Fan Fare
Entertainment behind the scenes
from MediaFile:
The fall TV season, beyond Jay Leno
What's that? Jay Leno is moving to prime-time? You don't say!
Frankly, it's hard to remember the last time there was such hubbub about a TV show. It was, after all, the cover story in Time magazine. Not to be outdone, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, AP, and probably every local news outlet between New York and Hollywood had a story about the talk show host -- more often than not raising the question of whether he's going to save network TV.
(You've got to give it to the public-relations machine on this one. They really worked the story. Of course, their spinning was augmented by a huge marketing effort. Stuart Elliott of the New York Times today estimated that NBC put out more than $10 million in promoting the show).
But there is more to the fall TV season than Jay Leno. The media buyers and planners over at RPA offer a useful road map to the season in a recent report.
Their take on the fall season is fairly upbeat (maybe network TV doesn't really need Leno to save it).
from MediaFile:
Good days for cable TV
A year ago, the big story around Emmy nominations was the acclaim showered on cable programs like "Mad Men" and "Damages." A quick glance at today's nominations indicates little has changed.
Just look at the best drama category, where Fox's "House" and ABC's "Lost" will face stiff competition from cable's "Big Love" (HBO), "Mad Men" (AMC), "Damages" (FX), and "Breaking Bad" (AMC).
from MediaFile:
Bravo back with more housewives, fashionistas, crazies
Bravo unveiled its new TV lineup at its upfront breakfast on Tuesday-- and it's chock full of more of those grating characters and train-wreck scenarios that have proved so successful for the cable network.
At the breakfast in Manhattan's Russian Tea Room, executives played down the recession, played up a recent New York Times article and announced that a cable network known for its unscripted shows is developing two scripted dramas, "Blueprint" and "30 under 30."
