The Excellent 10

Here we go! I am honored to present to you: The Excellent 10: The best television shows of 2006. Once again, we’re counting them down American Top 40 style, from number 10 to number 1.…

10. Pardon the Interruption (ESPN). Despite Kornhiser…. And LeBatard….

9. Simpsons (Fox).

8. Arrested Development (Fox). R.I.P.

7. South Park (Comedy Central). Despite a handful of weak episodes, this show still hits the political satire target with success every time, especially with this year’s superb “Cartoon Wars” -- The best episode of any sitcom to air this decade.

6. The Daily Show (Comedy Central). Jon Stewart fake news show is more informational (and fun) than the local news that air opposite it.

5. The Colbert Report (Comedy Central). Who in the land can appear at the White House Dinner and upstage Bush and invent a word “truthiness” that becomes a part of the vocabulary? Colbert! You’re damn right.

4. America’s Next Top Model (CW). Don’t listen to the critics. What do they know? This show is still entertaining, better than the overrated Survivor. (And who in Chicago watches Survivor anyway?)

3. Ugly Betty (ABC). Finally! A show us geeks can relate to! (And no, Misfits of Science doesn’t count.)

2. Heroes (NBC). Are you on the list? You can be if you Save the Cheerleader. Best new show of the season. This show rocks!

1. Family Guy (Fox). I know Matt and Trey are gonna hate on me for putting this here (and putting South Park at #7) but this is easily, the best comedy -- and best show of the year. It’s still fresh, funny, and a bit better than The Simpsons. (I can’t believe I just said that….)

Honorable Mention: Aqua Teen Hunger Force (Adult Swim), King of the Hill (Fox), Grey’s Anatomy (ABC), Criminal Minds (CBS) [This deserves a mention for surprising everyone by topping Lost in total viewers and households -- and the fact that "Lost" was well, looked lost all season.]

CBS co-founder dies

It's been a rough December in the entertainment business, where it seems like legends are dying every few days. Now, another death - this time the person who co-founded CBS with William Paley, Frank Stanton, dies at 98.

Bears-Packers off to Sunday Night (UPDATED)

Chicagoans, put those New Year's Eve plans on hold...

For newly revised NFL schedule for December 31, click here.

UPDATE: The NFL announced that both Fox and CBS can carry doubleheaders this Sunday, thanks to the wild and willy playoff races in the NFC (and to a lesser extent, the AFC.) This marks the first time in history that both networks carried doubleheader games simultaneously. This is only for areas that does not have an afternoon home game this week (such as here in Chicago.)

(Updated 12-29-06 at 22:34 by T Dog)

James Brown dies

The Godfather of Soul passes at the age of 73.

That's a wrap for 2006

We’re taking a breather from blogging as everything slows down due to the holidays (particularly after this wild week!) On Wednesday, I’ll post The Excellent 10 -- the best shows of the year (The Toilet Bowl 10 post is below this one), but we won’t return to full speed until January 2. If there’s any breaking news in the media industry between now and that date, we’ll post it here. Also, when we return that week, we’ll post two important T Dog Think Tank articles as we prepare for the upcoming National Association of Programming Executives (NATPE) convention later in the month: The dominance of WLS-TV here in Chicago, and the crisis looming (it’s actually here) over the lack of new off-network sitcoms in the market.

I will also be tweaking the site during this down time to add more links and to improve it to serve you better. I wish you nothing but good holiday cheer, a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year! See you January 2^nd!

Peace (and hair grease),

Terence Henderson

Chairman, The T Dog Blog, Inc.

P.S. If your now just getting around to reading this, you should notice the three breaking news stories on top of this. Man, the news never stops, doesn't it?

The Toilet Bowl 10

Here is the worst of the worst. We're counting down the worst TV programs of 2006. Other blogs rank their lists from one to ten. Where's the excitement in that? Why start at Number One? Here at the T Dog Blog, we do things differently. We're counting them down Casey Kasem-style, from #10 to #1. Now, on with the countdown…..

10) Survivor: Cook Islands. (CBS) To rejuvenate the franchise, they decided to split the tribes among races, prompting outcry from the media and politicians (if they didn’t have anything else better to do.) Mark Burnett’s plan was nothing more than a joke, as he merged the tribes after only two episodes. Well, the ratings were down from the previous edition, and the program turned out to be as dull as ever.

9) Stanley Cup Finals (OLN, NBC) Edmonton + Carolina = A dull series and no ratings, despite going seven games. (After all... it is the NHL.)

8) Around the Horn (ESPN). ESPN’s version of Bill O’Reilly, Jay Mariotti, is on this show. Enough said.

7) The Game (CW) Come on, Mara Brock Akli. You can do better than this.

6) ‘Til Death (Fox) What happens when you combine Married… With Children with Everybody Loves Raymond and take out the kids? A program that copies old Too Close For Comfort scripts.

5) The War at Home (Fox) Beginning in January, this program will be paired with above show to form an hour of Mustn’t-See TV.

4) Anything that has ever aired on MyNetworkTV. Instead of listing the shows individually, we grouped all of them under this banner. Because they suck. And that goes for their new shows, Wicked Me and Watch Over the Game, or whatever the hell they're called.

3) According to Jim (ABC). Unfortunately, America associates Chicago with trailer park trash like Jim Belushi instead of people who actually have talent, like Bob Newhart, Jennifer Hudson or Fall Out Boy. And we have this show to thank.

2) The O’Reilly Factor (Fox News Channel) This guy is an asshole, no doubt about it. This piece of shit actually would have been number one if it wasn’t for…. (drum roll please)

1) Show Me the Money (ABC) The worst game show of all time, featuring the worst host of all time, William Shanter. This was the most embarrassing program to air on ABC since Turn-On in ‘69. That program was yanked after one airing. ABC yanked this show after a little more than a month on the air. One airing of Show Me proved to be more than enough.

DISHONORABLE MENTION: The Bad Girls Club (Oxygen), The Book of Daniel (NBC), Big Day (ABC), Deal or No Deal (NBC), Drawn Together (Comedy Central), Lucky Louie (HBO), Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (NBC), Twenty Good Years (NBC).

Bart Simpson's Week 16 NFL picks

Bart Simpson: (c) Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. All rights reserved.

That's right. You heard me. Bart Simpson this week is picking NFL games on FoxSports.com. (If you're a gambling man, don't take his advice. He thinks the Chiefs play in St. Louis.) He said he once drove to Cincinnati (no doubt to loot in the 2001 race riots), and the Pilgrims still live in New England (obviously next door to his other father, Peter Griffin.)

Yeah, and next week, Eric Cartman will be making the picks - he hates San Francisco (too many hippies), he's picking the Broncos to win (of course), and he thinks the Rams still play in Los Angeles.

Wake up with Wolf

Bruce Wolf, who joined WMAQ-TV morning's team after being unceremoniously dumped at WFLD-TV earlier this year, will shine (make that rise and shine) in an new early-morning offbeat news show called Barely Today, that will begin Jan. 15. The program will air at 4:30am (yes 4:30am), which pushes Early Today to 4am. The program launches on Dr. Martin Luther King Day -a holiday where a lot of people will be off to honor the slain civil rights leader.

The program will also be simulcast on classic rock WLUP-FM (The Loop), where Mr. Wolf does double duty as sports commentator on Jonathon Brandmeier's morning show.

Once again, WMAQ has beaten the competition, launching new morning newscasts in earlier time slots. In 1990, it launched the first 6-7am newscasts (after sister station KNBC in Los Angeles became the first to launch one two years earlier), launched the first 5:30am newscast in 1993, then launched a 5am newscast in 1998.

4:30 am news is nothing new: WMC-TV in Memphis launched a 4:30am newscast several years ago.

Big Ten Network to headquarted here (Take that Indy!)

They may have gotten the tournament, but we got their network... The new Big Ten Network announced yesterday that it is basing its headquarters here in Chicago on Chicago Avenue in the renovated Montgomery Wards building. There was a ribbon-cutting ceremony held at the new headquarters, with dignitaries including Mayor Daley and Alderman Walter Burnett Jr.(27th).

Down to the wire

The Broadcasting & Cable TV Critics Poll is out, and HBO's The Wire topped the charts for best overall show of 2006. The runner-ups included freshman sensation Heroes in second place, and 24 came in third.

For best comedy they picked The Office, best drama went to The Wire, and best reality show went to The Amazing Race. As for the worst show, they picked now-defunct freshman sitcom Happy Hour. Notably, Deal or No Deal came in third. I wonder if that contestant who came on the show with that ridiculous airhorn influenced the vote total....

Toss Up

Welcome to Pardon the Interruption! Filling in for Tony and Mike today, I'm your host, T Dog. The hell with headlines, let's get to our game today - Toss Up! Let's go to the producer...

Producer: Who is the biggest moron? Jay Mariotti or Bill O'Reilly?

Hmmm. That's a tough one. One is an asshole. The other is an asshole. Both are total dickwipes.
I'll say it's a tie. If there is any two jackasses that need to be blown off the face of the earth, it's Jay Mariotti and Bill O'Reilly. (Ding)

That's it for Toss Up! On tomorrow's edition, we'll debate who is the biggest no-brain loudmouth - Rosie O'Donnell or Donald Trump? Thanks for watching, I'll try to do better the next time.

T Dog Blog Think Tank: Second Chances

Miss USA Tara Conner and Chicago Bears' defensive tackle Terry "Tank" Johnson may not cross each other in their lifetimes, but they share a lot in common: On Tuesday, they both got second chances from their respective organizations.

Both held press conferences, both apologized, and both were told it was their last chance.

Tuesday morning, Miss Universe Organization CEO Donald Trump met Miss USA Tara Conner in New York City to discuss allegations of underage drinking and drug use, and even smooching Miss Teen USA (boy, that'll sell well in the state of Kentucky),among other things. Mr. Trump was going into the meeting about to dismiss Ms. Conner. After the meeting came the press conference, and it seems all was forgiven, with Tara Conner going to rehab.

Miss USA in rehab. Oh, the shame, the shame. The shame of it all. (That's Dr. Smith from Lost In Space saying that, not me. And trust me, any kid who thinks Dr. Smith is a great role model needs to be sent to DCFS, stat.)

Meanwhile, Tank Johnson was busted by Gurnee Police on Friday for having six unregistered guns in his home. That same night, he went to a bar in the River North neighborhood with one of his friends. A fight broke out in the club, someone pulled out a gun and fired, and Tank Johnson's friend was dead. Later on Tuesday, Mr. Johnson met with Bears' management and was suspended by the organization for one game. Bears management was considering cutting Mr. Johnson from the team.

Back in the day, we held celebrities and athletes to a higher standard. They were role models to children. But, oh how times have changed.

Beauty pageant winners and athletes aren't perfect. They're just like you and me. We make mistakes. Ms. Conner, a girl from a small town in Kentucky, got caught up in the whirlwind atmosphere that is New York. (or any other big city.) How can she adjust? As for Tank Johnson, it turns out that he grew up in the suburbs of Phoenix, Ariz., got good grades, and went to a good university. (So much for that image of a "thug" and being from the "ghetto".) Yet, he fell into the same pratfalls that do in some African-American athletes.

It seems that society still hold these people to a higher standard. Why? Because Americans still have this image of their stars being like Marliyn Monroe or Joe DiMaggio. But yet, they weren't perfect, either! If Joe or Jane Schmoo did these things, would anyone care? You wonder if these are the same people who hold politicians to a higher standard. We stopped doing that here in Chicago and Cook County years ago.

I don't condone their actions. But hey, as I said. They're human. Donald Trump, Lovie Smith, and Jerry Angelo are human. That's why Miss USA and Tank Johnson got second chances. Mistakes are made. The messes are cleaned up. But the key here is -- not to make them again. In the words of Stephen Colbert -- They're on notice.

And if they do make these mistakes again, I know a great punishment -- make both them go on Papa Bear's show to explain themselves -- i.e. The O'Reilly Factor.

"King of the Hill" is back on at 7:30 Sundays. Central Time.

Yes! Fox's King of the Hill is back in its original time slot where it launched in January 1997, the plum slot after The Simpsons. This means that American Dad, which has occupied that slot, is moving back to its 8:30 pm (Central Time) slot, all effective January 28. Family Guy's time slot remains unchanged.

King of the Hill will enter its 11th season this January.

TV Prevue news you can use

Mirror a trend that's been going on in other newspapers, the Sun-Times is eliminating its TV Prevue section and moving its TV listings online (scroll way down to the end to see article). This comes on the heels on the news that TV Guide Canada eliminated its magazine and moved its listings online recently.

I went to the Sun-Times TV listings website last night. It didn't work. Good luck, Sun-Times. There goes more subscribers out the door.

By the way, thank you for keeping the AFL in existence, ESPN. Thanks for snatching up a low-rated entity that no one cares about and trying to force down our throats. You know, like Newscorp. is doing with MyNetworkTV.

The V of Doom lowers the boom

Viacom has backed out of a proposed video website collaboration that included NBC Universal and CBS (which split from Viacom earlier this year.) that would take on independent video sharing site YouTube. Viacom's pullout now puts the project in jeopardy.

(Disclaimer: The T Dog Blog is not responsible for anyone who has nightmares trigged by seeing and/or remembering this logo. You can bet your Matlock on that.)

End of an era

Two animation greats have passed on: Joseph Barbara and Chris Hayward (Rocky & Bullwinkle).

Late Friday news update

It's unusual to have this much news break late on a Friday, so I've decided to summarize all the late breaking news into one post:

• Update: ABC has now decided to yank low-rated and critically blasted game show Show Me the Money off the air immediately, meaning it's gone for good. The program was to move to Tuesday nights beginning January 2, but now ABC will replace Money with Funniest Home Videos repeats.
• ABC has also pulled the plug on Daybreak, after declining ratings, and the fact that the Taye Diggs drama posted its lowest ratings to date Wednesday. Those will be replaced comedy repeats, most likely the returning According to Jim and The George Lopez Show. No word where the remaining episodes of Daybreak will air, though dumping them on the web (a la Vanished and Kidnapped) is a likely option. (On a related note, ABC earlier this week also put Ted Danson sitcom Help Me Help You on hiatus.)
• Both Broadcasting & Cable and TV Week are reporting that changes regarding MyNetworkTV may be in the works. The televonela format clearly isn't working (Two new stripped shows debuted last week to even lower ratings than the ones that were replaced after their 65-episode cycle was completed), and Fox execs are mulling the possibility of scaling back the soap operas to two episodes a week, and adding game shows, reality programs, even a deal with the Ultimate Fighting Championship organization. Changes may happen as soon as this summer, according to inside observers. Broadcasting & Cable also points out that production costs on the televonelas have now ballooned to $1 million a week for each series. In some local markets, MyNetworkTV was getting outrated by reruns of older off-network series such as Mama's Family and Becker, by PBS programs, and far and away by programming on the new CW network, created by the folding of WB and UPN stations. Many MyNetworkTV affiliates are former UPN stations.

ABC cancels 'Show Me The Money'

Yay! The network pulled the plug on the six additional episodes that were ordered. The low-rated program will run on Tuesdays in January as planned, but those are episodes already ordered. Good Riddance.

WLS-TV goes HiDef

Robert Feder is reporting today that WLS-TV in Chicago will air all of its weekday programming in High Definition, becoming the first station to do so. That includes all of its newscasts, and syndicated programming such as Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! Meanwhile, Feder finally mentioned the Third Coast Press' FCC challenge toward Chicago's television stations, which was soundly rejected on Wednesday. According to Feder, the stations can breathe a sigh of relief, but those licenses were never really in jeopardy to begin with.

Celebrity gossip time

Let's lighten the mood around here.....

Miss USA involved in scandal?

Who's Miss USA Tara Conner been hanging out with? Tank Johnson?