This made me laugh. The guy hasn’t seemed to age.

There are fewer qualities more necessary than leadership and, judging from the sorry state of our world, fewer more elusive.

And yet, we know a great leader when we see one. Since the postwar era and particularly after 9/11, one man perhaps more than any other has defined what it means to lead — British prime minister Winston Churchill, who saved his island nation from the Nazis and thus, spared Western civilization (with a good deal of help from us).

HBO’s “Into the Storm” (9 p.m. Sunday) — with Brendan Gleeson and Janet McTeer triumphant as the irascible PM and his long-suffering wife, Clementine — is an often stirring, often moving account of Churchill’s finest hour. After watching it, you may conclude that a true leader leads as much from his want as from his strength. Read more of this entry »

Given my line of work, I’m all about attribution. So while I’m not shy about jumping on the Chuck Me Mondays bandwagon—like I plan to do starting Monday Tuesday after my Monday viewing—I have to give credit where it’s due.

If you’re a Chuck fan with any online aptitude at all, you’ve probably spent some time at ChuckTV.net and its forums. The last several weeks have been a whirlwind over there, from the Finale and a Footlong campaign to the 15 days of waiting (that lasted only 14) for renewal news.

Just because Chuck’s coming back and there’s a good nine months to focus on other things doesn’t mean things have settled down for this Buymorian province. Chuck Me Mondays was borne of “great minds think alike” origins in which folks did some simple math: 35 Chuck episodes + 40 weeks to kill = a great way to keep up the buzz, send the network a message and wile a way a hiatus.

So I checked in with two of the fans who were there to get the scoop on what it’s all about. Kansan Melissa “Mel” Lowery is well known to listeners of Chuck Versus the Podcast while Magnus Anton Lekay, from just down the road in Lodi, N.J., is the familiar “DarthRazorback”at the ChuckTV.net forums.

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Apparently, the Seattle auditions really did stink up the joint on last night’s “So You Think You Can Dance.”

How else to explain why the show wasted almost 15 minutes airing the completely invented “battle” between the show’s perennial loser, David “Sex” Soller and newbie Leonix “Pogo Stick” Knyshov?

Not only was this faux dance fight contrived and boring, but it gave dopey “Sex” – who Nigel has previously banned from ever auditioning again (yeah, right) – yet another 15 minutes of fame. He even said as much in his opening interview: People unfortunately recognize this sad sack from his prior embarrassing try-outs.

Then again, what else can you say about an evening of auditions where the most memorable dancers were people ineligible to enter the contest?

Nathan Trasoras was truly incredible, but at 17, he isn’t old enough to compete. So Nigel gave him an automatic ticket to Vegas for Season 6.

(You can’t blame him for that: The show’s next installment is this fall, so producers need to round up dancers fast! Auditions are actually going on right now; go here for details.)

As for the night’s other standout dancer?

That honor went to guest judge Adam Shankman..

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I figured when I put this one up that I’d get an onslaught of angry Chucksters bemoaning the 10-month wait for new episodes.

But NBC’s announcement of Chuck’s renewal outweighed any ire as most of those who responded to Remote Access’s recent readers poll told us they’re just happy to have their favorite spy team back. Here’s how it broke down.

We asked the following: Chuck won’t be back for nine months, tempering fans’ enthusiasm over its renewal. How satisfied are you with NBC’s plans for the show?

Nearly a third of you, 31 percent answered “It’ll be a long wait, but I guess I’m just happy to have a third season,” while another 24 percent replied, “I appreciate them bringing it back, but I’m afraid the layoff really will hurt the show.”

So, aside from a few reservations about the impact of a second hiatus might have on the show’s long-term survival, you’re all pretty stoked just to see it back at some point.

Surprisingly, the bottom two responses with 12 percent apiece were the quite contradictory “I think it’s awesome. The post-Olympic launch and the possibility of a summer extension are really exciting,” and “This isn’t a renewal at all but NBC’s way of pandering to viewers while quietly killing it off.”

Just one intrepid respondent, former Remote Access contributor Chris Serico, in fact, chose to add his own answer to the list, which was “All of the original answers combined.” That took 20 percent, besting both extreme views handily.

So I guess Chuck fans are an understanding and grateful bunch. They’re going to have to be patient too.

Did “So You Think You Can Dance” send out some kind of memo in Miami and Memphis that called for brothers and sisters to audition together?

There seemed to be a disproportionate number of siblings grooving onstage last night – and, as the Guadix twins in Miami illustrated, it’s usually a recipe for disaster.

But then the show moved down South, and Memphis proved that talent can, in fact, run in families.

Caitlin and Megan Kinney tried out in separate cities – Caitlin in Memphis, Megan in Miami – and both got Golden Tickets to Vegas. Both deserve to go, but boy, does Caitlin have the more dramatic story.

The insanely muscled girl has only been training in dance for five years  – before that, she was a gymnast – and she’s coming back from a hip replacement surgery. Perhaps her surgeon was the same one who operated on the Bionic Woman, because, damn, Caitlin could do some flips.

Then there were the Guerra twins, who performed together perfectly in sync, yet managed to show the judges their individual styles. I wasn’t wild about brothers Evan and Ryan Kasprzak – Evan did a Broadway routine, and Ryan tapped around a whoopie cushion – but the judges loved ‘em both. I thought for sure they’d at least have to handle a choreography round, but they were sent straight through to Sin City.

Other non-related stand-outs included Joseph “Sha-Wam!” Smith, whom the judges liked a lot, but I couldn’t get past his close resemblance to Steve Urkel.

Read more of this entry »

So has anyone rushed over to Amazon to place a pre-order for The Office Season 5 DVDs, which TVShowsOnDVD.com says will be out Sept. 8?

A diehard Office-ionado like me used to count the days until these releases. In fact I bought the last three at Target on the days they came out because I didn’t want to wait for them to be shipped. Chances are I’ll do that again.

I know for a lot of people this has been a slightly forgettable season since it lacked a defining story like past seasons had. And maybe this season wouldn’t have hooked me on the show if I wasn’t already hooked.

Still, I have to give it credit for some high points, from The Proposal No one Saw Coming Even Though They Totally Expected It to the arrival and lamented departure of Holly Flax. There was The Michael Scott Paper Company (which I wish he’d called Super Duper Paper), and there was Kevin rolling around in chili, an image I’ll gladly have burned onto my brain for a long time.

Anyway, you can check out the release details here and see the pre-order page here.

Here’s two highlights that jumped out at me…

• Bonus Materials include commentaries apparently by crew members and Stephen Merchant (!) but no John Krasinski or Steve Carell.


• Extras include a gag reel and “Academy Of Television Arts & Sciences Presents The Office.”

So the We Heart Chuck campaign is up to $17,670.94, TVbytheNumbers is promising to keep up the Chuck talk and the gang at the ChuckTV.net (link updated) forums are organizing a coordinated weekly viewing campaign that would last until the show returns.

Well I think that’s just a great idea. The summer viewing looks thin—Entourage, I guess, and Weeds—so I’m getting on board.

Every Monday, starting on June 1, I plan to post a retro recap of a past episode of Chuck. Right now I plan to make this a summer project, partly because I don’t know when we’ll see Season 2 on DVD and partly because I don’t expect things to be so slow come fall that I’ll have the time for a fun project like this.

But if I do, there are just enough weeks, with only a few to spare, to plow through all 35 episodes of seasons 1 and 2 before the show returns in March.

And if NBC’s fall schedule tanks, like I think it might, and they have to reshuffle and bring Chuck back earlier, all the better.

NBC entertainment chief Ben Silverman tells TVGuide.com the network plans to do its part to keep the show’s profile up during the hiatus.

Chuck deserves a whole season, not just 13 episodes. Any chance of more? — Darryl
MATT: Actually, yes. NBC entertainment president Ben Silverman says that while the current plan is to deliver 13 midseason episodes, depending on the ratings, “we may extend it out and continue it through the summer,” where he thinks it could pair nicely with Friday Night Lights. “We’re looking to … keep [Chuck] incredibly viral and buzz-worthy until it returns, and then hopefully have it on our air for many years to come.” That’d be Awesome. And even more so? I chatted up Scott Bakula at TNT’s upfronts luncheon, and he’s game for more Chuck, if need be.

Personally, I started rewatching Season 1 at wb.com about three weeks ago, finishing up last night, and it’s as awesome as I remember. But then I rewatched a bit of “Chuck Versus The Colonel” yesterdday and was reminded how much better the show got in the second season.

So I think this is going to be a fun little project. It’ll be one more place where Chuck lives on the Interwebs during what is an excruciatingly long and unnecessary hiatus.

Photo: Yvonne Strahovski – NBC Universal

I like Rip Torn a lot, but I have to wonder why he or any other public figure who likes to tie one on doesn’t just  hire a driver for such occasions.

Torn, who was busted near his Connecticut home in December for driving drunk with a Christmas tree tied to his car, was given probation this week in the case. The 78-year-old was approved for admission into an alcohol education program, but he gets to keep his license.

It was his third such arrest, the prior two coming in New York, including one that came two  years earlier after his car struck a tractor-trailer on Hardscrabble Road right up the road in North Salem. Torn pleaded guilty to driving while impaired, paid a fine and surrendered his license for three months.

A week before that, fellow 30 Rock funny man Tracy Morgan was busted for driving drunk on the upper West Side, his second DWI arrest in a year. At least he seemed to get the message that drunken driving isn’t cool, making public show of his ankle monitor but otherwise keeping his name out of such headlines.

But while those two have been on the straight and narrow, Alec Baldwin continues his pattern of woes, thankfully unrelated to alcohol or automobiles.

Read more of this entry »

It’s been quite a month, between season finales, network upfronts and the untimely (as well as timely) deaths of struggling shows whose bubbles were burst.

That’s where our most recent readers’ poll, between May 17 and 21, came in. We asked, “What canceled show will you miss the most this fall?” Two shows in particular that lost the only poll that really counts—the poll of network programming executives—won this one.

True to form, this was yet another poll that Terminator: The Sarah  Connor Chronicles fans were determined not to lose. And those those Pushing Daisies devotees are still grieving the loss of their piemaker and just wishing they could revive him with a touch.

The two shows tied for the poll lead with 29 percent of votes cast each.

From Fox, we jump to NBC’s Life, which, to its fans’ chagrin, has none. They placed it in third at 20 percent. Going down the line, it was Dirty Sexy Money, Prison Break (which I thought was canceled in ‘07), Lipstick Jungle, and, bringing up the rear with a single, lonely vote, King of the Hill.

Earlier this month, from May 6-17, we posed the following query: “NBC unveiled a slew of new shows for the fall on May 4, and more announcements from all the networks are on the way. What new show are you most excited about seeing?

Read more of this entry »

For the sake of consistency and thoroughness, I thought I should post the fall lineup on the CW.

I don’t watch any of these shows, and would probably run screaming from the room at the very sight of most of them. But my wife digs One Tree Hill and 90210, and I’ve always thought I’d like Smallville—which moves to Fridays—if I ever gave it a try.

It’s such a tiny little schedule, especially compared to NBC’s multi-pronged monstrosity. I’m not sure that’s a good  thing or a bad thing.

What’s new: the reinvented Melrose Place, The Vampire Diaries and The Beautiful Life.

What’s out: Reaper and Privileged.

MONDAY
8-9PM Gossip Girl
9-10PM One Tree Hill

TUESDAY
8-9PM 90210
9-10PM Melrose Place

WEDNESDAY
8-9PM America’s Next Top Model
9-10PM The Beautiful LIfe

THURSDAY
8-9PM The Vampire Diaries
9-10PM Supernatural

FRIDAY
8-9PM Smallville
9-10PM America’s Next Top Model

Get ready to shake your groove thang, people, because our favorite summer dance program boogies back onto the small screen tonight!

Yes, “So You Think You Can Dance” is back for a fifth season, kicking off with a four-hour audition premiere.

We get the first half from 8 to 10 p.m. tonight, with the rest following next Wednesday at the same time.

So are you ready for Mary Murphy to blow your eardrums with her signature scream?

Looking forward to more wacky routines by Mia Michaels?

Can’t wait to hear Cat Deeley say “jidges?”

But more importantly, who will be this year’s Joshua Allen? Last season, Joshua danced his way around tons of dancers with more training to snag the $250,000 cash prize and a role in director/choreographer Adam Shankman’s upcoming movie, “Step Up 3-D.” (By the way, I’m anxious to see more of Adam and his kooky critiques as a guest judge, too…)

So get the dance party started by checking out the preview below…

…and don’t forget to tune in here next Thursday for my first “Dance” recap of the year!

(Photo courtesy of FOX)

The Tiffany Network rounded out upfronts week with its schedule presentation this morning.

I still get shivers about CBS from the Murder, She Wrote marathons that were prevalent in my home growing up in the 80s. These days, the shows I’d be most likely to watch are opposite many of the shows I do watch. But as with ABC, I’m in the minority because CBS brings home the ratings bacon.

There are a couple of items of note. For instance, CBS picked up the discarded Medium from NBC. To me, that’s like the Red Sox picking up a pitcher the Royals gave up on. Bet on Boston.

The CSI-ization of TV continues with an NCIS spin-off called NCIS: Los Angeles. Also, Jenna Elfman, Julianna Murgulies and Alex O’Loughlin all have new shows. There’s even a full slate of original programming on a Friday night.

What you won’t find are late-season additions, half-season runs or hours on end of reality programming. Maybe I should watch more CBS.

Full schedule follows after the jump…

Read more of this entry »

I should be ecstatic that Chuck was renewed.

Instead I’m just bummed that NBC is shelving it for nine months, even though they know it was nearly on life support after a much shorter writers strike hiatus.

But leave it to Alan Sepinwall, TV writer extraordinaire of What’s Alan Watching, for shining a little sunshine on my Chuck-induced malaise. His interview today with co-exec producer Chris Fedak is worth a read for every Chuckie out there.

Here’s what I’m taking away from it…

• We could see a character working in a Subway shop.


• Budget cuts won’t hurt the show. “The same level of entertainment you guys saw last season, you’ll get next year.”


• There’ll be no cast cuts. (I’m not sure how this applies to Tony Hale, who I thought had a new show in the works.)


• The late-season start could mean Chuck extends into the summer, even going beyond the 13-episode initial order, a contingency the creative team is ready for.


• And Fedak’s last words: “I will say this: Season three will not be lacking in romance.”

So sorry for the earlier rants and angy tweets today. I’m still bummed about the Chuck withdrawal, but there’s a lot to be thankful for and to look forward to.

We fans deserve a lot of credit for our efforts, from Finale and a Footlong to We Heart Chuck, the latter which has raised $17,145.94 so far for the American Heart Association. I’m disappointed not to see any mention of that so far in the renewal coverage.

Photo: Zachary Levi, prior to renewal, hoping his Nerds would be Heard (PRNewsFoto/Shekinah Pugh)

Perusing the NBC fall schedule, there’s little that interests or excites me enough to offset my displeasure with the backhanded Chuck renewal.

Yes, I’m looking forward to Community, because the trailer released two weeks ago looks hilarious. And I expect Parks and Recreation to keep getting better and The Office to keep being awesome. But aside from the 90-minute block starting at 8:30 p.m. on Thursdays, I don’t see much reason to tune in to NBC this fall.

Harsh? Yes. Spiteful? Not at all, though I am feeling a bit of spite. I’ve about given up on Heroes, and none of the other new or returning shows does much for me. Put Chuck on that fall schedule, though, and I’d be focusing on that. But it’s not there, so I’m opining about what I’m left with.

Assuming the network staves off bankruptcy until March, Chuck will be back, the ridiculously resuscitated SNL Weekend Update Thursday will have exhausted itself from the airwaves and Jay Leno will still be chewing up a third of prime time.

Oh, and 30 Rock will be back. That should bum me out to have to wait so long, but I honestly think the writers could use the break. The show has gotten a little stale, even if the funny hasn’t faltered.

I’m sure the Olympics are a big ratings draw. Not for me, though. There’s nothing worse than sports you’ve never heard of being played by athletes you’ve never heard of in place of shows you’d rather be watching. I guess NBC doesn’t have to worry about that last one, at least. (Zing!)

Anyway, the schedule follows after the jump. Make of it what you will.

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UPDATES: Creator Josh Schwartz tells TV Week’s TV MoJoe Chuck will be back on Mondays at 8, but not until after the Olympics. Aaarggghhhh!!!!

“We are happy to be back,” he e-mailed after the Times broke the ‘Chuck’ scheduling. “Ready to serve – whenever. Wherever. We have the best audience in the world and we will do everything we can to make this worth the wait.”

Here’s NBC’s official press release about Chuck that, unless I’m blind, doesn’t mention the return date but does read like a payday for Subway.

Here’s the Fall Schedule press release that buries the news about Chuck’s post-Olympic return in the fifth paragraph.

Nikki Finke reports that the Peacock suits credit the online fanbase for the show’s return.

But the network said it didn’t cancel Chuck “because of the demand for Chuck that came out of the online community, the critical community, and the advertising base. The other shows had none of that attention or energy.” Said one of the top execs: “I was sent more Nerds than anyone could consume in a lifetime.”

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Oh, S.

Did you really think you could bring down Gossip Girl with a few weak text messages?

Please. Let’s just say you’re not exactly the brains of the bunch. Didn’t you learn anything by how your Poppy Lifton plan blew up last week?

Yes, my friends, Gossip Girl threw our Upper East Siders into a graduation day tizzy in last night’s season finale, which marks most of the characters’ transition to college next year.

Her well-timed email blast labeled all of the major players, and her knowledge of all their secrets certainly seemed to imply that the sneaky, snarky blogger is indeed one of them.

Alas, we didn’t discover her (or his!) identity: Did you really think we would? And the kids won’t be escaping her scrutiny, either.

As GG announced, she’ll be keeping an eye on them all in college. Which makes no real sense at all, but hey, there’s no way the show is going to throw away its signature narrative device.

(Plus, it would put Kristen Bell out of a job, and that would be a tragedy.)

Anyway, this was an hour of action, as our boys and girls made their plans for the summer and beyond.

And of course, we can’t forget about the potentially shark-jumping moment when our beloved Mother Chucker declared his love for the Queen B…

Read more of this entry »

With Danny Gokey expelled from “American Idol,” the contest is now a showdown between Adam Lambert and Kris Allen.

Who will win the crown? Anything can happen, but as usual, we’re more focused on what’s happening with Kara DioGuardi, the show’s fourth judge and a New Rochelle native.
Here’s our favorite Kara highlight from last week’s Judge’s Choice round, as well as some advice for the big finale:
LAST WEEK:

Simon sniped at Kara (and, indirectly, Randy) for choosing One Republic’s “Apologize” for Kris — and then having the nerve to criticize his performance. Sure, Simon was obviously manufacturing a feud. But did Kara have to cover Simon’s mouth to keep him from talking?

Invading someone’s personal space like that makes us vaguely queasy. Leave those type of shenanigans to Paula.
THIS WEEK:

At this stage of the game, what other suggestions can we make? Kara is Kara, and she’s unlikely to change.

And why should she? That’s why you either love her or hate her.

Either way, it’s good for ratings.

Enjoy the finale everyone! And check back here on Friday for our final Kara Watch of the season…

(Photo courtesy of FOX)

Here’s the ABC fall primetime schedule, which was released this morning. All times listed are Eastern Time.

Looks I’ll be continuing my long run of not watching ABC. I admit I’m in the minority there, though, because shows like “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Lost” and “Desperate Housewives” dominate the ratings.

I noted the new series below, and the rest are returning. Those not listed that are slated for midseason start include: “The Deep End,” “Happy Town,” and “V” (all new); and returning shows “Better Off Ted,” “Scrubs,” “True Beauty,” “The Bachelor,” “Lost,” “Ugly Betty,” “Wife Swap” and “Saturday Night College Football.”

“Shark Tank” sounds awesome, until you realize it’s another lame reality show. “V” sounds awesome if you’re a child of the 80s like me, but you have to hope they don’t screw it up (a la NBC’s “Bionic Woman” and “Knight Rider” remakes).

“Happy Town” sounds a little like a take-off on the movie “Hot Fuzz.” Lastly, Patricia Heaton and Kelsey Grammer return to prime time after the death of “Back to You,” but they’re in separate shows (“The Middle” and “Hank,” respectively).

Schedule follows after the jump…

Read more of this entry »

I didn’t even watch the 30 Rock finale until last night, so down on the show I’ve been this season.

Through two seasons it was the surest laugh on TV. This third season, though, the mojo isn’t quite gone, but it’s been on life support at times. But as the winter turned to spring, things began to look up. And while it never regained its old form, to my taste, it did finish strongly with a hilarious, if less than momentous finale.

The highlight, for me as a child of the 80s, was Alan Alda’s character walking on set and saying to Tracy and Kenneth, “A guy crying about a chicken and a baby? I thought this was a comedy show.“

Such a great, split-second callback to the MASH finale, the most watched episode of television in history, in which Alda’s Hawkeye basically cried about a chicken that turned out to be a baby.

OK, enough history. And enough with Jack’s family issues. We get it: guilt-ridden, dysfunctional Irish people are hilarious. The point was made in the brilliant “The Fighting Irish” in Season 2, and the poor horse has been beaten mercilessly ever since.

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