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Tuesday, December 23, 2008
12/23: Biggest TV stories of the year
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A writers’ strike. The continued rise of the DVR. Cable’s growth. NBC’s troubles. An historic election year. TV had a busy 12 months.
Locally, Atlanta’s Tyler Perry solidifed his home at TBS by signing on a second sitcom. An Athens writer created BET’s first ever sitcom. And some reality show called “Real Housewives of Atlanta” brought home ratings riches for Bravo (if not necessarily the housewives themselves.)
Here’s a quick year in review of 2008, TV style:
News junkie overload. The news networks and the Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbert all saw record ratings thanks to unprecedented interest in the presidential election. It also led to the rise of a couple of female talkers (Rachel Maddow on MSNBC, Campbell Brown on CNN.) “Saturday Night Live” should also thank Sarah Palin for resembling Tina Fey.
Impact of the writers’ strike. The three-month writer’s strike basically killed off the Golden Globes and stemmed any momentum many new shows had in the fall of 2007 (e.g. “Private Practice,” “Pushing Daisies”). It forced Leno, Letterman and the like to improvise minus writers. It meant far fewer new shows this past fall, an extra edition of “Big Brother’ and the ignominious return of “American Gladiators.”
Are they real or are they Memorex? Of all TV shows with local ties, nothing could beat “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” for controversy. Did NeNe really say that? Who is Big Pappa? And is Sheree really that full of herself? What’s more, the Web is packed with news that not all the housewives are quite as wealthy as they make it out to be on TV. (Nonetheless, Bravo is promising a second season in 2009.)
Cable keeps on getting bigger. While broadcast viewership is mostly dropping off, viewers keep on flocking to cable. USA (with the likes of “The Starter Wife” and “Monk”), SciFi (with “The Ghost Hunters” and “Stargate: Atlantis”) and Bravo (home to “Top Chef” and “Real Housewives”) all reported record ratings.
CBS’s renaissance. Bucking that trend is CBS, which has the biggest new show of the year (the enjoyable “Mentalist”) and growing numbers for shows ranging from “NCIS” to “How I Met Your Mother.” And so far, the original “CSI” has been smoothly integrating new cast members as key original ones (William Petersen) leave.
NBC’s woes. How far the mighty have fallen. Outside of the Olympics and “Saturday Night Live,” NBC has had very little to cheer about this year as its new scripted shows stumbled (see “Knight Rider,” “My Own Worst Enemy”) and hits suffered serious deterioration (see “Heroes”). No wonder execs handed five hours of primetime real estate a week to Jay Leno starting in June 2009.
Atlanta is now Tylerville. Tyler Perry solidifed his media empire in Atlanta by opening a monstrous Universal Studios-style complex in South Atlanta, which includes production studios for his hit TBS show “House of Payne” and upcoming sitcom “Meet the Browns.”
BET’s faith in Georgia. BET may be ready to move its headquarters down South. It aired “College Hill” in a mansion off West Paces Ferry Road this year, gave plenty of airtime to “Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is” and taped the “BET Hip Hop Awards” here. Plus, Athens filmmaker Hadjii produced the network’s first sitcom “Somebodies” this past fall.
This rose didn’t smell so sweet. Newnan’s own DeAnna Pappas had her heart broken by Brad Womack in “The Bachelor” in late 2007. But ABC found her so charming, she got her own show “The Bachelorette” this past summer, picking snowboarder Jesse Csincsak. In November, she broke up with him. This matchmaking business on TV sure is hard, isn’t it?
In a Blais of glory. “Top Chef” this past spring featured Atlanta’s quirky chef Richard Blais, who nearly won the whole canole. His creative use of “molecular gastronomy” and sense of humor endeared him to viewers. He is now owner of FLIP, a new local burger joint.
