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Tuesday, August 21, 2012

My Latest from TV Guide Magazine

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In case you missed it, some of the recent stories I've worked on for TV Guide Magazine over the past month: Who Earns What: TV's Highest Paid Stars
I helped Steve Battaglio on this one. Networks and studios have continued to take a hard line on holding down salaries, based on TV Guide Magazine's annual survey drawn from conversations with agents, network executives and studio heads. Rare is the lead actor who can enter a new series earning more than $125,000 an episode. The exceptions are those with a ratings track rec­ord of having a major hit show (Matthew Perry) or a significant career in feature films (Kevin Bacon).

How TV Veterans Conquered the Summer Movies
TV fans might have noticed some familiar names at the box office this summer. Now that it's widely accepted that some of Hollywood's best work is found on the small screen, television's top creative minds are finding a receptive audience in the film world as well.

Strike Back Gets Back in Action!
The Strike Back team had just arrived in Mozambique to kick off shooting this season when they ran into a major problem: As the country faced an uprising by thousands of freedom fighters clutching real RPGs and AK-47s, the government wasn't so sure what to make of the show's crew.

NBC's The Voice Reveals Its Twist For Fall — And It's A "Knockout"
NBC's The Voice is probably best known for its blind auditions — and, of course, its big, red spinning chairs, which helped turn the singing competition into a ratings phenomenon. But NBC also realized last year that once the chairs stop spinning, viewer interest in The Voice starts to dip. Meeting with reporters at his lavish beachside home, executive producer Mark Burnett (sitting next to coaches Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine, Blake Shelton and Cee-Lo Green) revealed a new twist that he believes will carry the drama of The Voice's blind auditions into its battle rounds.

Why American Horror Story is a Miniseries, and This Year's Other Emmy Trivia
The decision to place American Horror Story in the movie and miniseries categories paid off for the show — probably better than anyone expected. The anthology series received a whopping 17 nominations, tied with Mad Men for the most this year. American Horror Story could have gone into the drama field — but the Academy of TV Arts and Sciences ruled earlier this year that it was eligible to be classified as a miniseries. (PBS' Prime Suspect is a previous example of a show that competed in the miniseries category.)Here are several more trivia nuggets and curiosities that have emerged out of this year's Emmy nominations.

Watch My Show: Oh Sit! Executive Producer Phil Gurin Answers Our Showrunner Survey
Did Oh Sit! hit the fans? Oh Sit! — which was originally titled Extreme Musical Chairs, until The CW decided to have some fun with the title — centers on 12 contestants who go through a series of physically challenging obstacle courses to order to claim a chair (as a live band performs). Executive producer Phil Gurin took time to fill out our TV Guide Magazine showrunner survey and explain why Oh Sit! happens.

Watch My Show: Baby Daddy's Dan Berendsen Answers Our Showrunner Survey
Writer Dan Berendsen has become quite the tween and young adult whisperer in recent years, penning series and movies for the young generation — including Hannah Montana: The Movie, Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam and ABC Family's recent drama The Nine Lives of Chloe King. Now Berendsen is back at ABC Family, but this time returning to his sitcom roots with Baby Daddy. The show, which airs Wednesdays at 8:30/7:30c, stars Jean-Luc Bilodeau as a twentysomething guy whose ex-girlfriend dumps their baby at his doorstep and then splits. Tahj Mowry, Melissa Peterman, Derek Theler and Chelsea Kane also star. Berendsen took a pregnant pause to tell us why we should make room for Daddy.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I can’t wait until the return of American Horror Story. Last year it absolutely blew my mind with the crazy teaser commercials and then the story that unfolded inside the murder house. Season two which premieres sometime this fall looks to be a lot scarier than season one. In preparation for the new season and a few other choice shows, I upgraded to the Hopper on the suggestion of a Dish co-worker. Its 2,000 hours of recording time should be more than enough space for me to not have to choose what I want to delete immediately. The one thing that got me about last season is how everyone because a part of the house. It was a concept I’d never really seen before in just a TV show, especially not on FX. Nonetheless, I am hooked and I’ll be patiently waiting until the season two premiere.