Filed under: Industry, Celebrities, Pushing Daisies, Reality-Free

ABC’s hit show Pushing Daisies will host a pie-eating contest at the Orange County Fair. The contest will run for thirteen straight evenings. Each night, ten contestants will don a “Pie Hole” themed bib and compete for a special prize. No word on what the prize is or superior yet, what kind of pie they’ll have to eat. Also, on the first night of the contest, cast members Field Cate (Young Ned) and Sammi Hanratty (Young Chuck) will be on hand to sign autographs.

This is a adorable marketing idea. A good ole fashioned food-eating contest is always a hit. However, I wish they would have gotten some bigger cast members to make an appearance. The kids are adorable, but even I’d take a trip to Orange County to watch people stuff themselves for Lee Pace (*swoon*).

If you live in Orange County or are planning to visit in the near future, the dates and specific locations for the contest are after the jump.

Continue reading Pushing Daisies to host pie-eating contest

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Filed under: Industry, OpEd, Web, TCA Press Tour, Reality-Free

You might have noticed a few interesting items have come out that have the phrase “he/she said to a gathering of television critics.” Well, that can only mean one thing… the TV Critics Association press tour is underway!

Because the writers’ strike scuttled the winter edition of the twice-yearly tour earlier this year, this is the first time in a year that the various networks have had a chance to go though the painful process of peddling their wares in front of a group of cranky, jet-lagged, and hungry Television critics and journalists. This year should be interesting, since the broadcast networks don’t really have much to offer in terms of new shows (and even fewer pilots for the shows they’re picking up), and the whole nature and effectiveness of the press tour is being called into question by both the networks and the critics (more on that in a second).

All that being said, though, you can be sure that Television Squad will be at the Beverly Hilton to cover the dog-and-pony show. Kristin will attend selected cable presentations, and I’ll be flying in Sunday, just in time for the broadcast networks to do their thing. Expect reports about executives and producers getting grilled, critics jostling each other out of the way to get a question in during post-press conference scrums, and tales of the uncommon happenings at the all-star celebrations. Also keep an eye on our Twitter page, as I’ll likely be throwing out silly dispatches (and maybe even breaking news) from the various events.

Continue reading The TCAs are underway … and we’ll be there!

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Filed under: Industry, OpEd, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free

It looks like the comic book invasion of the motion picture theaters is coming to TV. Showtime has picked up a drama project based on the DC Comics/Vertigo series The Exterminators (although apparently the TV adaption will simply be called Exterminators). The comic book was created by Simon Oliver and Tony Moore.

The series will be produced by Sara Colleton, whose credits include Riding In Automobiles With Boys, Live From Baghdad, The Painted Veil and Dexter. The comic revolves around an ex-con who joins an exterminator company with a freakish cast of supporting characters and several mysteries involving his girlfriend and pesticide manufacturing. Originally conceived of by writer Simon Oliver as a TV pitch, it’s been described as Six Feet Under but with pest control.

Having never read the original comic (although I found an online review of the first issue), it certainly seems an interesting concept (aren’t they all?). It seems to have a Twilight Zone-ish, sinister vibe that might make for interesting viewing.

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Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Food/Home/DIY, Industry, American Idol, Site Announcements, Watercooler Talk, Celebreality

Since the early days of TV Squad, we’ve covered realty programming in some capacity; we published news, episode reviews and commentary on whatever had viewers talking. I think back then we were covering Survivor, American Idol and perhaps The Amazing Race. We’d a decent balance of reality and non-reality posts, and everyone seemed happy.

As the years went on, that balance shifted. The reality shows we were covering were only increasing in popularity, and more shows came in to ride the wave. As we sat back and watched some of the newer shows break onto the scene with little posting from us, the readers demanded our take. The monstrosity of Reality TV was something we couldn’t ignore, so we provided.

Then we reached the breaking point.

Continue reading Reality TV: What it is, who watches it and why it exists

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Filed under: Industry, Reality-Free

And now, another installment of ‘David vs. Goliath’. In this case, David is The American Federation of TV and Radio Artists (AFTRA), while the role of Goliath is portrayed by the Screen Actors Guild (SAG). For months, both unions have been negotiating with the studios for higher salaries for their lower-paid actors as well as more profits from DVD and new media sales. AFTRA, the smaller of the two actor unions, has been fairly quiet concerning these negotiations. SAG, on the other hand, has been quite boisterous concerning the poor negotiating tactics of the studios.

With the amount of muscle SAG has one would think they would have been able to get the better deal of the two unions. Yet, as in David’s battle against Goliath, it looks like the tiny person got the better of the bigger one. On Tuesday, the 70,000 members of AFTRA ratified a new prime-time Television contract. According to AFTRA President Roberta Reardon, the new contract “contains substantial gains for every category of performer in both traditional and new media.” This, despite a campaign by SAG members to persuade those who are members of both unions to vote “no” on the contract.

Continue reading AFTRA ratifies a new studio contract, despite complaints from the Screen Actors Guild

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Filed under: Industry, Programming, Family Guy, Celebrities, Reality-Free

Along with running three shows on Fox (Family Guy, American Dad and The Cleveland Show), Seth McFarlane is also getting into online content development. Even worse, he’s doing it for a Fox competitor.

McFarlane will be developing fifty two-minute animated vignettes for Seth McFarlane’s Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy which will be distributed via Google’s AdSense network (a competitor for Fox’s Myspace).

The article goes into the corporate issues behind this strange move and asks a few good questions: why didn’t Fox get a first-look offer at this idea? If they did, why did they pass on it? It seems affordable enough to produce and given the popularity of the creator, it seems a no-brainer.

Continue reading As if Seth McFarlane didn’t have enough to do…

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Filed under: Industry, OpEd, Friday Night Lights, Casting, Reality-Free

It’s a question that popped up even before our pals in Dillon had their premiere. What are they going to do when these children begin graduating? Well, we’ve an answer now, and I’m not sure it’s going to be embraced by everyone. EW’s Michael Ausiello reports that Gaius Charles (Smash) and Scott Porter (Street) have been moved to recurring status.

Producer Jason Katims released a statement that says both characters will get four episode arcs to move them into the next chapter of their lives. Presumably, those would be chapters that won’t be captured by the handheld Friday Night Lights cams. The cynic in me can’t help thinking that this has as much to do with the shaky nature of the FNL renewal as it does with being able to work these characters into the show. After all, the idea of budget cuts after the strange Direct Television deal isn’t an outlandish one. That being stated, the explanation is reasonable. They were going to have to address the graduation dilemma eventually.

Continue reading Changes coming to Friday Night Lights

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