Welcome Ben and Juliet

We're four weeks into the new season of Lost, and there seems to be a mutiny brewing among some of the devoted: several of you out there are actually complaining about this season's episodes. Specifically, I'm hearing grumblings to the effect of "things are moving too slowly" and "there are too many questions and not enough answers."

Up front let me tell you that I could not disagree more with the naysayers. In my humble opinion, this season has been immensely satisfying, and last week's episode (in which Sawyer was "kept in line" through some supposedly-barbaric measures by The Others ) was one of the best of the entire series run.

I can see where the "too slowly" comment would arise. Admittedly, it did take the first three episodes of the season to completely address all of the events raised in last season's cliffhanger. Personally, if I were the producer of Lost, I would have condensed this season's first three episodes into one kick-ass two-hour season premiere.

That comment aside, this season is unfolding in a manner parallel to season one: unknown characters, an unknown place, and an unknown direction. In fact, the opening scene of this season's episode two was very similar to the opening scene of season one, episode one... but instead of Jack lying in the jungle with Walt running past him, this season we had Locke lying in the jungle, with Desmond running past him.

Lost has been turned in nearly a 180-degree direction from season two, and the resultant exposition necessary to introduce this new direction is proving disconcerting to many viewers, especially those who last season were just finally starting to comprehend the show. To that end, let me just say to all of the Losties out there who are having doubts about this season's Lost: sit tight. The November 8th episode should renew your faith in all that is Lost.


PS - after the November 8 episode, the next new episode of Lost won't be until February 7. Don't say that you weren't warned.

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"New York" Update

With the greatly-anticipated Flavor of Love 2 reunion show premiering tonight on VH1, word is leaking that the title of the upcoming Flavor of Love spin-off series may be changed from Flavorette to I Love New York. Hey... haven't I just seen someone use that very title in relation to the New York spin-off? Must have been some creative genius or something...

As the Paradigm Shifts

Whoa. THIS news is big. Not big as in "oh-my-god Burger King just came out with a quadruple-cheeseburger" big, but rather as in "I think I may be witnessing the beginning of a paradigm shift in the television industry" big.

NBC today announced that they will, for the most part, no longer be programming the 8:00pm - 9:00pm prime-time hour with scripted programming. That means (with rare exception) no comedies or dramas will be populating NBC's first hour of prime time. Going forward, NBC will rely on reality programming such as Deal or No Deal and 1 vs. 100, and news-lite programming such as Dateline. The network that gave us 8:00 stalwarts such as Friends and The Cosby Show has deemed that there's no longer an audience for these shows in this early hour. According to NBC's Jeff Zucker, the prime-time audience has shrunk to the point that there simply is no longer enough advertiser interest in scripted programming in the 8:00 hour... and therefore, he can no longer justify his network's continued reliance on such early-evening programming.

In terms of ratings, one can see Zucker's point: an hour of Deal or No Deal costs about $1 million per episode to produce. Alternately, production costs for an hour of prime-time drama or two half-hour comedies can easily run in the $2-$3 million range. When one crosses this economic model with the reality of the Nielsen ratings -- NBC's Deal or No Deal (Monday at 8) is a top-10 show; while NBC's new Tuesday night at-8 drama Friday Night Lights is being watched by almost no one, and NBC's new Wednesday-at-8 comedies (30 Rock and Twenty Good Years) are dead on arrival -- one can plainly see that the economics of such a shaft make perfect business sense... and therefore the days of broadcast-network television as we knew them are over.

If NBC is shifting their business model in such a fashion, then can the other networks be far behind? After all, it wasn't too many years ago that all the networks ran first-run, scripted programming in prime-time on Saturday nights. Then, a few years ago, NBC realized that Saturday nights had become unprofitable (due to it being the night of the week with the lowest number of people at home to watch television), so they effectively got out of the Saturday prime-time television business, surrendering their Saturday night schedule instead to drama reruns, old movies, and the occasional Dateline. It didn't take the other networks long to follow suit, and today you can't find new episodes of an original scripted series on any of the broadcast networks, no matter how hard you try. Instead, it's CSI reruns, more Dateline, America's Most Wanted, and even some college football.

It's a new world out there, television viewers. TV on DVD is now a huge industry. The internet is revolutionizing our beloved industry faster than you can say "hey, they cancelled Smith!" All of the major broadcast networks are now making their shows available for viewing via the net. If fans of ABC's Lost miss the latest episode, all they have to do is visit abc.com to see it via broadband. Want to take an episode with you? Hey, just download it to your iPod! Easy! And when you add all of this to a world of 200+ channel choices, TiVo, and cable's On Demand programming, you begin to see that the television universe has come a long way from the days of rabbit ears and VCRs.

With the 8:00 hour of network prime-time television beginning to slide slowly into oblivion, can it be long before the rest of the broadcast-network programming model as we've known it for more than 50 years becomes equally obsolete? Only time will tell, but if I were you, I'd be bookmarking CBS's Innertube site and getting myself a video iPod... just in case, of course.

I Love New York

Several months ago, I tipped you off to some insider news that there was a Flavor of Love spin-off in the works for none other than the contestant that everyone loved to hate, "New York" (also known as Tiffany Patterson).

Well, now that Flavor of Love 2 has wrapped (with New York once again finishing as the runner-up) and telecast its final episode, this news can now be officially confirmed: production is currently underway at VH1 on Flavorette, the "New York" spin-off series. Flavorette plays much the same way in which Flavor of Love did, only this time the infamous New York is the eligible single, and a group of 20 men will be vying for her affection. These men will come from all walks of life, from successful bankers to the homeless.

Can the obnoxious New York / Tiffany find true love on television? Will her even-more obnoxious mother Michelle play a role in helping her daughter find true love? Will New York and Flav ever kiss and make up? And.. perhaps most importantly... can VH1 go back to the well yet again with this outrageous concept and truly milk it for all it's worth?

For the answers to these and other burning questions, tune in to Flavorette, coming soon to VH1.

One Dynamite and a Ticket to Nelson, Please

I have a confession to make. I ask only that you keep it strictly between us and that you promise not to judge me.

Okay, here goes.

I had a good time this past weekend at Autumnfest. I mean, a genuinely good time.

There. I said it. My dirty little secret is out. Perhaps I now need to explain, though.

As many of you already know about me, I love to people-watch. LOVE it. It's one of those fascinatingly-simple pastimes that can captive me for hours at a time.

Autumnfest is an annual event held in Woonsocket, RI... an outdoor-type of regional fair, with food vendors, musicians, craft and vendor booths, and even a midway for families. On paper, it's a fairly-typical outdoor fair. However, what separates Autumnfest from the average park fair... the things that elevate this event into the land of absurdity... are its attendees and its constantly-running stage shows. Regarding the attendees: let's just say that it's a unique crowd. From senior French Canadians to urban street-gang types to backwoods, toothless "mountain man" types... people of every race, ethnicity, and age... people consuming mass quantities of a regional sandwich delicacy known as a "dynamite"... this fair has just about every permutation and combination of human being that one could ever hope to envision in a people-watching environment.

As for the stage shows... well... you see, smack-dab in the middle of the park that hosts this outdoor fair there is a stage that's set up for the purposes of providing so-called "entertainment" for attendees of this annual Autumn fair. However, if one were to truly judge by the acts appearing on this stage over the course of the three days, then the word "entertainment" would likely be a bit of a misnomer. The actual acts range from not-quite-ready-for-primetime child dancers to elderly French-Canadian crooners and even accordion players. Any words that I would attempt to use here to describe the "talent" would not do the show justice; it must be seen to be believed.

With the knowledge that one would not find any kind of A-list talent on the Autumnfest stage, you can imagine my surprise when I discovered that the headline act for the first evening of the fair was going to be early-90s pop-music icons Nelson. Yes, that Nelson. The twin brothers Gunnar and Matthew Nelson. Most people who remember Nelson remember them as the extremely-long-haired, spandex-wearing, sons-of-Ricky-Nelson-and-grandsons-of-Ozzie-and-Harriet-Nelson Nelsons. Best known for their pop hits Love and Affection and After the Rain, Nelson hit it big with their rock/pop synthesized sound in the early-to-mid 90s, selling-out arenas and selling millions of CDs.

Since then, however, the Nelson brothers pretty much seemed to drop off of the musical map. For most people, the Nelson band had become nothing more that an answer to a 90s pop-culture trivia question. Only recently had we seen any sign of the Nelson brothers on a national stage, and that was due to Gunnar Nelson's appearance earlier this year on VH1's grade-Z starfest Celebrity Fit Club.

So, whenever I discovered that the Nelson brothers were to appear at Autumnfest, I suddenly found myself powerless to resist attending this fair. It combined the lure of serious people-watching, excrutiatingly-bad local "talent," and a once-major act reduced to playing the pathetically low-rent Woonsocket Autumnfest. Nelson at Autumnfest?? Oh, how the mighty hath fallen. I MUST be there to witness the humiliation!

As far as the people-watching and the bad local performers went, the fair did not disappoint. This was a serious slice of "so bad it's good" heaven. However, when it came to the Nelson brothers, that's when things changed for me. Going into it, I had expected to be adding this experience to the "so bad it's good" list. I had secured a spot immediately at the side of the stage... practically on the stage itself. All that separated me from the stage was a thin slice of cheap latticework (yeah, this festival spared no expense). So... with positioning practically ON the stage, and my camera at hand, I was ready to mock the night away as the Nelson brothers took to the stage. So imagine my surprise (and thus the basis for this confessional post) when I found myself actually ENJOYING the Nelson brothers!It was just Gunnar and Matthew alone on stage; no back-up band, no back-up singers. Just Gunnar, Matthew, and their guitars, acoustic style. From my position at the right of the stage, I was separated from the brothers from about 10 feet. Needless to say, this made for a very intimate show. I felt as if I were in a small bar listening to a couple of guitar players, rather than standing outside with a couple of thousand other people.

Despite the rinky-dink vibe that Autumnfest projects, the Nelson brothers played with enthusiasm and emotion usually reserved for the traditional large-venue concert halls and arenas. Gone were the trappings of their earlier flashy-rock days (the spandex and long-hair are ancient history), and in their place was a pair of serious musicians. And let me tell you - these guys can play! Their guitar skills were nothing short of impressive... and vocally, the brothers were letter-perfect (and if you ever doubted the ability of twins to harmonize, this show would erase those doubts). Of course, they played their biggest hits from the 90s... and thanks to this lower-key, acoustically-styled concert, these were the best versions of those hits that I'd ever heard. They also played several new songs and several songs from their father's 50s/60s/70s collection. In-between songs, they shared some family history and helped to place their dad's songs in perspective.

Despite the frigid temperatures (hovering somewhere in the upper 40s), I didn't want the show to end. Yes, it was THAT good. I know, I know - I'm just as surprised as you are that I'm saying that. But this concert has given me a new respect and a newfound appreciation for the Nelson brothers.

Bottom line: I would have NEVER expected to be departing Autumnfest having actually experienced a "so GOOD it's good" moment. Thank you for allowing to confess this to you.

All in all, I guess that this just goes to prove that we should ALWAYS expect the unexpected. Hey... does that mean that maybe one day I'll actually come to LIKE Bob Dylan and his music? On second thought... nah. Now I'm just getting crazy.


PS - for additional photos from Autumnfest, please visit the Friends of Bad site and click on "pics."

An Award Show Like No Other

When I tell people that I'm going to be hosting the PEG Awards ceremony, invariably the one question I'm asked is: you're hosting WHAT???

The PEG Awards, also known as the Public Access Awards, is a ceremony akin to the Emmy Awards... and no, that's not a typo. Let's examine the basic fact: both Emmy and PEG recognize excellence in television programming. Unfortunately, that's where the similarity ends. The PEG Awards honor excellence in public-access television, and (as I've said so many times before) no, that is NOT an oxymoron.

The sixth-annual PEG Awards ceremony was held last Friday night, and yes, yours-truly was back for another go-round as host. For me, this opportunity to revel in an evening of absurdity with the denizens of Rhode Island public-access television has been (for the past few years) impossible to resist. Past ceremonies have failed to disappoint, and this year's awards show proved to be no different.

Being that this year's ceremony may end up being the last-ever PEG Awards (in 2007, management of Rhode Island public-access television will transfer to a new authority), I decided that all bets were off, and that this might be a good opportunity to slaughter a few sacred cows. And judging from the audience reaction, these cows were ripe for slaughter.

I won't post any spoilers here, as the show has yet to be televised (oh, I can hear your cries of disappointment now). For those of you curious enough (or courageous enough, as the case may be) to want to check out this Emmys-on-crack awards show, then get yourself in front of your television on Saturday, October 7 at 3:00pm, or Sunday, October 8 at 2:00pm on Rhode Island cable channel 13. Of course, how could you NOT want to see this show? After all, it's not everyday that you get to see yours-truly on the same show with a dancing cop and the host of a local tea-discussion show. Yes, a dancing cop and a tea lady. You have to admit that such a scenario is alone worth the price of cable.

Here are a couple of additional photos from last Friday's PEG Awards, for your viewing pleasure:

TV Boy himself with the producer/host of Crossed Paths...



















... and with the producer/host of Curtain Call:
















So, grab yourself a cup of tea, put on your dancing shoes, and get ready for the sixth annual PEG Awards.Forget Emmy, Oscar, and Tony; PEG is the one awards show that you WON'T want to miss.