Monday Notebook
Monday, April 14th, 2008
"I got a hit, Schumacher, and Ruddy doesn't count any more."*
– Since I was the guy who asked NBC's Ben Silverman to explain how "My Name Is Earl" and "30 Rock" qualified as family-hour shows, it was with great amusement that I read a New York Times piece with an NBC executive admitting that the 8-9 p.m. slot isn't all that family on Thursdays. The exec told the Times that:
… the family-hour designation should be seen as offering "direction for program development," not "black-and-white expectations" for the audience.
"'It was not to be construed as a return to a strictly defined family hour," he said, featuring wholesome shows like “Little House on the Prairie,” a hit on NBC in the late 1970s and early ’80s.
By the way, the Times story managed to discuss the "MILF Island" episode without ever using the acronym "MILF." Although it did offer an explanation of the term: "referring to a teenager’s crude designation of someone’s sexy mother."
– "American Idol" has announced the finalists in its songwriting contest. The details are after the jump, but just looking at the song titles makes me think I've heard enough before I've heard anything. Examples: "Believe," "You Believe in Me," "You Believed in Me" (because past tense makes all the difference), "All You Will Need," "You Can Do Anything," "Dream Big."
– Is it just me, or was "Saturday Night Live" a humongous snore on Saturday? I'm usually willing to at least sit through sketches, but I found myself muttering "well, I can see where this is going" and hitting fast-forward.
– CBS has announced that the next season of "Survivor" will be shot in high-definition. Oh, goodie. Extra clarity for bug bites, skin tight over ribs and, of course, the pixels needed when swimsuits slip.
