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Friday, January 19, 2007
The CW streaming… finally
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Rodney Ho reporting from Pasadena, CA: The CW, the combo network of the WB and UPN, is finally getting around to what the other networks have been doing for months: free streaming of its TV shows on the Net.
The streaming shows at www.cwtv.com are “Beauty & the Geek,” “Supernatural,” “Veronica Mars,” “One Tree Hill,” “Everybodya Hates Chris,” “All of Us,” “Girlfriends” and “The Game.” Not included: “Gilmore Girls,” “Smallville,” and “7th Heaven.”
Despite its younger, more tech-savvy audience, the CW was late to the free streaming game, said president Dawn Ostroff Friday, because it was focused so much on merging operations of the two old networks and getting the CW off the ground.
Although the CW’s ratings overall are no better than either UPN or the WB a year ago, the network can claim a few relative success stories: stronger numbers for “America’s Next Top Model”; modest upticks in “Veronica Mars” ratings; and “Beauty & the Geek” passably holding up against the onslaught that is “American Idol.”
In a sign of confidence for another show, the CW has officially given “Everybody Hates Chris” a full third-season run despite disappointing ratings this season on Monday nights.
Among other announcements, the new “Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search for the Next Doll” will take over the “Veronica Mars” spot starting March 6 for eight weeks, but “Mars” will return afterwards for five more episodes. And there’s another reality show on the way later in this year called “Crowned,” featuring mother-daughter teams competing in a beauty pageant.
What about the future of “7th Heaven,” which the CW brought back after the WB gave it a series sendoff last year? “I say, ‘never say never’,” Ostroff said in a noncommittal tone. It’s too early to say if veteran shows such as “Smallville” or “Gilmore Girls” will be back either. All three aging shows have seen erosion in ratings this year over last.
The Truthiness Factor
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The truth (truthiness?) can now be told: Bill O’Reilly and Stephen Colbert most definitely are not the same person.
We got the definitive proof Thursday night when they both appeared in the same place at the same time - twice - by guesting on each other’s hit cable shows. And for all their remarkable similarities (same dark suit with the merest hint of charcoal pinstripe, same dark and foreboding view of the world with nary a hint of self-doubt), one major difference stood out:
Colbert stabs you in the back. O’Reilly prefers the full frontal approach:
“It’s a very successful program that owes everything to me,” O’;Reilly, who got to fire first, said as he introduced the host of “The Colbert Report” on Fox News’ “The O’Reilly Factor.”
A little later to his guest, who was tongue-in-cheekily agreeing he was an O’Reilly ripoff: “Don’t you owe me an enormous amount of money?”
A little later, after bidding Colbert adieu: “Stephen Colbert owes his whole life to me”
Indeed. Some three hours later, Colbert couldn’t have been a more gracious host to the slightly resigned-looking visitor to his Comedy Central program. Oh, wait, maybe he could have been. Spying a copy of his latest book, “Culture Warrior” across the table, O’Reilly gamely asked, “Did you read my book?”
“Did I read your book?” This is a fantastic book,” Colbert enthused, holding up the book with a store’s “30 Percent Off” sticker prominently slapped across O’Reilly’s face on the cover. “By the way, you can get great deals at Barnes & Noble. This is, like, Day One, .I got 30 percent off.”
A little earlier, O’Reilly had tried to gin up a comic rivalry between Colbert and Jon Stewart, whose “The Daily Show” was a launching pad for “The Colbert Report.” Colbert visibly shuddered at the mention of his supposed mentor’s name - “We have a restraining order against Stewart” - to O’Reilly’s obvious delight.
“He’s jealous of you, Colbert,” O’Reilly crooned happily.
“He’s a sexual predator, that’s why I had to leave, Bill,” Colbert confided. “You have no idea what that’s like.”
Was that a not-so-subtle reference to a harrassment lawsuit brought against O’Reilly in October 2004 by a female former producer? You be the judge. (For the record, O’Reilly settled with the woman, Andrea Mackris, whose claims included that he had made explicit phone calls to her. O’Reilly also dropped an extortion suit he’d filed against Mackris and her lawyer. Both sides agreed to keep the settlement details confidential.)
Maybe Colbert was still stinging from a tense moment on O’Reilly’s show when the host had suggested the younger man was hiding the worst possible secret about himself.
“Col-BERT …” O’Reilly said, cocking his head suspiciously and training a laser stare on his guest. “That’s a French name, isn’t it…?”
Now you KNOW they’re not the same person.
(Did you watch the O’Reilly-Colbert showdown? Who do you think came out the winner? What other talk show hosts would you like to see venture into each other’s territory?)
