Austin360 blogs > TV Blog > Archives > 2008 > December > 22 > Entry
Recapping the two-week TV blog break: big doings in normally dull December
Holy moly! A girl takes off a couple of weeks for the holidays, and all heck breaks loose on a beat that’s normally dead as rock during December.
On December 8, “Boston Legal” ended its run with Alan and Denny tying the knot in a ceremony presided over by Supreme Court Justice Anthony Scalia. The sparring, loving legal couple allegedly wed for financial reasons, but fans of the show know these guys have been the perfect duo from the beginning. Scotch and cigars on the balcony … sigh.
On December 15, KVUE’s new prime-time partner for Tyler Sieswerda finally arrived. Terri Gruca slipped into the seat formerly occupied by Christine Haas, who left Austin in the summer for a morning anchor gig in Houston. Like Haas, Gruca comes from Minneapolis, which means she must really think Austinites are wimps for whining about 32-degree weather.
And Michelle Valles, who departed KXAN’s evening news in a nasty contract dispute, made her debut as Fred Cantu’s co-anchor on KEYE’s early morning news.
By the way, kudos and thank you to colleague Gary Dinges, who reported the aforementioned anchor changes in my absence.
In the November overnight Nielsens, KVUE held onto its traditional No. 1 perch at 5 p.m. and 10 p.m., but KXAN eked out a victory at 6 p.m. and finished first in the 6 to 7 a.m. slot.
KTBC’s Fox 7 was No. 3 at 5 p.m. with its hour-long newcast.
KEYE was last (fourth) at 5 p.m. but third at 6 p.m. and an impressive No. 2. at 10 p.m.
In the sagging world of the broadcast networks, NBC more or less officially gave up on prime time when it announced a week ago that Jay Leno will have a talk-variety show Monday through Friday at 9 p.m. next fall, after his “Tonight” hosting concludes. (Conan O’Brien steps into “Tonight” after Leno’s finale May 29.)
The decision to bail on hour-long dramas in the 9 to 10 p.m. hour means NBC will save millions of dollars, but if Leno bombs in prime time, the Peacock can kiss its tail feathers goodbye. NBC also has mulled pulling out of programming on Saturday nights.
I’m sure lots of other things happened during the two weeks the TV blog took its December break, but re-entry has rendered me semi-blank. Better to look ahead for now, which we’ll try to do in the coming days.
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