Last fall, Science Channel and BBC announced a factual telepic about the investigation surrounding the Challenger space shuttle disaster, with William Hurt set to topline as scientist Richard Feynman.

Now, Variety has your first look at the Oscar-winning thesp in character.

This week marks the 27th anniversary of the Challenger disaster, which occurred on January 28, 1986 and claimed the lives of all seven space shuttle crew members. Feynman, a physicist, gained notoriety for his role on the Presidential Rogers Commission, which investigated the disaster. Feynman was battling cancer during the investigation, and passed away in 1988.

The telepic, titled "73 Seconds: The Challenger Investigation," will bow in the fourth quarter of this year. Hurt is part of a cast that includes:

•         Bruce Greenwood ("Thirteen Days", "Star Trek", "Super 8", "I, Robot") as fellow Commissioner U.S. Air Force General Donald Kutyna in the second lead role

•         Brian Dennehy ("First Blood", "The Belly of an Architect", "Bunker Hill", "Twelfth Night") as William Rogers, Chairman of the Presidential Commission

•         Joanne Whalley ("The Singing Detective", "Edge of Darkness", "The Virgin Queen", "The Borgias") as Feynman's wife Gweneth

•         Kevin McNally ("Pirates of the Caribbean", "Margaret", "Wuthering Heights") as Larry Mulloy, head of the Solid Rocket Booster program at NASA's Marshall Space Centre

•         Henry Goodman ("The Merchant of Venice", "The Damned United", "Notting Hill") as Doctor Weiss

•         Eve Best ("The King's Speech", "Nurse Jackie", "The Shadow Line", "Shackleton") as astronaut Sally Ride

The Jeff Zucker era has begun in earnest at CNN given the hiring/firing binge he's been on as of late.

In: Chris Cuomo, Jake Tapper, Rachel Nichols

Out: James Carville, Mary Matalin, Erick Erickson

He's just getting started, no doubt, but where is the kind of out-of-the-box thinking Zucker hinted in his own pre-hire press conference would be necessary to reinvent the struggling news network? Yes, Tapper is solid but no maverick, Nichols is a standard-issue ESPNbot, and Cuomo...really? As generic a blowdried blowhard as anchors come.

So as Zucker plots his next moves, maybe it's time he dust off his Rolodex from the NBCUniversal days and make some calls that would really deliver on the notion that he's shaking up CNN. Start with these five guys:

Keith Olbermann. If CNN's most pressing concern is bringing in on-air talent capable of sustaining a competitive rating in primetime, it only makes sense to call one of the few who has that on his resume.  He's available now that he is out at Current, the former employer with whom he's embroiled in lawsuits over the demise of their relationship (though it's possible he is on the sidelines now due to non-compete clause in his contract).

But even once he's free and clear to return to the air, there is the matter of his infamous intractability. Plus he's reportedly clashed with Zucker in the past when he was at MSNBC whilst Zucker was leading NBCUniversal. But Zucker is not the kind of guy who is going to hold a grudge when he could be holding onto a 2 rating.

And then there is the fact that Olbermann is avowedly left wing, which may not be a good match if CNN wants to maintain a middle ground. Olbermann is not the kind of guy who can tone down anything, from a political or psychological perspective.

But after a few more months of doing monologues to the audience in his bathroom mirror, maybe Olbermann will be up--and his asking price down--for the kind of adjustments (meditation, medication, etc.) that will get him back in the game.

Conan O'Brien. Oh, come now. A comedian on a news network? Arch enemies from the debacle at NBC that sent the late-night host packing, his walking papers signed by Zucker...together again?

Well, why not?

First, note that O'Brien and Zucker are now both in Time Warner's Turner Broadcasting division. And though there's probably a restraining order in place separating them, perhaps that bridge could be divided by the opportunity Zucker can extend O'Brien to diversify his persona and perhaps have a weekly CNN perch where he can show off his more serious side in addition to his TBS gig.

If that sounds unrealistic, consider that it's already kinda happening. Last September, O'Brien launched "Serious Jibber-Jabber with Conan O'Brien," a Web-only showcase for him to conduct long-form interviews in the Charlie Rose mold (guests have included Jack White, Nate Silver, Judd Apatow). Sounds like perfect training ground for O'Brien to take a similar vehicle to a sister network.

As for the Hatfield/McCoy dynamic between he and Zucker, it would only draw more publicity to O'Brien moonlighting at CNN. Would an on-air hug be out of the question?

Andy Cohen. The notion that Bravo's cheeky late-night host has any place on a news network might seem even more appalling than a comedian like O'Brien. But there's a lot more to Cohen than meets the eyeful he provides nightly talking to unreal "Housewives"; he's a former news producer and still-very-current TV programming executive who has the savvy to step outside his garishly decorated wheelhouse if need be.

As Zucker knows from having Bravo in his NBCU portfolio back in the day, Cohen appeals to an upscale, female-skewing demographic that is probably allergic to news networks. Who better to bring over in an attempt to attract a whole new audience segment?

Not saying Cohen should parachute into Benghazi. But there's plenty of other lighter news territory where he could make his mark and broaden the CNN audience, in a fashion similar to what NBC is trying by giving Ryan Seacrest time on "Today."

Lorne Michaels. No, the "Saturday Night Live" impresario has no business being on CNN in an on-air capacity. But where he could help Zucker immensely is finding talent that could straddle the news and comedy worlds as he's done on "Weekend Update" all the way fom Seth Meyers back to Chevy Chase.

As Zucker surely realizes, CNN couldn't have its own version of "The Daily Show" on its air each night. But there's no way he'll get his hands on Jon Stewart, who re-signed with Comedy Central over the summer through mid-2015, or Stephen Colbert, who is locked down almost as long. That leaves finding the next smart, newsy comedian, and that takes an experienced talent magnet like Michaels to find, groom and executive produce.

Aaron Sorkin. As Zucker can recall from the days when Sorkin delivered him NBC's brilliant "The West Wing," this guy is as intelligent and mesmerizing in person as he is on the scripted page. MSNBC's Laurence O'Donnell has proven the move from the "Wing" writers' room to the anchor chair is doable, so why not look to Sorkin to make a similar shift?

What's odd about Sorkin's latest creation, HBO's "Newsroom," is how it provides a filter through which Sorkin can voice his thoughts on what's in the news when it has already been out of the news for years.  Maybe Time Warner siblings HBO and CNN can even figure out a way to do something that is "Newsroom"-branded on both nets, enabling a little cross-promotion.

Surely there's some part of Sorkin that wants a soapbox to address issues while they're still fresh rather than channel them on delay through the fictional alter ego of Will McAvoy.

Last week, CW's "The Vampire Diaries" for the first time landed the top spot when it came to social media, according to Trendrr.

The serialized drama ranked as TV's #1 social program during the week of January 21-27, accruing over 850,000 social interactions across Twitter, Facebook, GetGlue and Viggle. ("Vampire Diaries" even topped broadcast heavyweight "American Idol" for the week.) Cast members including Nina Dobrev, Ian Somerhalder and exec producer Julie Plec live-tweeted during the Thursday, January 24 episode, encouraging the online engagement.

Social media, at this point in the TV game, still exists as the Wild Wild West, with nets constantly experimenting with online initiatives to capture aud engagement -- some work, some don't. CBS recently let viewers vote for the ending of an episode of "Hawaii Five-0" via Twitter and CBS.com to encourage live-viewing. Programs like "The Voice" and news nets' live election coverage include social media and Twitter correspondents who handle analyzing trending topics and tweets from viewers. And now, with data from companies like Trendrr, nets are being handed a fresh way to analyze the popularity of a program -- though nothing can really beat Nielsen ratings (yet).

What social media brings to the table is depth to Nielsen ratings. Niche programming is often touted with words like "audience engagement" and "passion," which can be, in a way, the TV world's version of real estate's use of "charming" -- sure, a show may not draw viewers the way that CBS's juggernaut "NCIS" does, but thanks to granular data provided by Trendrr, we can now look at depth and "passion" in a more meaningful way, instead of looking at merely the spread of viewers. Perhaps a program does not draw tens of millions of viewers, but its online engagement births a host of opportunities for branding and advertisers.

Use of Trendrr data, of course, is powerful for younger-skewing nets like the CW where auds relate to social media like a compulsion, and teens and young adults follow their fave stars on Twitter, devouring their tweets. To expect a show like "Scandal" to engage its viewership the way "Vampire Diaries" or "Pretty Little Liars" do is to forget how its demos engage with tech devices and social media.

So, while social media does offer another way to analyze a show's popularity, it is far from being an across-the-board method simply because, well, teens and young adults flock to Twitter in a way that older demos do not. (Case in point: how often do you see a Bieber-themed hashtag trending on Twitter and have no idea what the hell it's about?)

Nevertheless, the gathering -- and subsequent publication -- of social media data for TV shows is very relevant, as analyzing the popularity of a show calls for an increasingly multi-dimensional approach that goes beyond live-viewing, C3, C7 and the like.

For advertisers targetting young, cutting-edge consumers, social media data provides the gateway to skeins those viewers flock to, and offers an advertising angle that goes beyond typical, passive ad viewing during a program. For nets, social media data allows them to pinpoint the shows with the most passionate viewer base and frame marketing and branding campaigns around social media. For tech companies, it's a reminder of how second-screening is rapidly growing in the nation, so apps and devices should keep up.

The question is: will we one day see a ratings system that, by the end of a season run, can crunch numbers from live-viewing, C3, C7, beyond C7, digital viewing and social media?

It's seems like a delirium-inducing challenge, but I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Netflix being Netflix, you might assume that its first original series, "House of Cards," would launch Feb. 1 without any offline marketing. The streaming service is so intent on rewriting the syllabus for TV Programming 101, it wouldn't have been out of character for CEO Reed Hastings to praise the power of the almighty algorithms Netflix uses for targeted advertising on its own platform and dismiss all other promotion as folly.

But the fourth-quarter earnings call Wednesday provided a reminder that Hastings hasn't thrown out the entire TV 101 textbook. As this billboard that popped up this week in Los Angeles in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood can attest, Netflix will be doing some conventional marketing for "Cards," albeit in pretty targeted fashion.

"We’re also generating a lot of attention in certain cities doing a highly concentrated, large scale promotion to be able to see what the effects of ours to stimulate the creative community awareness and generally build a lot of buzz around those shows," said Hastings.

Translation: Netflix's push into original programming has to be on Hollywood's radar in order to spur more interest from producers and talent that it is a new home for their wares. No doubt big cities where Netflix usage over-indexes will get their share of promotion as well, targeting the "influencer" crowd.

That said, the billboard is a pitch-perfect marketing execution. There's that bold image of "Cards" star Kevin Spacey that grabs your attention, but the accompanying copy distills all the right messaging that needs to get across to consumers who aren't accustomed to seeing Netflix as more than a home for library programming. And there's that "All Episodes" reference to the service's binge-viewing style.

Netflix CFO David Wells also indicated on the call there will be some TV promo spend, so keep an eye out for "Cards" commercials on those old-fashioned TVs.

 

No, Steve Carell isn't coming back for the final season of "The Office," but that doesn't mean the show hasn't had key players from its creation in America making appearances. Ben Silverman, the exec producer who, as Reveille topper (not to mention future NBC Entertainment head) was instrumental in bringing the format Stateside, has been recurring on the show in recent weeks as one of the guys Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) has been working with on a start-up business.

By the way, I'm still not clear on what exactly Jim's start-up is designed to do.

Thursday's "Office" was momentous because for the first time (quit reading here if you haven't seen the episode but intend to) ...

This week, HBO's "Girls" was renewed for a third season, on the heels of Lena Dunham's Golden Globes win. Also this week, internet sleuths discovered a casting call on Craigslist for a reality show version of "Girls."

When it comes to the latter, I am left asking: why why why why why why why.

Craigslist evidence reads as follows:

Ever feel like life in the big frantic city is just too much? Are you a twenty-something young woman seeking fame, fortune, love or even a hookup with potential? How do you get from here to there when you can't even get a seat on the L train! Come to a casting call with our Emmy-winning production company and tell us your dreams and woes, your highs and lows, your tales of *** in the city and the outrageous opportunities that have come your way. Is your circle of friends bound together by not just the parties, fights, and brunches but frequent bouts of commiserating over your struggles? It isn't easy taking the road less travelled, but making it as a writer, designer, entrepreneur, actress/model or glorified dog walker never is!

The real life television show we are making follows the trials and tribulations of an ensemble of wise-beyond-their-years young ladies. We are with you living the dream in hipster Brooklyn and lower Manhattan. Only well educated and cultured extroverts need apply. Are you thinking about that show--"Girls?" Well we didn't say it but. . ..now that you mention it.

It should be noted that the production company reminds web surfers that it is "Emmy winning," but does not disclose its name.

Now, let's reflect for about fifteen seconds and consider the reality TV landscape that has emerged over the last several years. MTV's "Laguna Beach" capitalized on the success of Fox's "The OC." Bravo's "Real Housewives" franchise piggy-backed off the success of ABC's "Desperate Housewives." Spin-offs upon spin-offs emerged, and reality TV fans in search of sudsy docuseries have been greeted each year by casts of real-life characters that are even more outrageous than their scripted counterparts.

Given the success of this scripted-to-unscripted transition with past shows, a "Girls" reality show pitch seemed inevitable. But wait a tick -- didn't we have "Gallery Girls," "The City," "The Hills," and now, to a certain extent, "Washington Heights"?

Bravo's "Gallery Girls" is mostly hate-watched and follows a group of twenty-something gals working in the Gotham art scene. "The City" was a spin-off of a spin-off of a show based on a scripted show (phew!), and followed women living in New York City. Neither were that successful, and most of the cast was disliked by the viewing public. "Washington Heights" isn't a breakout hit either, and many on social media are bored by the featured players. Sure, folks tuned in to "The Hills," but not because they truly liked and related to the cast. Mostly, "The Hills" transformed its featured SoCal cast into people that the public loved to loathe. (Heidi and Spencer, anyone?)

"Girls" is different. The magic behind the HBO dramedy is its raw quality. To think that you can capture that quality in a glossy, editorialized docuseries is almost as naive as 98% of the things Hannah Horvath does. (Sex scenes on "Girls" would translate into softcore porn in reality TV, etc. etc. etc.) "Girls" goes where a reality show cannot, and that's what makes it so enticing -- it's there for awkward sexual encounters, it's there during nasty breakups and drug use and illegal parties and abortions and STDs and just about every questionable bit of behavior that can define being in your early twenties.

But, could you imagine if Hannah, Shoshanna or her friends were real people? They would be lambasted across social media every week. ("Hannah drew her eyebrows on like that?! Who DOES THAT?! She's an idiot" would read some tweets.) Yet, as fictional characters, young femme viewers relish in their relatable flaws and missteps. The fictional distance provides comfort and the ability to look past the scripted flaws and in towards the character cores that feel like a viewer's own. The main characters on "Girls" are funny and charming in their imperfections, instead of stuck up, naive and sheltered as real life folk. Often, it is only in the scripted realm that viewers can drop their walls and truly relate with someone on TV, instead of merely watching and judging as most do with reality programming.

(Similarly, if the women of "Sex and the City" were on a reality show, backlash would probably be remarkable re: Charlotte's prissiness, Carrie's inability to maintain a healthy relationship, and Samantha's...Samantha-ness.)

I'm sure the shingle is being bombarded with bios and photos of reality star hopefuls. But to try to mimic the essence of a generational HBO hit by simply casting extroverted girls in NYC misses what makes "Girls" so special in the first place.

Some things, as it turns out, may be better left scripted.

This year's South by Southwest will have a serious injection of television, as the fest will host a session between Chuck Lorre and author Neil Gaiman.

"Chuck Lorre: In Conversation with Neil Gaiman" will take place on Saturday, March 9 at 3:30pm and feature the two scribes discussing their creative process. Gaiman will also discuss with Lorre the TV vet's vanity card book "What Doesn't Kill Us Makes Us Bitter."

Gaimain is the bestselling author of novels including "Neverwhere," "Coraline" and comic book "Sandman."

South by Southwest takes place March 8-12 in Austin, Texas.

When the Manti Te'o hoax girlfriend broke in media last week, my immediate thought was: "The team working on MTV's 'Catfish' must be popping champagne."

Maybe that's a stretch, but the national interest in "catfishing" sparked by the Te'o internet girlfriend tale served as a prime marketing springboard for the late-night MTV reality show.("Catfishing," for those not familiar with the term, is forming an online relationship a person while deceiving them regarding your true identity.)

Nev Schulman, the face of "Catfish," and the exec producers from RelativityREAL were used as experts in the "catfishing" phenomenon on numerous national news outlets, both online and on-air, supplementing coverage of the Te'o debacle. MTV also offered articles regarding the hoax, citing its newbie reality show throughout. And, luckily for the production team, the Te'o scandal emerged while "Catfish's" season one run was still underway.

It was a promo opp made in internet heaven.

On Monday, Jan. 14, "Catfish" pulled 2.17 million total viewers. The Manti Te'o scandal surfaced on Wednesday, Jan. 16, thanks to an article on Deadspin. This week's "Catfish," which aired on the 21st, then landed over 2.75 million viewers, its highest ratings performance to date.

Hopefully the new viewers stick around and continue to tune into the show. "Catfish" was renewed last year for a second season, and still is, in my opinion, one of the greatest reality shows on TV today. A wise move on the part of MTV could be moving the program up to an earlier timeslot, since the 11pm timeslot discourages live-viewing in favor of DVR, VOD and streaming the following day. But, more than anything, the Manti Te'o hoax is proof that there is a national fascination with catfishing and internet relationships. People are hungry for more info.

And MTV and RelativityREAL are more than happy to give the people what they want.

January 22, 2013 marked a monumental day in TV journalism where reporters typed out news regarding pilot orders till their fingernails were wedged off. In under 3 hours, the Big 4 ordered almost two dozen pilots and email inboxes across Hollywood were flooded with frantic updates, and prayers were said for agency coordinators everywhere.

Now that I've slept (a little), it's time to make sense of the mess. With that, I give you: everything you need to know about yesterday's pilot orders, with bold font and a dash of sheer delirium:

(If you need to know more, you can always trek over to our real story here.)

Being 30-something is so in: 2012 was the year for HBO's "Girls" and all 20-somethings caught in romanticized, unemployed hell. But 2012 is so last year! 2013 pilots give nod to a decade that seems far more perilous according to loglines, with words like "dysfunctional" thrown into the mix. ABC's "Pulling" is exemplary here, as it follows a few 30-something women who, per the logline, are doing whatever the hell they want and society can just deal with it. But there's another layer...

"Friends," but on CBS, a little older, and doing enviable things: "Friends with Better Lives" at CBS centers on a group of 30-something friends. (Told you.) And just when you thought you had read the word "friends" enough in this paragraph, I blow your mind by telling you a vet of NBC's "Friends" wrote the CBS pilot. #brainexplodes

ABC renames network "Betrayal": Okay, not true, but the pilot for drama "Betrayal" fits the net's bill pretty perfectly. Needless to say, if you're having issues with trusting people and/or need encouragement regarding loyalty in your romantic relationships, ABC may not be the network to watch. (Reference: "Mistresses," "Revenge," now-defunct-but-still-relevant "Desperate Housewives.")

"Beverly Hills Cop" is back!: I repeat -- "Beverly Hills Cop" is back! Thank you CBS and Shawn Ryan.

Dick Wolf, purveyor of funny: You decide what sounds funnier -- Dick Wolf moving into comedy, or the phrase "Girlfriend in a Coma." NBC is hoping you laughed at both, since the net ordered a pilot for the Wolf-produced laffer. Story centers on a woman who wakes up from a coma to find out she has a teenage daughter that she, I'm guessing, birthed while in a coma. The funny un-funny part is that Wolf's "Law & Order: SVU" had a similar plot where a doctor raped patients in vegetative states and comas, so maybe he's looking at his expansive drama franchise as potential backdoor pilots for comedies. Who knows.

Brilliant + self-destructive = PILOT ORDER: Fox's "Rake" and CBS's "Backstrom" follow men -- criminal defense lawyer and detective, respectively -- who are really good at their jobs but really bad at being humans. I sense solid HBO comedy spinoff potential where the two men meet and become fast friends, bonding over case files and life's inevitable missteps.

Shout out to law firm assistants: I was one for a month, it was a harrowing experience, and now Fox has ordered a comedy pilot about how that job can be so stressful that it is, truly, laughable. "To My Assistant" may trigger PTSD in folk like me, but I'll tune in to reminisce nevertheless.

Congrats, Dads: More TV shows about you. Pilot at Fox about becoming a dad, pilot at NBC about Sean Hayes being a dad, and a series order at Fox from Seth MacFarlane about when dads stop being dads and move in with their well-adjusted, adult children. It's literally full circle and you can whet your palette with "Guys with Kids" reruns on NBC.

Happy pilot season! Let's take some naps.

 

A company that spends $50 million on a new ad campaign urging customers to "come back" is sending a not-so-subtle signal to the marketplace: we ain't all that. 

But that's how Time Warner Cable chose to position itself starting this week with its "The Better Guarantee" multimedia blitz, which features subscribers describing what prompted them to return to the nation's second largest cable operator. The New York Times previewed the campaign Monday.

Now before you head off to TW Cable's YouTube channel to check out some of the commercials, stop and ask yourself, what exactly are the customers being asked to "come back" from?

You might suspect these ads are countering the hordes of subs that are supposedly so fed up with the extravagant cost of their monthly bill that they are throwing off the shackles of multichannel service and subsisting entirely on free over-the-air TV and/or broadband-delivered Netflix or Hulu or Amazon.

Then you'd be entirely wrong. 

What's remarkable about this campaign is how it reflects zero anxiety over cord-cutting; these spots are entirely devoted to counterattacking the same competitors that cable operators have been fighting off for the past decade: satellite and telco firms.

"Why is satellite on demand so lame?" a subscriber asks aloud in one ad. "DSL was just too slow," grumbles another. The primary pitch in these commercials isn't about discounted price; it's product and service attributes.

Translation: TW Cable is a lot more concerned with DirecTV and Verizon stealing its customers than those customers just getting by via Boxee.

Though the pay-TV business is routinely written about as if it faces imminent demise from various high-tech threats, TW Cable's defensive posture doesn't bear that out. The company could have dusted off commercials from 2002 and just run them again.

Either TW Cable is completely out of touch with the realities of its competitive landscape or those who see cord-cutters as decimating its business are delusional. We'll find out next week when the MSO releases its fourth-quarter earnings.

Skipping commercials has become a lifestyle choice now that DVRs sit comfortably in the homes of millions upon millions of Americans. But neglecting the ad spots during TV shows can often mean missing out on some of the best programming.

Case in point: I skipped through most of the commercials during Oprah's coveted, world exclusive interview with Lance Armstrong. This probably wouldn't please advertisers, considering that 30-second spots were running upwards of $250,000 for the interview special. But hey, I've got DVR, so screw it -- let's blow past these cumbersome commercials and get to the nitty-gritty, revelatory details and watch Armstrong rub his mouth some more in agony.

Anyway, I forgot to fast-forward through commercials at one point during my recording and stumbled across this gem of a local ad for Rancho Simi Insurance. As a native Angeleno, I have a special place in my heart for local commercials. (The commercial for Westside Mexican food joint Tito's Tacos may be my favorite.) Rancho Simi Insurance commercial has the kind of actors that are either employees, or aspiring thesps who are related to the employees. The acoustic guitar accompaniment adds a dramatic touch. Again, all great. Until we reach the "Call now!" imperative.

A phone number is plastered across the screen..."Call now!"...except...

No area code.

A little bit of googling shows that by dialing "805" before the company phone number, you'll reach the office of Rancho Simi Insurance. But dialing the seven digits show on the commercial will get you nothing but a dead, beeping line, along with a dose of '90s nostalgia.

We'll never know whether this local biz shelled out hundreds of thousands of dollars for this ad spot during Oprah's interview with Lance Armstrong only to realize they didn't insert an area code into the commercial to make its phone number viable. But we do know one thing...

Wait, is that an Emmy on the fireplace mantle?!

 

NBC.com isn't rolling out webisodes for fantasy-procedural drama "Grimm" till January 18, but Variety has your exclusive first look at episode 1 in the online series.

As detailed last week in Daily Variety, "Grimm" has tasked junior scribes from its writers' room to handle the skein's digital content. Nicholas Peet, a writer's assistant on "Grimm," penned and helmed the drama's webisodes that center on fan fave character Monroe in the Spice Shop.

Webisodes keep fans of the series engaged while "Grimm" is in a quiet period between seasons. Skein will return to NBC in March.

Find out more about NBC's digital initiatives here, and be sure to check out the first episode of "Grimm's" web series now:

 

Back in August, we reported about a potential "Luther" spinoff that would star Ruth Wilson as her Alice character. That's still in the someday stage, according to exec producer Neil Cross, but meanwhile, we can count on the fact that Wilson is returning for the third season of "Luther."

The one item left in my notebook from last night's Golden Globe madness was my favorite moment on the carpet -- a few precious minutes of quality time with Mandy Patinkin and his wife, thesp Kathryn Grody.

A conversation with Patinkin isn't easily digested into pithy soundbites.

Patinkin had a wide smile underneath his bushy Sal Berenson beard as he and Grody made their way down the press line. And what's not to be happy about? He's doing what he feels is important work on "Homeland." "I've never gotten more reaction to anything I've ever done," he asserted. Really? After all that time on stage and screen? Yes, he said. "I'm humbled by the recognition." He loves the ambiguity of the good vs. evil questions that "Homeland" tackles -- "it's the ambiguity that keeps people tuning in, I'm convinced of it. It makes you think."

As far as the all-important question of what happens to his beard during "Homeland's" hiatus -- well, it's staying, for now. Patinkin started working on a movie -- Fisher Stevens' adaptation of Philip Roth's "American Pastoral" -- even before "Homeland" wrapped.

"I told them if they wanted me they had to buy the beard," he joked. So the salt-and-pepper stays at least until the movie wraps, if not longer, Patinkin said.

Patinkin was also full of excitement because he and Grody are heading off this week (or if not this week soon) to Fairbanks, Alaska to experience the Northern Lights. Their eagerness about the trip was palpable, not only because the astral spectacle only happens once every dozen years or so, but because they are also off to visit their son. He works in Alaska with a program that takes at-risk kids into wilderness settings in an effort to help them see a different side of life. Patinkin's pride as he talked up his son's work was infectious, reminding us that "Dad" is one of his many job descriptions.

 

As two of the hottest comedic actors around, Rob Riggle and JB Smoove are impressive names to add to any cast. So when they join forces to star and executive produce a series, that's worth noting. And when the show in question just happens to be exclusive to YouTube, that's even more notable.

Riggle and Smoove are the leads in "Coogan Auto," a scripted short-form series launching today on Loud, a YouTube-funded channel from Electus devoted to pop culture. Produced by Electus and Principato-Young Entertainment and written by Riggle, "Coogan" features the duo as loudmouth car salesmen working at a dealership with employees even dumber than they are. Judging from the first episode, it's profane, silly and pretty funny.

Even apart, Riggle and Smoove have the juice to command their own TV series. That they've come together to do a show on YouTube only makes "Coogan" all the more interesting. If YouTube-based programming is to get the buzz necessary to draw significant audiences or advertising dollars, getting premium talent on board may be more effective than anything else.

"Coogan" might seem to send a message to a network like Comedy Central, which could have just as easily aired a series like this. But what may look like a competitive threat today could very well end up on its air tomorrow, either in a second window akin to how Showtime previously aired Lisa Kudrow's "Web Therapy" or maybe even as first-window home for future seasons.

By: AJ Marechal

When I sat down with Mark Burnett a few months back to discuss "The Voice," he emphasized that the strength of the show's format comes from the superstar judges acting as coaches and mentors to aspiring singers. To him, this relationship between celeb coach and unknown contestant tapped into the topic of the "99%" and "1%" in American society, since part of "The Voice" involves superstars (the 1%) pleading for virtual nobodies (the 99%) to be on their team.

This theme of muli-millionaires engaging with average Americans has seeded itself deeply into today's reality TV landscape at a time when you cannot turn on the news without hearing phrases like "unemployment rate," "small businesses" and "layoffs." Biz makeover shows like "Tabatha's Salon Takeover," which launched in 2008 on Bravo, have spawned a slew of copycat shows where savvy, entrepreneurial folk take to small, struggling companies in various industries to offer business makeovers.

Each net seems to have its own brand of this unscripted programming: This week, TNT announced a more broad-appealing version of this subgenre, "Save Our Business"; CNBC has also added a business makeover show to its new unscripted lineup, "The Big Fix"; Travel Channel has "Hotel Impossible," Food Network has "Restaurant Impossible"; Spike TV is entering its third season of "Bar Rescue," and has announced "Tattoo Rescue" for this year. And CBS's "Undercover Boss" most explicity emphasized the 1%'s crossover into 99% territory, and resounded with auds.

For the "Sharks" on ABC's hit reality skein "Shark Tank," the success of shows with entrepreneurial spirit should come as no surprise, given today's economic climate. "Shark Tank" stands as Friday's number 1 TV show, and surprisingly has become family programming, with tykes and adults alike tuning in to see what apsiring entrepreneur will have their business invested in by established tycoons.

"Think about America today," said Kevin O'Leary, one of the panelists/Sharks on the show. "The path today is becoming an entrepreneur. It's about taking control. That situation found this show, and that's why 'Shark Tank' is on fire."

Clay Newbill, who serves as exec producer on "Shark Tank" with Mark Burnett, chimed in: "We're having an impact on the entrepreneurs of today, but also tomorrow. Kids who watch the show today are picking up business ideas they can use in the future, and learning the power of the human spirit."

The "situation" of today's economy has, it seems, driven viewers to a brand of unscripted content that differs from what was popular several years ago. While "Real Housewives" is still drawing viewers, gone are the shows like VH1's "Fabulous Life Of," and MTV's "Super Sweet 16." The new wave of reality TV that is making a mark on the cable space focuses on aspirational, light-hearted, Americana content like "Duck Dynasty" (which focuses on rednecks who amassed a fortune from a duck calling biz) and, yes, even "Honey Boo Boo." Even in the singing competition space, the intimate quality of NBC's "The Voice" may be what helped the show edge out Fox's "The X Factor," which lacked that mentorship facet.

Burnett emphasized to me that with shows like "The Voice" and "Shark Tank," reality TV can be positive, and not based on loud and crude dramatics.

Newbill echoed those sentiments: "We are creating jobs on 'Shark Tank'...This has a shot to be reality TV at its best. Thank god ABC and Sony stuck with it long enough. Why do I want to watch a show about business? It embodies the American dream, and shows that entrepreneurism is alive and well in this country."

"Shark Tank" airs Fridays on ABC.

Is there nothing Bryan Cranston can't do?

The man of the moment (pictured left in "Breaking Bad") in film and TV has landed a Directors Guild Award nom for the "Modern Family" seg he directed last season, "Election Day." 'Twas a good one.

Another surprise name on the DGA's small-screen list was Alejandro Inarritu, for the work he did on an Anonymous Content blurb for a blurb for Procter and Gamble.

Greg Berlanti also got props from the helmers guild for his work on USA's "Political Animal."

The complete list of DGA TV nominees follows after the jump:

When it comes to keeping a show relevant, NBC has all its ducks in a row with season fourteen of "The Biggest Loser."

Weight loss competish show from Shine America, which premieres tonight at 9 p.m., arrives less than one week into the new year, when diet and fitness resolutions are fresh on the minds of TV auds. And, per usual, the health spectrum in the consumer industry remains a powerhouse money-maker, with a new miracle diet book published practically every week and fitness crazes popping up in every major metropolitan city.

So, while timing plays to "Biggest Loser's" favor along with consumer interest, the real relevance of season fourteen lies in a format change that focuses on childhood obesity, a topic spearheaded most notably by Michelle Obama, who launched health campaign "Let's Move" last year. This "Biggest Loser" spotlight on childhood obesity is critical, as one third of Americans age 2-19 are overweight.

For the first time in the show's run, "Biggest Loser" will integrate tykes. Two kids and one teen -- Lindsay, Biingo and Sunny -- will join the adults at the ranch, though they will not live there nor will they partake in weigh-ins. Instead, they will be encouraged to lead a healthier lifestyle and take fitness tests to gauge their progress.

The return of uber-coach Jillian Michaels for season fourteen, then, is especially timely since Michaels herself battled obesity when she was young.

"I was about 50 pounds overweight at my heaviest," Michaels told journos at "Biggest Loser's" TCA panel. She got in shape when her mother introduced her to martial arts. "[Being overweight], it was soul-crushing. It is soul-crushing for any kid...It takes all the innocence and joy out of being a child."

Fellow trainer Bob Harper dubbed the kids of this season "the heroes of our show."

"You won't see them compete to be in the house," Harper explained. "It's about uplifting them and getting the parents involved. We really do believe it starts at home, and what better show than 'The Biggest Loser' to bring this topic into homes every week?"

Show's theme for its fourteenth cycle, beyond childhood obesity, is "Challenge America," which has led to the launch of Biggestloser.com where TV auds can partake in health challenges each week. 

Dr. Joanna Dolgoff, "Biggest Loser's" Child Obesity Expert/Pediatrician, is confident in the show's focus this year: "We're not going to sit back silently as our children literally eat themselves to death."

Check out a teaser of season fourteen of "The Biggest Loser" here:

 

Those tired of the unscripted genre should grab their remotes and tune into Spike Tuesday night for the preem of "The Joe Schmo Show," a reality skein that may just be the most unique and fresh concept on TV today.

Show format essentially subverts the reality genre as a whole: one guy with a heart of gold is placed into an environment where he honestly believes he is filming a new unscripted show. In actuality, the show is a hoax, our "Joe Schmo" is surrounded by actors, and the whole shebang is set up to elicit reactions from him in ridiculous situations.

Project itself is a house of cards, as one slip up from the actors or one suspicion on the part of our Joe can blow the whole operation and essentially collapse the production of the "The Joe Schmo Show" entirely. The stakes are, in other words, high for the shingle behind the show, Zoo Prods., and Spike, in a way not seen with other reality skeins that simply hope to capture lightning in a bottle and launch a ratings juggernaut into the TV space.

"The Joe Schmo Show" is, then, a study in human behavior and manipulation, which makes the program both hilarious and fascinating. What's more, as this season's hoax show is a bounty hunter competish, it capitalizes on the trends in reality TV and the stereotypes that emerge in a show's casting process. (Actors on the this season of "Joe Schmo" fulfill the roles of "token black guy," "the asshole," etc.) While most shows have to go the scripted route to satirize the reality genre, "Joe Schmo" manages to do it while still residing in the nonfiction space.

Now, here's the rub: the beauty of "Joe Schmo" is that our Joe often goes through the entire production not suspecting that it's all a ruse. But, that, in a way, relies on "Joe Schmo's" obscurity within the TV space. The first season of "Joe Schmo" debuted ten years ago, and the second cycle followed in 2004. Since then, it's been radio silence from the series, mostly due to low ratings. Ironically, that played to the show's favor, since the more that the program is out of the cable limelight, the less likely the selected Joe will know about it and suspect he's on it.

Skeins that rely on hoax elements or deception often run into this problem. Take MTV's "Punk'd," for example. Early seasons of the show were remarkably successful in scaring the hell out of big name celebs. After awhile, however, stars began to catch on -- Rob Dydrek, for one, could tell he was being punked. Celebs began to anticipate the hoax because "Punk'd" had become such a part of pop culture vernacular.

Similarly, those featured on "To Catch a Predator" can sometimes sense when they are walking into the show's trap.

For a program like "The Joe Schmo Show," its low ratings almost a decade back were, in a way, a blessing in disguise since it seeded the perfect pop culture environment for "Joe Schmo's" latest iteration -- one where not many people have heard of the series, so our Joe goes in virtually blind. This is a bittersweet reality for an entertaining, unique skein that I'd love to see more seasons of; the continuation of the format, unfortunately, benefits from the show's weak ratings.

Since the program is fleeting (Spike has no plans to renew it for a fourth season yet), viewers will simply have to tune in this month to "The Joe Schmo Show" and revel in every ridiculous moment, since TV like this literally only comes around every decade.

Check out the trailer for season three of "The Joe Schmo Show" here:

 

Last night, TV viewers (and TV critics) were able to lay their eyes for the first time upon MTV's newest iteration of trashy reality TV, "Buckwild."

Show follows a handful of young, Southern adults spending spring/summer in West Virginia, their home. The unscripted program stirred up controversy before its January bow when a senator for West Virginia condemned the show and demanded that MTV not air it, arguing that it portrayed West Virginians in a negative light.

(Sound familiar? Similar controversy emerged during the "guido"-filled early episodes of "Jersey Shore," as Italian-American groups slammed the series as disrespectful to them and their heritage. The Jersey Shore wasn't pleased by the show, either.)

MTV's goal with "Buckwild," while not explicitly stated, was to fill the large programming hole left in the wake of "Jersey Shore's" end in late 2012. Many anticipated "Buckwild" to be a combo of "Duck Dynasty" and "Jersey Shore," two powerhouse reality skeins, but, unfortunately for the show and MTV, it was neither.

In fact, it was awful.

Not that MTV didn't give "Buckwild" all of the proper reality cues in hopes of capturing lightning in a bottle once more, in the same way that the cabler did with "Jersey Shore," even airing the show in "Shore's" former timeslot.

The opening of "Buckwild's" preem episode was enough to trigger any "Shore" fan's subconcious memories, as it featured the Southern college students driving to each other's houses to pick them up for a trip back home to a small West Virginia town. ("Shore" opened each season typically with the cast members picking one another up for a road trip to the Jersey Shore.)

But what occurred on screen after this opening segment was, bluntly put, reckless programming.

"Buckwild" starts each episode with a disclaimer in the same vein as "Jackass," warning viewers to not attempt what they are about to see at home. (When was the last time you saw that in a follow-around docuseries?) As it turns out, about half -- if not more -- of "Buckwild" is the cast members doing downright dangerous stuff, from setting cars on fire, to riding in the back of a pick up truck (while drinking) and roaring through ditches of mud, to swimming in water running off from a nearby power plant, to jumping off the roof of a house. At one point, two of the male cast members clutched the back of a dump truck as it dropped tons of dirt out, and they both laughed, "We could die!"

Aside from the occassional "Oh shit!" reaction from "Buckwild" that "Jackass" often summoned from viewers, these incidents were enough to make the guy I was watching the show with, who has his own history of being a hoodlum, say, "What idiots." And what separates "Buckwild" from "Jackass" is that on "Jackass," there was a notion that these wild, adrenaline-addicted men were not like normal people. They were profressionals in the world of reckless behavior. "Buckwild," however, features average young adults doing dangerous things in average settings. Suddenly, this kind of behavior feels far more accessible, possible and real.

Plot was scant throughout the back-to-back episodes, save a narrative about Cara, one of the female cast members, being the apple of pretty much all the redneck males' eyes. Alcohol is rampant throughout, though the ages of the cast is never revealed (and they all look truly young). What's more, one of the central cast members, Shain, who spearheads a majority of the dangerous activities, has a southern drawl so thick it called for subtitles throughout. This, in turn, hints at the scripted nature of his interview lines, which feature polysyllabic words and complete, comprehensible sentences.

Suddenly, that West Virginia senator's comments don't seem so out of line. Also, I suddenly understood why MTV didn't provide screeners for the press before the show's premiere.

The social media community was largely not amused by the show, nor were (surprise, surprise) many West Virginia natives. Could you blame them? While "Jersey Shore's" cast consistently danced upon the line separating the entertaining and the offensive, "Shore's" "GTL" messaging was, for the most part, positive and fun. It should also be noted that the majority of the "Shore" cast's activities echoed the activities of college students and twenty-somethings, helping the show resound with that demo.

"Buckwild" brings barely anything uplifting to the programming, save perhaps the ingenuity of turning a dump truck into a makeshift swimming pool. A drunken fight between a cast member and a West Virginia resident who simply wanted a "Buckwild" party to be quieter was enough to make even this reality TV viewing vet (yours truly) cringe.

Additionally, "Buckwild" highlights the fact that "Shore" managed to cast young adults with true star and branding power. They were entertaining to watch, over the top in behavior and garb. It was fun, even though the show jumped the shark once the cast's fame skyrocketed. They went on to rep fashion and beauty lines, land major sponsorship deals, spinoff shows, and more. The cast of "Buckwild" lack that entertaining -- and thus branding -- power.

I remember my first time watching "Jersey Shore." I had MTV blaring in the background while I studied for final exams in college. I'd said I wouldn't watch the show, it looked too trashy, but as a marathon aired while I studied, I became enthralled. My mother threw shade at "Jersey Shore" before watching and episode and becoming addicted to the program, herself. While not intellectual programming, "Jersey Shore" was fun to watch.

"Buckwild" was neither fun nor addicting, though I'm sure viewers will tune in nevertheless for the shock value of the backwoods stunts and constant hookups. But, to think that "Buckwild" is MTV's new "Jersey Shore"?

Well, that's about as naive as thinking setting a car on fire is a good idea, if you know what I mean.

Ever been disappointed with the ending of a TV episode?

After you're done screaming "YES" and thinking about the season two finale of "Homeland," rest assured that social media pioneers have crafted a solution that doles out a level of power to viewers when it comes to, as of now, CBS's "Hawaii Five-0."

During Jan. 14's broadcast of the primetime drama, viewers will be able to choose the ending of the episode in real time by voting on CBS.com or Twitter during both the East and West coast airings of the show.

Viewers can choose either #theBoss, #theTA or #theStudent as the culprit who committed the crime explored in the episode. Viewer interaction via social media is common in unscripted programming where, on "Ink Master" for example, auds could vote in real time during the East Coast feed for the contestant that would be given a guest spot on next season's competition. However, this level of social media integration into scripted fare as seen with 'Five-0' is a TV first.

“I've always felt the most fun aspect of watching a mystery is trying to figure out whodunit,” said Executive Producer Peter Lenkov.  “Now the 'Hawaii Five-0' viewers will actually get the chance to tell us who they think committed the crime and we will listen.  I love that our dedicated and attentive fans will actually play a part in resolving our story.”

Of course, the fate of your viewing experience rests in the hands -- and second screen devices -- of your fellow viewers, so there will still be plenty of people to blame if the ending doesn't suit your tastes.

Don't worry, though: CBS will make all three endings available online after the broadcasts. Here's hoping you gain the episodic closure you have always craved.

 

Very glad to see that the Producers Guild included Ken Burns' incredible PBS docu "The Dust Bowl" among its nominees for longform TV programming.

The Brit series "Sherlock" also made the longform cut for the PGA. The rest of the TV nom pack was pretty predictable, which doesn't mean unworthy. "Mad Men" folks can rest assured that the snub by Golden Globe voters was not repeated by PGA members. It's in the drama hunt along with "Breaking Bad," "Downton Abbey," "Game of Thrones" and "Homeland."

Comedy contenders are: "30 Rock," "The Big Bang Theory," "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "Louie" and "Modern Family."

Here's the full list of the PGA's TV nominees, after the jump: