Previews
Chris Rock hosts the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards Thursday in New York. Billing him as the “master of comic disaster,” an MTV promo promises that Mr. Rock will “wreak havoc on the music industry.” Celebrity guests will include Drew…
In Depth
Producer’s Slate Expands as `Redemptive Reality’ Fills Niche
Susan Cohen-Dickler creates reality television that looks like a reality you might actually want to live in. A reality with attractive color schemes, friendly neighbors and textured couches. Not “The Real World,” perhaps, but a real nice world. “We call…
Round 2: NBC Still in Front
Vivendi Universal is entering the home stretch of the protracted sale of its U.S. entertainment assets, with GE’s NBC division touted as the suitor best positioned to win the auction.John Malone’s Liberty Media and an investment group led by Vivendi…
Reilly Finally Free to Join NBC
Kevin Reilly hasn’t started his new job yet as top development executive at NBC, but his reputation has already lured some top-rate talent to the network. Robb Cullen and Mark Cullen, the brothers who created the Emmy-nominated FX series “Lucky,”…
‘Access’ Spinoff a Hybrid for U.K. Market
For the first time, “Access Hollywood” is going international. A weekly version of the NBC-owned entertainment magazine strip is scheduled to launch in November most likely in prime time in the United Kingdom on LivingTV, a network owned by Britain’s…
Seacrest Ready for Anything
Ryan Seacrest knows the perils of taking on a national audience with a live broadcast.Toward the end of season two of “American Idol,” Mr. Seacrest and “Idol” contestants Ruben Studdard, Clay Aiken and Kimberley Locke found themselves trapped in an…
The Insider
Lawyer-turned-TV-personality Greta Van Susteren has been telling folk she is going to be a judge. A Miss America Pageant judge. The Insider also hears some thought has been given to having Ms. Van Susteren do her Fox News Channel show,…
Jerry Orbach: Residual Benefits
He looks so lean, tough, seasoned and sincere playing Detective Lennie Briscoe on the hit series “Law & Order” that you might not realize how genuinely nice, relaxed and easy to be around Jerry Orbach is in real life. One…
Recall Ad Boom a Bust
Call it a bonanza that many TV stations don’t want.At least seven or eight of the 135 candidates running for governor of California are gearing up to buy advertising time in the coming weeks. But many television stations in the…
Watchdogs Irked by Localism Probe
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell’s inquiry into broadcast localism could become a regulatory nightmare for the TV industry, despite widespread initial efforts to downplay the significance of the proceeding, industry sources said.In the immediate aftermath of the chairman’s announcement…