OPENING CEREMONY PRAISED; NBC SCORNED AT OLYMPICS’ START

If NBC was hoping to win back the goodwill and admiration of viewers with its $1-billion Olympics package, it certainly got off on the wrong foot on Friday as it delayed the telecast of the Opening Ceremony until primetime in the U.S., refused to make it available online, and actively policed the Internet to make […]

CRITICS: OSCARS AMOUNT TO TEDIUM TV

Film critics wasted no time banging out reviews of Sunday night’s Oscars, with several of them posting their assessments of the affair within minutes after the ceremonies concluded. Indeed, Daily Variety‘s Brian Lowry posted his (negative) review of Billy Crystal’s opening as if he were racing a legion of tweeters. Actually, many of the reviews […]

TV REVIEWS: SMASH

Pinning its recovery hopes on a show about a Broadway show, NBC is launching Smash tonight (Monday) with a $7-million pilot that will be followed by a weekly series costing $4 million per episode. (The network has also reportedly spent as much as $25 million to promote the series.) If the public’s reaction is anything […]

TV REVIEWS: THE KENNEDYS

So what was all the fuss over The Kennedys all about? That’s what the critics of the eight-part miniseries debuting Sunday on ReelzChannel appear to be asking. Certainly, they say, the series has its faults — many of them, according to most — but nothing really to get all that riled up about. Why the […]

WILL MORGAN BE “DANGEROUS” TO KING?

CNN announced Tuesday that Piers Morgan’s interview with Larry King will air on Wednesday night. It did not indicate whether the interview had been — or will be — pre-taped. However, it comes after King’s surprising criticism during a BBC radio interview that CNN had oversold Morgan as an unpredictable and “dangerous” interviewer. Whether Morgan […]

CONAN RULES LATE NIGHT IN TBS DEBUT

Conan O’Brien launched his “second annual first show” on TBS Monday night, drawing 4.2 million viewers, 3.3 million of them in the 18-49-year-old demographic. In a statement, Steve Koonin, president of Turner Entertainment Networks, said, “Conan delivered an extraordinary audience and stands out as the youngest late-night talk show on television.” Monday night’s premiere received […]

TV REVIEWS: OUTSOURCED

The premise may do more to impact the ratings of NBC’s season opener of Outsourced — a young American is sent to manage an outsourced call-center in India — than the content, which most critics agree is funny — in some scenes, outrageously so. “But whether intercultural relations can generate enough hilarity to sustain an […]

TV REVIEWS: “24” FINALE

Critics bade farewell to 24 with generally respectful reviews but little acclamation. “Taken simply as two hours of TV, it was exciting in its own insane way,” wrote Robert Bianco in USA Today. “And the ending was, at least, suitably bittersweet. … It just wasn’t the ending, or the last season, a great series deserved.” […]

BETTY WHITE SHINES AS “SNL” TURNS GOLDEN WITH GIRLS

Betty White brought Saturday Night Live its highest ratings since last year’s pesidential election as she co-hosted the late-night show and appeared in virtually all of its satirical sketches. The episode scored an 8.8 rating and a 21 share in preliminary Nielsen ratings. (Final figures, including the estimated number of viewers, is due on Thursday). […]