Change in the Weather

The holidays are over and now the post-holiday blues are ready to set in - and this year (thanks to the writer's strike) there's not going to be much new TV to help pull one out of the funk.

But, we shall endeavor to persevere.

I've had several opinions over the last month, but not nearly enough time to post.

The most troubling development in TV (beyond the strike, which MAY just cripple broadcast TV for a long time) is Thursday's announcement that the Weather Channel is for sale.

The Weather Channel (TWC) and weather.com, up until now, have been fiercely independent. TWC isn't part of any massive vertically integrated congolmerate.

Yet.

The company most interested in TWC? Why, it's NBC/Universal.

Yep. The man who has ruined so much of so many cable and broadcast entities, Jeff Zucker, may be getting his hands on a channel that is uniquely positioned in the cable world.

In a time when Sci-Fi shows wrestling, and History explores UFOs ad nauseum, TWC has managed to pretty much cover THE WEATHER 24/7.

Two things could happen if NBCU gets TWC.

First, we could see program changes. Perhaps some weather related disaster films produced in Canada, TWC meteorologists doing forecasts for NFL Sunday night games, maybe a variety show featuring The Weather Girls or guest celebrity forecasts featuring the briefcase girls from DEAL OR NO DEAL.

Second, the hideous force-fed Green Week on NBCU channels will be aggressively expanded. You see, the company that controls NBCU is General Electric. It is GE's stated goal to promote the concept of global warming in order to promote compact fluorescent bulbs, along with other 'green' technologies that would not be adopted without mountains of propaganda.

Imagine the outcry if Exxon controlled NewsCorp.

Meanwhile, the FCC is going ahead with its plan to change the rules about cross ownership of TV stations and newspapers.

Soon we will be exposed only to the messages that GE, Disney, Coke, McDonald's and Rupert Murdoch want us to see.

None of this is good news.

Stay tuned.

Rantings of a TV Junkie

In no organized fashion other than the order things pop into my head... my impressions of TV as we wrap up 2006....

1. THE O.C. is back! This show is en fuego! Killing off Marissa Cooper has given the show new life - and it's a happy life. Gone are the endlessly morose, angst-driven storylines about how unhappy Marissa was. It's all been replaced by the perky, funny, pop-cult aware, snarkiness that fans fell for in Season 1. It's not too late to rediscover the fun!

2. LOST is taking its fans on a remarkable journey. I'm not trying to figure it all out. I'm not in the camp that's insisting on answers. Place me solidly in the 'I can't wait to see what happens next" camp. This may be the best series on TV right now.

3. HOUSE endures. How in the world the writers manage to make the same story work week after week is a mystery to me, but they do. Love it!

4. HEROES, the origin! Without a doubt, my favorite new show of the year. I hope the writers are able to take their time and advance the story at their own pace. No need to rush through the prime rib to get to the dessert.

5. There's too much NFL on TV. Yep, I said it. The addition of Thursday and Saturday games is too much. It's diluting the special-ness of Sunday afternoon.

6. IDOL and 24 are a comin'! I just have to figure out how to clear my Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays to make room for them....

7. STANDOFF deserves to come back. A great little show starring one of my favorite actors. I just hope FOX gives it another shot.

8. DRIVE takes off in March. A new series from Tim Minear (FIREFLY), starring Nathon Fallion (also FIREFLY) about an illegal race across the country in which the participants don't know their opponents. Hope it's as fun as Minear's other work!

Questions for '07...

Will the FCC allow more concentration of TV ownership? If so, it's over folks. Allowing fewer and fewer companies to own more and more of the TV we see is far from a good thing.

How high is up for IDOL? With the competitive landscape changed (i.e. LOST moves out of the way) will IDOL reach even higher number in '07?

Where is the next great 3 camera sitcom? It's out there. The suits will find it, it's just a matter of time. Blind pigs come to mind.

Will My Network abandon the telenovela? I think so. The truth is, 20th TV was already shopping those 65 episodes mini-series in syndication before parent company FOX TV (the stations not the network) found themselves losing their UPN affiliation. It was the only thing they had on the shelf to distribute to their stations as an ad hoc net. Look for Ultimate Fighting to follow. Maybe even some sort of poker. But no matter what, it's going to make the syndicated product of the early '80s look good.

I'm sure there's more, but that's al my poor little brain can spit out this afternoon...

Happy New Year to all!