television

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Obama Grabs Highest TV Ratings Since Reagan

Web audience sends numbers skyrocketing

(Newser) - Barack Obama's inauguration was the most-watched ever but it failed to set a TV ratings record, USA Today reports. Neilsen estimates 37.8 million television viewers tuned in for the ceremony, while 41.8 million watched Ronald Reagan's 1981 inauguration. But internet viewership broke records and sent figures through the...

It's Predictable, but Lie to Me Is a Charmer
It's Predictable, but
Lie to Me
Is a Charmer
TV REVIEW

It's Predictable, but Lie to Me Is a Charmer

Procedural crime drama a seemingly successful hybrid of House , Mentalist

(Newser) - Lie to Me, Fox’s new crime procedural, really ought to be terrible, Heather Havrilesky writes in Salon. It checks every predictable box: a misanthropic, lie-detecting genius at the center, surrounded by sexy sidekicks and quirky underlings. But “fast-paced, clever” writing helps the series, premiering tonight, “avoid feeling...

Digital Switch Hits Glitches
 Digital Switch Hits Glitches 

Digital Switch Hits Glitches

Ahead of transition, viewers struggle to receive digital signals

(Newser) - The big switch to digital TV may be less than a month away but many viewers are finding the transition anything but smooth, the Washington Post reports. Consumers are discovering that getting a converter box for older analog sets or buying a new digital TV doesn't always guarantee good reception....

Slump in TV Sales May Push Smaller Makers Out

Likes of Hitachi, Pioneer don't have staying power of Sony and other giants

(Newser) - A steep decline in demand for flat-panel TVs could push smaller manufacturers out of the market, the Wall Street Journal reports. As the economy sours and larger makers achieve economies of scale, the price gap between top brands and cheaper rivals has shrunken dramatically. The top five makers accounted for...

Bob May, Lost in Space Robot, Dies
 Bob May, 
 Lost in Space 
 
Robot, Dies 
OBITUARY

Bob May, Lost in Space Robot, Dies

Actor moved the suit, but never said "Danger, Will Robinson"

(Newser) - Bob May, famous for inhabiting the robot suit on 1960s sci-fi hit Lost in Space, has died at 69 of heart failure, the AP reports. “He always said he got the job because he fit in the robot suit,” a co-star said. May did not voice the robot—...

Mad Men Creator Will Stay On

(Newser) - The creator of the AMC hit Mad Men will stay on at the show after strained negotiations with the network yielded him a seven-figure deal, Variety reports. Matthew Weiner's two-year commitment, covering the third and fourth seasons of the '60s-era drama, is said to include a commitment to develop a...

Inaugural TV Deals Bring Big Bucks, Controversy

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s inaugural organizing team has struck the most lucrative series of TV deals ever seen for its slate of inaugural events, raking in more than $5 million from various networks, the Washington Post reports. HBO landed the juiciest prize, paying $2.5 million for exclusive rights to tomorrow’...

ABC Delays Canceled Dramas' Finales Till Summer

Network bumps final shows of popular series in ratings grab

(Newser) - Dying to know how the recently canceled series Eli Stone, Pushing Daisies, and Dirty Sexy Money will end? Come back in the summer, says ABC. The network, which originally scheduled the final episodes of Daisies to start airing last week, has more ratings-friendly plans for the time slots, E! ...

Gossip Girl Spinoff Set for May
 Gossip Girl Spinoff Set for May 

Gossip Girl Spinoff Set for May

New show will flash back to the '80s

(Newser) - Gossip Girl fans, rejoice. After denying the rumors for months, the show’s producers now tell the Hollywood Reporter a spinoff is in the works. The new show will be set in the 1980s and tell the story Lily van der Woodsen—mom of Serena—and how fast times in...

Bird-Flipping Globes Could Cost NBC With Feds

Wrestler director Aronofsky's on-air gesture may be worst violation

(Newser) - The decency police are on NBC’s tail for Sunday’s obscenity-speckled Golden Globes. The Federal Communications Commission is reviewing the program after receiving 18 complaints, the Los Angeles Times reports. The most flagrant violation was probably when The Wrestler director Darren Aronofsky jokingly flipped off actor Mickey Rourke as...

Underdogs Rule at Globes
 Underdogs Rule at Globes 

Underdogs Rule at Globes

Big winners include 30 Rock , Kate Winslet

(Newser) - Hollywood blockbusters bowed to award-grabbing underdogs like critics' darling Slumdog Millionaire at the Golden Globes last night, the Los Angeles Times reports. The Mumbai thriller once considered straight-to-DVD material swiped honors for Best Dramatic Film, and top awards for screenplay, director and original score. The quirky indie comedy In Bruges ...

Blago, Burris Kick Off SNL's '09
 Blago, Burris Kick Off SNL's '09 

Blago, Burris Kick Off SNL's '09

Comedian Jason Sudeikis is the Illinois gov's hair apparent

(Newser) - Saturday Night Live doesn’t have Sarah Palin to ape anymore, so the cast started 2009 with new impressions of Rod Blagojevich, Roland Burris, and Rachel Maddow, the Huffington Post reports. Last night’s show began with Maddow (Amy Elliott) grilling wannabe-senator Burris (Keenan Thompson) and embattled Illinois governor Blagojevich...

Prognosis Isn't Good for Soap Operas

Things look bad

(Newser) - There’s reason for the young to be restless, because the days of their lives may not last much longer. The economic downturn is driving soap operas to the brink of extinction, Portfolio reports. Not long ago there were 16 network soaps; now, just eight remain, and with ad revenue...

Obama Wants to Delay Digital TV Switch

Too many people unprepared, he tells Congress in letter

(Newser) - The push to delay pulling the plug on analog television gained an important convert today: Barack Obama. The president-elect's transition team sent a letter to Congress urging it to push back the Feb. 17 conversion date to all-digital TV, the Los Angeles Times reports. It cited in particular the Commerce...

'Donna' Heads Back to 90210

Tori Spelling close to making a deal to reprise role from teen soap opera

(Newser) - Tori Spelling is coming back to the world's most famous zip code, a show rep tells People. The star of the original Beverly Hills 90210 is close to finalizing a deal to reprise her role as Donna Martin in multiple episodes of spin-off 90210. An earlier plan for her to...

Coulter Talks Today 'Ban' ... on Today

Critics not exactly impressed with Peacock's kowtowing

(Newser) - Ann Coulter parlayed her non-appearance on NBC’s Today Show yesterday into a session with Matt Lauer this morning, Hamilton Nolan writes on Gawker. “She is that person you didn't want to invite to the party, but did, and then wished you hadn't,” writes Nolan. Fully two minutes...

Swayze: 'I'm Going Through Hell'

(Newser) - "Yeah, I'm scared. Yeah, I'm angry. Yeah, I'm all that stuff," Patrick Swayze tells Barbara Walters in a candid interview that airs tomorrow, the first since his pancreatic cancer diagnosis. "I'm going through hell, and I've only just seen the beginning of it." Swayze was determined...

French Public TV Goes Ad Free; Not All Are Pleased

Critics say Sarkozy plan is gift to corporate competitors

(Newser) - In France last night, television viewers were treated to something they'd never seen before: prime time programming without commercials on the country's five state-run public networks. It's the first reform in Nicolas Sarkozy's proposed "big bang" transformation of France Télévisions, and eventually all advertising will be...

3D in the Comfort of Home
 3D in the Comfort of Home 

3D in the Comfort of Home

Pushes failed in the 50s, 70s, but experts think we're ready to enter a new dimension

(Newser) - Twice before, the entertainment industry has tried to get people excited about watching 3D movies and sporting events in their own living rooms. The idea fizzled both times, but this time it has a chance, reports the Los Angeles Times. At this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, manufacturers...

50 Ways to Improve Your 2009
 50 Ways to Improve Your 2009 

50 Ways to Improve Your 2009

Resolutions for your health, wealth and playful self

(Newser) - Just in case your pledge to exercise more didn’t satiate your need for self-improvement resolutions, US News and World Report offers 50 more ways to improve your life in 2009. Here are a few:
  • Pack up for Vermont: When it comes to healthy habits and community, the Green Mountain
...

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