Fall season

Short answer: no. Longer answer: probably not.

It seems that every season is the "Saturday Night Live isn't what it used to be" (aka "Saturday Night Live sucks!") season, but it always survives. And some years, like last season when they had the election to riff on and appearances by Tina Palin and lots of buzz in the news, they thrive. But The Washington Post's Tom Shales visited with executive producer Lorne Michaels and finds that Michaels is worried about the upcoming season.

When you think of print magazines, what do you want to see in them? More pages? More features? More color? Less advertising?

How about more advertising? How about video advertising? How about 40 minutes of video advertising? That's what CBS is putting in the September Fall Preview issue of Entertainment Weekly (in limited areas only). Here's the video.

[via Adfreak]

Can you believe it's August 12 already? The summer seems to be flying by. Kids will be back to school soon (if they aren't already!) and The Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon is only a few weeks away.

There are a bunch of new shows coming up this fall that TV Squad will be covering, as well as a lot of returning shows (of course). So my question is this: what returning show are you most looking forward to seeing again and what new show are you most looking forward to seeing?

The CW has a series of WTF promos for the new season of Gossip Girl, which premieres on September 14. Here's another one below.

Oh, and if you think WTF stands for "What the ***," then you just have a dirty mind.

I'll admit that I haven't seen Twilight (nor read the books), but for those of you who have, doesn't this preview of The CW's Vampire Diaries look a lot like the Twilight movie? Similar premise, similar characters, same banter/threats between the good bloodsucker and the bad, even a similar scene where one flies and rams his body into the other's body. This is based on a series of novels too, though I don't know which book series came first.

Just when you thought this series was going to be a one seasoner, ABC goes ahead and does this.

The network has renewed Castle for a second season. ABC hasn't said how many episodes the renewal is for. In fact, they haven't even said officially that the show has been picked up for a second season. We won't find out until this Tuesday, May 19, when the network unveils all of the new shows (and which of the old ones are staying or going away) at their upfront presentation.

Television as an industry is in need of a major overhaul. It's old, dusty, soiling itself, and not keeping up with the technology that changes from day to day. If it were an old, sick animal, or Larry King, it would probably be put to sleep. Alas, so many of us rely on the old biddy that it would be hard for us to say good-bye.

Luckily, I am a resourceful, intelligent and, dare I say it, gorgeous human being who has some ideas in mind to freshen up the television landscape. Yes, it may mean sacrifice from some of us (mainly network executives) and we may lose something in the process. But, in the end, the industry that we love to quietly despise while watching Cheaters will thrive once again.

Like anything, watching television can be a habit. There are certain shows that you tune into on a regular basis because they make you feel safe, comfortable and give you that feeling of stability that may or may not surround the rest of your life. Because of that it can be difficult to latch on to a new show to watch. There's that uncertainty, that fear that you won't get used to the plot or the characters or the general feel for the show.

This is particularly true in my case since I watch a certain set of shows each week for review. However, this season I have decided to expand my television horizons a bit and search for some new programs to get involved with. By new programs I don't mean shows premiering this season, but programs that have been on the air for a while that I have never sen before of have glanced at from time to time. So, without further pontification, here are five shows that I'm now tuning into.

The new season of The Amazing Race won't premiere until September 28 on CBS. But, you see, the filming is done. The cast and crew of the show have signed strict nondisclosure contracts. You can bet they're not leaking any information.

Now, if we were back in time to the 1950s, there would be no leaks -- less air travel, no internet enabling the average Joe to spread the word. But in today's world it's really hard to have racers running through airports without folks taking notice.

Warning -- Extreme show spoilers after the jump!

Cool news for fans of NBC's Heroes: it looks like the show is going to start filming a lot earlier than it usually does.

Shows usually start filming in July/August for the fall season, but according to Heroes star James Kyson Lee (Ando), the writers strike means that the show will start filming in June, and maybe as early as May. He says that NBC plans to really push the show this year, using the Olympics to hype the show.

That's the good news. The (possible) bad news is that TV Guide's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Kristen Bell isn't signed for the new season yet.

Remember all that talk about NBC not having an upfront this year, and maybe not have them ever again? Never mind.

Maybe it was just strike-induced crazy talk, but NBC has changed its mind about having an upfront this year, and the other networks are going to have one too. It sounds like ABC, CBS, and FOX are going to have the regular upfronts in New York City that they have every year, while NBC hasn't really disclosed what they are going to do. It might be a stripped-down upfront or it could be the same big presentation they give every spring. The network will probably make an annoucement later this week.

Maybe the strike's not all bad. That's what some studio executives are saying in this Variety article. The winter TCA Tour has been canceled already and upfronts are now in jeopardy. And just as it took the lead in pulling out of the TCA, NBC has already said they will forgo the multimillion dollar extravaganza the upfronts had turned into.

But from the network's point of view these are good things, as they'd been wanting to cut some of these expenses for years. What does that mean? The TCA Tours may be done for good, ditto the upfront "events." And that may just be the start of changes in the television landscape we've come to know and love.

What do you do when it's Fall Pilot season but there isn't anyone available to write pilots? Things are getting a little scary for next season's slate of new shows that don't exist yet. And last night, as our own Joel Keller reports, the networks and Television Critics Association (TCA) agreed to cancel the winter tour. It makes sense considering the TCA Tour generally involves the networks touting their upcoming programming to the 200 or so members of the association so as to get good press (hopefully) to build buzz. With the way things are going, had the event occurred, it would have been a very dry affair.

"So, we've got some reality shows coming up, and we're looking at doing some reruns."

"Really. Wow, that's interesting, which network were you again ... Oh that's right. It doesn't matter."

We're in the middle of pilot season right now, and of the approximately 9000 different shows all fighting to be part of this fall's network schedule (as long as they aren't put up against American Idol), a handful have shown promise, some even more than was expected. Here's the buzz:

Dirty Sexy Money is at the top of the list. The ABC drama stars Peter Krause, Donald Sutherland, and William Baldwin and is about a lawyer who defends rich New Yorkers. It also has a title that catches your attention. Marlowe, the new modern take on the Raymond Chandler hero on ABC, is getting better than expected reviews. Other shows that look like winners: FOX's Action News, with Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton, ABC's Football Wives, and an untitled CBS drama starring Jimmy Smits.

Viva Laughlin, a musical produced by Hugh Jackman and based on the British series Blackpool, is also getting good early buzz, but I don't know. A weekly musical drama? Hmmm...

CBS knows what it has with Jericho; a hit serialized drama that has been building momentum week after week. But it also knows the risks having such a hit show brings with it; it's not a very rerunable show, and airing too many repeats in a row might kill the show's momentum. So CBS has decided to go the route that ABC did with Lost (and NBC wanted to do with ER until the show's ratings went up) and will put the show on a ten-week hiatus after it's "fall season" finale on November 29.

In order to bridge the gap, CBS will provide exclusive Jericho content online, and continue to stream the previously-aired episodes on their broadband video site inntertube. New episodes will come back in February.

During Jericho's break, the show's Wednesday at 8 slot will be filled by new episodes of The King of Queens through the end of the year and another yet-to-be-announced program in January. The full press release is after the jump.