THE TKTV NEWSLETTER
Season 4, Episode 7 aired February 26, 2001

CONTENTS
1. Intro
2. The poll
3. Don't Miss
4. TV Trivia
5. Slave to the Idiot Box
     -by guest writer William Noetling
6. Favorite quotes of the week
7. A totally unrelated link
1. Intro

Have you heard? In what I think is the biggest TV news of the week, it was recently announced that Mark-Paul Gosselaar (c'mon, you remember "Saved by Bell," don't you? or maybe "Hyperion Bay?" or maybe "The Princess and the Marine?") will be the newest detective on ABC's veteran cop drama, "NYPD Blue." Yes, Rick Schroeder is a little concerned for his position as the current baby-faced star. I gotta say, I was worried when Schroeder joined the cast, but since he was such a pleasant surprise, I'm looking forward to seeing what the show does with Gosselaar.

Why do networks keep putting copies of other shows on the air? Haven't they learned that they never do as well as the original? In this case, NBC is bringing on a copy of an ABC comedy that already failed earlier this year, so it makes even less sense than copying a successful show. Remember "Madigan Men," starring famous actor Gabriel Byrne in a show about three male generations of an Irish family trying to co-exist? Have you seen ads for NBC's new "The Fighting Fitzgeralds," starring famous actor Brian Dennehy in a show about three male generations of an Irish family trying to co-exist? Ahem. Need I say more?

Enjoy this week's newsletter, folks!

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2. The poll

Well, our last couple of polls were very successful, so I thought I'd let everyone know about our next one in advance.

First of all, this past week's poll asked people to vote for their favorite young actor. The choices were Sarah Michelle Gellar ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer"), Frankie Muniz ("Malcolm in the Middle"), Jessica Alba ("Dark Angel"), Katie Holmes ("Dawson's Creek"), and Topher Grace ("That '70s Show").

Sarah Michelle Gellar beat out Katie Holmes by just two percent (SMG had 37% of the vote, Holmes had 35%). Jessica Alba trailed in third place with 11% of the vote, and Topher and Frankie each came in with less than 10% of the vote. The boys lose out in this one.

This week's poll is about everyone's favorite TV topic these days, reality shows. Pick your favorite show by coming to the poll on the front page of TKTV.

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3. Don't Miss
For details and lots more fun TV to look forward to, see
http://www.tktv.net/index.html?/upcoming.html

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4. TV Trivia

Last week's question was: which NBC sitcom star voices Sideshow Bob on "The Simpsons?"

As I suspected, a lot of people knew this one.

First prize goes to Rachel L. Congratulations!

Honorable mentions go to Jena S. and Tanya S.

The correct answer was, of course, Kelsey Grammer ("Frasier").

This week's question is: what was the name of the first person voted off of "Survivor: The Australian Outback?" First name only is fine.

Send answers to TK at tk@tktv.net with the subject of tvtrivia. Winners will be chosen at random from all the correct answers.

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5. Slave to the Idiot Box by William Noetling

Well, this is it, the final segment in our half (although now it's 3/4) season review of the major networks, and bringing in the rear is ABC.

ABC did a very interesting thing with their programming schedule this year, they dedicated a full 19% of their prime-time lineup to one show, their hit game-show "Who Wants to be a Millionaire." While I didn't think that was the smartest move, it hasn't exactly back-fired either. Millionaire is down slightly in the ratings, and it's been pulled from one of its MANY nights, BUT it does still do well, just not as well as it did last year.

When ABC isn't showing Regis Philbin being pedantic, it has some worthwhile shows to watch. The family hour on Sunday has Disney movies and specials, followed by an hour of filler, and The Practice. I've followed The Practice off and on since the second season, usually watching several episodes, then getting disgusted with the implausibility of the show. Lately, I haven't watched it much, because it's getting completely tired, and I'm tired of the Lindsay/Bobby storyline. I did catch the episode where Bobby was acquitted of murder charges, but I can't say I enjoyed it, especially with the cliff-hanger ending that went into a cross-over with Boston Public. I honestly think that David E. Kelley overworks himself, and The Practice takes the brunt of his bad writing. I've been watching Boston Public lately and found it to be a really decent show, and I feel the same way about it that I felt about The Practice early on. Here's hoping Kelley can pull himself out of a rut.

Mondays during the fall are reserved for Monday Night Football. ABC tried to do something new with sports this year, and instead of an old football player or professional broadcaster in the third announcing seat, they brought in Dennis Miller, whom I found to be a breath of fresh air. Sure, sometimes his jokes didn't go over, but he brought to the table the voice of every-fan, and that's what I liked. He was also able to come up with timely stats (no doubt fed to him via ear piece) and interesting color items. I'm glad he is being asked back.

Andre Braugher returned to prime-time TV this season with Gideon's Crossing, also on Mondays, a show about doctors. Yes, another show about doctors. I hear it's a little preachy, but good drama, I haven't caught it yet though. Braugher has, arguably, the best voice on television today, so I'm intrigued, but I'm not sure I can get involved in ANOTHER hospital show.

Tuesdays are comedy night over at ABC, and smartly programmed, I might add. Going up against Frasier, et al. we get the occasionally funny, and always kooky Dharma & Greg, and The Geena Davis Show. Now I like Geena Davis, but I haven't watched the show yet. I'm always watching Dark Angel and apparently a lot of other people are doing the same. I've seen Dharma & Greg in the past, and usually I like it, but the episodes I've seen this year are a big let down. Seems like they have run out of steam with the initial story-line and are looking for a place to go, which is fine, as long as they get there. I see that NYPD Blue is back for yet another season, only now, since Bochco AND co-creator David Milch have left, they have new captains steering the ship. This is also the last season for original cast-member James McDaniel, and long-suffering cast-member Kim Delaney, leaving only Dennis Franz and Gordon Clapp as original cast-members. I still enjoy this show on occasion, and am glad they have gone away from the arc-storyline driven shows, BUT I still don't buy Ricky (oops, sorry Rick) Schroeder as a hard-boiled cop, and I never will.

Wednesday is ABC's real blockbuster night, with the usually hilarious Drew Carey, the rebounding Spin City, and Once and Again anchoring ABC's strongest night. Drew has let me down a couple times this year (the recent Drew becomes a real-estate agent story comes to mind), but is almost always good for a laugh or two. Obviously the story over at Spin City is the loss of Michael J. Fox, which I, for one, think is fine. Charlie Sheen is really good at playing Charlie Sheen, which is what he's doing now. Unfortunately for me, I don't get to watch Wednesday night TV anymore, since I now have a class on Wednesdays.

Thursdays are a black hole for ABC, and have been since Must-See TV took over. They're even worse now that CBS is doing so well on Thursdays. The only thing worth mentioning on that horrid night is Whose Line is it Anyway, which is still not as funny as the BBC version airing on Comedy Central. I've actually seen the cast do the show live here in Los Angeles, and that's pretty good, especially when you can yell stuff to Drew and friends, but on tape, it's another story. And where's Josie Lawrence when you need her?

Friday used to be TGIF on ABC, with its stable of kiddie-friendly sitcoms to help parents adjust to the weekend. I actually thought that was a good idea, having all the shows that kids would watch on one night in a row. Now it's just a dumping ground for sitcoms that couldn't (or weren't given the opportunity to) shine elsewhere. ABC throws together Two Guys and a Girl (and they used to have a pizza parlor didn't they?) and Norm before news and other dreck. I've seen both shows on occasion, and actually like both of them, but now that they're on date night, forget about it.

Saturday is more movies of the week.

Did I mention Millionaire? I did? Good. Whenever something doesn't do well on ABC's schedule, they pull it and show Millionaire. I guess it's good logic, but I guess that they haven't heard of over-saturation.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention The Mole, which is ABC's entry into the reality game. Nice concept actually, but I haven't seen it, so I can't comment, but I would have liked to have seen it, and I'm curious as to who the Mole is, so I'll probably watch the last episode. Hey it can't be as bad as Big Brother.

Putting all of their eggs in one basket really hasn't helped ABC much this year, in fact they are consistently the third or fourth rated major network, though I noticed they came in second this week and last week, because NBC is mired in the XFL crap-fest. The Practice is still drawing huge numbers, consistently scoring in the top 10, as does the stunt editions of Millionaire.

I've had a request to continue this series and focus on original series on cable. Unfortunately, the only original show on cable that I tend to watch is The Sopranos, so I really can't do that. I may do something on Behind the Music and the Real World, since I do catch those on a regular basis (Behind the Music is usually my "clean the house" show), but as for stuff that's on A&E, Showtime and Lifetime, that's for someone else to write about.

Wmnoe@yahoo.com
For more writing by William Noetling, check out his web site at www.geocities.com/wmnoe

TKTV is always looking for new guest writers. Do you have an idea for an article? Write to TK with the subject of "guestwriter."

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6. Favorite quotes of the week

From Norm
Artie: Remember what dad used to say, no matter how smart a girl is, she can't be that smart if she's dating you.

From Titus
Titus: Dad, it's 1am in the morning in the desert. She's either a werewolf or an alien.
Ken: Maybe she came to our planet to see if there's life in my pants.

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7. A totally unrelated link

Breakup Girl

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Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society. -Mark Twain