The TV Addict 

I heard a rumor that PUSHING DAISIES is done as a series and seeing as you are the most in the know person I know. Is this true? Or have I been bamboozled? — Dan B.

The TV Addict: The facts are these. People stopped using the term Bamboozled in 1931. But seriously, as dreadful as PUSHING DAISIES’ ratings have been — and they have been dreadful. ABC has yet to bury the show six feet under. Which is why if you really, and I mean really care about the fate of Ned, Chuck, Olive and Emerson you will be sure to not only tune into a brand new episode of PUSHING DAISIES at 8PM tonight on ABC, but knock on every house on your block and convince your neighbors to do the same.*

*Please Note: theTVaddict.com does not condone door-to-door begging and pleading in an effort to raise the ratings of your favorite shows. Unless those shows were among my dearly departed brilliant-but-cancelled favorites such as EVERWOOD, JACK & BOBBY, GROSSE POINTE, ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT and KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL.

Can you please explain to me how KNIGHT RIDER got a full season pick up before EVERY OTHER SHOW ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH? — Jenn

The TV Addict: What’s that? You’re not buying my theory that NBC President Ben Silverman is secretly the fifth and final Cylon who has given a starring role to a talking car with the hopes of secretly pushing his pro-machine agenda on an unsuspecting public. Well then, how does this slightly more plausible theory from frequent friend-of-the-site John Kubiceck sound, “Even with modest ratings, NBC is making so much money from Ford by having KNIGHT RIDER on the air that Ben Silverman would be an idiot in these tough economic times to give up such a lucrative deal just because the show is bad. Making money with crap like that is what allows NBC to keep airing low-rated stuff like CHUCK and 30 ROCK.” 

Of course this TV Addict would be remiss if I didn’t point out to Mr. Kubiceck that (a) I’m not sure we know exactly how much NBC is getting to keep the super-sized Ford commercial that is KNIGHT RIDER on the air. And (b) CHUCK is no stranger when it comes to insanely intrusive SMALLVILLE levels of product placement [See: Recent sales pitch story-line featuring Michael Strahan and MADDEN ‘09.]

I’m still confused over your assertion that IN TREATMENT has been cancelled. Please clarify. — Marisa

The TV Addict: Now this may come as a shock to some, but it turns out that this TV Addict isn’t perfect. I mean who knew that sitting in front of a buteiful high defanition flatt screen for houres on end wuld be detrimental to my smarts? [TV Addict Note: Unlike my usual poor uses of spelling and grammar, the previous sentence of typos was purely for comedic effect.]

Which is why I’m here to apologize to fans of IN TREATMENT everywhere. All ten of you. Embarrassingly enough, I’ve been confusing IN TREATMENT’s cancellation, or lack there of, with TELL ME YOU LOVE ME. So to clarify, a second season of IN TREATMENT is officially moving forward with Hope Davis on board to play Mira, a high-powered malpractice lawyer and FRASIER’s John Mahoney signing on the dotted line to play Bill, a CEO who finds that life is passing him by.

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As much as this TV Addict would like to agree with Maureen Ryan’s assertion that the only reason NBC President Ben Silverman picked up KNIGHT RIDER for the entire season is because “KITT has taken over NBC!” I can’t help but feel that a car running a major television network is somewhat ridiculous. Which is why I’d like to take this opportunity to post theTVaddict.com’s very own theory that let’s face it, makes way more sense. Brace yourself… because Ben Silverman is obviously a Cylon and renewing KNIGHT RIDER is all a part of his secret pro-machine agenda.

Flipping through this week’s fantastic issue of Entertainment Weekly featuring a sneak peak of J.J. Abrams STAR TREK re-boot, this TV Addict couldn’t help but notice an advertisement for Lifetime’s SEX AND LIES IN SIN CITY, starring Mena Suvari. Begging the question: What happened to the young actress who broke onto the scene with scene-stealing turns in AMERICAN PIE and AMERICAN BEAUTY? And more to the point, how sad is it that Mena Suvari is now seemingly relegated to C-list Lifetime Movies of the Week that we’re fairly sure Tori Spelling passed on?

Was anyone else surprised, nay, disappointed as to how fast Robin returned from her stint in Japan on last night’s installment of HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER? I mean don’t get me wrong, this TV Addict is all for the further development of Robin and Barney. I was just hoping that Barney would be the one to literally suit up and bring Robin back from the Land of the Rising Sun himself. For some inexplicable reason, I can’t help but smile every time I imagine Barney surrounded by millions of dark-suited Japanese people.

Should the country that chooses NBC’s abhorrent KNIGHT RIDER [7.6 million viewers] over ABC’s whimsically original [albeit slightly confusing] PUSHING DAISIES [6.3 million viewers] seriously be trusted to vote the next President the United States?

Does FOX’s full season pick-up of FRINGE officially get them off the hook for the early cancellations of such TV Addict favorites like KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL, UNDECLARED, DRIVE, FIREFLY and REUNION.

Who are you — as Frank would put it — gayer for? 30 ROCK’s Jamie [Val Emmich], UGLY BETTY’s Jesse [also played by Val Emmich] or LIPSTICK JUNGLE’s Kirby [see our interview].

Which Mitch Pileggi character-of-the week would you like by your side in a bar fight? Grandpa Winchester on SUPERNATURAL, SONS OF ANARCHY’s White Supremacist Leader Ernest Darby, or Kevin’s BROTHERS & SISTERS boss Browne Carter.

Is ‘free’ still too high of a price to pay for the new MTV Series Paris Hilton’s MY NEW BFF on iTunes?

When NBC President Ben Silverman first announced the re-launch of the KNIGHT RIDER franchise, this TV Addict was more than prepared to cut him a little slack. I mean who can blame the neophyte Peacock President for wanting to generate a few splashy headlines, cash in on America’s seemingly never-ending love affair with 80’s nostalgia, not to mention, grab, what surely amounted to a huge pile of cash from Ford [Three cheers for vertical integration!].

That said, following the train-wreck, err… auto collision that was February’s two-hour movie [see review here], Ben Silverman is officially running on empty.

Last night’s season premiere of the re-tooled KNIGHT RIDER series was quite literally unwatchable. And believe me, this TV Addict tried. Twice! After only managing to get through twenty minutes of the pre-air premiere courtesy of iTunes, I made the unfortunate mistake to take a second shot last night thinking the show couldn’t possibly as bad as I was making it out to be.

Unfortunately, it was.

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Even though there may not be that much to talk about on screen — behind-the-scenes — network execs, actors and agents have never been busier. And keeping track of it all is your very own TV Addict, with the latest news on which actors and actresses will soon be popping up on your favorite shows come the Fall 2008.

The News: BATTLESTAR GALACTICA’S Paul Campbell [Billy] will be joining the cast of KNIGHT RIDER as the head research tech at Knight Industries.
The Lowdown: Finally giving us a reason to tune in after February’s uber-disappointing two-hour car commercial.
[Source]

The News: Ex-FRIEND Matthew Perry has signed on to headline Peter Tolan’s [RESCUE ME] Showtime pilot THE END OF STEVE. A dark comedy revolving around Perry, who will play a local TV anchor who’s real-life personality is somewhat different than his cheery on-camera one.
The Lowdown: Could we BE anymore excited for the return of Matthew Perry to television? Umm… no.
[Source]

The News: Madchen Amick is returning to Central Park West, or more accurately, the Upper East Side to play a possible MILF for Nate [Chace Crawford].
The Lowdown: Already spoiling May’s finale tease that ‘S’ and ‘N’ might have lived happily ever after, at least for a little while. Way to go EW.
[Source]

The News: ALL MY CHILDREN’s Leven Rambin will join TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES this season as Riley, a new school friend of John Connor.
The Lowdown: And by friend, we naturally assume love interest. So place your bets now, Riley is (a) an undercover Terminator sent from the future, or (b) Terminated by a Terminator, thus kick-starting John’s transformation from brooding teenager to leader of the revolution!
[Source]

The News: Television icon Mary Tyler Moore will be joining NBC’s LIPSTICK JUNGLE for a multi-episode arc next season, playing Brooke Shields’ mother.
The Lowdown: Casting coup yes. But in all seriousness, how many fans in the younger demographic NBC so dearly covets really has an attachment to 70’s TV icon Mary Tyler Moore?
[Source]

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At yesterday’s Global TV UpFront, the TV Addict got up close and personal with the Kitt.

And on a somewhat related note, I wanted to take a moment to highlight a reader comment that almost had my morning coffee streaming out of my nose.

Said reader EKI in response to star Justin Brueing revealing that when KNIGHT RIDER returns in the fall it will most likely feature different gadgets each and every week. “I think he forgot to mention the TOPP of the week (Tremendously Obvious Product Placement).”

Needless to say, we couldn’t have said it better ourselves. If his short tenure at NBC has taught us anything, it’s that aside from spin-offs and ‘re-imaginations’ Peacock President Ben Silverman hasn’t met a product placement he doesn’t like!

It looks like the negative reaction that followed February’s two-hour KNIGHT RIDER movie may not have fallen on deaf ears after-all.

Talking to the Canadian media [including your very own TV Addict] at Global TV’s 2008 UpFront this morning in Toronto, KNIGHT RIDER star Justin Brueing had this to say when asked how the series returning this fall will differentiate itself from the underwhelming two-hour movie.

“Just as the original series was reinvented as a sequel for the two-hour movie, the new series will be reinvented again. Picking up six months after our little origin story, everything will be different. The car will have a different look and will be able to morph into a different attack mode each week. There’s also talk of different gadgets in every episode.”

Needless to say, this TV Addict thinks I speaks for everyone when I say, here’s hoping third times a charm!

With the Up Fronts behind us, you’re probably wondering what new shows warrant a season’s pass on your DVR/PVR come this fall? Well, wonder no more. Because all week long theTVaddict.com will be posting our Super Early 2008 Fall TV Preview. Offering up ridiculously early and ill-informed snap judgments on a whole slate of new network shows. Putting to rest those who say you can’t judge a book by it’s cover - or in this case a TV show by its one paragraph summary and cast photo.

SNAP JUDGMENTS

PROJECT GARY [CBS, 8:30PM]:
See precocious kid, see hot wife, see the once respected Jay Mohr sell his soul for what we assume is one really big paycheck from CBS.
>> Click here for a video preview

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Before reading this TV Addict’s rant with regards to last night’s special two-hour KNIGHT RIDER movie there are three things you should know. Firstly, having missed the original series by a few years, I have absolutely no warm and fuzzy feelings of nostalgia for the original Hasselhoff’s vehicle. Second, I’m still angry at NBC Ben Silverman for his recent comments with regards to FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS. And finally, I’m not ten years old anymore. Which would most likely explain why I may never tune into NBC on Sunday night ever again.

Two hours of AMERICAN GLADIATORS followed by what amounted to be a glorified car commercial for the Ford Mustang. My dear NBC…. what have you let yourself become?

Between the endless shots of KITT which had me wondering how much Ford paid for this infomercial, to the absolutely inane banter between the show’s reluctant heroine Sarah and the incredibly boring KITT (voiced by the snooze inducing Val Kilmer), this TV Addict spent most of the show’s second hour regretting my choice to record ABC’s BROTHERS & SISTERS.

Here’s hoping when NBC reveals their Fall 2008 lineup, fans everywhere are not stuck uttering the words, “They cancelled FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS for this?”

Last week, theTVaddict.com’s Special West Coast Correspondent Steve C. attended the KNIGHT RIDER Media event on the back-lot of NBC studios in Burbank. The following are Steve’s interviews with actors Bruce Davison, Deanna Russo and Sydney Poitier.

Bruce Davison (Charles Graiman)

Steve C: Hi Bruce…ok so to get started, it’s been revealed that your character is actually the genius who created KITT 25 years ago…but your character was never mentioned in the original series…
Bruce Davison: Yeah he was pretty hidden, I was sort of sequestered, but now I’ve been discovered!

So how do you play into the other characters that used to be connected to KITT in the original series like Devon Miles and Wilton Knight
Well I was part of the Foundation (of Law and Government) and was sequestered since the invention of it (KITT) and now the foundation has been resurrected

Now there have been other incarnations of this series like Knight Rider 2000 and Team Knight Rider, do those extended universes play any part of this movie?
We certainly acknowledge our birth and origins, and we’re advancing from the Trans-Am to the Shelby. It’s a new generation and a whole new show, it brings in a whole new perception, and the villains of the world have changed as well. But the same type of tongue in cheek feeling will continue…

Were you ever a fan of the original series?
Yeah I was actually working on the lot when David was doing the original and I’ve known him for 30 years…

What’s the inherent pressure and expectation to be the next generation of the original cult show?
Well everything is different, it’s like what’s happened to Batman and what’s happened to the Bionic Woman, things change and shift and they’ll either fit into a new generation or they wont…but we’ll see, I’ve got real strong feelings about this though and its real interesting because like I mentioned, the villains have changed a bit and the corporate specter and the military specter are much more of a bad guy but at the same time there is an irony and a tongue in cheek about the show and its about what it is…and w/ the special effects and the car, I think there’s a lot of room for lightness and adventure

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