholic and Orthodox church groups have protested the spectacle. Madonna defends it by saying that it is not "anti-Christian, sacrilegious or blasphemous." She says that in fact Jesus himself would be just like her if he were here today: "It is no different than a person wearing a cross or ‘taking up the cross’ as it says in the Bible. Rather, it is my plea to the audience to encourage mankind to help one another and to see the world as a unified whole. I believe in my heart that if Jesus were alive today he would be doing the same thing." At that time,

CSI Gets Religion Big-Time

October 20, 2006

By S. T. Karnick

Religion is all over the place on network TV series now. Many programs just can’t seem to resist bringing it up, and the treatments are typically fairly sympathetic though by no means without nuance or sophistication. For example: following up on last week’s interesting comment at the end of the program, in which CSI team leader Gil Grissom suggests a sense of moral decline in America (see my article of last week on that episode), last night’s episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation moved thoroughly into spiritual and religious territory. The story concerns the investigation into the death of a woman found crucified in the sanctuary of a Catholic church, having been beaten previously and strangled by a rosary. Much suspicion is directed toward a Catholic priest and an automobile dealer, both of whom have known the woman since high school. The priest, it turns out, was having an affair with the woman. The church holds some very unhappy secrets, you see. But the episode is no slam at the church—it is instead a fairly sophisticated look at how flawed human beings try to live out their relationship with God, and how those who don’t have such a relationship get

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Posts Tagged ‘ TV ’

ABC Is “Gayest” TV Network—Study

Media Getting Dirtier But Easier to Clean Up

More Progress on “Jericho” TV Program Return

What TV Networks Owe Loyal Viewers

“The Half-Hour News Hour” to Premiere This Sunday

“Supernatural” Debate About Religion

Lowlanders Tiring of Smutty TV

Fox’s 24 to Go Even Darker

Closer Returns Tonight

Soap Opera to Feature “Transgendering” Character

Madonna’s Crucifixion Reported Cancelled

CSI Gets Religion Big-Time

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