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Daily Archives : Jun 8, 2009

Big Push for Disney’s ‘Phineas & Ferb’

Disney Channel’s animated "Phineas & Ferb” has been picked up for a third season and will get both a Christmas special and a music CD, says The Hollywood Reporter. Disney ordered 35 additional episodes of the show, which also airs…

Court Says French Reality Stars Must Be Paid as Professionals

France’s highest court ruled last week that participants in the reality TV show “Temptation Island,” which ran from 2002 to 2008 on French TV, had to be compensated as professional actors, the New York Times reported. French broadcasters are worried…

Subaru Signs on to Sponsor Nat Geo’s ‘Dog Whisperer’

Automaker Subaru will be the lead sponsor for the new season of “Dog Whisperer With Cesar Millan,” under National Geographic Channel’s first deal of the upfront season, says Mediaweek. As part of the deal, Subaru’s Forester will be integrated into…

Alternate NYC Production Tax Credit Proposed

The TV and film industry has put forward an alternate proposal for the extension of New York City’s production tax credits, says The Hollywood Reporter, just two weeks before the New York State legislature heads out for summer vacation. The…

The Toughest Guy in the Room is a Gal

“She’s got as much testosterone as any guy I know.” That’s how Doug Herzog describes Sharon Levy, who is in charge of developing reality programming for Spike TV. This New York Times profile of Levy focuses on how she picks…

It’s Time to Treat Reality Stars Like the Actors They Are

Dramatic soliloquies, comic pratfalls, hissy fits, nervous breakdowns. Sound familiar?  But we’re not talking about Lindsay Lohan, Jennifer Lopez or dozen of other actors. We’re talking about folks such as Susan Boyle and Heidi Pratt. TVWeek columnist Joe Adalian says…

Over 11 Million Homes Expected to Lose TV Signals

More the 11 million homes are either completely or partially unprepared for the swithch from analog TV signals to digital ones that is scheduled to occur this Friday, according to a survey conducted a the end of May by Nielsen…

‘Old Christine,’ ‘Entourage,’ ‘Curb’ Cleared in 70 Percent of U.S.

Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution has cleared "The New Adventures of Old Christine" on stations reaching more than 70 percent of the country, including the Tribune stations in New York and Los Angeles. The sales come just three weeks after…

Why Reality ‘Stars’ Ought to Be Treated Like Actors

So who needs a column when you’ve got a blog? Good question. And, indeed, it’s one I considered quite a bit as TVWeek has made the transition from a print and online publication to an Internet-only based destination. During the…

Adalian Column: It’s Time to Treat Reality Stars Like the Actors They Are

By Josef Adalian Right now, the first star of the modern reality TV era– "Survivor" meanie Richard Hatch– is holed up somewhere in a Pennsylvania halfway house, serving out the remainder of a four-year prison sentence for tax evasion. Meanwhile,…