WCBS News Wishes Another to the Cornfield?

Beware - this article is regionally focused unlike most of my entries here. If you're in the NYC viewing area, you may be interested in reading on. If you're not, it may be a bunch of odd news. But, then again, it's odd news going on...

Last spring I wrote about the changes on the early pre-The Early Show news show on the local CBS affiliate - WCBS, Channel 2 out of New York City. I liked that show as it was, craziness and all, to have on in the background as I readied myself for work. I liked Shon Gables, Dave Price, Mario Bosquez, Vanessa Alfano and the others. I liked Dance Fridays and a bit of zany tomfoolery to start out my day. Ah, but WCBS had a better idea. They took anchor Maurice Dubois from the evening news, thrust him in the early morning slot and imported a woman from somewhere in the Midwest to co-anchor. They would have a proper newscast! No more tomfoolery!

While Price continued on in his The Early Show job, the others may as well have been victims of Anthony Fremont in The Twilight Zone episode "It's a Good Life" - wished to the cornfield never to be seen again. Yes, Shon Gables had an appearance on The View (which I missed). But, where oh where is Mario Bosquez? Is he still in the cornfield? Will he emerge someday to grace my television screen once again? I see Vanessa Alfano sometimes on the old UPN station, now My9 or something to that effect. But she's still in the cornfield, perhaps escaping now and then for a glimpse on my set.

In December, WCBS wished another news anchor to the cornfield - Roz Abrams, a local NYC news fixture for decades. Like Mario, supposedly she's still employed by them, but nowhere in sight. Cornfield, I say! With her disappearance, I wasn't too saddened. For me, Roz just didn't do it. I swear she sat around practicing cutesy looks instead of being a news anchor. Replacing her with Dana Tyler was a good move.

Earlier, the two co-anchors of the noon newscast vanished into the cornfield and sportscaster Chris Wragge replaced them, along with yet another import. Cindy Hsu occasionally emerges from the cornfield as a correspondent on stories, but I fear the day it will be permanent cornfield for her.

The latest to be sent to the cornfield is Audrey Puente, the meteorologist doing the weather on the early morning and noon shows. Some weather-dude from California with teeny glasses is in her place. Gak. Like the others, she's supposed to be still on contract.

But I hear all the cries from the cornfield...

Hey, What's on TV Tonight? Wed., January 3, 2007

Even though my favorite shows aren't around tonight, there is still a reason to spend at least a portion (perhaps a substantial one) in front of the television this evening.

Of course, I may have a book going at the same time during the 8 PM primetime hour. There's a new King of Queens followed by a repeat of Two and a Half Men on CBS. I could check out which episodes of Law and Order: SVU and Without a Trace are on cable stations. I'll see what my mood is at that hour.

At 9 PM, I will be checking out the new series The Knights of Prosperity with Donal Logue on ABC. A group of working joes scheme to rob Mick Jagger's apartment and Mick is even playing a role in the opening episode. So, I'll give it a shot. It's followed by another new sitcom, In Case of Emergency. The latter isn't sounding overly interesting to me, but I'll see. Maybe I'll just tape Knights and watch Criminal Minds on CBS - I've been liking that show more each time I see it. CM is a repeat, but since I've only recently started watching the show, it'll be new to me.

At the 10 PM hour, I'm not getting the "must see" feeling from anything I see in the listings. There's a new Medium on, but I've never been able to get into that show. I've seen the C.S.I.: NY and have no overwhelming urge to watch it again. Perhaps I'll see if the Animal Precinct episode is one I've already seen. Or, better yet, the Rosanne episodes running for the hour on Nickelodeon are ones I haven't seen since they originally aired (or maybe not at all in the case of one).

I know that at the 11:30 talk show hour, I'll be watching Letterman with a cautious eye to flip my attention to Leno when I see Masi Oka (Hiro Nakamura on Heroes) appear on the latter. I have a TV near my computer in my "library," but another in sight in the living room I can have running simultaneously set on mute. When the Masi segment shows, I'll concentrate on that as he's supposed to give a peek at future episodes of Heroes.

Oh, and then I suppose I'll hit the sack. What are your TV plans for the night?

TV Newsy Bits - Tuesday, January 2, 2007

Any Big Brother fans out there? Yeah, I know you're there. I found a site with a "where are they now" article - a lot of it is basic research, but there are tidbits on Eddie McGee, Will Kirby, Jun Song, Drew Daniels, Lisa Donahue, Maggie Ausburn, and the beloved (cough) Mike Malin. The site itself, TV Robot, is a bit odd. Much of the information is via Google and Wikipedia searches and, from what I've seen so far, most the articles (one per major show, more for a few) are credited to the same writer. Oh, it's definitely better than me doing all the research, though! Interesting site... sort of like a specialized search engine on caffeine.

TV Robot has another article researched from many sources regarding the upcoming Survivor 14: Fiji.

TV Robot also punched up an AOL page I recently linked in this blog regarding Survivor "where are they now." Hmmm... although they don't link (and should link) their source, at least they mention it. I didn't compare the AOL page and theirs side-by-side, but it looks like they added some of their own personal opinions in addition to AOL's previously released information. Hmmm... not sure I like that approach to things. If anyone sees anything of mine on there, please let me know. Regurgitated material without properly linking the source tends to annoy me.

Not TV-related, but just an odd note - in NYC this week there are a bunch of taxis covered with fur and bearing horns (not the noisy horns they love to honk so much, but bull horns). They're doing it to promote some rodeo-type event at Madison Square Garden. Yeah, it's fun until some pedestrian gets gored in the crosswalk!

TV Newsy Bits - Monday, January 1, 2007

A new year is here and new shows are finally on the horizon!

The Apprentice: L.A. will premiere next Sunday night, January 7. It'll be a 90-minute show at 9:30 PM ET/PT. For me, it's going to be a bit weird to not have it coming out of New York City. And, even though Trump has disgusted me with his behavior in the stupid Rosie O'Donnell feud, I'll be watching the show. The new location and new twist with the "haves" and "have nots" sounds intriguing.

American Idol starts up again on January 16 and 17. I'll be there. Or, actually here. No, I refuse to sing in public and you can't make me!

I watched the preview of Living with Ed today on HGTV. That will be airing Sunday evenings at 10 PM ET/PT through February 4. I found the show a fun peek into the eco-friendly ways that I'm certain to not abide by in my own life. (I live in an apartment building in Jersey. My landlord would freak if I stuck solar panels up!) I like the relationship between Ed Begley Jr. and his wife, Rachelle. This show is one I think you should definitely give a look-see.

On Wednesday night, January 3, this Letterman fan (me!) will be watching or taping The Tonight Show with Jay Leno to see a sneak preview of upcoming Heroes. My favorite hero, Hiro, played by Masi Oka, will be on the show. Sorry, Dave, I promise not to like his show on a regular basis. On January 22nd, Heroes returns. Are you on the list? (Although I found "Save the cheerleader; save the world" so much catchier a phrase!)

Yesterday and today I found myself tuning into the SciFi Channel at all sorts of odd hours. Why? Well, it was The Twilight Zone marathon. I know I've seen all of the episodes at some time or another over the years, but there are still some I haven't seen since childhood. Although I didn't catch "The Living Doll" episode, which I really wanted to see again, at least I caught the one with Anthony (Billy Mumy) wishing people to the cornfield and making three-headed gophers. That's a good thing he done, ain't it?

Now I have the Heroes mini-marathon on NBC... just a taste for what's to come! Hey, maybe the future me has a sword. You never know.

2006 - The (TV) Year That Was - My Favorite Shows

What a year it was in television, eh? Hits, misses, a lot of somewhere in betweens...

I've been pondering my favorites and, if I had to list them in some sort of order, the Number 1 television show experience for me would be Heroes. I've become addicted to the show from the character of Hiro to the tagline "Save the cheerleader; save the world." I've been a lifelong comics fan of sorts (falling in and out of the medium at times) and I find this show exciting and mesmerizing. Like a graphic novel unfolding before us, I can't wait to see the latest chapter. Kudos to Heroes! I'm not sure where the story is going, but I'll be joining it for the ride.

My Number 2 choice is more for the entertainment value than the storyline... American Idol. Call me shallow, I don't care. I never miss an episode of the show from auditions through the finals. I'll admit I've never bought a record by any of the chosen Idols, but that's beside the point. I have my secret crush on Simon Cowell (shhh!) and love to watch his reactions throughout the show. 2006's finalists were a great mix of talents and not-so-talented, perhaps more talented than myself, but does Covais ring a bell? Crooners, rockers, country and western - AI has it all. I'll be watching the new season to see if they can top last season's entertainment value rating with me.

The Amazing Race 9 (spring 2006) rolls in at the Number 3 slot in my rankings. With the exception of the Family Edition (8), this show has long been a favorite of mine. In 9, the winners were the ones I loved to watch all season long, unlike the latest season. In the latest season (10), I was ambivalent about who won in the end, so that keeps the season from ranking high on my favorites. I still liked the show, mind you. But I like it better when the winners are ones I cheered on throughout the season. BJ and Tyler of season 9 absolutely rock!

Those would be my Top Three shows, but many more made the ranks of my Top Ten. (Okay, seven more.) I'm not sure how I'd rank them. The latest season of Survivor has been one of my all-time favorites - I hope they keep such a diverse cast on the shows without separating the tribes by race. I'm still hooked on C.S.I. and the Law and Order shows. I'm still hooked on Lost although I'm leery of their actual plots and whether they're going to tie up loose ends and plot holes.

Although "all stars" versions of reality shows aren't tops with me, I thoroughly enjoyed Big Brother 7: All Stars except for Mike Boogie winning it all. I didn't like him in his season and he wouldn't have even made the show if not for Will Kirby. However, if that was the price to pay for watching another season of the Evil Dr. Will on the feeds and on the show, it was a price well justified. After all, I was entertained.

I'm iffy on Jericho, so my personal jury is still out with that one. I've recently discovered the joys of Ugly Betty and Criminal Minds, but so recently that I can't place them on a list of favorites.

If I had to name a favorite sitcom of the year, I'd say How I Met Your Mother is... wait for it... legendary! I definitely like it best when Marshall and Lily are a couple, but I fear this show would lose its bite without Neil Patrick Harris as Barney. He makes the show or, more accurately, the character of Barney makes the show. Suit up and sit down to watch it if you're not already a fan!

My favorite animal show (yeah, I have those) is Meerkat Manor on Animal Planet. The ongoing intro by Sean Astin is a bit much show after show, but the meerkats are intriguing and addicting to watch. The show is realistic in that the life and death of the meerkats is only documented and they don't interfere with the course of nature. Nature, of course, can be cruel at times. I find it sad when they actually give the various meerkats names and then they're carried off by hawks or killed by rival meerkat gangs, but that's life. This show is still a hit with me.

What were your favorites in 2006?