A Classic TV Movie....More Problems for Jay Leno and NBC...and There's Some Good TV to Be Found on Basic Cable

Can you read this?

I think my fingers have gotten a little chubbier after all that I have to eat this fourth of July weekend and the extra chub might affect my typing skills – so bear with me if a few words are spelled wrong.  The food this Fourth of July weekend was pretty much delicious – with the exception of some food that I sampled on a trip up north Friday and I have to give credit to Marty and her youngest son Bill, who pretty much has become the family’s “Grill Master Extraordinaire”!

But enough about food and the fourth – let’s talk some TV and there is a lot on TV to talk about. 

“Duel” anyone?

The fine arts and entertainment channel Ovation (DirecTV Channel 274/Dish Network Channel 157) has been highlighting the work of some film directors a little ahead of their time with a series called “American Revolutionaries: The Directors”.  One of the directors featured in this series is Stephen Spielberg and the movie that they’re showing is the classic made-for-TV movie that he directed for ABC named “Duel” starring Dennis Weaver (who many people may still remember as Chester on the old CBS western “Gunsmoke”). 

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the movie “Duel” – it’s the story of a salesman (Dennis Weaver) who decides to take the scenic route to his next appointment, but little did he know that he was going to be terrorized by a faceless driver in a huge semi-truck that has the words “flammable” printed in big block letters on the back and side of the truck.  It doesn’t matter of Dennis Weaver is in front or in back of this semi – he’s pushed and terrorized the whole time.  You never see the face of the driver in the truck throughout the whole film – but you don’t have to – because every time that you see this truck you know things are going to get a little ugly for Weaver. 

According to the people hosting this show -- this low budget TV movie was all that Spielberg needed to kick start his career – because the first film that he got to direct after “Duel” was aired was “Jaws” and everyone remembers how that movie scared people at the beaches the summer that it was released.

Another director that they’re highlighting in this series is Mel Brooks – who wrote (with Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder) and directed one of my favorite movies of all time “Blazing Saddles”.  I actually seen this movie in a theater some ten times and laughed just as hard the tenth time that I did the first time that I saw this film.  Unfortunately, this series on Ovation won’t be showing “Blazing Saddles”, but will be airing another Brooks’s classic “The Producers”…is everybody ready for “Springtime for Hitler”?

NBC: More Problems than Hits

Remember last summer when NBC tried to convince us that come September we would all be turning to NBC for Jay Leno at 10?  NBC told producers and program suppliers that instead of those expensive prime-time drama programs – they were going to cut cost with running Leno five nights a week at ten with a fresh new show every night.  Leno at 10 was probably the biggest programming bomb in NBC history next to “Pink Lady and Jeff” and “Super Train”.  Leno bombing at 10pm brought about another programming blunder – when NBC thought they would send Jay Leno back to 11:35 and in turn – take “The Tonight Show” away from Conan O’Brien, who had only been hosting the show for seven months. 

One of the reasons that they gave Conan his walking papers was because his ratings were smaller than what Leno got when he did “The Tonight Show”.  NBC probably thought that they would put Leno back at 11:35 and everything would be ok – it would be like the whole “Leno at 10” fiasco was some soap opera dream sequence that never happened in real life.  Well…it happened….and here’s the kicker to the story:  Jay Leno’s ratings at 11:35 are actually worse than what Conan was getting for NBC and Conan was attracting a younger audience that what Jay does…oh well.  It’s going to be interesting to see what kind of audience Conan is going to pull in when he premieres this November on basic cable TBS.

More problems for NBC

One of the shows that NBC was hoping would be a big ratings draw for them come September is a new show called “Love Bites”.  The show, similar in format to the old TV show “Love American Style”, is having a few problems getting off the ground.  The woman who wrote the pilot, and who was once one of the top writers on “Sex and the City”, has left the show and one of the stars of the show – Becki Newton (who suppose to be a virgin on the show) has gotten pregnant.  So, instead of a September premiere – NBC is pushing back production on the show and they’re hoping to have “Love Bites” in shape for a January premiere.

With an hour hole to fill in the prime time schedule – NBC has turned to “The Donald” for a new season of “The Apprentice”.  Unlike the past few seasons that have featured celebrities – sixteen people are going to fight to become Donald Trump’s Apprentice and these people are combination of people who have either lost their jobs or are recent college graduates, who have had a hard time getting noticed in today’s job market.

Good TV is Easy to Find This Summer on Basic Cable

Traditional over the air television is in deep trouble – especially when basic cable channels are beating them at their own game.  When a basic cable channel like TV Land can attract broadcast network size audience with a mediocre sitcom like “Hot in Cleveland” – something is really wrong.

Last week, FX aired the first episode of the new comedy “Louie” starring comedian Louis C.K. and it’s probably one of the funniest shows on television today.  The premise of the show is nothing unusual – it’s basically the same thing that Jerry Seinfeld did on NBC – but Louis C.K.’s comedy has more bite than a shark at feeding time.  Where Jerry Seinfeld could be a little “cute” with things like the girl with the name that sounded like a…you know what….or give new meaning to the phrase “master of your own domain” – Louis C.K. comes out and tells it like it is.  Catch “Louie” Tuesday nights at 11pm on FX.

Fans of Dennis Leary and “Rescue Me”….the show is back on FX Tuesday nights at 10pm.  This is the last season for the show – so you don’t want to miss one episode to see how Tommy fares this season with his libido and battles with the bottle.  (Note:  Dennis Leary has signed with FX to do a new series after the completion of “Rescue Me”).

Jason Lee (of “My Name Is Earl” fame) is back as a Memphis cop who loves Elvis on the new TNT show “Memphis Blues” – Tuesdays at 10pm on TNT.  I caught the premiere episode of the show last week and it shows some promise – and if you watch closely – you’ll see some of Jason’s old cast mates from Earl pop up in the show.

Last, but not least, fans of Kyra Sedgwick and “The Closer” – the new season returns to TNT – Monday, July 12.  Expect some big changes to happen to Brenda and her job with the Los Angeles police department – let’s hope that budget cuts don’t split up her team of detectives.

Well, my stomach has settled down from all of the fourth of July goodies that I have consumed….so, I think I’ll find the remote control and set back and enjoy a show or two….and until the next time…remember – it’s only TV.

This Week on Oprah: It's A Thumbs Up For Roger Ebert

(Photo: Ethan Hill © Esquire Magazine/Hearst Publications)

As we say good-bye to the month of February – it’s time to adjust the rabbit ears and our digital tuner boxes for a look at the world of television in this edition of “Frost Bites” (or should it be ‘bytes’ since we are being digitally correct).

Roger Ebert has been writing about and reviewing movies for the last thirty years for the Chicago Sun-Times – but he’s probably better known for his thumbs up and thumbs down reviews on the nationally televised “At The Movies” movie review show that he hosted with the late Gene Siskel.

In 2002, Ebert was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and over the last eight years he has gone through more surgeries than even he can remember. Because of all of the surgeries that he has gone through in the last four year, Roger Ebert can no longer speak, eat or drink and his lower jaw has been surgically removed. After all of that you might think that Roger Ebert would want to give up on life, but you'd be wrong. As a matter of fact, it's because of all that he's gone through that has a better appreciation of life and is living life to its fullest; and although we don't see him on TV anymore, he continues to shares his thoughts about movies in his reviews and life in general on a blog he writes for the Chicago Sun-Times.

The current issue of Esquire with Leo DeCaprio on the cover features an excellent article about Roger Ebert by Chris Jones. You might be startled by the photo of Ebert, but you’ll be uplifted by his resilience against all odds. If you can’t find this month’s Esquire on your newsstand – click on to the following line and read the article online (which also includes a link to Ebert’s blog): http://www.esquire.com/features/roger-ebert-0310

In the Esquire article, there is a mention of a Scottish software company named CereProc that is helping Ebert to “get his voice” back – in a digital way. CereProc has been cataloging the vast amount of vocal recordings of Ebert’s voice that are available for a software program that will allow his own voice to be heard when he types out messages on his computer keyboard. Get ready to set your DVRs, because Roger Ebert’s voice via CereProc – will be able to be heard for the first time in public on Oprah (4:00pm Tuesday, March 2 and repeated 1:05am Wednesday, March 3 on WXYZ-Channel 7, Detroit).

On the lighter side…..I don’t know about you, but TV hasn’t been the same for me since Denny….Denny Crane and his “Boston Legal” law firm was shut down by ABC nearly two years ago. I know that Denny’s alter ego, William Shatner, got a half-hour interview show on cable’s Biography channel, but that’s just not enough Shatner for all of us who miss his hi jinx with James Spader and their late night sleepovers. Well, I’ve got good news for you…according The Hollywood Reporter…CBS has given the ok for a new comedy pilot being produced by “Will and Grace” creators David Kohan and Max Mutchnick. Shatner will be playing a Dad who says some wacky things in this pilot with the working title of “Shit My Dad Says” (which it’s safe to assume will be changed if CBS picks up the show after the pilot is shot).

And for those folks who miss “Boston Legal” and don’t own the complete Boston Legal boxed DVD set – those folks at TVLand have picked up reruns of the show and have added them to their schedule. As they say in TVLand – check your local listings for time and channel number.

TVLand has also added the Ray Romano sitcom “Everyone Loves Raymond” to their schedule and TNT last week aired the season finale on Romano’s new critically acclaimed comedy/drama “Men of A Certain Age”. TNT has yet to announce whether or not that they are picking the show up for a new season – but it’s a safe bet that they will. In the meantime – should they re-run the show this spring – I urge you to watch it. I’m not going out on a limb when I say that “Men of A Certain Age” is probably the best show on television today. I predict that the writing alone will win awards for them at Emmy award time and if the actors aren’t awarded statues for their work on the show – then I would demand a recount.

If you’ve been watching the Winter Olympics coverage on NBC – you’ll probably well aware that Jay Leno will be returning to the Tonight Show this month after dropping a gigantic turd during his prime-time run. He’s lined up a couple of interesting guests for his first week back – that’s if you consider Sarah Palin to be interesting.

We haven’t heard a whole lot from Conan O’Brien – who some feel (including yours truly) that Leno screwed to get the Tonight Show. O’Brien – who many expect to have a new talk show on another network by year’s end – can do any interviews or any television shows until September because of an agreement that he worked out with NBC, but they didn’t say anything about Twitter.

Conan O’Brien is now on Twitter (www.twitter.com/conanobrien) His Twitter bio reads: “I had a show. Then I had a different show. Now I have a Twitter account.”

And what is Conan tweeting?

Tweet #1: Today I interviewed a squirrel in my backyard and then threw to commercial. Somebody help me.

Tweet #2: This morning I watched Remington Steele while eating Sugar Smacks out of a salad bowl. I was naked.

And Tweet #3: Today I connected all the freckles on my arm with a Sharpie. It spells out RIKSHAZ9LIRK. Clearly I am The Chosen One.

That’s going to do it for this edition -- keep your TV set on and remember to live by the TV motto: By the glow of the cathode tube – there's better living through more channels.

The Late Night Mess At NBC Continues

It looks like something is happening with NBC. The network is finally admitting that their grand experiment to save money by programming “The Jay Leno Show” weeknights at 10 is a complete bust. NBC could no longer sit by and watch this show drag their affiliates late night news ratings be dragged deeper into the ratings cellar. Many NBC affiliates across the nation had the top rated news programs before this program premiered last fall only to see them fall into third and fourth place in their markets.

News of the cancellation was officially announced Sunday afternoon with Leno’s final 10pm show to be aired on February 12^th. What happens next remains a mystery. Supposedly, Leno will be going back to his 11:35pm time slot to do a half-hour show, but nobody is really sure what that half-hour is going to consist of. Leno will probably do a monologue – but what does he do after that? A half-hour of late-night network television doesn’t give you a whole lot of time – maybe sixteen minutes tops after commercials – to “put on a show”.

Moving back to 11:35 could be a risky move. Jay went from being the king of late-night television hosting top-rated “Tonight Show” for seventeen years to hosting a nightly prime-time train wreck of show at 10pm that Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post likens to being the biggest marketing blunder since the introduction of the New Coke. If people didn’t follow Jay when he made the move to prime time – what makes NBC think that they’re going to follow him when he returns to late-night. And what if he bombs in late-night – what does NBC offer him then – the nightly news minute or does he bump Kathy Lee and Hoda off of the fourth hour of “The Today Show”?

There are still a couple of other pieces of the NBC late night mess that have yet to be settled. NBC still wants Conan O’Brien to be the host of “The Tonight Show”, but they want to move the show a half-hour to 12:05, but Conan’s contract stipulates that his show begins at 11:35pm and he could hold them to that contract, so what do they do with Leno who they already promised the half-hour show to? They could release Conan from his contract – but that’s going to cost NBC millions and millions of dollars. Fox has made some noise that they would love for Conan to join them and do a talk show there, but they know he’s still under contract to NBC. Should NBC release him from his contract – it’s a good bet that Fox would have him do a show at 11pm – that would directly complete against all of the local late night newscasts. NBC has already done enough harm to their affiliates late night news ratings with Leno they can’t risk freeing Conan to do damage to them on a rival network.

How would I like to see this all played out? Personally, I would love to see Conan hold NBC to their contract – it could end up blowing up in his face and he might have to set out the next five years and collect millions of dollars from NBC for doing nothing – but imagine what would happen if he did. If NBC was to take “The Tonight Show” away from him and give it back to Leno – you can see the negative press already. To be honest with you – it’s time for Jay to take a powder and do something he’s really good at – stand-up comedy – and leave late-night television with a little dignity – something that his predecessor Johnny Carson did.

Johnny went out with class. You remember Johnny Carson, don’t you Jay? If my memory serves me right -- he was the one you pushed out.

2009 -- Who Cares -- A Year In Review

We’re approaching the end of another year and you know what that means – a lot of people and their lists of what they thought was the best and what was the worst (fill in the blank) of the year. I’m not going to some best or worst list – mine is going to be a little different – so allow me to present to you:

Rich Frost’s Who Really Cares List for 2009

News bulletin -- Michael Jackson is dead. Who cares! I have no desire whatsoever to rush out to my local movie theatre to see “Michael Jackson’s This Is It” or even rent a DVD of the movie when it’s released; and I could care less about seeing with any member of the Jackson family talk about their brother Michael in exclusive interviews with Larry King, Barbara Walters or Anderson Cooper.

A lot of people are wondering if I am I going to read Sarah Palin’s book? Here’s a quick answer -- Hell no! Sarah Palin wrote a book -- Who fucking cares! It’s incredible how someone as stupid has gone so far doing so little in such a short amount of time and in the process has managed to attract people who not only support her, but will seriously defend her to the end of the earth. Has the pool of legitimate political candidates hit rock bottom or what? How can one take Palin seriously when she actually says that CBS’s news anchor Katie Couric does “gotcha interviews”? Having watched Palin on the talk shows during her recent book tour has only reinforced my opinion that one day historians will proclaim the Sarah Palin era of American politics as “the ultimate dumbing down of America”. Whether we're talking about the book or the politician -- when it comes to Sarah Palin -- all I have to say is "Who cares!!!!"

The movie “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” has taken in some $230 million in at the box office in its first ten days. Who cares? The phenomenon surrounding the “Twilight” movies and the books is crazy. ‘Twilight Fever’ has even affected people who I never would have expected to get hooked by a hokey vampire/love story series, and what’s even more amazing, these people aren't afraid to make public their love for the Twilight series. Me? I could care less.

It was announced five years ago that Conan O’Brien would become the host of the “Tonight Show” on NBC in 2009 and it took the brain trust at NBC a few months in 2008 to finally figure out what to do with Jay Leno to keep him in the fold. What was their solution? Get rid of scripted dramas and move Jay Leno to 10 o’clock. NBC network brass will be the first to admit that Leno at 10 saves them lots of money not having to produce those expensive dramas – but you’d be hard pressed find anyone at NBC that will admit to the show being a colossal failure for the network and the affiliates who carry it. Jay Leno has always been a lousy interviewer – now combine those lousy interview skills with such audience attention grabbers such as “Earn Your Plug” (where celebrities have to do something to earn the right to plug their new movie); or where celebrity guests are timed doing two laps around a race track in an electric car and you can easily see why people are tuning out Jay Leno at 10 in droves….Who cares!!!

Remember when there were just a couple of reality shows on television and we either watched them or didn't? Those were the days – now we can’t get away from these damn reality shows. We have literally have people bumping into other people for their fifteen minutes of fame. We have housewives and chefs, drug addicts, sex addicts and people wanting to be the next superstar model or top forty idol. It has gotten to the point that in 2009 reality TV stars are bumping into one another just so they can get a taste of that elusive fifteen minutes of fame that Andy Warhol warned us about. I say, “WHO CARES!!!!!”

This last past year – we have had to deal with Kate and Jon and all of their kids and the freak show known as “the Octomom”. Then there’s the parents of the ‘balloon boy’ who were so desperate to become reality TV stars that they perpetrated a hoax that captured the attention of the cable news networks eager to fill up air time and had the nation worrying about whether or not a little boy was floating in the air aimlessly in what looked like a Jiffy Pop popcorn like flying saucer.

We can't forget about the tiff that went on between Miss California and celebrity blogger Perez Hilton about gay marriage and now we have a reality TV star wannabe couple crashing a White House state dinner that raises the bar on what people will do to become famous. I would like to say “Who cares” about this incident – but it would only challenge the dumb to do even dumber things for us to write about in 2010.