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Broadcasters' plans for the TV future are limited

By DAVID BAUDER
The Associated Press

NEW YORK - Jimmy Kimmel knows how to deliver an industry joke with some sting, as he proved to advertisers getting a first look at ABC's fall schedule last week.

"Here at ABC we are very excited about both of our new shows," Kimmel said to knowing laughs.

Both. One is a game show produced by Ashton Kutcher, the other an adaptation of a series done by the BBC. It's hardly a burst of creativity from a network that proudly introduced eight new series last fall.

The fall schedules rolled out with limited fanfare provided evidence of how deeply network television was hurt by this winter's writers strike. The pain from those wounds will linger into next season precisely when the networks , already hemorrhaging viewers , can least afford it.

Premiere time in September was once like a week of Christmas mornings for fans of television, and it's steadily becoming less special.

"The viewers are going to be going away for the summer, and the networks can't just presume that they are coming back," said David Bianculli, a veteran television critic who operates TVWorthWatching.com.

Judging by what he's seen, Bianculli said he's looking forward only to two new series next season, both on Fox and one not debuting until January 2009.

ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and the CW have collectively promised 16 new shows in the fall. Last fall, those five networks debuted 27. Take CBS and the CW , with the same, very traditional corporate owners , out of the mix, and the decline is 18 to eight.

The "new" fare includes remakes of "Beverly Hills 90210" (on the CW) and "Knight Rider" (on NBC). There are a handful of ideas taken from formats that have already succeeded elsewhere in the world (including CBS' "The Ex List," from Israel, and NBC's "Kath & Kim," from Australia). There are big-name producers you've heard from before (Jerry Bruckheimer, David E. Kelley, J.J. Abrams).

Fantasy continues to be hot, too, and several series require a willing suspension of disbelief. ABC expects you to follow a detective transported to the 1970s by a car crash; CBS a woman who has turned her life upside down because of a psychic's prediction.

Television executives have always been shy about seeking bold new ideas, and this year "people are hedging their bets a little more," Bianculli said.

CBS is particularly conservative, especially since the network took some real chances last year with a musical and gothic thriller that failed to last.

The strike fell during the networks' development season, when ideas are incubated. ABC and Fox executives both admitted that really hurt, and forced cutbacks. While its rivals occasionally ordered series based only on scripts or a quick 20-minute film about an idea, it was a route ABC entertainment President Stephen McPherson refused to follow.

He won't commit to a series unless episodes have been cast and written and a pilot is filmed. He likened it to an automaker not building prototype new models.

"If I was running a car company and I was going to make 750,000 cars with just a sketch ... it doesn't make sense," he said.

His CBS counterpart Nina Tassler said that if you've been in the business long enough, sometimes a sketch is all you need. Tassler said her CBS team spent much of the strike looking at programs from around the world for ideas, something they have rarely done.

Kevin Reilly, Fox entertainment president, said that some of the ideas Fox didn't have time to develop this past season will be pushed forward a year, giving the network a leg up on the 2009-10 season.

That doesn't help much for September 2008, however.

The opening of a fall season has been slowly declining in importance, anyway, as a launching pad for new programs. "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost" proved in 2004 it can be done, but no comparable hits have started in the fall since then. Three of the five most popular shows last week , "American Idol," "Dancing With the Stars" and "Grey's Anatomy" , each started in another season.

Executives are concerned that it's too easy for a new show to get lost in September when there are so many other choices.

Fans will still anticipate new episodes of existing series when they start up in the fall, but it's becoming less of an event. A survey of more than 1,000 Americans released this week by Entertainment Weekly found that 59 percent of people say they no longer look forward to the new fall season the way they used to.

It was another ominous sign when Michael Nathanson, an analyst for the Wall Street firm Bernstein Research, wrote earlier this month about the lack of clients and reporters calling him about the networks' programming presentations.

Except for Fox, the broadcasters dramatically scaled those back, a reflection of the strike and the economy. A young advertising executive asked someone after CBS' Carnegie Hall meeting whether the party would be at Tavern on the Green, as usual. No, there would be no party, he was told. The man didn't believe it, and took out his cell phone to check with someone else.

But it was true.

"Let's face it," Fox entertainment Chairman Peter Liguori said from the stage during his network's presentation, "the broadcast television industry needs a jolt."

There was little evidence of a jolt this past week.

 

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Cannes Gives 'Indy' Luke-Warm Reception

Mixed Reaction Greets Film's Premiere In France

It's not like Indiana Jones isn't used to being in tight spots, but then again, he's never been judged by a Cannes Film Festival audience.

The latest chapter in the saga following everybody's favorite archaeologist, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," did just that, premiering Sunday at the festival.

While the film received none of the derisive laughter or catcalls that came near the end of the Cannes screening of "Da Vinci Code" two years ago, it did get receive louder applause going in than coming out.

Some viewers at its first press screening loved it, some called it slick and enjoyable though formulaic, some said it was not worth the 19-year wait since Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Harrison Ford made the last film.

Fans at the early afternoon showing, cheered and clapped wildly at an announcement that the screening was about to start. Some even hummed the Indiana Jones fanfare as the lights went down.

The applause at the end was more subdued.

The first official review of the film, published by the London paper The Telegraph, didn't have many positive things to say.

Saying that Ford shows every one of his 65 years, the review stopped short of describing the film as bad, but called it "undeniably creaky."

"With a cast clearly pre-fabricated to appeal to all ages, an overstuffed plot and an ageing action hero, it feels born of commercial calculation rather than a story that needed to be told," the review said.

 

 

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        Ultimate Baby Fighting                                                         

  With Fathers Day coming up we decided that most fathers these days are wussies when it comes to teaching their kids how to fight. So to you we offer this fathers day "How To" video. Enjoy.

 

 

 

 

    Coach Fired For Allegedly Hazing Players                  

Players Come To Coach's Defense

A Northbridge middle school baseball coach lost his job because of an anonymous complaint that he was allegedly hazing his players.

Boston television station WCVB reported Thursday that some of the kids on the team are coming to coach Bean Bennett's defense.

Parents said that they are upset about the firing and the fact that the school never sent home a letter. School officials told parents that the situation had been handled internally.

"Mr. Bennett helped me out through baseball ever since Little League," player Michael Hubert.

Players said that what the school called hazing was part of harmless fun for them. The player who goofed up during practice would be sent through a so-called "hot oven." Teammates would line up and open legs to form a tunnel. The "hot oven" nominee -- chosen by teammates -- would scamper through as fast as he could as players tried to slap his bottom.

"Whether or not it was hazing -- in my opinion I would say it was not because it was done in the open. Everyone agreed to it, and no one got hurt," parent Debbie Clasby said.

"He was always nice -- a fair coach. He always looked out for the kids," Hubert said.

When it rained, Bennett allowed the team to play inside for free at the local batting cage that he owns.

The middle school principal said that it was a personnel matter. The superintendent of schools said that the matter was resolved two weeks ago.

Bennett sent WCVB a letter that he has written to parents. He said the ritual was not hazing, but something the players on the team wanted to do.

He said he stopped it as soon as he heard about the complaint.

In a related story

  Northwestern soccer team suspended for hot girl-on-girl hazing 

At last, a story of college-athlete misbehavior that we can all feel good about.

The Web site in question is BadJocks.com, and when they say that college hazing rituals are seemingly becoming “more intense, more violent and more sexual in nature,” they have the photos to prove it… kinda.

Possibly SFW — no nudity, just college girls in their underwear — but I’m putting it “after the jump,” so you can decide for yourself. Parental discretion advised, I suppose.)

For example, here we see a pair of girls who might consider becoming Carolina Panthers cheerleaders if the whole soccer thing doesn’t work out for them:

In addition to the girl-on-girl stuff, lap dances were also involved:

I, for one, am shocked, appalled and horrified… that BadJocks only published 16 of the 46 photos that were apparently in the original album. For shame! :)

(Hat tip: Can’t Stop the Bleeding, via Technorati. See also the mighty mjd sports blog.)

 

Inflation and housing in focus                                      

 
Dealers will get fresh insight into price pressures and housing.

VBLAZIN SNEAK PEEK at the movies

 City of Ember

In a race against time the citizens of Ember must search for clues that will unlock the ancient mystery of the city's existence, and escape before the lights go out forever

 

  'Prince Caspian' Tops Box Office With $57M            

''Chronicles of Narnia' Sequel No. 1 In Theaters

"Prince Caspian" rules the box office.

"The Chronicles of Narnia" sequel knocked "Iron Man" out of the top spot, bringing in nearly $57 million in its opening weekend according to studio estimates. And Disney said it expects the movie to continue riding high through Memorial Day weekend.

"Iron Man" from Marvel Studios slipped to second place after two weeks at No. 1 but still pulled in more than $31 million.

"What Happens in Vegas," starring Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher, came in third, with nearly $14 million in its second weekend. The movie's domestic total has reached more than $40 million, well above its $35 million budget.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian," $56.6 million

2. "Iron Man," $31.2 million

3. "What Happens in Vegas," $13.9 million

4. "Speed Racer," $7.6 million

5. "Baby Mama," $4.6 million

6. "Made of Honor," $4.5 million

7. "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," $2.5 million

8. "Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay," $1.8 million

9. "The Forbidden Kingdom," $1 million

10. "The Visitor," $687,000

Video on Championships: Super Bowl                    

 

Miss the Pig Skin season? Well, we got a your fix for all of the die hard football fans. Hopefully this little bit of history will hold you over till September.


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