Never Judge a Show by its Pilot: Community

Community on NBC

First impressions:
This looks funny and I can see the show appealing to those of us who went back to college later in life. I personally had nightmares about gong back to school.
The big question is "Can Joel McHale carry a primetime network show?"
This show also looks like something I might write. A simple story about a guy who is making the best of things in a bad situation.

Expectations:
This show will draw in the Joel McHale and Chevy Chase fans. Also having The Office as a lead in will help greatly.

I watched the Pilot:

Joel McHale's character, Jeff Winger, is a DUI lawer whose bachelor’s degree was proven fake. Now he has to get a BA. degree within four years or be permanently be disbarred.

Off the bat, I see two problems. Please note these are observations not judgments:

DUI lawyers are the most despised of all attorneys. When you add the fact that his predicament is entirely of his own doing, it is hard to be sympathetic towards him. He is not a victim of circumstances.

Jeff has to find redemption ASAP. Historically American sitcoms cannot have a lead character with no redeeming qualities.

Like any good sitcom pilot, you know everything you need to know before the first comercial break. The supporting cast is creatively introdiced by type (Like the characters in the Gillian's Island theme) in a speech from the college's Dean. Later we learn everyone's name. Half of the supporting characters are college age. Abed, played by Danny Pudi is the pop culture junkie with assburger's syndrome. Annie, played by Alison Brie is the high-strung perfectionist. Troy, played by Donald Glover, is the former high school football star adjusting to his new status while clinging on to his high school glory. The other characters are adults returning to school. Pierce, played by Chevy Chase, is the senior citizen of the group and whose life experience has brought him infinite wisdom. Shirley, played by Yvette Nicole Brown, it the middle-aged divorcée. Rounding out the cast of characters is Britta, played by Gillian Jacobs, the 28-year old drop out who has returned to school. Britta is the one extracaricilar activity that Jeff is interested in. Britta is the most grounded character and can serve as the conduiet between the normalacy of the viewers and the crazyiness of campus life. I identify with Britta because I went back to school at her age and from my expirence, there is another cross section missing in the ensemble. Many of my classmates were downsized adults who had been in the workforce for a couple decades only to have their jobs no longer exist. I want to see that person.

In the pilot, Jeff has two goals. First, he wants to blackmail Dr. Ian Duncan, a teacher (played by John Oliver) whom Jeff represented in a DUI case, into giving him answers to all the tests. Second, he wants to get into Britta's pants. He tells her that he is a board certified Spanish tutor (He only knows a few words of the language). Britta invites other classmates to to join her and Jeff as a study group. The group learns more about themselves than their course work. I see the show having potential but I never judge a show by its pilot.

I watched the next episode. Ken Jeong is introduced as Spanish professor, Señor Chang. Jeff's attempt to become Britta's partner in a Spanish class project fails miserably. He winds up teamed with Pierce who wanted Jeff as a partner. The chemistry between Joel McHale and Chevy Chase is great. Meanwhile Britta’s comment about an executed Guatemalan journalist inspires Annie and Shirley to stage a protest. Their protest involves baking brownies, creating piñatas and placing duct tape over their mouths as a silent protest. I think it would work better if the socially conscious, albeit misguided, students focused on domestic issues like the two wars, the economy, or healthcare. All in all, I predict this show will last the season.

To quote Jeff Winger and Dr. Ian Duncan:

Jeff: I discovered at a very early age that if I talk long enough, I can make anything right or wrong. So either I'm God or truth is relative. In either case, booyah!"

Ian: Interesting, it's just that the average person has a much harder time saying 'booyah' to moral relativism.

Stay Tuned


Tony Figueroa

This week in Television History: September 2009 PART IV

Listen to me TONIGHT on TV CONFIDENTIAL with Ed Robertson and Frankie Montiforte Broadcast LIVE every other Monday at 10pm ET, 7pm PT on Shokus Internet Radio. The program will then be repeated Tuesday through Sunday at the same time (10pm ET, 7pm PT) on Shokus Radio for the next two weeks, and then will be posted on line at our archives page at TVConfidential.net.

As always, the further we go back in Hollywood history, the more that fact and legend become intertwined. It's hard to say where the truth really lies.

September 23, 1961
Weekly TV movie program Saturday Night at the Movies debuts on NBC, starting with the 1953 film How to Marry a Millionaire. The program was the first major network initiative to broadcast recent movies on the air. Although movies from the 1930s and '40s had appeared on TV, the networks had resisted showing more recent films. Until the 1960s, a fierce rivalry existed between the television and movie industries, and neither wanted to promote the other. However, with the success of Saturday Night at the Movies, relatively recent films became a staple of TV programming.

September 24, 1936
Muppet creator Jim Henson is born in Greenville, Mississippi. Henson joined a puppet club in high school and used his skills to land a job at a local TV station between high school and college. His homemade puppets delighted audiences, and during his freshman year at the University of Maryland the TV station gave him his own five minute show, called Sam and Friends. The show ran twice a day, just before popular news show the Huntley-Brinkley Report and again before the Tonight Show with Steve Allen. Henson's program ran for eight years and won a local Emmy in 1958.
In 1955, Henson took an old green coat of his mother's, attached two halves of a ping-pong ball for eyes, and created a lizard-like character named Kermit, who later evolved into Kermit the Frog. Other familiar characters took shape on Sam and Friends, as Henson's Muppets multiplied. In 1957, Henson made the first of more than 300 TV commercials for Wilkins Coffee. In 1963 Rowlf the Dog became a regular on variety program The Jimmy Dean Show, which ran until 1966.

Henson showed an interest in filmmaking in the mid 1960s, making a short film called Timepiece in 1965, which was nominated for an Oscar. A few years later, he met Joan Ganz Cooney, a TV producer heading up a study of children and television at a seminar for educators in Boston. Ganz was formulating an idea for a kids' TV program she called The Preschool Educational Television Show, and she quickly persuaded Henson and his Muppets to join her. The show, with its new, snappier title, Sesame Street, was launched in 1969, and generations of children fell in love with Big Bird, Kermit the Frog, Ernie and Bert, Oscar the Grouch, Grover, Cookie Monster, and many other Henson creations.
After seven years of children's television, Henson wanted to explore more sophisticated possibilities for his Muppets. He shopped around an idea for a variety show starring Kermit, but none of the networks were interested. Undeterred, Henson created The Muppet Show as a syndicated series, which became the world's most watched TV show, with 235 million viewers in more than 100 countries. The program ran from 1976 to 1981 and won three Emmys. Meanwhile, the Muppets launched a movie career in 1979 with The Muppet Movie, followed by The Great Muppet Caper (1981) and The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984).

Other, less familiar Henson creatures appeared in The Dark Crystal (1982) and Labyrinth (1986) with David Bowie, as well as in two cable TV series, Fraggle Rock and The Ghost of Faffner Hall. His Saturday morning cartoon, Jim Henson's Muppet Babies, was launched in 1984 and won four Emmys. Henson died of pneumonia in 1990.


Barbara Jill Walters is born September 25, 1929. Walters was first known as a popular TV morning news anchor for over 10 years on NBC's Today, where she worked with Hugh Downs and later Frank McGee and Jim Hartz. Walters later spent 25 years as co-host of ABC's newsmagazine 20/20. She was the first female co-anchor of network evening news, working with Harry Reasoner on the ABC Evening News and was later a correspondent for ABC World News Tonight with Charles Gibson.


Bryant Charles Gumbel is born September 29, 1948. The television journalist, sportscaster, newscaster, television personality and sports anchor is best known for his 15 years as co-host of NBC's The Today Show. He is the younger brother of sportscaster Greg Gumbel. He began his television career in October 1972, when he was made a sportscaster for KNBC-TV Los Angeles.

To quote the Bicentennial Minute, "And that's the way it was".

Stay Tuned


Tony Figueroa

Never Judge a Show by its Pilot: The Jay Leno Show

First impressions:
This is the most talked about new show amongst my circle friends and colleagues. Most of the conversations have nothing to do with the show itself but the show's overall impact on television. As I mentioned in my article Fall 2009, “Reality and talent competition shows are taking over and it is not because the scripted shows are bad... well not all of them are bad. It’s not because viewers aren't watching them. It is because they cost too much (Meaning reality and talent competition shows are cheaper to produce). Shows are being canceled for purely economic reasons. Perhaps that is why some shows would disappear then reappear with little fanfare. Then the network's bean counters can say, "Look, we put the show back on and nobody is watching it. CANCELED!"”
The success or failure of this show will have an impact on TV as we know it and for that reason it is going to be hard for me to be impartial when watching the show.

I saw the press conference that NBC held to announce Jay's new show (It's Official: Jay Leno to Get New Show on NBC). Jay opened with a few jokes to lighten the mood but also brought home three important points:
1, He had never planned to retire.
2, He does not have a feud with Conan O’Brian.
3, The new show will have some of The Tonight Show elements like a monologue, Jay Walking and Headlines.

Once the floor was opened for questions, many members of the entertainment press kept asking Jay the same three questions over and over again.
1, Why did you decide not to retire?
2, So are you getting along with Conan O'Brian?
3, What are you going to do on the new show?

Not only did Jay already answer these questions in his opening remarks, many entertainment reporters kept repeating the same questions, some actually brought their own cameras and spotlights to shoot themselves asking those already asked questions and Jay patiently answered those same questions over and over again. The entire endless loop of a press conference, with the repeated questions, was aired on NBC’s News Raw where Jay came off looking better than the network executives on stage with him and the entertainment press in front of him.

I realize that the members of the entertainment press will be asking the fluff questions that are usually no more complicated than "Who you wearing?", but once the fluff questions were asked:
a) They should not be asked again.
b) The reporters should have to go to different, more serious or dare I say a hardball questions.

No one asked about how Jay's show will have an impact on television, about all the thousands of industry jobs that would be lost if the show is successful or even if the show will have a negative impact on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. Jay is a big boy and has had to answer tougher questions from the press over the past thirty years (I'm Dying Up Here by William Knoedelseder).

Expectations:
Not to optimistic.
I don't see the show taking viewers away from returning shows in the same time slot like Castle, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, Private Practice, The Mentalist, 20/20, and Numbers but may stand a better chance against new shows like The Forgotten, The Good Wife and Eastwick.

On the positive side, the show will air 48 weeks out of the year allowing Jay to take advantage of competing shows being on hiatus.

Normally I watch the pilot of a show then the following episode and do a comparison contrast. For this program I watched the first couple of weeks of shows and note my observations as simple bullet points.

· The show's opening looks like a 1980s stand up comedy show. I do like the use of old pictures of Jay in the opening and that got me thinking that many people miss the old Jay. The Jay Leno that used to be a favorite guest on Late Night with David Letterman. The "What's my Beef?" Jay. When Jay became Johnny Carson's permanent guest host he also became mainstream but there was always look he would give his fans as to say, "Can you believe NBC is letting me do this. I want to see the same Jay that I see driving classic cars on the streets of Burbank, not the former steward of The Tonight Show.

· Did the set come from IKEA? The floor plan might work but the decor does not say "Jay".

· The theme does not work for me either. Why couldn't he keep his theme from The Tonight Show? FYI: This is the only thing that should come over from the old show because it is Jay's theme. Each Tonight Show host had a signature theme song.

· The monologue is standard Jay.

· The comedy sketches tend to go on long past the punch line (Cheaters).

· You can only get a Hugh Grant moment with Hugh Grant, not Kanye West.

· The Headlines segment should follow the monologue.

· Jim Norton's Uninvited Guest segment shows more of the direction the show should take. Most of the humor lacks a point of view.

· Jay sets up the local news teasers and broadcasts in a very up beat way. I see the local anchors respond with an excited, "Thanks Jay". What if something bad happens between Jay's show being pre-taped and the local news live broadcast?

· The jokes about NBC being in 4th place are getting old. This note goes for everyone, not just Jay.

· The Ten@Ten segments are too bland most of the time. Barney Frank’s segment was good.

· The Green Car Challenge seems to be missing something.

· The Pee-Wee Herman segment seemed like filler. It seems too soon to need filler.

· Great White Moments in Black History is another segment that seems to live up to the shows promise. It is short, sweet, and to the point.

· JMZ (A spoof of TMZ) is very contrived. The first part looks like something one would see on a Nickelodeon show. The second part looked like a sophmoric attempt to make a statement about TMZ, but fell short. Jay’s Talent pool is smarter than that. Your audience is smart enough to know that the people in the Jaywalking segments are stupid.

· Nick Thune Changes your life is a great segment and hopefully these young comedians will get more airtime.

· Jay did a great job debating Rush Limbaugh. I want to see more of that Jay. Jay has a point of view but always likes to play the middle of the road. His show - His point of view.

· Internet Success and Failure is funny once a week but I think that the real fun is in the audience submitting the video the same way people send clippings for the Headlines segment.

· Don’t make the guest earn their plug.

· The idea that this new show is different, bold and groundbreaking should be reflected in the look of the shows opening, the set and Jay's wardrobe. To be fair, I know that there were test shows done prior to the first shows airing and perhaps some of my points were experimented with and did not go well with the audience.

On the subject of Jay Leno I seem to be the most pragmatic person I know. I also feel that Jay's career has been judged unfairly. Often in their criticism they omit huge chunks of information making Jay subject to a revisionist entertainment history. Over the past thirty years, Jay has been associated with many controversies. Strangely enough most of controversies are not associated with his jokes. Sometimes the guy can't win for trying. Jay started his career as a nonconformist. When he went mainstream, many fans felt he had sold out. I understand that when he had The Tonight Show he was the shows caretaker and had to fit the shows mold. Again, I say, "Just be Jay".

To quote Jay Leno in response to the Time magazine headline that you're "the future of television"? “Well, that is hilarious. That shows you the trouble we are in. I mean, if you read the article it's just telling you, I think, that television has to change. The advertising dollars are not there anymore. The numbers that get you to No. 1 now are numbers that would have gotten you canceled 20 years ago. I mean I never thought I'd see the day when prime-time shows would be in single digits in the ratings. I can remember when Nancy Kerrigan hosted 'Saturday Night Live' and only got a 14 rating and everybody went, "Oh, we thought it'd be higher than that." Well, 14, that would make you the biggest hit in the history of NBC these days. So, you know, it's a different model. It's a changing thing”,

Stay Tuned


Tony Figueroa

Happy Birthday Jack

Jack Lalanne was born September 26, 1914 in San Francisco, CA and admittedly, during his childhood days was addicted to sugar and junk foods. At age 15, young Jack heard Paul Bragg speak on health and nutrition which had such a powerful influence, it motivated Jack to focus on his diet and exercise habits.
Jack was truly a pioneer, as he studied Henry Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body and concentrated on bodybuilding, chiropractic medicine, and weightlifting, something virtually unheard of in the 1930s.

In 1936 LaLanne opened his own health spa in Oakland, CA, and dedicated his life to encouraging people to better themselves through exercise and fitness. LaLanne designed the world's first leg extension machines, pulley machines using cables, and weight selectors, now a standard in the fitness industry. LaLanne also invented the widely used Smith Machine. Breaking the gender barrier, LaLanne was the first fitness expert to encourage women to lift weights, contrary to the popular belief of the time, which was that weights made women masculine and unattractive. By the 1980s there were more than 200 Jack LaLanne health clubs that were eventually sold to the Bally Company, which later became Bally Total Fitness.

The Jack LaLanne Show is the longest running health and fitness show in history, airing from 1951 to 1985. The show began as a local program on San Francisco’s ABC television station KGO-TV and was eventually syndicated on the ABC network throughout the U.S.A. and Canada, and worldwide on the Armed Forces Network. Critics said the show would be off the air in six weeks, but it lasted just a bit longer at 34 years.

In addition to the Jack LaLanne Show, Jack has published numerous books, created countless health and fitness videos, appeared in films, marketed health and exercise equipment and vitamin supplements, and even as a singer recorded songs with Connie Haines.

Jack LaLanne continues to work out every morning for two hours, spending 1 ½ hours in the weight room and ½ hour swimming. Jack LaLanne lives with his wife Elaine in Morro Bay, CA.

To Quote Jack LaLanne, "I do it as a therapy. I do it as something to keep me alive. We all need a little discipline. Exercise is my discipline".

Stay Tuned


Tony Figueroa

Your Mental Sorbet: Protect Insurance Companies PSA

Here is another "Mental Sorbet" that we could use to momentarily forget about those things that leave a bad taste in our mouths.

Hollywood speaks out to help insurance companies

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

TV Confidential Archives: Sept. 7, 2009

Actor William Schallert (Get Smart, The Patty Duke Show)joins Ed and Frankie in the second hour to discuss his many roles in film and television, including his work with Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, John Sturges and Don Siegel. In the first hour, Ed and Frankie welcome TV historian Andrew Lee Fielding, author of The Lucky Strike Papers. as they look back at the career of bandleader Kay Kyser.

This week in Television History: September 2009 PART III

Listen to me TONIGHT on TV CONFIDENTIAL with Ed Robertson and Frankie Montiforte Broadcast LIVE every other Monday at 10pm ET, 7pm PT on Shokus Internet Radio. The program will then be repeated Tuesday through Sunday at the same time (10pm ET, 7pm PT) on Shokus Radio for the next two weeks, and then will be posted on line at our archives page at TVConfidential.net.

As always, the further we go back in Hollywood history, the more that fact and legend become intertwined. It's hard to say where the truth really lies.

September 15, 1984
Bosom Buddies starring Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari debuted. An offbeat sitcom about two men disguising themselves as women, the show ran for four years and first brought Hanks to national attention.
Hanks studied acting in high school and played with a Shakespeare festival for three years. He appeared in a horror flick, He Knows You're Alone, in 1980, Splash in 1984, followed by a huge success with Big in 1988, for which he was nominated for an Oscar. His career took off again with Sleepless in Seattle (1993); he is now considered one of the top box office draws alive. He won the Best Actor Oscar twice, for Philadelphia in 1993 and Forrest Gump in 1994.
Peter Scolari later workedon Newhart and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show.

Edward James Begley, Jr. was born. The actor and environmentalist is perhaps best known for his role as Dr. Mark Craig's intern, Dr. Victor Ehrlich on the television series St. Elsewhere, for which he received six consecutive Emmy Award nominations.

He currently has a reality show about green living called Living With Ed on Planet Green with his wife, actress Rachelle Carson.

Peter Falk was born September 16, 1927. The actor is best known for his role as Lieutenant Columbo in the television series Columbo. He appeared in numerous films and television guest roles, and has been nominated for an Academy Award twice, and won the Emmy Award on five occasions and the Golden Globe award once. The Columbo character was originally played in a 1960 episode of the NBC anthology series The Chevy Mystery Show, where the detective was played by Bert Freed, and in a subsequent Broadway play by Thomas Mitchell. Falk first appeared as Columbo in Prescription: Murder , a 1968 TV movie, but the character was not the subject of a show of its own until 1971. Columbo aired regularly from 1971 to 1978 on NBC, and then more infrequently on ABC as TV movies beginning in 1989. The most recent episode was broadcast in 2003.

Despite his frazzled exterior, Columbo possesses a keen mind and invariably solves his cases by paying close attention to tiny inconsistencies in suspects' stories, hounding them until they confess; he merely puts on a good show of being dimwitted so that the criminals will be more at ease around him. Columbo's signature technique is to exit the scene of an interview, only to stop in the doorway to ask a suspect "just one more thing," which often brings to light the key inconsistency.

In May 2009, it was reported that Falk is suffering from dementia, and he no longer remembers his role in Columbo. In June 2009, a conservatorship was placed on him by a California court.

September 16, 1949
Warner. Bros. introduces the Road Runner in the cartoon short Fast and Furry-ous. Like the sounds of countless other Warner Bros. cartoon characters, the Road Runner's cheerful "beep, beep!" was provided by Mel Blanc.


September 17, 1950
Comedians Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis make their first appearance as hosts of a new TV variety show, The Colgate Comedy Hour.

Martin and Lewis first teamed up in 1946. Martin, born in Steubenville, Ohio, in 1917, had started a nightclub act after working as a prizefighter and a steelworker in the 1940s. Lewis, the son of performers, debuted in comedy acts with his parents at age five and was working steadily as a comic by 1946, when he met Martin. The pair performed an act in which screwball Lewis constantly interrupted straight man Martin's singing. They made their first appearance at a club in Atlantic City and were an instant hit, soon in demand for radio and movie performances. They made their first movie together, My Friend Irma, in 1949. The following year, they were chosen, along with Eddie Cantor and Fred Allen, to share the host position for The Colgate Comedy Hour. The show ran until 1955, a year before Martin and Lewis split up.

After the duo parted ways, Martin launched his own TV variety show, which ran from 1965 to 1974. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Martin teamed up with Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop to perform in Las Vegas. The group quickly became known as the Rat Pack, a suave group of young, fast-living entertainers. The group made several movies together in the early 1960s, including Ocean's Eleven (1960), Sergeants Three (1962), and Robin and the Seven Hoods. Dean Martin died in 1995.

Jerry Lewis went on to sign one of the most lucrative film contracts of the day, a $10 million deal for 14 films with Paramount. Lewis' films, including Cinderfella (1960) and The Nutty Professor (1963), failed to attract much praise from American critics but made him a star in France, where he has long been considered a comic genius. After a long absence from film, he gave an acclaimed performance in the 1986 film The King of Comedy, co-starring Robert De Niro.

Cassandra Peterson is born September 17, 1951. The actress s best known for her on-screen horror hostess character Elvira, Mistress of the Dark.
She gained fame on Los Angeles television station KHJ wearing a black, gothic, cleavage-enhancing gown as host of Movie Macabre, a weekly horror movie presentation. Her wickedly vampish appearance was offset by her comical character, quirky/quick-witted personality, and valley girl-type speech.

Jonathan Southworth “John” Ritter was born September 17, 1948. Best known for playing Jack Tripper in the ABC sitcom Three's Company. Ritter was born and raised in Burbank, California, the son of Dorothy Fay (née Southworth), an actress, and singing-cowboy/matinee-star Tex Ritter. He attended Hollywood High School, where he was Student Body President. He went on to the University of Southern California, where he was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI) fraternity, majored in psychology and minored in architecture.

On September 11, 2003, Ritter felt ill while rehearsing scenes for a season 2 episode of 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter. He was taken across the street to Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center, where he died later that day. The cause of his death was an aortic dissection caused by a previously undiagnosed congenital heart defect. His father had died of a heart attack almost thirty years earlier. Years later Ritter's wife testified in court that he had concerns for his own health because of the cause of his father's death. He was buried at Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles.

September 17, 1965
The Smothers Brothers Show, the first TV series featuring comedians Tom and Dick Smothers, debuts. The sitcom featured elder brother Dick as a publishing executive pestered by the ghost of his brother, Tom. The show lasted only one season. However, the brothers were back in 1967 with their comedy variety show The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, which became the most popular show on television during its two-year run. CBS abruptly cancelled the show at the height of its popularity after a series of censorship disputes with the brothers.

June Foray born September 18, 1917.

The voice actress, best known as the voice of many popular animated characters (particularly Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Cindy Lou Who and Granny). Her long and prolific career has encompassed radio, theatrical shorts, feature films, television, record albums (particularly with Stan Freberg), video games, talking toys and other media. Foray was also one of the founding members of ASIFA-Hollywood, the society devoted to promoting and encouraging animation.

September 18, 1955
Ed Sullivan's popular talk show, originally called Toast of the Town, changes its name to The Ed Sullivan Show. Sullivan was so closely identified with the show, which first aired in 1948, that most Americans already called the program "Ed Sullivan." Among the many celebrities who made their TV debut on the show were Bob Hope, Lena Horne, the Beatles, and Walt Disney. Elvis also made several high-profile appearances, in 1956 and 1957. CBS cancelled the program in 1971.

William James "Bill" Murray is born September 21, 1950. The Academy Award nominated comedian and actor gained national exposure on Saturday Night Live, and went on to star in films including Caddyshack, Ghostbusters, Groundhog Day, Lost in Translation, and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.

To quote the Bicentennial Minute, "And that's the way it was".

Stay Tuned


Tony Figueroa

And the Emmys went to...

ACADEMY OF TELEVISION ARTS & SCIENCES
61ST PRIMETIME EMMY AWARDS

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
KRISTIN CHENOWETH as Olive Snook ABC
Pushing Daisies

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
MATT HUBBARD, Writer NBC
30 Rock
Reunion

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
JON CRYER as Alan Harper CBS
Two And A Half Men

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
TONI COLLETTE as Tara Gregson SHOWTIME
United States Of Tara

OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
JEFFREY BLITZ, Director NBC
The Office
Stress Relief

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
ALEC BALDWIN as Jack Donaghy NBC
30 Rock

OUTSTANDING HOST FOR A REALITY OR REALITY-COMPETITION PROGRAM
JEFF PROBST, Host CBS
Survivor

OUTSTANDING REALITY – COMPETITION PROGRAM
THE AMAZING RACE CBS
Bertram van Munster, Executive Producer
Jerry Bruckheimer, Executive Producer
Jonathan Littman, Executive Producer
Hayma "Screech" Washington, Executive Producer
Elise Doganieri, Co-Executive Producer
Amy Nabseth Chacon, Co-Executive Producer
Mark Vertullo, Co-Executive Producer
Matt Schmidt, Supervising Producer
Jarratt Carson, Supervising Producer
Evan Weinstein, Supervising Producer
Giselle Parets, Senior Producer
Michael Norton, Senior Producer
Patrick Cariaga, Senior Producer
Phil Keoghan, Producer

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
SHOHREH AGHDASHLOO as Sajida HBO
House Of Saddam

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR A MOVIE
KEN HOWARD as Phelan Beale HBO
Grey Gardens

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR A MOVIE
BRENDAN GLEESON as Winston Churchill HBO
Into The Storm

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A MINISERIES, MOVIE OR A DRAMATIC SPECIAL
ANDREW DAVIES, Writer PBS
Little Dorrit

OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A MINISERIES, MOVIE OR A DRAMATIC SPECIAL
DEARBHLA WALSH, Director PBS
Little Dorrit
Part 1

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES OR A MOVIE
JESSICA LANGE as Big Edie HBO
Grey Gardens

OUTSTANDING MADE FOR TELEVISION MOVIE
GREY GARDENS HBO
Lucy Barzun Donnelly, Executive Producer
Rachael Horovitz, Executive Producer
Michael Sucsy, Executive Producer
David Coatsworth, Produced By

OUTSTANDING MINISERIES
LITTLE DORRIT PBS
Anne Pivcevic, Executive Producer
Rebecca Eaton, Executive Producer
Lisa Osborne, Producer

OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A VARIETY, MUSIC OR COMEDY SERIES
BRUCE GOWERS, Director FOX
American Idol
Show 833 (The Final Three)

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A VARIETY, MUSIC OR COMEDY SERIES
STEVE BODOW, Head Writer COMEDY CENTRAL
JON STEWART, Writer
DAVID JAVERBAUM, Writer
JOSH LIEB, Writer
RORY ALBANESE, Writer
KEVIN BLEYER, Writer
JASON ROSS, Writer
TIM CARVELL, Writer
JOHN OLIVER, Writer
SAM MEANS, Writer
ROB KUTNER, Writer
J.R. HAVLAN, Writer
RICH BLOMQUIST, Writer
WYATT CENAC, Writer
ELLIOTT KALAN, Writer
RACHEL AXLER, Writer
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL MUSIC & LYRICS
WILLIAM ROSS, Original Music ABC
JOHN KIMBROUGH, Original Music
DAN HARMON, Original Lyrics
ROB SCHRAB, Original Lyrics
BEN SCHWARTZ, Original Lyrics
81st Annual Academy Awards
Song Title: Hugh Jackman Opening Number

OUTSTANDING VARIETY, MUSIC OR COMEDY SERIES
THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART COMEDY CENTRAL
Jon Stewart, Executive Producer/Host
David Javerbaum, Executive Producer
Rory Albanese, Executive Producer
Josh Lieb, Executive Producer
Kahane Corn, Co-Executive Producer
Jennifer Flanz, Supervising Producer
Jim Margolis, Supervising Producer
Steve Bodow, Supervising Producer
Adam Lowitt, Supervising Producer
Jill Katz, Producer

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
MICHAEL EMERSON as Ben Linus ABC
Lost

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
CHERRY JONES as President Allison Taylor FOX
24

OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
ROD HOLCOMB, Director NBC
ER
And In The End

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
KATER GORDON, Writer AMC
MATTHEW WEINER, Writer
Mad Men
Meditations In An Emergency

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
GLENN CLOSE as Patty Hewes FX NETWORKS
Damages

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
BRYAN CRANSTON as Walter White AMC
Breaking Bad

OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES
30 ROCK NBC
Lorne Michaels, Executive Producer
Tina Fey, Executive Producer
Marci Klein, Executive Producer
David Miner, Executive Producer
Robert Carlock, Executive Producer
John Riggi, Co-Executive Producer
Jack Burditt, Co-Executive Producer
Ron Weiner, Co-Executive Producer
Matt Hubbard, Supervising Producer
Jeff Richmond, Supervising Producer
Don Scardino, Producer
Jerry Kupfer, Producer

OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES
MAD MEN AMC
Matthew Weiner, Executive Producer
Scott Hornbacher, Co-Executive Producer
André Jacquemetton, Supervising Producer
Maria Jacquemetton, Supervising Producer
Lisa Albert, Supervising Producer

TV CONFIDENTIAL, premiering Monday, Sept. 21

Your favorite TV theme songs will be the topic of discussion on the next edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, premiering Monday, Sept. 21 at 10pm ET, 7pm PT on Shokus Internet Radio, with a rebroadcast Tuesday, Sept. 22 at 11pm ET, 8pm PT on Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org. Our guest this week will be Jon Burlingame, music writer for Daily Variety and Film Score Monthly and author of TV's Biggest Hits: The Story of Television Themes from Dragnet to Friends. Jon's book is hands down the most comprehensive resource there is on the subject of TV themes, filled with behind-the-scenes stories of the many great composers responsible for our favorite television music. Get ready to test your TV M.Q. (Television Musical Quotient) when Jon joins us in the studio for our first hour.

If you want to be part of this week's program, if you have a favorite TV theme that you can never get tired of hearing, join us for our live broadcast, premiering Monday, Sept. 21 at 10pm ET, 7pm PT on Shokus Internet Radio. Phone number is (888) 746-5875 (or 888 SHOKUS-5). If you have questions or comments you'd like to send in advance, our email address is talk@tvconfidential.net.

Your Mental Sorbet: The Guiding Light - Lights Out

Here is another "Mental Sorbet" that we could use to momentarily forget about those things that leave a bad taste in our mouths.

Guiding Light (known as The Guiding Light prior to 1975) is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as being the longest-running soap opera and the longest running drama in television and radio history. It aired on radio from January 25, 1937 to June 29, 1956 and debuted on CBS Television on June 30, 1952. The final story airs on CBS on September 18, 2009. It is also the longest running broadcast program of any kind (72 years), across both radio and then television mediums, in history, being first broadcast five days after President Franklin D Roosevelt's second inauguration.

Morley Safer interviews the actors and writers behind broadcasting's longest running drama, "Guiding Light," as they celebrate the soap's incredible run and discuss its cancellation after 72 years.

Watch CBS Videos Online

The show's title refers to a lamp in the study of Reverend Dr. John Ruthledge, a major character when The Guiding Light debuted in 1937, that family and residents could see as a sign for them to find help when needed.

CBS announced on April 1, 2009 that the series was being canceled due to low ratings. Guiding Light will air it's final episode today. The show taped its final episode on August 11, 2009.

"Light Out".

Stay Tuned


Tony Figueroa