Tune In or Tune Out: Camp (NBC)

Camp (NBC)

Created by: Liz Heldens (Friday Night Lights), Peter Elkoff (Ugly Betty) 

Starring: Rachel Griffiths, Tom Green, and Tim Pocock

I never went to camp when I was a child, well overnight camp in the woods, and I thank my parents for that daily.  I am also glad I have no association with this show, although I guess I would be making more money than I do at my current job.

The premise of Camp is simple, the rich camp with the frat boys versus the poorer camp with the "outcasts." There are talent shows, crafts, counselors trying to sleep with one another, and a single mom whose life is crumbling.  I feel as though Mrs. Potts should be singing "Tale as Old as Time" in the background.

The show has a cast full of relative unknowns, except for television star and sometimes movie player Rachel Griffiths (Six Feet Under, Brothers and Sisters).  This material is WAY below the talent that she has an actress, the writing is bad, and while there are moments when you want this to be a guilty pleasure, and it could be, there is not even enough kitsch to live within that category.  This is going to be a quick summer burn off for NBC, it has the premise to be a good summer show, just not the stamina.

Tune Out!...Never Tune In

Celebrating The Office: The Dundies Part Two (The Best of The Office)

Dundie for Worst Boss

Winner: Andy Bernard

Runner Up Deangelo Vickers 

Dundie for Best "That's what she said"

The montage below says it all!

Dundie for Best Cold Open

Winner: Fire Drill 

Runner Up: Heeeey

Dundie for best Scranton Guest

Winner: Holly Flax

NBC's Massive Overhaul Creates a Thoroughly Unimpressive Fall 2013 Line-Up

A few days ago NBC announced massive cuts, they cancelled every sitcom except Community, and Parks and Recreation, and the only returning dramas are not massive ratings grabers like Parenthood, Grimm, and Law & Order: Special Victim's Unit.  Chicago Fire, and Revolution are the only first year dramas returning at the moment.

NBC's new Fall schedule has been announced and they moved everything around, and even shelved Community until 2014, so Parks is the only returning sitcom for the peacock.  Why the massive time shifts, and cuts?  NBC is attempting an overhaul, which looks incredibly unsuccessful.  At the moment there are a few shows still in limbo: Celebrity Apprentice, Hannibal, Fashion Star, and Beauty White's Off Their Rockers.

Listed below is Fall 2013 Schedule 

MONDAY
8/7c The Voice
10 pm THE BLACKLIST (new series) 

TUESDAY
8 pm The Biggest Loser
9 pm The Voice
10 pm Chicago Fire

WEDNESDAY
8 pm Revolution
9 pm Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
10 pm IRONSIDE (new series)

THURSDAY
8 pm Parks and Recreation
8:30 pm WELCOME TO THE FAMILY (new series)
9 pm SEAN SAVES THE WORLD (new series) 
9:30 pm THE MICHAEL J. FOX SHOW (new series)
10 pm Parenthood

FRIDAY
8 pm Dateline NBC
9 pm Grimm
10 pm DRACULA (new series)

SATURDAY
Encore programming

SUNDAY
7 pm Football Night in America
8:15 pm NBC Sunday Night Football

SUNDAY (Post-football/Winter 2013)
7 pm Dateline NBC
8 pm Nate Berkus’ AMERICAN DREAM BUILDERS (Reality)
9 pm BELIEVE (new series)
10 pm CRISIS (new series)

Believe (Drama)

EPs | Alfonso Cuaron (Children of Men), J.J. Abrams and Bryan Burk (Fringe)
CAST | Kyle MacLachlan (Desperate Housewives), Johnny Sequoyah, Jake McLaughlin (Savages), Delroy Lindo (The Chicago Code), Jamie Chung (Once Upon a Time), Sienna Guillory (Resident Evil), Arian Moayed (The Following)
Follows an unlikely relationship between a gifted young girl and a man sprung from prison who has been tasked with protecting her from the evil elements that hunt her power.

Crisis (Drama)
EPs | Rand Ravich and Far Shariat (Life)
CAST | Gillian Anderson (The X-Files), Dermot Mulroney (New Girl), Rachael Taylor (666 Park Avenue), Michael Beach (Third Watch), James Lafferty (One Tree Hill), Lance Gross (House of Payne), Halston Sage (How to Rock), Max Martini (Revenge), Max Schneider (How to Rock), Joshua Erenberg (Suburgatory)
Examines what happens when an unlikely puppeteer pulls Washington’s elite — including the President of the United States — into an international conspiracy.

About a Boy (Comedy)
EP | Jason Katims (Parenthood)
DIRECTOR | Jon Favreau (Revolution, Iron Man)
CAST | David Walton (New Girl), Minnie Driver (The Riches), Anjelah N. Johnson (MADtv), Benjamin Stockham (1600 Penn), Leslie Bibb (GCB), Al Madrigal (The Daily Show)
Based on the book and subsequent 2002 film starring Hugh Grant and Nicholas Hoult, the single-cam comedy centers on the relationship between a man-child and the young boy who moves in next door.

Sean Saves the World (Comedy)
EPs | Victor Fresco (Better Off Ted), Todd Milliner (Hot in Cleveland)
CAST | Sean Hayes (Will & Grace), Linda Lavin (Alice), Echo Kellum (Ben and Kate), Thomas Lennon (Reno 911!), Lindsay Sloane (Weeds, Grosse Pointe), Samantha Isler, guest star/recurring Vik Sahay (Chuck)
A multi-cam sitcom about a man attempting to both parent the teenage daughter who just moved in and appease a temperamental new boss.

The Michael J. Fox Show (Comedy)
CAST | Michael J. Fox (Spin City), Betsy Brandt (Breaking Bad), Kate Finneran (I Hate My Teenage Daughter), Wendell Pierce (Treme), Juliette Goglia (Easy A), Ana Nogueira
The single-cam comedy is inspired by Fox’s real life and stars him as Mike Burnaby, a husband and father of three in New York City juggling the challenges of family and career while dealing with Parkinson’s disease.

Family Guide (Comedy)
EPs | DJ Nash (Bent), Jason Bateman (Arrested Development), Jim Garavente (Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium)
CAST | Parker Posey (Louie, The Good Wife), J.K. Simmons (The Closer), Eli Baker, Ava Deluca-Verley
The single-camera sitcom centers on a son who idolizes his blind father and enjoys his mom’s newfound adolescence after his folks divorce and ultimately grow closer.

The Blacklist (Drama)

WHO | James Spader (The Office), Megan Boone (Law & Order: LA), Ryan Eggold (90210), Diego Klattenhoff (Homeland), Harry Lennix (Dollhouse), Ilfenesh Hadera

WHAT | The world's most wanted criminal suddenly turns himself in and offers to give up anyone he's ever worked with. The catch: He'll only work with a new FBI agent, one with whom he has no known connection

Ironside (Drama)

WHO | Blair Underwood (The Event), Brent Sexton (The Killing), Pablo Schreiber (Weeds), Neal Bledsoe (Smash), Spencer Grammer (Greek), Kenneth Choi (Sons of Anarchy)

WHAT | Based on the '60s cop drama, a tough, sexy and acerbic police detective is relegated to a wheelchair after a shooting, but is hardly limited by his disability as he pushes and prods his hand-picked team to solve the most difficult cases in the city.

Welcome to the Family (Comedy) 

WHO | Mike O'Malley (Glee), Mary McCormack (In Plain Sight), Ricardo Chavira (Desperate Housewives), Justina Machado (Private Practice, Six Feet Under), Ella Rae Peck (Deception, Gossip Girl), Joey Haro (Glee, Awkward), Aramis Knight

WHAT | In the single-cam comedy, cultures collide when a white family and a Latino family are bonded together by their children who fall in love followed quickly by an unplanned pregnancy.

Dracula (Drama)

WHO | Jonathan Rhys Meyers (The Tudors), Jessica De Gouw (Arrow), Katie McGrath (Merlin) and Nonso Anozie (Game of Thrones)

WHAT | Based on Bram Stoker's novel of the same name, the 10-episode series finds Dracula preparing to unleash hell on the Victorian society responsible for ruining his life. But he's thrown when he falls for a woman who's a dead ringer for his beloved, long-deceased wife.

The 2014 shows, or midseason shows are as follows, dramas: Crossbones, Chicago PD, and The Night Shift, the comedies: Community, About a Boy, Undateable , and The Family Guide.  If you look at the actual descriptions of the new shows along with the schedule shifts like Revolution to Wednesdays at 8 pm, and Parenthood to Thursdays prove the person running this network has no clue what they are doing.  Although I vow to watch anything that replaces the Celebrity Apprentice.

Celebrating The Office Part One: Michael Gary Scott

At the beginning there was Michael Scott, and it was good!  When The Office started back in 2005 Steve Carell was the first boss at the then Dunder Miflin Paper Company.  After seven seasons (137 episodes) Steve Carell said goodbye to his work team/family, and stepped down from boss role.  After sevens seasons of "That's what she said," bad relationships, Dundies, and awkward moments he left, but there are so many great moments, and they honest can't be summed up with words.  Steve Carell's Michael Scott is one of the most memorable characters in television history, and his character has been missed on The Office, here are some of the best quotes, to start off a great tribute week.

Best Michael Scott Quotes

"I am downloading some NP3 music"

"The worst thing about prison was the Dementors"-from 

"You know what they say fool me once strike one, but fool me twice...strike three"

"The suddenly she's not yo ho no mo"

"You don't know me, you've just seen my penis"

"You cannot take the hilarious black guy from the office"

"That has an oaky afterbirth"

"Corporate has made it my responsibility today to put an end to 10,000 years of being weirded out by gays."

These are obviously just a few of the great Michael Scott quotes from seven years.  Carell's send off arc as Michael Scott was one of the best stroy lines I have ever seen within a comedy series.  Part of me wishes the show ended there, namely because i hated Andy as the next boss, but I am excited to see how everything wraps up, especially with a Dwight and Angela wedding, and with Michael Scott returning?  Below is a montage of the best moments with Michael Scott.

NBC Picks up Two New Dramas, and 4 Comedies for the Fall 2013 Television Season

NBC like FOX announced their fall shows.  There were two dramas including one from EPs Alfonso Cuaron and JJ Abrams, which stars Kyle MacLachlan, how can you go wrong there?  NBC can, and may. They also have four new comedies, including and adaptation of the film About a Boy, which come Jason Katims who created Parenthood for NBC.  Michael J. Fox and Sean Hayes will also be returning to the Peacock Network.

I think NBCs biggest mistake was nixing the modern day version of the Hatfields & McCoys, which had such great ratings, and mass appeal, no wonder NBC did not want it.  See the the full cast list, and description below.

Believe (Drama)

EPs | Alfonso Cuaron (Children of Men), J.J. Abrams and Bryan Burk (Fringe)
CAST | Kyle MacLachlan (Desperate Housewives), Johnny Sequoyah, Jake McLaughlin (Savages), Delroy Lindo (The Chicago Code), Jamie Chung (Once Upon a Time), Sienna Guillory (Resident Evil), Arian Moayed (The Following)
Follows an unlikely relationship between a gifted young girl and a man sprung from prison who has been tasked with protecting her from the evil elements that hunt her power.

Crisis (Drama)
EPs | Rand Ravich and Far Shariat (Life)
CAST | Gillian Anderson (The X-Files), Dermot Mulroney (New Girl), Rachael Taylor (666 Park Avenue), Michael Beach (Third Watch), James Lafferty (One Tree Hill), Lance Gross (House of Payne), Halston Sage (How to Rock), Max Martini (Revenge), Max Schneider (How to Rock), Joshua Erenberg (Suburgatory)
Examines what happens when an unlikely puppeteer pulls Washington’s elite — including the President of the United States — into an international conspiracy.

About a Boy (Comedy)
EP | Jason Katims (Parenthood)
DIRECTOR | Jon Favreau (Revolution, Iron Man)
CAST | David Walton (New Girl), Minnie Driver (The Riches), Anjelah N. Johnson (MADtv), Benjamin Stockham (1600 Penn), Leslie Bibb (GCB), Al Madrigal (The Daily Show)
Based on the book and subsequent 2002 film starring Hugh Grant and Nicholas Hoult, the single-cam comedy centers on the relationship between a man-child and the young boy who moves in next door.

Sean Saves the World (Comedy)
EPs | Victor Fresco (Better Off Ted), Todd Milliner (Hot in Cleveland)
CAST | Sean Hayes (Will & Grace), Linda Lavin (Alice), Echo Kellum (Ben and Kate), Thomas Lennon (Reno 911!), Lindsay Sloane (Weeds, Grosse Pointe), Samantha Isler, guest star/recurring Vik Sahay (Chuck)
A multi-cam sitcom about a man attempting to both parent the teenage daughter who just moved in and appease a temperamental new boss.

The Michael J. Fox Show (Comedy)
CAST | Michael J. Fox (Spin City), Betsy Brandt (Breaking Bad), Kate Finneran (I Hate My Teenage Daughter), Wendell Pierce (Treme), Juliette Goglia (Easy A), Ana Nogueira
The single-cam comedy is inspired by Fox’s real life and stars him as Mike Burnaby, a husband and father of three in New York City juggling the challenges of family and career while dealing with Parkinson’s disease.

Family Guide (Comedy)
EPs | DJ Nash (Bent), Jason Bateman (Arrested Development), Jim Garavente (Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium)
CAST | Parker Posey (Louie, The Good Wife), J.K. Simmons (The Closer), Eli Baker, Ava Deluca-Verley
The single-camera sitcom centers on a son who idolizes his blind father and enjoys his mom’s newfound adolescence after his folks divorce and ultimately grow closer.

Tune In or Tune Out: Hannibal

Hannibal (NBC)

Created by: Bryan Fuller (Pushing Daisies, Heroes, Wonderfalls)

Starring: Hugh Dancy, Mads Mikkelsen, Laurence Fishburne  

Last night Hannibal Lector eerily creeped back into the world, but this time in a network television series on NBC.  My only hang ups going into this show was, first network television doesn't handle the gritty as well as cable, and 2 Mikkelsen's portrayal of Dr. Lector.

Before I get into those two points, lets look at the actual premise of the show.  Hannibal actually centers around Special Agent Will Graham played with electricity by the talented Hugh Dancy.  Will is a a criminal profiler who empathizes and peers into the lives of the serial killers he hunts.  During one investigation Agent Jack Crawford brings in Dr. Lector to help Will get to psychology of the killer.

My first hang up was quickly assuaged in the first few minutes of the show, this is one dark hour of television, and left me haunted with the moments the same way many of the films did.  Part of this haunting melancholia is a credit to series creator Bryan Fuller.  Fuller has a penchant for a darker tone, and he is always grasping at giving his shows the feel they deserve.  Watching the killer and Will switch back and forth was brilliant editing, and putting the viewer and Will in the POV of the killer was brilliantly tackled.

One area which could drag or bof this show down is with the the fact that Fuller values style, and I am worried that this show could be about style over substance.  Yet with his past shows like Pushing Daisies the show never lacked quality over the style factor.  Fuller is a genius and I like the way his mind works, and he transports into this dark world with haunting ease.

Mikkelsen was creepy, and that's important.  I just hope producers realize less is more with Lector.  The show focusing on Will and his hang ups made me like it more.  Dancy is also the major standout performance wise; he is one of the most under rated actors working today.  Lector did not show up until about the 9:30 mark and even then there were large pieces in which he was missing.  The Silences of the Lambs worked as a film, because of Demme's calculated use of Lector, only in the film about 25 minutes.  I think if the show keeps this pace focusing on Will and using Dr. Lector as the cat to his mouse in small doses this show will continue to be a hit.

There have been a lot of darker shows premiering lately Bate's Motel, The Americans, but this is the first show in which the pilot hooked me.  I will be back to dine with Dr. Lector and Will next week at my own risk.  I will bring the Chianti.

Tune In 

GLAAD Fails CBS and TBS, while Showtime, ABC, and the CW Pass with Flying Colors

This year's annual GLAAD report card was released for the the major television networks, and while not much has changed the statistics are a reminder of network priorities.  Here is a quick rundown from their report for basic cable networks:


The report shows that while the CW has dropped ever so slightly they still remain at the top.  The CW is network with much younger demographics, and as youth become more progressive they have used more LGBT representation on shows like 90210, and LA Complex.  ABC got a slight bump from Chaz Bono's appearance on Dancing with the Stars, a casting that also stirred up a lot of controversy, but the network stood by their decision. FOX dropped to third and while NBC moved up in percentages the Peacock network remained in fourth place.  CBS continues to fall farther and farther, but their network and the CW have completely opposing demographics, and while I am sure Les Moonves (a good network head) wants to have a better grade he is doing things to slowly change the perception of this network.  Both the last place networks have two shows focused on LGBT characters, CBS has Partners with Michael Urie and Brandon Routh as a gay couple (from the creators of Will & Grace), and NBC has The New Normal (from Ryan Murphy).  These two shows could help these networks in a major way.  

One thing that's clear is that the same creators create the shows centered around or that contain LGBT characters, and most of those people are gay men.  Ryan Murphy, Marc Cherry, Michael Patrick King, Alan Balll Max Mutchnick all as gay men, and seem to be some of the names that pop up with gay characters at the center.  I am proud that these men have achieved the success that they have, but it would be nice to see other creators incorporate LGBT folks into their framework.  Show runners like David Caspe (whom I believe identifies as heterosexual) has done a great job with Max on Happy Endings, another reason for ABCs bump. Steve Levitan and Christopher Lloyd who created Modern Family should also be applauded for adding a gay male couple to their line up.  The landscape is changing, but if you look at the gender of all the characters I have mentioned and the creators/producers most of them are men and the networks need to step it up on providing LB and T more.

The cable networks statistics look like this:

• Showtime (46%), ABC Family (34%), TNT (34%), and HBO (33%) all received “Good” ratings for the quantity and quality of their LGBT-inclusive original programming.
• MTV (23%) which received an “Excellent” score two years ago received an “Adequate” score this year along with FX (34%), TLC (20%) and USA (17%).
• For the fourth year in a row TBS (5%) received a “Failing” rating, as did the History network (3%).

Interestingly enough I did not see AMC within this study, although I feel as though they were lumped into the "other cable network status" which is interesting because they have far more original programming than the History Channel.  I would not assign AMC a good grade either, even though most of their programming is some of the best on television, there are no LGBT character, which I can think of.  Everyone states that the cable networks are more progressive, and they take more risks, but in reality their scores are not much better than the three top scoring networks on the basic cable side.There are obviously other factors to look at, like the CBS parent company Viacom oversees Showtime so this could be seen as a win just as much as a loss.  

Statistics matter, but networks should not put something on the air, just to do it. NBCs new fall comedy The New Normal appears to be a forced example getting LGBT folks on television.  As networks attempt to be progressive they forget they need to shop around, and not put something on the air that lacks quality.  I would rather have these numbers with quality representation than force things on viewers.  

Does this report matter, yes and no.  I like that there are statistics to point out the networks which show me on television, but this is also a business, and money talks.  Losing affiliates is costly.  Utah affiliates will not even be showing The New Normal this fall.  My hope is that data like this becomes more useful, and people do not have to something like this in the future because it just becomes a natural occurence to see LGBT folks in television

NBCs Fall Schedule 2012-2013

NBC is the first major network to announce their fall schedule.  With this announcement NBC unveils some renewals/cancellations, and what their mid season replacement shows will look like.  The Office, The Voice, The Biggest Loser. and the Celebrity Apprentice were renewed while Harry's Law was cancelled.  Two of NBC's returning shows Whitney and Community have moved and were given one of the least coveted time slots on Friday.   There were seven new series picked up for the fall, and the details on each show is listed below:

Revolution comes from the mind of J.J. Abrams and Eric Kripke.  The show is a science fiction series about a group of survivors who come together when all of the world forms of energy have "mysteriously disappeared."  Starring Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad), Billy Burke (Twilight), and Andrea Roth (Rescue Me)


Go On comes the Friends and Joey writer Scott Silveri and is about a sports caster who tries to move on from a loss and finds friendship from his mandatory group therapy.  Starring Matthew Perry (Friends), Julie White (Transformers), and Suzy Nakamura.


The New Normal comes from Ryan Murphy who has had the magic touch with Nip/Tuck, Glee, and American Horror Story. Murphy is changing it up here and has created a sitcom about a gay couple and their surrogate.  Starring Justin Bartha (The Hangover), Ellen Barkin ( ), and Andrew Rannells (The Book of Mormon).


Animal Practice has a title that makes you want to give up, but the show comes from the genius minds of Anthony and Joe Russo who created Arrested Development. The show centers around a veterinarian who hates the pets owners. Starring Tyler Labine (Reaper) and Justin Kirk (Weeds).

Guys with Kids comes from writer Charlie Grandy who has written for The Daily Show and The Office.  The show centers around dad's in their 30s who are trying to raise kids, while they are still kids themselves.  Starring Sara Rue (Less than Perfect), Anthony Anderson (Law and Order), Tempest Bledsoe ( The Cosby Show), Jamie Lynn Sigler (The Sopranos), and Jesse Bradford (Bring it On).

Chicago Fire is an action driven drama that explores the worlds surrounding a fire department. Starring Taylor Kinney (Vampire Diaries), Jesse Spencer (House)

Do No Harm centers around a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde type situation for a doctor, this situation ends up effecting his personal and work life. Starring: Stevem Pasquale (Rescue Me) Phylicia Rashad (The Cosby Show).


NBC has also announced that Smash will return for another 13 episode arc, but will it will return in the spring like it started this past year.  The Biggest Loser and Betty White's Off Their Rockers will also not be around for the fall, and will just have a spring cycle, while Celebrity Apprentice  and Fashion Star will both have a fall and spring cycle. NBCs new spring comedies include the following:

http://tvline.com/2012/05/14/revolution-new-normal-videos-fall-preview/#more-329920

Comedies

Save Me stars Anne Heche as a woman has a near death experience and starts to think she is channeling God.

Next Caller which is about an alpha male radio host (Dane Cook) and his new feminist co-host Collete Wolf (Cougartown), Jeffrey Tambor (Arrested Development) also co-stars.  I can see why they waited on this.

1600 Penn A comedy about a family in the White House and their screwball oldest son starring Bill Pullman (Independence Day) Jenna Elfman (Dharma and Greg) and Josh Gad (The Book of Mormon).

Drama

Hannibal is modern take on the Thomas Harris novels and the relationship between FBI Agent Will Graham and Hannibal Lector.  Starring Hugh Dancy and the role of Hannibal is still up for grabs.

Infamous-I am actually not going to write about this show because I can describe simply as a rip off of Revenge, look it up.

I think NBC has a solid schedule, but I have not seen most of the new pilots.  I am hoping some of them are as good as they sound.

Monday
8/7 c: The Voice
10 pm: Revolution (new show)

Tuesday
8 pm: The Voice
9 pm: Go On (new show)
9:30 pm: The New Normal (new show)
10 pm: Parenthood

Wednesday
8 pm: Animal Practice (new show)
8:30 pm: Guys with Kids (new show)
9 pm: Law and Order: SVU
10 pm: Chicago Fire (new show)

Thursday
8 pm: 30 Rock
8:30 pm: Up All Night
9 pm: The Office
9:30 pm: Parks and Recreation
10 pm: Rock Center with Brian Williams

Friday
8 pm: Whitney
8:30 pm: Community
9 pm: Grimm
10 pm: Dateline NBC

Saturday
Encore Programming

Sunday
7 pm: Dateline NBC
8 pm: Fashion Star
9 pm: The Celebrity Apprentice
10 pm: Do No Harm (new show)