BC Beat
Commentary, analysis and observations on the business of television from the staff of Broadcasting & Cable.
What's in a Name...or a Chair?
Conan O’Brien has settled on a moniker for his anticipated TBS late night entry. After teasing the, let’s face it, somewhat anti-climactic announcement Tuesday on Twitter (”I was going to announce the name of my new show today, but my lawyers tell me The Return of Nanny McPhee is taken. Tune in tomorrow.”), the late-night comedian revealed the name of his new show via Y ...... Read More
Comments (0)Broadcast or cable: who was Emmy's big winner?
How relevant is the broadcast vs. cable argument come Emmy time? I think it’s both relevant and irrelevant. This year’s Emmy voters seemed to be making the point that the best show and the best performance wins, which is why we got so many first-time winners and upsets. For example, instead of handing The Amazing Race its eighth Emmy because that was the easy thing to do, voters seem ...... Read More
Comments (0)Laurie's Missing Emmy an Embarrassment
OK. I’ve seen Breaking Bad and it’s good, but the fact that Hugh Laurie continues to come up empty in the best actor in a drama series category at the Emmy awards is getting to be pretty embarrassing. I mean, Bryan Cranston has three more Emmys than Hugh Laurie and Jackie Gleason put together. Laurie’s Gregory House would be a tour de force for an American actor. For a Brit wh ...... Read More
Comments (1)Overheard at the Emmys
Jeers, jabs and tears - here’s a (live) look at the best and worst of what we’ve overheard onstage, backstage and in between at the 2010 Primetime Emmy Awards: On winning: “It’s been a huge honor both this year and last year to be nominated with a huge group of actors…I’m a big reader of almanacs, I like lists…Boy do i sound OCD…so I was ...... Read More
Comments (0)Emmys off to strong start
One hour into the Emmys and I’m ready to predict that this is the top-rated Emmycast in years. Jimmy Fallon came out strong with his Glee-themed opening number, which reminded me of Billy Crystal’s wonderful Oscar montages. (I miss those – could you please come back to the Oscars, Billy?) Seeing so many of TV’s favorites in one big singing/dancing montage was great fun. ...... Read More
Comments (0)G4's ‘Bomb Patrol: Afghanistan' Aims to Show Real ‘Hurt Locker'
The Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow’s Oscar-winning film about an Army cowboy who diffuses bombs in Iraq while bucking armed services convention, catapulted the treacherous job of the military’s bomb disposal experts into the popular imagination. But the film also took incoming fire from military veterans who decried The Hurt Locker’s lack of verisimilitude; the realities of war ...... Read More
Comments (0)ABC developing yet another daytime talk panel
Apparently what everyone thinks daytime TV needs is more shows so chock full of hosts that no one can get a word in edgewise. ABC has been airing The View in daytime since 1997, and the show turns in highly respectable ratings, especially considering the state of daytime TV. Now, with Oprah departing and soap operas in decline, networks are looking for new programs to put on the air. The answer in ...... Read More
Comments (0)Aerosmith Bassist: 'Ink Is Dry' on Steven Tyler's 'Idol' Contract
Welcome to the latest edition of as the American Idol Table Turns. Sources close to the Fox show say that Aerosmith front-man Steven Tyler has finalized a deal to join the judges table for the upcoming tenth season. Fox and Idol producer Fremantle declined comment. But Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton told the New Jersey Star Ledger that “the ink is dry on” Tyler’s Idol contract ...... Read More
Comments (0)NBC's Richard Engel Gets Exclusive With Troops Leaving Iraq
Richard Engel, NBC News’ chief foreign affairs correspondent, appeared live with the fourth Stryker Brigade as they drove out of Iraq to Kuwait.They are the last American combat troops to leave Iraq. And while 50,000 U.S. service members will remain in Iraq, the exit of combat troops represents the symbolic end to the war there. Engel has been in Iraq since Aug. 11 and his reporting gave NB ...... Read More
Comments (0)2010 EMMYS EVENTS CALENDAR
Click here for more 2010 Emmys coverage Monday, Aug. 23What: 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards credentials pick-upWhere: Credentials trailer located at Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE 777 Chick Hearn Court Los Angeles, CA 90015When: Aug. 23-24: 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Aug. 25-28: 7 a.m. - 6 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 25What: Press Preview Day - Red Carpet Rollout, featuring words from Emmy Awards ExecutiveProducer Don Misch ...... Read More
Comments (0)TCA: HBO’s ‘Jersey Shore’ to Feature Prohibition, Martin Scorsese
The TCA Summer Press tour returned to the Jersey Shore on Saturday for the presentation of HBO’s new Prohibition-era drama Boardwalk Empire, based on a book by Atlantic County judge Nelson Johnson. The series, premiering Sept. 19 at 9pm, comes from Sopranos writer Terence Winter and Academy Award-winning director Martin Scorsese. It’s no surprise, then, that even TCA’s ...... Read More
Comments (1)TCA: 'Camelot' -- As Sexy as 'Spartacus'?
It seemed that the graphic nature of Starz’s hit show Spartacus: Blood and Sand has heightened critics expectations for sex and violence in the pay cabler’s new period drama Camelot, based on the tale of King Arthur . The network presented this new series at the TCA summer press tour Saturday with writer Chris Chibnall and star Joseph Fiennes, who plays Merlin, appearing via satellit ...... Read More
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