It's time for another edition of Idiot Box Updates, where we run down all the latest TV news for the week, and separate the facts from the rumors and nonsense on and about the small screen.
Here's a list of the top 20 prime-time shows by viewership numbers, compiled by Nielsen Media Research for Nov. 30-Dec. 6. Listings include the week’s ranking and viewership.
1. NFL Football: Minnesota at Arizona,” NBC, 20.89 million.
2. Desperate Housewives, ABC, 14.86 million.
3. NCIS (Tuesday, 9 p.m.), CBS, 14.28 million.
4. The OT, Fox, 13.73 million.
5. Sunday Night NFL Pre-Kick, NBC, 13.65 million.
6. House, Fox, 13.25 million.
7. Survivor: Samoa, CBS, 12.82 million.
8. College Football: Texas vs. Nebraska, ABC, 12.69 million.
9. Amazing Race 15, CBS, 12.3 million;
10. 60 Minutes, CBS, 12.05 million.
11. Two and a Half Men, CBS, 11.38.
12. Brothers & Sisters, ABC, 10.81 million.
13. The Mentalist, CBS, 10.73 million.
14. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, CBS, 10.59 million.
15. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, ABC, 10.35 million.
16. The Big Bang Theory, CBS, 10.09 million
17. Biggest Loser 8, NBC, 9.99 million.
18. Bones, Fox, 9.92 million.
19. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CBS, 9.9 million.
20. Cold Case, CBS, 9.64 million.
MTV programing president Tony DiSanto spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about his scandalously douchey new reality show, "Jersey Shore," in an attempt to defend MTV's ever-dwindling respectability. The series, which debuted last week, has caused outrage from some Italian Americans for its cast of self-described "guidos."
DiSanto, whose team is responsible for hits such as "The Hills" and "America's Best Dance Crew," thinks that the wave of criticism MTV's getting from "Jersey Shore" is undue.
THR: Did you think that "Jersey Shore" might cause some backlash?
DiSanto: To be 100 percent honest, no, even as an Italian American. I just wanted to be cautious about toning down the partying. It never crossed my mind this would be offensive. I don't look at these characters as representing an entire ethnic group. They refer to themselves as "guidos" sometimes, but it's more about the way they act, their behavior, what they're attracted to, their rituals. It's not about an entire ethnicity.
THR: So for those out there who are offended, what would you say to them?
DiSanto: Everybody is welcome to their own POV. It bums me out that some people are offended. The intention behind the show was to present an exciting group of big characters who were an interesting dynamic, having the summer of their lives, having very specific sort of rituals and vernacular. I thought it would play like a fun show with heart that also makes you laugh. I look at my job as having to deliver shows that hit at least one or two of the following categories -- entertain, engage and enlighten. And this nails the entertainment category.
THR: The use of the term "guidos" in the casting notice and trailer is a point of contention. Do you think "guido" is a derogatory term?
DiSanto: I understand that it is considered a derogatory term by certain people. I don't see it that way, since I don't think of "guido" to mean Italian Americans across the board. Not all these kids are fully Italian American; it's more about a specific character type. We actually did pull the word "guidos" from voiceover and descriptions of the show (in response to the protests). However, if they refer to themselves that way, we let that exist as is.
All this, and episode two hasn't even aired yet...
This weekend's Dallas Cowboys/San Diego Chargers NFL match will mark a new beginning in televised sports. N.J.-based company HDlogix is partnering with the Dallas Cowboys to show some of Sunday's game live in 3D, on the world's largest high-definition video screen, which hangs from the 20-yard line to the 20-yard line in Cowboys Stadium. Everyone attending the event will receive a pair of paper 3D glasses to use while viewing the game in the stadium. That's right, when you're at the game, instead of looking at the actual thing, you can put on some glasses and watch it all weird-looking on TV. AMAZING!
The company plans to formally launch its system next month at the Consumer Electronics Show, where major set makers will unveil 3D-ready TVs for which 3D content will be needed.
"The Office" creator (and star of the UK show) Ricky Gervais recently spoke with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association about being tapped to host the Golden Globes, and dropped a little bit of insight into what his ideal celebrity guests on "The Office" would be:
"Ryan Gosling. I'd like to see Ryan Gosling do something like just really -- like a really sort of moody nerd who's not touched by anything, but he frustrates the whole team maybe. Just someone -- he plays something you think could go mad with an Uzi in McDonald's because someone treated him badly.
"I think he could play a really angsty sort of guy. And they can't get through to him. Michael's going, 'You can't smoke here,' and he goes, 'There's no law against smoking.' Well there is actually, but - I can just imagine, I think he could really do some exciting [things].
"I love Will Arnett. I think he's amazing. I think Louis CK is the funniest standup in America at the moment. Oh, there's loads of people."
The Gosling idea seems to be a very fleshed out one, and fans would undoubtedly love to see him play the part. Will Arnett is comedy gold, but he may risk outshining Michael Scott's subtle genius. What do you think?
Kristen Wiig's violently mischievous recurring character Gilly will host a "Saturday Night Live" Christmas special, and somehow, it's a perfect fit. "SNL Presents: A Very Gilly Christmas" will air Dec. 17 at 8 p.m. The two-hour special, the first for "SNL" since 2002, will be led by Wiig's Gilly, an always-smiling Annie-lookalike with a violent streak. The special will feature new sketches with Gilly and highlights of classic holiday SNL sketches.
Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin are said to also make guest appearances on the special, to help introduce clips they've appeared in as hosts. Possibly inclusions are Baldwin in "NPR's Delicious Dish and the Schweddy Balls" and Martin in "A Holiday Wish."
FX has ordered a second season of its fledgeling comedy series "The League," picking up 13 more episodes for a second season, which will debut in late summer 201. The show's first season finale airs Thursday night (tonight!). Through five episodes, "League" is averaging a modest 1 million viewers an episode and 860,000 adults in the 18-49 age group.
The latest winner of NBC's "The Biggest Loser" is also the biggest loser in the show's history. Danny Cahill, a 40-year-old land surveyor and musician from Broken Arrow, Okla., lost 239 pounds to claim the $250,000 grand prize on the fatty mcfatterson show, a staggering feat that leaves horrific images of loosely-hanging skin for anyone imagining the body impact of such a change.
Cahill went from 430 pounds to 191 pounds, losing 55.58 percent of his body weight in six months and three weeks and breaking the record for the most weight lost by any contestant on the show. It was also the biggest audience the show has seen in four years.
In an interview Wednesday on the "Today" show, Cahill said his family motivated him to change his lifestyle.
NBC said season nine will premiere Jan. 5.
Dates on a conveyor belt. That's what ABC has come to in their quest to appeal to the most primitive minds in America.
In "Conveyor Belt of Love," 30 men are rolled out before a panel of five women and given one minute to make a positive impression.The show will follow the season premiere of "The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love" on January 4.
Here's the official statement, if you dare: "If a woman is interested in someone, that man will step aside and wait as the rest of the men go by. But if another man comes by on the belt that seems better than that woman's first choice, she can swap out the man waiting off of the belt as many times as she wants until the last man has passed by. If two or more of the women are interested in the same man, the tables turn and the man on the conveyor belt gets to choose which one he would like to wait for. After all 30 men have made it through the 'Conveyor Belt of Love,' each woman is left with her final choice as they embark on a date in the hope of finding a true connection."
