2009 IN REVIEW: TELEVISION
Thursday, December 31, 2009
TELEVISION NEWS OF 2009
> American Idol runner-up put on a lewd performance on the American Music Awards. ABC got about 2,000 complaints. His appearance on Good Morning America was canceled as a result.
>Paula Abdul left American Idol and is being replaced by Ellen Degeneres.
> In November, Oprah Winfrey announced that she will be ending her talk show in 2011, after 25 years on the air.
> CBS canceled two of its longest running soap operas, The Guiding Light and As The World Turns.
BEST SHOWS
"HOARDERS"
Like "Intervention," this A&E documentary-style show is one of those shows that you just can't stop watching. "Hoarders" follows people who suffer from extreme compulsive hoarding. Some people may lose their kids if they don't clean up. One woman had a fridge full of decaying and rotten food. She said it was still good. The show brings in experts to help them regain control on their lives. Sometimes it works, but sadly, sometimes it does not.
"MY BEAUTIFUL FACE"
Katie Piper was an up-and-coming model with amazing looks, until she was attacked. Surveillance cameras caught a man walking up to her and throwing acid in her face. This amazing documentary from the U.K. follows Katie on her road to recovery. Cameras follow her for surgery and as she bravely goes out in public for the first time. If you haven't seen this documentary, be sure to check it out on YouTube.
"LATE NIGHT WITH JIMMY FALLON"
While NBC screwed things up with Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien, they did make one smart decision in late night. They gave Jimmy Fallon his own show. The show knows it's audience - college students and 20-somethings - and smartly caters to them every night. Fallon's house band, The Roots, are the perfect compliment to the show. They are amazing live. Go see a taping of his show just to see The Roots perform in the breaks.
WORST SHOWS
"THE JAY LENO SHOW"
One of the biggest mistakes in television history. Jay Leno was performing just fine at 11:35, yet the network gave Conan O'Brien the coveted time slot and moved Leno to prime time. And, what a mistake it was. The Jay Leno show is a boring, unwatchable mess. The guests are C-list at best. There is rarely a music act to close the show. The jokes are boring and predictable. Leno brings on up-and-coming comics for segments, which always fall flat. No surprise, "The Jay Leno Show" is getting awful ratings. Affiliates are complaining, saying his show is dragging down their late news ratings. Leno has a two-year deal with NBC. If he survives the beginning of 2010, it will be a miracle. The guy should have just stepped down from "The Tonight Show" and called it a career. Instead, he'll be remembered as a failure for his failed new endeavor.
"IT'S ON WITH ALEXA CHUNG"
After TRL was canned, MTV was left without a live, afternoon show for all the just-getting-home-from-school teenie boppers. So, they imported Alexa Chung from the U.K. "It's On with Alexa Chung" gets all of the big guests, but only because it's on MTV. The show makes sense, but only to people with extreme ADD. One minute, Chung will be interviewing Rihanna. The next, she will interrupt the singer, to play a viral video, that has nothing to do with anything. This show is all over the place. It needs a focus. A heavy dose of Ritalin wouldn't hurt either.
OPERATION REPO
TruTv's slogan is "Not Reality, Actuality." Yet, "Operation Repo"
is a fake. The show follows some jacked up repo men as they repossess cars. They yell. They get into fights. Except, the whole show is scripted and the acting is bad.
"OSBOURNES: RELOADED"
Ozzy Osbourne and family tried to bring the variety genre back to life with this awful Fox show. It featured horrible taped segments with the family and a woman who threatened to end her relationship if her longtime boyfriend didn't marry her on the show. Many Fox affiliates refused to air the show. Some critics called it the worst show ever. "Osbournes: Reloaded" was canceled after only one episode.
CANCELLED: King of the Hill, Jon & Kate Plus 8, Monk, The Tyra Banks Show, As The World Turns, The Guiding Light, The Bonnie Hunt Show, Prison Break
Labels: television, year in review
posted by jc @ 8:56 PM,
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FAST FOOD MANIA
DESTINATION AMERICA, Sundays 10pm/ET
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TRISHA
Syndicated, Weekdays/ET
Trisha Goddard hosted talk shows overseas for years. Now, she's the star of her own show, a spin-off of Maury, here in the states. Topics have included a man with 5 wives and women who eat strange objects like drywall and dirt.
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