CBS Is Still a Shimmering Pile of Junk
CBS may be strutting around at upfronts, all proud and cocky because their shows are wildly popular. But their shows, both old and new, are also wildly awful.
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From new "limited-run" event shows (and old ones like 24) to existing but evolving hits like How I Met Your Mother, the dinosaurs of the lower channels are disrupting their own programming models at upfronts this week to fight back against Netflix and Co.
CBS may be strutting around at upfronts, all proud and cocky because their shows are wildly popular. But their shows, both old and new, are also wildly awful.
The network-TV king rolled out a new lineup Wednesday afternoon that includes a new Chuck Lorre comedy and a show starring Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar (yes, both of them). Check out the interactive now-and-then schedule inside, plus details, first-look video clips, and a whole lot of attitude.
Today in show business news: NBC is cleaning house while CBS is adding more clutter, including a Robin Williams/Sarah Michelle Gellar show. Yes, you read that right.
Two of the major broadcast networks are now threatening to remove their stations from the free airwaves if a little start-up called Aereo succeeds, with CBS joining Fox (and the NBCUniversal network Univision) in their pledges to go cable. But should anyone believe them?
Today in show business news: CBS has announced the return of fourteen shows, NBC wants more hunks, and Bravo is trying to figure it out.
Every broadcast network has a Standards & Practices department. They're the fussy worrywarts who stringently enforce FCC rules about indecency — sexy stuff, swears, maybe violence. Basically they regulate all the fun stuff. But just how specific and needling are they?
The once beloved and suddenly beleaguered tech-review site CNET will no longer select the official Best in Show awards at the Consumer Electronics Show because of its ethically questionable situation with parent company CBS.
Even after a contentious fight this week to turn it around, CBS is still enforcing a made-up rule making CNET tip-toe around lawsuits and products that the media giant sees as a threat.
The influential tech site watched its editorial integrity spiral out of control Monday, with staffers quitting and editors were left to explain themselves in the wake of explosive new charges over its annual CES awards — a scanda that goes to the top of its corporate umbrella, and could shake the entire ecosystem of online tech journalism.
CNET was put in an awkward situation Thursday when their parent company CBS forced them to pull one of their nominated "Best of CES" products because of an impending lawsuit.
Today in showbiz news: CBS has canceled Partners, but its Big Bang Theory is bangier than ever, and two trailers for two promising comedies.
Word comes today that NBC has canceled its first-year veterinary sitcom Monkey Hospital Ape ER Dr. Doolittle's Wonderful, Blunderful ICU Animal Practice after weeks of poor ratings. What other shows are in danger? Let's take a look.
From the storied, sun-bleached tract of asphalt known as Hollywoodland comes the latest tale of a lowly assistant working her way into the big leagues. This time by starting a Tumblr making fun of her job (and her boss), she has been promptly rewarded with a television show. Well, that's the story being spun, anyway.
It's scary, but I'm just going to come out and say it: I have an NCIS problem and it is only escalating.
PR folks: If you have a list of items that don't belong in press kits, add "alarm clock" to it, or just remember, don't send promotional packages with alarm clocks in them. They can be mistaken for bombs.
CBS has decided to rework an old movie hit for the small screen. Elsewhere in showbiz news: Michael Fassbender tries comedy, TBS makes a strange renewal, and Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters looks pretty miserable.
CBS is going to talk about marriage. Not gay marriage, no.The marriage talk we're referring to is the conversation sparked by the controversial "All the Single Ladies" article that ran a few months back in the pages of our big sister publication, The Atlantic.
CBS announced Sunday morning that the Romney-Ryan tag team will do their first television appearance together on Sunday's episode of 60 Minutes. The interview will be hosted by recent Romney antagonist/interviewer Bob Schieffer.
Oh, for Peter's sake. CBS has announced plans to reboot the cornball family sitcom The Brady Bunch for a whole new generation. To prove its new, fresh modernness, the project will be co-developed and produced by foul-mouthed funnyman Vince Vaughn.
It's only been around six months since the new, revamped CBS This Morning hit the air, and it appears the network has already grown tired of its current co-host lineup, as CBS announced today that the network's chief White House correspondent, Norah O'Donnell, will be replacing current co-host and Early Show alum Erica Hill.
Chief Justice John Roberts originally sided with the Supreme Court's four conservative justices to strike down the Affordable Care Act, but later changed his position and formed an alliance with liberals to uphold President Obama's health care reform law.
Here's some petty little showbiz news for you: CBS is annoyed that a judge will allow ABC to air a new show called Glass House that the Tiffany network thinks is too similar to its long-running Big Brother, so they've written a tongue-in-cheek press release about their new show Dancing On the Stars.
Mitt Romney talks immigration, bailing out Europe, health care and tax reform in huge interview with Bob Schieffer on Face the Nation; McCain says he's worried about campaign finance scandals; Santorum talks immigration and his role in a potential Romney administration.
The Ryan Seacrest media empire convinced CBS to order a pilot for a Draw Something gameshow, which we think is the first iPhone game to be turned into a television gameshow.
Bob Schieffer called out the Romney campaign for only doing Fox, and now he gets to do the first interview with Mitt on a Sunday morning show not named Fox News Sunday.
Today: CBS has a turkey on its hands, Jon Favreau acts again, and ABC, well, has a turkey on its hands.
Today is CBS's turn to present its new schedule to New York advertisers, and, well, they haven't got much to talk about. Super dominant ratings behemoth as the network is, not much will change from this season to next.
The happy news comes today that HBO has officially renewed their successful fantasy series Game of Thrones for a third season. Gods be good! Seems like lots of shows are getting renewed right now. Let's take a look at what we'll be watching next TV season.
Nickelodeon has an odd dynamo on its hands, an American Idol contestant gets the boot, and Jenna Elfman is headed to Washington
Jeremy Lin won't be dunking during all-star weekend, the 3-point shot isn't just for guards anymore, and the Minnesota Vikings once again think they're close to a stadium deal.
Another day, another horrifying multicamera sitcom that makes us scratch our heads in confusion.
Michael Patrick King had an awkward TCAs moment today.
Just a couple hours after its premier, CBS's new morning show is swimming in the warm, comforting words of glowing reviews.
Ahead of today's caucuses in Iowa, Newt Gingrich woke up early to do some heavy Mitt Romney bashing only to go on to say that he'd still vote for him in a head-to-head matchup with President Obama.
After a day of staring at Twitter, we're sharing our favorite tweets that made no sense.
Yesterday CBS made their overhaul of The Early Show official, formally announcing Erica Hill, Gayle King, and Charlie Rose as their new hosts and positioning the morning show, which will get a new name, as a real-news alternative to Today and Good Morning America's chipper fluff.
Paul Bettany has been declared an expert in the art of love, Ben Stiller's wife gets her shot, and The Early Show will never be the same.
Every afternoon The Atlantic Wire highlights the day's video clips that truly earn your five minutes (or less) of attention.
Today in film and television: The Rum Diary had a no good, very bad weekend, Justin Timberlake has been offered a role in the new Coen Brothers movie about folk singers, and CBS is Americanizing one of Israeli's TV's most popular shows.
Following the Page Six item gossiping that CBS is looking to pair Charlie Rose with Gayle King on The Early Show, Rose has confirmed that he's in talks with the network in an interview with Howard Kurtz in this week's Newsweek.
Nielsen's numbers for the first four weeks of the fall television season are in, and the figures don't look great for the three traditional major TV networks, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Plus: Leonardo DiCaprio is on the rebound
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The series premier roped in 27.7 million viewers
Plus: A settlement appears close between Warner Bros. and Charlie Sheen
You could feel the karma on Two and a Half Men last night
Plus: Los Angeles viewers didn't get to see Sunday's wildest NFL finish
Plus: Where the Borders business model lost its way
Plus: Kevin Costner passes on letting Quentin Tarantino rejuvenate his career
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