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Columbo Hates His Clothes

October 06, 2006

Peter Falk who starred as the rumpled, crime-solving TV lieutenant in ''Columbo,'' says he was dissatisfied with the stylish clothes presented to him for the show's debut.

And this is new now? In October 2006?

Falk said he brought a shabby old raincoat from home and asked the show's wardrobe department to dye one of the suits a dull brown.

Seems creative strife on the show was not limited to Columbo’s wardrobe.

When told to go pick a car for Columbo on the studio lot, he found nothing to his liking.

''Then I saw it way in the back, just its nose -- an ugly Peugeot,'' Falk told The Saginaw News before a public appearance Tuesday. ''And it had the perfect touch ... a flat tire.''

God bless The Saginaw News for breaking this story.

Falk, 79, said he helped create the look as well as the mannerisms of the character that made him famous.

''I love the guy,'' Falk said. ''I was very lucky to have a character that rich, that I like personally so much. The whole thing was an actor's dream -- getting a character that tickles you so much you can't wait to act as him.''

Star Wars Will Never End on TV

The saga is like the smell of old cheese in the refrigerator for creator George Lucas. The odor is now a permanent part of his ‘fridge, life, and apparently ours, too.
Lucas said Wednesday he's making an animated TV series of Clone Wars that could air next year, although he hasn't sold the show to a network yet.

Oh, there is hope. Though don’t get us wrong. Most of us at BBCancelled are Generation-Star Wars. We have Darth Vader’s march on our cellphones. It’s just that the Star Wars has been pushed so far the beauty of your youthful reveries, even we think maybe it should stop.

No?

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Curse of TV Scorned

A few months ago, Eva Longoria said that after “Desperate Housewives” she was finished -- FINISHED! -- with television.

Well, DH has returned the love. The set moved right out from underneath Ms. Longoria and injured her during filming of the show.

''Eva slipped on one of the stairs coming out of her trailer,'' her publicist, Liza Anderson, said Thursday. ''Nothing is broken, but her ribs are very bruised.''

The 31-year-old actress will not require any time off for the injury.

It was not the first time Longoria needed to be taken to the hospital from a 'Housewives' set. In August 2005 she was hit in the head by a piece of equipment and needed emergency attention. Then, too, she didn't miss any work.

Cherry Re-Vamps Desperate Housewives

October 05, 2006

We don’t just write about “Desperate Housewives” because we like the soapy show. We write about it so we can print creator Marc Cherry’s name.

Isn’t it the best drag queen name ever? And yet, it’s his real name.

Anyway, he’s got some interesting things to say about the new, third season of DH. He is confident that the Sunday-night show is in for better times after last year’s downer.

''Season one was a tidal wave. The success, the ratings, the attention, the workload. By the time I finished the season, I was intellectually, morally and spiritually spent _ not to mention physically,'' he told The Associated Press.

For a project intended to represent one person's voice, which runs counter to most of TV, the effect was inevitable.

Cherry, entering the second year already drained and hit with a studio request for extra episodes, was behind from the start. As he scrambled to revamp story lines written by others, he said, the show lost ''a large sense of its identity because I wasn't driving the train.''
But he argues that critics were overly harsh in their blanket condemnation.
''The biggest failure of season two was a lack of consistency. It's not like every episode sucked. ... I'm immensely proud of some of the stuff we did,'' he said.

Audience loyalty allowed ''Housewives'' to finish the season ranked No. 4 in the ratings despite its sophomore woes. A shockingly high rating compared to the grumbling of fans. But maybe grumbling fans are still fans -- so people should be happy they’re grumbling.

And when are best-named dude is done with the show?

He vows that he's done with TV. The next stop is Broadway.

''I'll take whatever money I've made, I'm going straight to theater and writing books for musicals,'' said Cherry, who started as a musical theater performer and counts ''Sweeney Todd,'' ''A Little Night Music,'' ''Gypsy'' and ''Wicked'' among his favorites.

''I feel like I really just started out learning how to write. I really know a lot about dramatic structure and how to paint characters. ... Now I would love the time to really dig deep and do something great.''
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On the Net:
http://www.abc.com

TiVo Stock Market Stumble

October 04, 2006

Most folks think of TiVo as that box in their living room. But it’s a real company with dollars and scents (and sense?). TiVo is also a company whose stock price fell nearly 7 percent in after hours trading Tuesday when the digital video recording provider said an appellate court had given EchoStar Communications Corp. a reprieve in the pair's ongoing patent battle.

Oh the bullies of Silicon Valley.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit granted EchoStar's request for a stay on an injunction that would have banned the satellite TV provider from making or selling DVR products in the United States, TiVo said. As a result, the ban, which also would have forced EchoStar to disable machines already found in customers' homes, will be postponed, pending the outcome of EchoStar's appeal.

Basically, the fight is over who gets to make DVRs for the home. TiVo, or everyone else.

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Springer Dances Night Away

Although we let a critic cry out on our very own website -- Make It Stop: Celeb Reality Shows – we’re going to give a shout-out to Jerry Springer for stepping into a new spotlight. Springer is jumping at the chance to appear on ''Dancing with the Stars.''

Springer says he’s been appearing on the ABC reality show to learn the waltz for his daughter's upcoming wedding.

Oh, yeah. We believe that.

He and partner Kym Johnson have so charmed viewers that they've avoided elimination for the last two weeks.

''This is the first time I've done TV being myself,'' Springer told The Cincinnati Enquirer. ''My TV show isn't really me or about me. I just introduce the guests and let them go at it.''

Springer acknowledged he's not a very good dancer. The judges ranked his tango second-worst last week, but viewers liked him far better. Half of the vote total comes from the public.

''Obviously, everyone is a better dancer than I am,'' Springer said.

Eureka Ends and Begins

October 03, 2006

October 3: Premieres and Finales. Really. As the weather (at least on the east coast) is Indian Summer warm, the fall television season is in full crazy swing with shows coming ON and OFF the air faster than we can say full-crazy-swing.

Tonight, “Friday Night Lights” premieres at 8pm on NBC. The movie was a hit, the book before that was a bigger hit. Will the TV show work? It’s anyone’s guess. But America LOVES football, so probably.

On The CW, “Veronica Mars” at 9pm. And on Univision, “Mundo de Fieras” at 9pm. (Somebody’s gots to be doing some Tivo-ing.)

But more importantly: the finales!

On Bravo, new cable star Scotty Brown bows out on the last episode of “Million Dollar Listing” at 9pm. And “Eureka” on Sci Fi wraps at 9, too. (More Tivo-ing needed.)

Thinking of “Eureka,” the good news for fans is that Sci Fi has ordered a new season, so the show lives. Watch for new episodes next year.

Not-So-Fresh Prince of New Jersey

"Bachelor" watchers beware. According to Radar, the reality show's new Roman Prince is really just a regular schlub form Short Hills, New Jersey.

Which doesn’t mean he’s not handsome, or a catch. Word is that he’s a cool dude.

But, don’t these reality shows do background checks? Imagine if our Bravo’s “Queer Eye” guys weren't really gay? Or the “Million Dollar Listing" brokers never passed their Real Estate tests?!

As if!

The online 'zine says that "Prince" Lorenzo Borghese who is courting the 25 desperate woman, not only doesn't hail from Rome where the show is filmed, but until he got the gig on the Bachelor probably never even visited Rome nor spoke a word of Italian.

It seems the Bachelor producers went as far as enrolling Borghese into a Berlitz course hoping he'd seem a bit more authentic. ABC denies knowledge of this.

The show also claims Borghese was born in Milan, raised in Connecticut and calls Rome his "second home." Radar says their background check revealed that Borghese has had no previous address other than the one in Short Hills, New Jersey.

As for the title of "Prince" - that part actually, oddly, seems to be true, as it is with just about every other schmuck in the Eternal City, although Italy hasn't recognized titles since 1947.

So what do his 25 potential brides think? Radar indicates they aren't bothered by the Princes less-than-accurate background. He's still a prince, which will make them -- even in Jersey – potential princesses.

To Russia, With Ratings Love

The Russkies are totally stealing our ideas.

Chill, Captain America, it isn't state secrets, it's "Perfect Strangers" and "Full House."

That's right, according to Reuters, Warner Brothers is aggressively looking at it's library of cancelled shows to remake them for foreign audiences.

The Russian redux of "Perfect Strangers' premiered a week ago on Russia's Ren TV. Good ol' "Cousin Larry" and "Balki" have been translated into "Ivan" and "Andrei" for Russian audiences. Andrei is an émigré from a former Soviet Republic, who moves in with his Russian cousin in Moscow -- cultures clash, hilarity ensues, standard TV fair.

Next up for the Moscow makeover: "Suddenly Susan." The show which starred Brooke Shields as a goofy San Francisco columnist seems to be the perfect innocuous fit for the Russians.

Oh, those whacky Moscovites! That show totally sucked.

Warner is shooting 40 episodes of "Susan" with CTC, a Russian broadcaster that has also committed to 40 episodes of "Step by Step" and 20 episodes of "Full House."

And we thought only America liked vapid, mindless crap! Nope. Zoning out in front of the boob-tube is universal!

Losing It Over Lost

October 02, 2006

Is it wrong if the most eagerly awaited TV show (in the BBCancelled offices) this season is not a new? We’re all dying for the new "Lost". We even read the new (terrible) TV Guide magazine for hints.

But alas, the hints in TV Guide were lame. So we read the big story in the New York Times yesterday.

Equally lame.

But kudos to the "Lost" public relations team: they can apparently get reporters to write about nothing.

So we’ll satisfy out daily hunger with this tidbit.

Thousands of fans swamped Waikiki to get a glimpse of the "Lost" stars and see a preview of the third season. The entire cast of the show attended the red-carpet event Saturday night to promote the season premiere, which airs Wednesday. The show is filmed in Hawaii.

Hawaii must be damn happy the show is filmed there. ‘Cause let’s face it. That island hasn’t been trendy, cool or even in the news since gay marriage became a possibility, and then quickly not-a-possibility in the state yearssss ago.

Before the season's first episode was shown on the big screen, producers asked that the audience keep quiet about it until after it airs on TV.

Hmm. Now we cant’ believe that people are leaking info. So if you were at the premiere. Email us, NOW! Please.

''Believe it or not, this doesn't happen every day,'' said Terry O'Quinn, who plays Locke on the show. ''I'm not used to it, but I don't mind it. I've never been to a Hollywood premiere, but can't imagine anything surpassing it.''

Ugly Betty is Beautiful

DeathWatch watchers thought the show would never make it. (See the DeathWatch Odds.) But the underdog, untraditional (one-hour sitcom?) has become the most-watched new series of the fall television season so far.

The comedy, about a plain Queens girl who pushed her way into the fashion world, was seen by 16.1 million people in its ABC debut on Thursday night, according to Nielsen Media Research.

All but about a half-dozen of the 24 new series the broadcast networks are introducing this fall have made it onto the air already, and so far ''Ugly Betty'' stands at No. 1.

The show did it without the advantage of a strong program airing ahead of it. Shows like ''Shark'' and ''Brothers & Sisters'' that have had strong debuts were helped because they followed ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' and ''Desperate Housewives.'' ''Ugly Betty'' opened the night at 8 p.m.

It was ABC's largest audience in the time period with a scripted show since ''Matlock'' in 1995, according to Nielsen Media Research.

ABC, owned by The Walt Disney Co., had some inkling that ''Ugly Betty,'' an American version of a popular Spanish-language telenovela, was attracting attention even before the first episode aired. It had originally scheduled the show for Friday nights -- one of the slowest nights on TV -- before switching it to Thursday over the summer.

With ''Grey's Anatomy'' seen by 23.3 million at 9 p.m., ABC is suddenly a player on a night considered television's most valuable because advertisers are eager to be seen there, a night it has been off the ratings radar for years.

CBS, which has dominated Thursday the past few years, had 23.5 million viewers for ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' and 16.6 million viewers for ''Survivor: Cook Island.''

The ''Survivor'' episode, only its third of the season, was notable for breaking up the segregated tribes that caused some hubbub weeks ago.

This season began with separate ''tribes'' of black, white, Asian and Latinos on ''Survivor.'' The segregation drew criticism, with some New York City Council members accusing CBS Corp. of promoting divisiveness.

But on Thursday the reality show producers merged those four tribes into two multi-race gangs. It wasn't in response to any of the criticism; the ''Survivor'' episodes were filmed before CBS had even announced the cast members.

The show had begun the season missing a few advertisers that it had in past seasons, including General Motors, although the advertisers denied that they left because of the segregation experiment.

The average viewership of the first two episodes was essentially the same as ''Survivor'' last year, even up slightly.

Arrested Development v. According to Jim

Did you know comedians David Cross and Jim Belushi are feuding? Neither did we, but according to Gawker they are, and we find it hysterical.

We know who won the sitcom battle. Cross was on "Arrested Development," and Belushi stars in "According to Jim" -- the one still on the air. So, technically Belushi wins. But, no surprise, "AD" is the critically acclaimed show and "Jim" is panned.

So, besides a sitcom-rivalry, what's behind the feud?

Apparently Cross has an intense dislike for Belushi and his band, and thinks he's a celebrity only because of his late famous brother, John. See a write-up spelling this out and dripping with sarcasm from bobanddavid.com in 2004 here. (Scroll down, second section.)

Now, we're all for celebrity feuds. The latest bit? Cross took the stage at a Belushi concert and mockingly danced as a superfan, only to be escorted off my security. The fact that Cross apparently went to a Belushi concert with the intent of mocking him takes this whole thing to the next level.

Fascinating. We can only wonder: Where will it go next?