Whither thou Rich Tyra Chronicles?

Magnet #1198 - Texas, Lone Star State

Last tv season two of my fave Twitterpeeps, @goddesspharo and @vegtrix nicknamed the show Lone Star, the Rich Tyra Chronicles. So when I saw this magnet at IAH in Houston, I had to pick it up.

If you remember, Lone Star was one of those shows with a healthy ad budget and good critical buzz, featuring hot, unknown actor James Wolk and Adrianne Palicki, Tyra Collette from Friday Night Lights. The show, for a lot of us, was really what happened to Tyra after she left Dillon, TX, and got rich.

Alas, the show lasted two whole episodes - on FOX, of course - before it was pulled due to low ratings.

After the network upfronts a couple of weeks ago, I tried to watch as many trailers of as many shows as I possibly could, just to get a sense of what shows I'm planning on watching this fall, and what shows might be the next set of Lone Star'd shows to get canceled before their time.

I don't have an answer to that question, but I will say that there's nothing that's totally grabbed me, which is surprising, and a little scary, given that I'm usually watching at least 30-40 scripted hours of TV a week.

You can watch more than 40 trailers here, and decide for yourself. As for me, I'll wait to see which horses the networks back with big ad dollars in a couple of months, and go from there.

eta:
I will say, as much as I love Adrianne Palicki, and I want her working, I'm really glad no one opted to pick up Wonder Woman. Early reports were not favorable. And it's better to have just the one pilot, rather than...several episodes in the can and then getting pulled. Again.

Must see T-what?

Magnet#586 - Reflections

Another stockhouse swag magnet that I just realized had a tiny tv on it. Perfect, as I reflect upon the fact that this time last year, my year-round TV Dance Card had 64 shows on it.

Now, it's the end of September and we're smack in the middle of fall premieres, I find my DVR at 65% full.

A sad state of affairs. Of course, that's after I wiped off a good 30% this past weekend, and have three hours of that Ken Burns' National Parks documentary sitting on it.

I can't figure out if we're still feeling the effects of the strike, or the dismal economy, but I don't know what's up with Fall TV this year. This is the first time in years that I haven't gone to the Paley Center premiere parties, where they preview the new shows a couple of days before they air.

Not a one show was worth rushing up to Midtown after work for me. Sad.

So what's left on the roster, and left to try when they air*?

ABC (7)
Private Practice, Brothers & Sisters, Grey's Anatomy, LOST, Castle, FlashForward, V*
(Tried and Dumped: Eastwick)

CBS (5)
NCIS, Ghost Whisperer, Numb3rs, Flashpoint, Three Rivers*
(Tried and Dumped: NCIS: Los Angeles and probably The Good Wife)

NBC (2)
Chuck, Friday Night Lights
(Tried and Dumped: Mercy and probably Trauma)

FOX (2)
Fringe, Bones
(Tried and Dumped: Dollhouse and Glee. Yes, that's right. I dumped Glee. You know there's a magnet a-comin'.)

The CW (5)
90210, Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill, Supernatural, Vampire Diaries
(Tried and Dumped: Beautiful Life, and probably Melrose Place)

TBS (2)
The Closer, Saving Grace

USA (5)
Psych, Burn Notice, In Plain Sight, Royal Pains, White Collar*

BBC-A (3)
Doctor Who, Top Gear, Skins
(Hiatus/in production/not airing stateside yet, so doesn't count: Torchwood, Gavin & Stacey, Robin Hood, MI-5, Merlin, Being Human, Primeval)

AMC (1)
Mad Men

ABC Family (1)
Greek

FX (1)
Sons of Anarchy

Lifetime (1)
Army Wives

Sundance (2)
Architecture School, Iconoclasts

Total: 37

What's bugging joy

Magnet #413 - John Derian Bug 20

You know what's been bugging me for a while? Twitter.

It's been around since 2006, and is finally gaining more traction. Here a Tweet, there a Tweet - on television, in the media, and it almost seems like John Q. Public might even know what it is.

I have at least three accounts.

That I quit using almost a year ago in protest.

Back then, it was because I hated how people at work were using it to summon people to meetings - e.g., I'm sitting in X conference room. If you're supposed to be in this meeting, get here now. At that point, for me, Twitter was a fun place to connect, and voyeuristically see what other people were up to. It grated on my very last nerve that even in the Twitterverse, work seemed to know no boundaries.

Of course, it's even worse now, as people, celebrities and other public figures, and brands themselves are Tweeting obsessively. Look, I totally understand the need to to Tweet - it's mass communications at its best, worst, and most raw.

For example, yesterday, we found out that Joss Whedon's Dollhouse might be cancelled. But we weren't entirely sure, because they shot 13 episodes, and are only airing 12, or they only produced the 13th just for the DVD set, and were never, ever planning on airing it, or, it was always in the plan, or that the pilot didn't count or that the last one was shot for scraps/parts, or that FOX just screwed Joss again, etc., etc.

See how squishy all that info was? It was worse information flow than when we watch crisis newsreports as events unfold. And everyone was constantly updating as the day went on.

But, what I do find ridiculous is that such a ruckus went on for hours, and no one from Fox responded to emails, or issued a release to just control the messaging out there. And a lot of the confusion was generated by Tweets - from people connected to the show.

(Mind you, this situation is obviously happening more often than not - misinformation and Twitter whirlwinds. I'm just picking on Dollhouse, because I couldn't care less about it being canceled. That's sad, because I was more than a little excited when I heard about the show, but have been disenchanted with the show from the pilot. Also, this random, truncated opinion is being included here, because I realized I already used the magnet I wanted to use for my now-moot Dollhouse rant.)

I will concede that lately, I've been feeling the pull back to Twitter. I won't lie - I still don't care if my coworker's hanging out watching the game at home, and I don't give a fig about the celebretweeting break-ups or opinions.

But, at least two of my favorite bloggers are Tweeting, and I know they're bound to be great entertainment. Plus, I hate being left out. And what if George Clooney decides to start Tweeting?

So, who knows, I might have to give in to critical mass.

Oh! But the question is, how critical a mass is it, I wonder: To wit - I love, love, love this :60-second spot from Sprint about their Now Network, with the best copy ever, and the VO says:

233,000 people just Twittered on Twitter.
26% of you viewing this have no idea what that means.


eta:
And, this is in no way meant to be sacrilegious, especially today...but I'm now wondering if God is Tweeting. Last night on Facebook, I saw someone I know Become a Fan of God. I clicked, curious (he has like 12,700 fans, more, now, I'm sure). But, on God's wall, it said, "God has joined Facebook." Which was hysterically funny. But now, I want to know if - like that famous billboard campaign that they did in His Name - someone's Tweeting for God. Now I have to go look.

eta2:
And now I've looked. You'll be interested to know that god is in fact, on Twitter. His latest status?

"Hells yeah, it's me!"

Yep. A special hell for that one.

eta3, I promise, the final one:
Apparently, Twitter might be able to help save Chuck. Now, see, that's what I call using your powers for good.

Cheating on George Clooney...with Joshua Jackson

Magnet #151 - Dawson's Creek, but really, Pacey's Pond

I swear, this is the last of the Cheating on George Clooney series, but really only because I haven't any magnets for Clive Owen or Jason Statham or Gerard Butler or...well, you get the picture.

Really, one could argue that my fling isn't really with Joshua Jackson, but really with Pacey J. Witter (except for the tragic Promicide episode, which we won't discuss here).

Joshua's probably the longest fling, since he's from like, OMG, the 1990s, which is odd, since he's actually the youngest. He's also the most like George, too. I'm convinced young Joshua's gonna be a George when he hits his mid-30s and 40s.

Really. He had a taste of success when he was really young - obvi, those Duck movies (/Pacey, Breakfast Club-esque Detention eppy). Then the Creekers were the hottest thing off The WB for a couple of years. And during and since, he's done a couple of rather ok movies, mixed in with some critical work that no one really saw. Having watched almost anything he's put out - I think he's damn sight better than most people give him credit for.

I'm hoping that Fringe, his new show this fall, will do for him what ER did for George. That might be shooting a bit high, and I might be here next year at this time wondering why it didn't take off. Granted, I've seen only the same "leaked" pilot version online that everyone else has seen.

It has a few things going for it. Joshua Jackson. The other JJ - J.J. Abrams. A fairly interesting concept. Damned awesome titles and supers (what? yes, I'm reaching, but they really are freakin' awesome). A fabulous good teaser campaign that I hope they decide to nix the real launch ad campaign for.

It does have a few things against it. It's on FOX, which means (unless J.J. has them over a barrel somehow) it has only a couple of shots to make it, before Fox programming decides that they don't care how much they've spent on advertising and ruthlessly pulls it. Also, Mark Valley's in it, and though I love him and he's adorable, too, he can be somewhat of a show killer. And, the verdict's out on the lead chick - though she's like a young Cate Blanchett, she's a little too bland. (They should have cast his real-life gal pal, Diane Kruger, but no doubt, there's another National Treasure to produce. Heh.)

But, for now, who cares? My Pacey's gonna be back on my tv every week!

Dear FOX,

Don't screw it up.

Love and kisses,
joy