The TV Zone

No go, O.

A feud! A feud! Goody, goody. It looks like we've got a brand new feud.

Here's the latest: Oprah was in NYC at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre last night, where she hosted the 50th anniversary gala. "Extra" caught up with her and here's what the grandee of the daytime tube told 'em:

"I said I would be happy to talk to Sarah Palin when the election was over... I went and tried to talk to Sarah Palin and instead she talked to Greta [Van Susteren]. She talked to Matt [Lauer]. She talked to Larry [King]. But she didn't talk to me. But maybe she'll talk to me now that she has a [multi-million dollar] book deal."

Well, that might be counterproductive for both since "O's" in re-runs now, but...

We all know the genesis of this feud - if that is what we've got here. O refused to have Sarah on the show until after the election. Blah, blah. There was a huge national uproar. The entire election hung in balance. And...then everyone went on their merry way.

But clearly, Sixpack was miffed, as seems evident now.

Meanwhile, does she actually have a "multimillion dollar book deal?" It was certainly rumored three or four weeks ago, but nothing official yet - as far as I can tell.

One of the biggest departures in recent TV history takes place Jan. 15:Gil Grissom is leaving "CSI."

Few details on this, other than this tantalizing line in a recent CBS release: "Grissom makes the stunning announcement that he is leaving the CSI team, on CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION, Thursday, Jan. 15 (9:00-10:01 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network." One of CBS's hard-working public relations pros did indeed confirm to me that this will be Billy's last day.

[BTW, my colleague at the Trib, the incomparable Mo Ryan, tells me that in fact Grissom tells the staff in NEXT WEEK'S episode that he's leaving. That of course is the one with Fishburne.]

So there you have it. He's gone on the 15th. Laurence Fishburne joins the CSI next week...

Idle question: I wonder how he and Lady Heather will get along?

We are surely about to witness a strange, strange January, and as evidence - this from ABC: "Homeland Security USA."

Read this logline for the newbie that arrives Jan. 6 at 8:

"Every day the men and women of the Department of Homeland Security patrol more than 100,000 miles of America’s borders. This territory includes airports, seaports, land borders, international mail centers, the open seas, mountains, deserts and even cyberspace. Now viewers will get an unprecedented look at the work of these men and women while they use the newest technology to safeguard our country and enforce our laws, in “Homeland Security USA,” which debuts with the episode “This is Your Car on Drugs."

I'm informed that it's based on an Aussie hit, and will be produced by Arnold "Big Brother" Shapiro.

No further comment.

Last year's gang...

Good Lord: What is going on over there at the NBC Television Network? We ink stained types just got confirmation of that scoop in TV Week which said that..."Celebrity Apprentice" will run two hours each week. Two hours back to back. That's a lotta "CA."

It launches Sunday March 1 and will air nine to eleven.

Anyway, I just got off the horn with my old friend, Donald Trump - I say "old friend" only because he still actually remembers my first review of "TA," in which I called him "the greatest star in the history of reality TV" and Trumpster remembers his positive press, lemme tell ya - and he tells me that the whole shebang has already been shot, with the exception of the live finale. So it's no extra sweat off of the Trumpian brow. I wondered about "overkill" - the "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" syndrome - and DT countered with:

"I sorta like it [the two hours per week]. I like that we were singled out out of all the [NBC] shows. I think it'll work well." Per DT, the boardroom scenes will run during the second hour, and in some instance take up THE ENTIRE second hour.

Which is a lot of boardroom.

Will the entire run of the show next winter/spring run for two hours? Says DT: "They're talking about at least eight weeks and more than half of those will be two hours..."

And so it goes. Please head on down to the jump for the entire NBC winter lineup and press release. I will ruminate on all of this further...tomorrow...

Quickly, the other headlines:

- "The Office" gets the post-SB catbird seat (Feb. 1 at 10:30).

- "Chuck" returns Feb. 2 with a 3-D episode...

Continue reading ""Celebrity Apprentice:" Two Hours! " »

That tried and true gimmick designed to prime viewer interest in series TV - the "sneak peek" - is about to roll over "Lost" (as if "Lost" needs priming...) ABC will release a handful of 5th season "peeks" tomorrow, I am assured, and meanwhile, some high-profile websites like E! Online and Zap2it have trotted out their "exclusive" peeks. But why go there? It's SO hard to type all those letters in...just click on the link below (which we've borrowed from Zap2it - thanks, '2it!) and watch Kate frantically...well, just click...

This can't be good: I am told that CNN has eliminated its science unit, affecting seven staffers. It's not good for many reasons but the network's science unit is one of the best in television and probably has a few dozen Emmys to prove it. Here's a statement from CNN: " We want to integrate environmental, science and technology reporting into the general editorial structure rather than have a stand alone unit. Now that the bulk of our environmental coverage is being offered through the 'Planet in Peril' franchise which is produced by the 'AC360' program, there is no need for a separate unit." Veteran anchor Miles O'Brien is affected in this shift too; TVnewser just reported that he was ousted too. As viewers know, CNN's taken a deep, long interest in science (space-related stuff, it seems to me, in particular) going back to the earliest days, when John Holliman - one of the "Boys of Baghdad" - was the network's space reporter. So this strikes at the culture and history of the place.

I've taken a very quick gander at the CW's winter lineup, just announced, and nothing seems too outta place. Oh, yes - there will be a "repurpose" hour of "90210" but that's not really news.

The Big Thing (TBT): "Reaper" will be back March 17 (a Tuesday) at 9. Meanwhile, a new reality show "13 - Fear is For Real" (think "Survivor"-Meets-"Blair Witch") will launch Jan. 7.

( "Thirteen people compete to “stay alive” as they face their deepest fears in an all-out elimination competition and scare-fest. Pitted against each other in situations straight from the horror movies, the 13 will face shocking surprises, psychological scares and lots of “beware of the dark” moments...")

Head on down to the jump for the full schedule...

Continue reading ""Reaper" Back Next March" »

Hold everything, people. We have a Lee Majors sighting for you.

The uber-cool star of "The Six Million Dollar Man" and "The Fall Guy" (not to mention super-meta "Family Guy" references) will guest star on the Dec. 21 episode of the CBS drama "Cold Case."

The episode is about the investigation of a 1960 stewardess murder. (Stewardess! Can we even still say that word anymore?). Majors guest stars as a former airline colleague of the victim. Two other colleagues are played by -- are you ready for this -- Adrienne Barbeau ("Maude") and Mariette Hartley ("The Incredible Hulk").

And just to make things even more bizarre, the only songs in the episode will be by Frank Sinatra.

I don't usually watch "Cold Case," but I'll be tuning in for this.

In the meantime, to satisfy your Lee Majors jones (and we know you have one), here's an opening scene from a "Fall Guy" episode.

It's here and it features - as you may be aware - David Cook.

The new season tease, that is. Has a winner ever appeared before in something like this? Don't believe so. Worth a look - and thanks to colleague Corris Little for alerting me to this...

Please head to the jump if you want to see (there's a glitch in the code that kicks on the video the moment you go there...a little annoying...sorry.

Continue reading ""American Idol:" Tease with David Cook" »

"This job is mine, Todd, mine! GET OFF OF MY SET!!!"

Yes, the Times has finally weighed in on the David Gregory-to-"Meet the Press" moderator story - which of course means it must be essentially true because NBC leaks everything, and I do mean everything, to the Times.

(Oh wait, I forgot - there is ONE thing they didn't leak, which is that sensational and doubtless dead-on-accurate story concerning one Gen. Barry McCaffrey, appearing in this Sunday's NYT and which was so utterly humiliating to NBC that I'm convinced it refused to give this big scoop to the paper but instead handed it to Huffpo! Which is the network's way of humiliating the Times in return! And who says this business isn't like the second grade playground?)

Anyway, I have a scoop-within-the-(Huffpo)-scoop. I am told on very good authority that Gregory has negotiated his own deal with NBC, which may be why this deal isn't quite as solid as it should be at this moment. In fact, Gregory even by-passed his own power agent, Richard Leibner, to handle this huge deal, which could pay WELL beyond $3 million per, and maybe even in the $4-5 mill range (an educated guess.)

Leibner, blindsided? It's hard to imagine. I called Leibner this ayem to find out more, and I got the stone-cold "no comment" from his people. Leibner, of course, has handled many of the biggest deals in TV news history - notably Dan Rather's for CBS News.

(Is David angry Richard didn't land him "Today?" I dunno...)

What's so amazing about this? Simply that talent never negotiate their own deals - for a whole host of reasons - and Leibner is one of the best there is. To put this in laymen's terms, what if A-Rod was to negotiate his own deal without Scott Boras? It's inconceivable simply because when huge dollar figures come into the mix, harsh words - to put it mildly - are sometimes exchanged between both parties. It's part of the agent's job to adsorb this blowback - not the talent's.

For all I know, Gregory may be leaning on his attorney to do the dirty...umm, nitty gritty work here. Still, that's why talent have agents-of-record.

I bring all this up tonight simply to say - it ain't over until it's over. And embarrassing things have happened in this biz before. (Oh yeah.) I'm still waiting for the press release...