Posted Nov 2nd 2009 6:31PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Commercials, TV Squad Polls, TiVo, Reality-Free

Here's an interesting factoid:
46% of people who record TV shows don't fast forward through the commercials.
Now, I'm a natural skeptic when it comes to studies like this. I always wonder how the question was asked, the specifics, is the respondent lying or over/understating something, etc, but I often find myself not fast forwarding through ads because I'm doing something else at the time (writing an episode review, for example). How about you?
Posted Oct 21st 2009 10:05AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, TV Squad Polls
All this talk about the Heene Family and Balloon Boy and their hoax to get a reality show (and their appearances on
Wife Swap) got me to thinking about something: would we watch a Heene Family reality show?
I'm sure that they are going to get
some sort of deal from someone for a show, and there's a good chance they wouldn't have gotten it if it wasn't for this hoax, so maybe they'll have the last laugh. I think all of us, if asked, would say "there's no way I'll watch a show with that family!" but here you can vote anonymously. So tell me: would you watch it?
Posted Oct 20th 2009 5:36PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: News, TV Squad Polls, Reality-Free

You may have heard that the White House seems to have
declared war on Fox News. President Obama has even gone as far as not appearing on one of the Fox News Sunday morning shows even though he appeared on every other network that morning. Now other White House spokespeople are openly saying that the network can't be trusted.
What do you think?
Posted Oct 13th 2009 5:03PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: TV Squad Polls, Heroes, Reality-Free

Kristin over at E! is reporting that
a "major death" is coming to Heroes, probably to boost ratings (good luck with that). All he'll say is that the character is male and it's a member of the original cast.
That's actually a lot of info. Who do you think it will be? (I'm assuming it's not Nathan, for obvious reasons.)
Posted Oct 5th 2009 12:39PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Late Night, TV Squad Polls, Celebrities, Talk Show, Reality-Free
David Letterman's confession last Thursday was the last we've heard from him on the subject (Friday's show is taped earlier in the week - he returns tonight). The columnists and pundits and fans have had their say, though. Some people defend him, some dislike him, and some aren't fazed by it at all.
But beyond the "creepy" factor of it (that's Dave's own word), what about the moral and/or legal side of it? Should Letterman be fired? Reprimanded? Will he be sued? Should people stop watching him? Should advertisers leave his show? Should one of the women come out and do a "Ten Things About Dating David Letterman" list?
Posted Sep 29th 2009 3:02PM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: TV Squad Polls, Dexter, Reality-Free

Every now and again (mostly now), something small and insignificant will waft in front of my snark radar and won't go away until I point it out to someone. Right now, something with the new season of Showtime's
Dexter has found its way through my skull and is gnawing on parts of my brain, and the only way to kill it is to expose it for the brain sucking parasite that it is. This is exactly like the first time I voluntarily watched
Blossom.
So
Dexter 4.0 kicked off last Sunday and the episodes I've seen are highly entertaining on just about every level (emotional, comic, spiritual, etc.). It's interesting watching Dex play the role of daddy in a non-fun stepfather kind of way while trying to juggle the needs of his dark side, which lead him and his other relationships down all sorts of roads you don't see coming.
Continue reading Everything about Dexter is changing ... except the opening?!?
Posted Sep 28th 2009 12:38PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Lost, TV Squad Polls, Reality-Free

FlashForward has a big
Lost connection, since there are stars from
Lost in the new show and ABC hopes it takes
Lost's place as the big mystery show on the network. But the premiere episode also had another connection: a possible clue for
Lost's new season.
In the pic on the right you can see a billboard for Oceanic Air. If you look closely (
bigger version here) you can see that it says "Perfect Safety Record." So that means that the bomb worked and the crash of Oceanic 815 never happened? Or does it mean something else?
Posted Sep 25th 2009 5:06PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, TV Squad Polls, Cancellations, Reality-Free

If you haven't heard,
TBS has canceled The Bill Engvall Show after three seasons. I watched one episode of the show during its first season and found it to be a cute and harmless family sitcom.
Did you watch it, and if you did, will you miss it?
Posted Sep 15th 2009 12:10AM by Isabelle Carreau
Filed under: OpEd, TV Squad Polls, Episode Reviews, America's Got Talent
(S04E25) The biggest talent search in the world started its competition
three months ago. After a summer of questionable judges decisions, talent performances and Hoff-isms, it's time to crown the winner of the show's fourth season.
But before the
America's Got Talent winner can be announced in the live season finale to air on Wednesday,
featuring a guest appearance by Susan Boyle, the Top 10 acts needed to perform one last time for America's votes. My comments and predictions coming up!
Continue reading America's Got Talent: Final performances
Posted Sep 7th 2009 4:29PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, News, TV Squad Polls, Celebrities, Reality-Free

As we've said here many times before, Brian Williams is a funny guy. It's great to see a newsman be able to do really funny bits while talking to Conan O'Brien or Jon Stewart. But should he be doing it all the time?
Williams is going to be a regular on
The Jay Leno Show when it debuts next Monday, introducing a regular segment titled "Stories Not Good Enough For
Nightly News". Will it hurt your opinion of him (he got some negative press when he hosted
SNL), or can you separate the serious news Brian Williams with the
Jay Leno Show Brian Williams?
Posted Sep 5th 2009 9:09AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: TV Squad Polls, Music and Variety, Reality-Free

When I was a kid, watching
The Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon on Labor Day was a must. It was just fun to have this all day, all night, live event happening every September. One year I even stayed up all night watching it (the next morning I knew it wasn't worth it).
The show isn't looked at as "hip" anymore (if it ever was), but along with the older showbiz vets we always see there are some new acts mixed in too. Are you going to watch it?
Posted Aug 8th 2009 12:00PM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, TV Squad Polls, Celebrities, Casting, Reality-Free

TV's
Supernatural is about to get a lot weirder, and for a show that's about undead beings that steal people's "life forces" and shapeshifting douchebags, that's pretty damn weird.
E! Online scooped the universe with confirmation that Paris "The Human Spotlight" Hilton will make a guest star appearance on the paranormal CW show.
The network didn't spill much on the plot of Miss Hilton's visit, but noted "We've heard the storyline, and when you see it you will die." So I guess if you're not a big fan of dying, don't watch
Supernatural or better yet, make someone you hate watch it. You've committed guilt-free murder, and The CW earns another ratings point.
Continue reading Supernatural will get Paris Hilton
Posted Aug 4th 2009 10:30AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Programming, TV Squad Polls, Documentary, Reality-Free

Sorry for the lame headline.
We're in the middle of the Discovery Channel's annual
Shark Week celebration, a whole of programming involving sharks, sharks, sharks, sharks, and the people who love/fear them. But
David Zurawik over at The Baltimore Sun doesn't understand why some people get excited about it. He wants someone to explain its appeal.
Posted Jul 31st 2009 5:02PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: TV Squad Polls, Awards, Emmys, Reality-Free

It's funny that we're actually asking readers if they want an awards show to be longer, but I thought I'd ask the question in light of the Emmy decision (for ratings, they admit) to
have eight award categories pre-taped before the live broadcast and show highlights of those categories throughout the show.
HBO isn't happy about it, and it
might even affect the red carpet ceremony.
Posted Jul 29th 2009 2:31PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, TV Squad Polls, Reality-Free

I haven't jumped on the vampire bandwagon. I don't have any real interest in
Twilight or
True Blood or any other vampire show/movie that starts with a T (
The Vampire Diaries starts this fall on The CW). But I've liked them for a long time, from the Christopher Lee films to Kolchak to
Forever Knight.
Grady Hendrix at Slate says that vampire stories suck (ha ha) now, because it's more about feelings and psychology and vampires having normal lives and very little about the biting of people.
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