Tag: NBC

The Future for “Grimm” is Bright

Fans of Grimm, the show that’s kinda-sorta been touted as a replacement for Lost, will be happy to hear this news: The show just became the only new NBC hour-long series to get a “back nine” episode order this fall.The president of NBC commented on the decision saying: “We are very pleased to be making a full-season commitment for Grimm.”

The show does deserve to get picked up – it’s been beating Fox’s Fringe on Friday nights and has even started to give CSI a run for its money (oh please, oh please, oh please let that continue!). Because it’s doing so well, NBC is moving the show to Thursday nights – so be sure to tune in then.

Grimm, as the name suggests, is a supernatural thriller series with a fairy tale twist.

 

Things Could Get Dicey with Gervais at Golden Globes

Ricky Gervais will be making a repeat performance as the host of the Golden Globes and while fans are thrilled, there’s some concern he may not … toe the line. Gervais hosted the event last year and his appearance has been called “lightening in a bottle.” Even he’s been quoted as saying there’s no way he could pull off a repeat performance. He managed to say what millions were thinking, offend people who greenlit many of the project, and generally bit the hand the fed him. No wonder he’s nervous he won’t be able to do it again.

He did say he’d like to improve on his 2011 performance – by making is 2012 appearance more outrageous than before. Said Gervais: “Not sure if I’m flattered that they trust me or insulted that they trust me. Either way…they shouldn’t trust me.”

It could really go either way. On the one hand, this has the potentially to go so horribly wrong and blow up in the producers’ faces … on the other hand it could be a huge viewership boost for NBC as people tune in to see what Gervais will do or say next.

The timing also will be good publicity for the comedian’s new TV venture, “Life’s Too Short” which will make its U.S. debut on HBO in early 2012.

 

 

America’s Got Stern!

Howard Stern – who’s barely safe for radio – may be appearing as a judge on America’s Got Talent. The shock jock is apparently in negotiations to replace Piers Morgan who’s leaving the show, according to a source close to the deal. It seems an unlikely pair – the radio host who’s known for his racy, freewheeling style, and a network show that has a wide range of viewers including a younger fan base as well as families.

It might be an interesting counterpart to what American Idol had going for it with Simon Cowell, but Stern would still have to keep himself a bit in check even using Cowell as a comparison! Then again, maybe NBC is thinking that even if some debacle does ensue, bad press is better than no press.

Meanwhile, Morgan announced that he would be leaving the show to focus on his CNN talk show “Piers Morgan Tonight,” and the upcoming presidential election year.

 

It’s official: Wonder Woman TV show is a no

All that publicity and hoopla was for nothing, in the end – while introducing their fall line-up, NBC confirmed that they did not pick up the Wonder Woman pilot for production, and the show will not be made… at least, not by NBC.

While the rejection must come as hard news for the producers of the show, who have already spend a lot of time, effort, and money on making this show a reality, they can still take the pilot to other networks to see if anyone bites.  However, with mixed reviews, a controversial costume, and a rejection from a major network, it’s doubtful that anyone is going to want to pick the pilot up now.

Katie Couric most likely leaving CBS Evening News

It’s not exactly official yet, but all signs point to Katie Couric leaving her CBS Evening News position for good.  Couric is said to have found her role as anchor too restrictive, and she wants to branch out and try to do her own show, perhaps a talk show where she can control the content and the tone.

But that doesn’t mean she’s necessarily leaving the network itself – in fact, CBS is one of the main networks Katie’s in talks with to get a syndicated show under way.  She’s also talking to other networks like CNN and NBC, so it’ll be interesting to see who offers her a deal she likes.

Conan’s NBC jokes getting old, costing him his audience

Conan O’Brien‘s much-anticipated new late night show opened this week to much buzz, but it seems the fact that Conan can’t get over being dumped by NBC is starting to tire his audience.  Conan had an opening night audience of 4.2 million viewers, but after a pretty steady stream of jokes laced with bitterness about the NBC debacle, by the second night the audience had dropped to 2.8 million.

Polls have shown that viewers would prefer to hear jokes about current events, and they were hoping Conan would use this opportunity to make a fresh start and do something different, rather than just photocopy his old show over to another network.  We get it, NBC screwed him, but he needs to let that go and move on or he’s going to face cancellation, as well.