Monday, Sept. 26
Adios, Ken Tomlinson! The
Corporation for Public Broadcasting chair's
tenure ends today, and we wouldn't blame Tomlinson if he were a tad relieved
to surrender the furniture. It can't have been pleasant trying to make public
TV less Bill Moyersish and ending up being
depicted as a guy who'd like to euthanize Elmo. The CPB board meets at 2 p.m. in
Washington, where they'll elect
Tomlinson's successor. Good luck, new chair—hope the fabric's
stain-resistant! (For more on the CPB, see page 10.) Could somebody please
elect Kathy Griffin to something as a reward
for her red-carpet commentary during E!'s
Emmy coverage? (Seeing the mucho preggo
Jennifer Garner, Griffin said, “Am I a bad
person because I want her water to break right here?”) Instead, KG continues
her D-list life today, guesting on the NBC
soap Days of Our Lives.
According to the flackography, she plays “a lustful limo driver.”
Tuesday, Sept. 27
Now all the new fall premiere here/premiere there stuff starts getting
interesting. NBC trotted out My Name Is
Earl last week at 9 p.m. (ET), to critical huzzahs and an
audience of 14.94 million. But now ABC
counters in the time slot with Commander in
Chief, starring Geena
Davis as the you-know-what. Check out the show's second half-hour
numbers to see how many NBC viewers drift over after Earl;
last week, 5 million bailed on NBC when The
Office came on. Meanwhile, fans of every woman who has
ever daydreamed, “Hey, why not me in the Oval Office?” (Hillary, Condoleezza,
Barbra, Oprah) will be parsing the Commander in
Chief ratings and demographics for what they say—probably
nothing—about the prospects for a female candidate in
2008.
Wednesday, Sept. 28
It's Sundance-on-the-Hudson, TV style! The
first-ever New York Television Festival kicks
off today, as independent TV producers parade their pilots for network and
cable executives, hoping to land a deal. Screenings, panels, posing, bluffing,
wheedling—hey, it is like Sundance, minus the parkas. At
the gathering, expect to see NYTVF executive board members
Comedy Central President Doug Herzog and NBC
Entertainment President Kevin
Reilly. More info is at newyorktelevisionfestival.com. Good
luck, guys. Maybe a Weinstein will even show
up.
Thursday, Sept. 29
Yeah, this sounds like a lot of ink-stained wretches we know: “Carl
Kolchak is the 'Night Stalker,' a newspaper reporter who investigates
strange deaths and unexplained phenomena.” Amazingly, tonight's premiere
(ABC, 9 p.m. ET), with Stuart Townsend as
Kolchak, does not concern the reporter's investigation
into the strange death of newspaper circulation and the unexplained phenomena
of classified advertising shape-shifting into free postings on
craigslist.org.
Friday, Sept. 30
Remember when Geena Davis became fanatically interested in archery? It
was one of those don't-quit-your-day-job affairs. And a good thing she
didn't, since now Geena's got that Commander in Chief
gig. But maybe Jennifer Tilly, who likes to
play poker, really ought to quit her day job, because she
is one kick-ass card player. A few weeks ago, the actress won the World Poker
Tour Ladies Night III tournament, her second major win in a matter of months.
Tonight, she antes up on GSN's
James Woods Gang vs. The Unabombers in Poker
Royale (premiere, 10 p.m. ET). You in?
E-mail info for B&C Week to
b&cweek@reedbusiness.com
