The Bermuda Triangle of NBC Scheduling

Want to know the quickest way to be sure that a TV show won’t succeed? Put it in the Monday 10pm time slot on NBC. Many have tried and all have failed. Just this season alone we’ve said “hello” and “goodbye” to STUDIO 60, THE BLACK DONNELLYS, and now THE REAL WEDDING CRASHERS. Despite NBC’s ratings woes you would think the 10pm slot would do at least “ok” considering its lead in is HEROES. But nope. Now the question remains why. Is it the quality of the shows they have tried out on the schedule? Is it the competition? Or perhaps NBC is trying out their new “sampler” programming on the unsuspecting audience. You know…give us just a taste of some decent shows and then yank them away before we can find out whether we really like them or not.

No matter what the reason, NBC can’t afford to have another failed show this season. Taste being subjective, I personally thought both STUDIO 60 and THE BLACK DONNELLYS to be compelling television, and most importantly different than what we were getting from the other networks. The writing was fantastic, the acting impressive yet both shows lost their battle with the audience. Why?

NBC is announcing it’s fall schedule on May 14th. I’d be worried if I were the producer of the show that landed in that dark timeslot. I guess we’re just going to have to wait and see. Best of luck to you…whoever you are. For now, let’s just hope that LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT can help out NBC when it takes over the doomed timeslot starting next Monday night.

You love TV. You probably even love NBC and perhaps the shows that have tried to succeed at 10pm on Mondays. Any thoughts on why shows just can’t stick there?

LOST for Another 3 Years

According to ABC, the lostaways are going to remain lost for a little bit longer. ABC and the creators of LOST just inked a deal to produce 48 additional episodes of the show, but here’s the catch: the 48 episode will be divided into three, 16-episode seasons. So yeah, we are technically getting three more seasons, but in essence it’s really more like two full seasons. The show is set to end in the 2009-2010 season.

Also on board for the duration are Executive Producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse. It was Lindelof and Cuse who actually asked the network for an end date for the series during the Winter TCAs earlier this year. Looks like they got what they wanted, but with a little compromise with the guys paying the bills over at ABC. Lindelof and Cuse know how to play the game…let the network make the announcement and let them think this was their idea all along. Well played.

ABC Entertainment President, Steve McPherson, think this is a smart move for both the show and the network: “In considering the powerful storytelling of ‘Lost,’ we felt this was the only way to give it a proper creative conclusion’.

“I always said that we would allow the series to grow and give viewers the most compelling hour possible,” he added. “And, due to the unique nature of the series, we knew it would require an end date to keep the integrity and strength of the show consistent throughout, and to give the audience the payoff they deserve. ” McPherson added.

Regarding the contracts of Lindelof and Cuse, ABC Television Studio President Mark Pedowitz said: “We wanted to make sure we had the team responsible for its success in place for not only the run of the show, but so that each of their future series creations have a home at the studio after ‘Lost,’ ” Pedowitz said.

Source: Variety

Watchlist: Monday, May 7, 2007

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Scroll through the TV above to watch scenes and previews from tonight’s shows

Heroes – “The Hard Part”
Hiro and Ando are even more determined to save the world after seeing the grim future; Nathan takes steps to win the election; Thompson (Eric Roberts) brings someone new into the organization; and Sylar visits his mom (Ellen Greene).

24 – “Day 6: 2″00 am-3″00 am”
While Vice President Daniels and Lennox mend fences, relationships are shattered at CTU. Lisa Miller: Kari Matchett. Mike Doyle: Ricky Schroder.

How I Met Your Mother
Marshall and Lily’s wedding is plagued by problems, but Barney, of all people, saves the day. Andrea: Shulie Cowen. Janice: Meagen Fay. Scooter: David Burtka. Brad: Joe Manganiello.

The Bachelor: An Officer and a Gentleman
Andy travels around the country to meet the families of the four finalists. In Connecticut, Danielle’s protective family grills him, while Bevin tells him a dark secret in Seattle.

Dancing with the Stars
This show isn’t over yet? How many more weeks to go? Cliff Clavin is gone, and Johnny Damon Bily Ray Cyrus should be gone this week. Then again Billy Ray should have been gone week one so I’m not sure what to tell you. Raise your hand if you are still watching.

Sunday Night TV is Back

When Grey’s Anatomy moved from Sunday to Thursday I mourned my Sunday night television. Desperate Housewives was a shell of its first season and I hadn’t yet given Brothers and Sisters a shot. Well I’m happy to report that Sunday night TV is back and it’s something to look forward to again. Actually there’s so much great Sunday night TV I don’t know what to watch on the TiVo first.

I’m really looking forward to the SNL special tonight, if for no other reason that Adam Sandler signing “Red Hooded Sweeeeaaatshirt (ramamlamding dong)”. Let’s remember when SNL was funny – every week shall we.

Entourage is back and I’m hoping we get a bit more of the funny tonight. With the exception of the first episode of the season, I feel like the writers have been relying on just Turtle and Drama for laughs. The show is at it’s best when the four guys (and Ari) are together. Bring it on.

Brothers and Sisters has become a serious contender for favorite drama. It’s right up there with Friday Night Lights and Grey’s Anatomy (which has fallen off a smidge for me lately…so soap operay). I’m not sure if I like the evil little biatch Rebecca is (but only because I love Emily VanCamp).

And then finally we have the season finale of The Amazing Race: All Stars. As I’ve said before, this show lost me when Rob and Amber were eliminated. That being said, I still watch it every week, but not with the passion I once had for it. I’m hoping Charla wins the $1M and gives none of it to her annoying partner Mirna.

Saturday Night Live — Best of the 90’s
A retrospective on the sketch-comedy program with clips and interviews from those involved in the show during the 1990s, both in front of and behind the camera.

Amazing Race: All-Stars — The Final Leg
It’s the end of the road for the all-stars. The final three teams cross the finish line to find out who wins the million-dollar grand prize. Will it be Charla/Mirna, Eric/Danielle or Dustin/Candance. I can’t believe I’m rooting for Charla (not Mirna).The tension is killing me!

Entourage — Return of the King
Vince is energized by the availability of the “Medellin” role, but Ari’s religious obligations keep him from helping to close the deal with the producer; Eric suspects Amanda’s not working hard enough for her client.

Brothers and Sisters – Grapes of Wrath
A party to kick off Tom’s vineyard venture ends chaotically; Nora finds it necessary to set boundaries for Holly. Nora and Holly get into a major catfight complete with food throwing. And in a shocking moment, Tommy Walker makes an appearance.

Desperate Housewives – Into the Woods
Susan gets lost in the woods while looking for Mike; Gaby goes to jail; and Lynette realizes she loves another man. Rick Coletti: Jason Gedrick. Charles McLain: Greg Evigan. Vern: Alec Mapa. Toni: Rusty Schwimmer.

Paris Hilton Sentenced to Jail

Paris Hilton is going to jail for 45 days. You can read all about it here. Let’s just hope that this means she can’t torture us with another season of The Simple Life…please don’t put us through that again. So what are my thoughts about her imprisonment? This about sums it up…Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha haHa ha ha ha ha

VERONICA MARS Sneak Peek

Check out a scene from next Tuesday’s VERONICA MARS. I wish I had the willpower NOT to watch, but yeah…that’s not happening. This is the episode guest starring Paul Rudd. I’m a huge fan of his from way back in his “Clueless” days so this is going to be fun!

I opted to remove the video because it was playing automatically, and well, that’s annoying. Click here to watch the video.

Damn You DVR

So I though today was going to be a busy day here at GMMR talking about last night’s UGLY BETTY and the 2-hour GREY’S ANATOMY.  But nope, not so much.  The supersized episode of THE OFFICE confused the hell out of my DVR and in turn it didn’t record Ugly Betty or Grey’s Anatomy.  I figured I would head over to ABC.com before work but the neither of the shows were available (although they said they were).  So yeah…sorry.  Feel free to post away about either show.  I will catch up on the comments later.  So bummed.

Behind the scenes of “Women’s Appreciation”

Since I was on set during some of the filming of this week’s episode of THE OFFICE, I thought I would share a few behind-the-scenes details. Nothing earth shattering, but just a few tidbits. Although we were on set all day, we only saw a few scenes being filmed. For a full recap of my day on the set click here and here.

First shot of the day…
After getting a tour of the set from Kent Zbornak, we headed over to “Dunder Mifflin”. Although it was only about 9:30am or so, the cast was well into filming. The first scene we saw being filmed was Pam and Phyllis in the conference room discussing the “flasher”. They did so many takes and each one seemed to my untrained eye to be perfect.

This day is bananas…
During the scene when Karen and Pam confront Dwight about the memo Dwight is eating a banana. Well for each take he had a new banana and kept eating it over and over again. I was getting nauseated just watching it. On a quick break after that scene Rainn came into the room and I asked him about it. He said he was getting sick and might never be able to eat a banana again. Just goes to show how committed these actors are 🙂

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THE OFFICE Recap: Women’s Appreciation

WARNING! This post contains spoilers for tonight’s episode of THE OFFICE.

I’ve been looking forward to “Women’s Appreciation” since the end of February- and it did not disappoint. As I’ve mentioned before, this was the episode that was being filmed when Tanster and I were on the set. Later tonight I’ll post a few tidbits from behind-the-scenes so make sure you check back soon.

First off, kudos to Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky for writing a hilarious episode. If the reaction of those in the live Office chat at BuddyTV were any indication, it was one of the best of the season. I can’t wait to watch this one again…and again…ok who am I kidding, I’ll watch it at least 5 times before the weekend. Yeah, it was that good.

Here’s what I don’t understand though. Season 2’s “Sexual Harassment” had a warning before the episode because of the word “boner” but this episode was acceptable? I don’t think The Office has ever pushed the envelope in terms of sexual discussion as much as it did tonight. Michael with his hands down his pants? OMG!! Seriously OMG!! Watch the scene again and check out Krasinski trying not to laugh. So funny. And I think once they found out they could say the word “penis” they decided to just go for it. It was hilarious, but I kept thinking “how are they getting away with this?”

Here’s a short recap of the episode and then later I’ll share a few goodies from behind-the-scenes of “Women’s Appreciation”

Tonight on The Office…”Women’s Appreciation”
So here’s what went down tonight (that’s what she said). On her way into work, Phyllis was flashed in the parking lot. As a result Dwight became over protective of the women in the office and tossed out ridiculous demands about their clothes, makeup, etc. In turn Michael ordered everyone into the conference room for Women’s Appreciation Day. When his good intentioned meeting went sour (as they ALWAYS do) Michael decided to take the women to the mall where they could feel appreciated…and bond. But at the mall it was Michael was getting the most from his girls day out. He shared his issues with his relationship with Jan and decided that he was going to break it off with her…which he did…over voice mail…just minutes before Jan entered his office to apologize. Jan listened to his message and stormed out of his office. Is this end of Jan and Michael or just a temporary set back?

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UGLY BETTY: Song, Dance & Shakespeare

Reason #7,847 I am dying to attend the network upfronts later this month in NYC – the UGLY BETTY song and dance number being performed by Michael Urie (Marc), Becki Newton (Amanda) and Marc Indelicato (Justin). Yup, my three favorite characters will be entertaining the audience with a “splashy” number when ABC announces its fall schedule on May 15th. Unless some network exec hears my cries and hooks me up with press passes I’m going to miss seeing the event for myself…sigh.

But this might not be the only musical number for the cast of the hit ABC show.  Producers have been considering a muscial episode for next season.  Star America Ferrara says the cast has been begging for it since episode one.  Sure to be a stand out is Vanessa Williams, whom if you recall was a major recording artist long before she became Creative Director at Mode.

After hitting the stage at the upfronts, Michael Urie will be doing another live performance but this time as Horatio in the South Coast Repertory’s staging of Hamlet, opening June 1 after a week of preview performances. If you’re an Ugly Betty fan try to check this one if you can.

Source: USA Today

Gilmore Girls Recap: Lorelai? Lorelai?

Whirl was kind enough to send along her recap of this week’s Gilmore Girls the other day, but I’m the idiot who never posted it.  I’m sorry to all of you and to Whirl.  This being one of the last episodes ever, I wanted to make sure I posted it…even if it was a little late.

Title: “Lorelai? Lorelai?”
Original Airdate: May 1, 2007
GMMR Recapper: Whirl

Let me start off by saying this: Hallelujah! Gilmore Girls is back. I know this season has been hard to watch for a lot of people, and I know that a lot of fans had plain old given up. Admittedly I would have stopped watching too if I wasn’t recapping the show. Sure there is only a handful of episodes left (in the season, of maybe in total) but I think they have finally gotten into the swing of things down in that writing room. Thank God for that.

Rory starts off the night with the weirdest dream sequence in history. First she’s back at Chilton, only to have the dean come in and kick her out. Then she’s back home but Lorelai abandons her to head off to Hawaii because she “needs a break”. Lastly Doyle and Paris are living with their children in her house and giving her money. Why? Rory works as a garbage collector. I get it’s supposed to be a nightmare but I bet Rory has more rational dreams then this.

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Nathan Fillion & Keri Russell in WAITRESS

Nathan Fillion needs some love. With Fox’s recent shelving of DRIVE it seems like this insanely talented guy just can’t catch a break. So to lift Nathan’s spirits (because you know, he come to GMMR all the time..ha) I thought I would pass along this great review of his new film WAITRESS. WAITRESS was THE movie to see at Sundance this winter. It also stars a girl who will always be near and dear to my TV-lovin’ heart, Felicity herself – Keri Russell.

I’m not a big movie-goer, but I do know that I never head to the theater without checking out the reviews from my friends over at Pajiba. So trust Dustin…he sees a lot of movies and tells it like it is.

“Listen, Waitress isn’t for everyone. If you don’t care for romantic comedies, it’s probably not going to work for you — and if it doesn’t, you’ll probably loathe it (there isn’t a lot of potential for the middle ground with Shelly’s style). The plot is not terribly original. But the tone and feel is like nothing I’ve ever seen before on film. And if you allow yourself to give into it, to get swept up by its charm, you’ll walk out with an achy heart and a smile that may not fade for days. Read Pajiba’s review of WAITRESS

BREAKING NEWS: GILMORE GIRLS Canceled

It’s official! May 15th will be the SERIES finale for GILMORE GIRLS. The news was announced this morning in a joint statement from Warner Bros and The CW:

“Announcing the final season of ‘Gilmore Girls’ is truly a sad moment for everyone at The CW and Warner Bros. Television,” statement read. “This series helped define a network and created a fantastic, storybook world featuring some of television’s most memorable, lovable characters.”

“(We) promise to give this series the send off it deserves,” statement said.

It’s with a heavy heart that I share this news. GILMORE GIRLS has been an important television show and I’m sad to see it go. I can’t believe that we only have two weeks to prepare ourselves for the end of Lorelai, Rory and the rest of Stars Hollow.

Source: Variety and Michelle

Grey’s Anatomy/Private Practice Sneak Peek

I’m getting pretty excited for tonight’s 2-hour GREY’S ANATOMY. In addition to keeping tabs on the Seattle Grace regulars we get to meet Addison’s new playmates as we get our first look at the Grey’s Anatomy spin-off PRIVATE PRACTICE. Check out a scene from tonight’s show. Here Addison meets up with some old friends (Merrin Dungey & Taye Diggs) who may not be thrilled to see her.

Thanks to Mindy for the video

The OFFICE Thursday on Give Me My Remote

The last of three Office Thursdays until the end of the season. Hold me. The bright side is that from here on out we only have supersized and supersized-supersized episodes left. Yup, tonight and next week are both 40 minutes and the of course we have the hour long season finale on May 17th. If you’re an Office fan then I can only hope you’ve been crossing your fingers and toes that the rumors about NBC expanding THE OFFICE to one hour each week is true. Come on Zucker…do it…you know you want to.

I thought I would change up this week’s Office Thursday a bit. I’m kind of thinking that since every day is Office Thursday over at Office Tally you are probably caught up on most of the major Office news. So I thought maybe today we catch up on some housekeeping and then move into a little Office trivia. You game? (no pun intended)

LIVE Office Chat TONIGHT…

I’m SO excited for tonight’s Office chat! Actually I can’t wait until right after the chat so I can FINALLY share some fun stories from behind-the-scenes of tonight’s episode. I hope you all can make it. Click here to set a reminder for the Office chat.

Tonight on The Office…Gmail – Inbox
“Women’s Appreciation” (SPECIAL TIME: 8:36/7:36 c)
The staffers are shocked when a flasher victimizes Phyllis. In response, Michael takes the office ladies on a women’s appreciation excursion. Meanwhile, Dwight and his nemesis, Andy (Ed Helms), team up to catch the deviant. (Watch clips from tonight’s episode)

From the desk of Meredith Palmer…
In this week’s blog, Kate takes us behind the scene of “Women’s Appreciation” and tells us why this was one of her favorite episode to shoot. She mentions something about getting to spend a lot of quality time with Steve and the ladies of Dunder Mifflin. But let’s face it – Kate loved this ep because she got to spend some quality time with Tanster and me. Right? (Kate’s Blog)

A Little Office Trivia…
No, this won’t be anywhere near as difficult as that NBC.com Office quotes game. Just a few little trivia questions to get you pumped up for tonight’s episode. If your a true Office fan then these should be cake. Leave your answers in the comments. Every correct entry will go into a random drawing and the winner will get to choose an item from the GMMR store. We’ve added some new Office-inspired stuff just this week!

1. Michael once spent a productive day stressing about what to write in someone’s birthday card. Who was the card for and what was the name of the episode in which this happened?
2. Name three fake diseases given to Dwight in “Health Care”.
3. What were the names of all the kids that attended Dunder Mifflin’s Take Your Daughter to Work Day, and to whom did each kid belong?
4. What did Michael & Jim order for lunch when they went to Hooters?
5. What gift did Ryan originally get during the Yankee Swap?
6. Michael & Jim performed a karaoke duet to what song?
7. What was the name of the client that Jan & Michael took to Chilis?
8. Jim and Pam sent Dwight’s resume to what company in “Halloween”?
9. Pam and Roy were supposed to be married on what date?
10. What song did Karen sing at Phyllis & Bob’s wedding?

BONUS QUESTION: How long will it be before Pam gets off her ass and declares her love to Jim who in turn dumps Karen whom we never see or hear from again? (ok, ok…I was just making sure you were paying attention)

More Office Thursday after the jump!!

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