A Farewell To All My Children

Here's the truly big news of the week.
Forget those terrible new prime time TV series currently spewing forth. Most will be toast by season's end.
The biggest TV story out there is the demise of All My Children Friday on ABC.
Did it have to happen? No way. ABC is killing off one of the staples of daytime TV to make way for cheap lifestyle programming.
Take a look at how CBC has been putting new life into its evergreen British import Coronation Street.
CBC runs a new episode every weeknight (except Friday) at 7:30 to jump start its prime time programming. And that same episode is on late nights and at 2 p.m.
Then the four episodes are packaged for Sunday mornings as Sunday brunch with Coronation Street and different audiences watch every time.
ABC could be doing the same thing --re-building the audience base eroded by the multiplicity of choices. Instead the network has sold off the rights and a new version will debut in January on the internet although key cast members will be missing.
What happened to daytime soaps?
Well, first of all more and more women are working these days so the base of traditional support is no longer there.
I remember taking tea once with Agnes Nixon in her New York hotel suite and she was one of those who energized the genre by creating Another World and then One Life To Live.
Soap companies including Procter And Gamble owned the original TV shows outright.
When ratings started to topple these were the vulnerable soaps --CBS has kept on the air soaps it owned outright.
ABC had a controlling interest in the U.S. cable network SOAPnet but has divested itself of that cable web. Thus it no longer needs All My Children.
in the 1950s I'd watch two soaps every afternoon before heading back to school: Search For Tomorrow at 12:30 and The Guiding Light at 1 p.m.
Both were live and each ran 15 minutes (including the commercials which were filmed).
The day I spent with Nixon she explained the fight to get All My Children up and running. It debuted Jan 5 1970--originally Nixon and husband Bob owned it outright but sold all rights to ABC in 1975.
When I visited the set in 1974 it was taped at ABC Television studios at 101 West 67th Street which is now a 50-story apartment complex.
Nixon told me that day the audience was over 30 per cent male and it also attracted a huge audience of college kids.
Lunch on set with grande dame Ruth Warrick was fun especially when she said "I started out in Citizen Kane, the greatest film ever made, and now I'm in a soap. I see no diminution of my status. In fact I've got a lot more fans these days."
The final episode was taped in L.A. on August 11. Its not known when the first Internet episode will run.
But one thing is clear: a phenomenon of American culture has departed from TV forever.

New Prime Suspect Just Doesn't Make It

Why would NBC do it?
Remake that near perfect British series Prime suspect, I mean.
Yes, I know that way back when such successful American shows from All In The Family to Sanford And Son to Three's Company were remakes of Brit hits.
But in those long ago days American TV viewers had no chance to view the originals.
Since then the going has been tough.
Consider the fate of the U.S. version of Cracker which came and went faster than you can say "ratings bomb".
The British version(1993-96) was superb with Robbie Coltrane as the flawed but brilliant sleuth.
The American version (1996-97) lasted 16 hours and starred the fine actor Robert Pastorelli but we'd all seen the original and anything that was diluted just wasn't going to make it.
Then there was the U.S. version of Life On Mars which lasted 17 episodes in 2008 and 2009.
Again it was mostly a failure --we'd seen it all done so much better by the BBC in the original.
And right now I'm re-sampling Prime Suspect which vaulted Helen Mirren to the top of favorite actresses of the time. The originals ran over many weeks as Det. Inspector Jane Tennison tried to solve very complicated murders. As a commentary on the underbelly of contemporary British society this was tops.
The new version stars Maria Bello, an actress I've admired in the past.
Here she's given a new names (Jane Timony) and a boss who's as strong as she is (Aidan Quinn).
OK, so she's brilliant. Resolute. But she's also unsympathetic, hard boiled in the least appealing sort of way. We can't root for her. She wouldn't want us to.
The discrimination she suffers from male colleagues is brutal. But I would have thought that kind of behavior went out at least a decade ago.
Story lines are solved too patly here, everything is rushed. On the original the crime was analyzed and explored over a month's worth of episodes.
The show is jam packed with talent. Toby Stephens (his mom is Dame Maggie Smith) plays her live-in boyfriend but he has very little to do. One scene does stand out as Jane negotiates visitation rights for his son with the ex-wife during a restaurant encounter.
All the darkness of the original has vanished. What emerges is a well made police show but one that too often invites invidious comparisons with the Helen Mirren version.
Maybe NBC should have used a new name for the series as well as the character.
Thursday nights has been CBS's domain in recent years and I can't see it changing this season out.
However, others are saying I'm wrong. Global TV's head Barb Williams predicted this would be the breakout series of the season during the fall TV press event.
But on U.S. network TV it doesn't matter how great the show is if people are watching the opposition.
And PS's opposition is formidable: CBS's top-rated The Mentalist and NBC's still popular Grey's Anatomy.
PRIME SUSPECT PREMIERES ON NBC AND GLOBAL THURSD. SEPT. 22 AT 10 P.M.
MY RATING: **1/2.

The Fall Season: Ratings Winners And Losers

My CBS sources are doing the twist over the huge ratings for the revamped Two And A Half Men.
Just a minute, fellows! That was a huge number, I'm granting you, but what will it be the next week when the reality sets in. Most of the people I talked to who saw the premiere didn't like it very much at all.
But the wave also hit CBS's How I Met your Mother at 8 which had its best ever season premiere.
At 8 NBC's Playboy Club really tanked and since it is a serialized drama it's unlikely more viewers will tune in for next week's episode.
And at 9:30 the amiable new sitcom Two Broke Girls also on CBS attracted 19 million curious viewers giving it a great sampling.
Against this ratings juggernaut there was ABC's Dancing With The Stars which still attracted a more than respectable 18 million viewers.
Viewers seemed most curious about Chaz Bono who showed that with parents Sonny and Cher he certainly has inherited dancing steps.
At 10 p.m. CBS's Hawaii Five-0 got stomped on by NBC's Castle which attracted an additional million viewers over its weak CBS rival.
CTV sources are saying Two garnered 4.9 million viewers which may be a new high for a sitcom. It's bigger than even Big Bang Theory gets.
On CBS the number was over 27 million which was once what a hit like Beverly Hillbillies would be pulling in.
In fact I'm willing to bet Playboy Club might be the first prominent new series to get toppled.
More ominously for the future of the U.S. networks Business Week reports a decline in the number of actual viewers this fall tuned into satellite or cable TV.
The phenomenon is called "cord cutting" and means an increasing number of younger viewers are declining to pay exorbitant monthly cable or satellite bills and are watching their programs solely online. The college crowd watch online in their dorms and when they go out on their own decline to hook up to conventional TV services.

Sheen Really Missed On The Revamped Two And A Half Men

So there I was talking to a Grade Six class about the new TV season.
And I didn't get a single question about the new shows which is par for the course'
No one but TV critics have seen them yet.
The talk was all about Charlie Sheen's departure from Two And A Half Men and whether he could be replaced.
And having just finished watching the first new episode on CBS and CTV the answer is simply: No.
Sheen was 90 per cent of the show. We watched because this guy was really dangerous.
He wasn't playing a character. He was being himself and it worked for an awfully long time.
The show was already losing steam, it was repeating old plots, the kid was growing up but CBS was hoping to get a few more seasons out of it before the inevitable departure to Rerun Valley.
Then Sheen sort of blew up and started acting very strange and got fired.
And there he was on the Emmys the other night looking rather subdued and just a little diminished.
That's also my verdict on the sitcom CBS is trying to resuscitate. Diminished
CBS made every mistake in the book in the first new episode.
When stars depart series in a huff the thing is they must be quickly killed off and never mentioned again.
CBS did it right when McLean Stevenson was unceremoniously dumped from M*A*S*H --his character got killed off and the show continued with a better actor as replacement (Harry Morgan).
When Valerie Harper refused to return to the sitcom named after her the character was killed off and she was quickly replaced by Sandy Duncan and nobody really minded.
But on Two And A Half Men the episode opened with Charlie's coffin as if CBS could not resist one more dig at the guy.
Then a steady stream of gal pals reminisced about the baddie.
"He gave me herpes!" gushed one former lover.
"...vaginal warts..."said another.
"He used my panties to make tea..."
"He loved to be spanked..."
Already viewers were missing the guy. In a bad way of course.
Then came the only good moments of the half hour.
The beach house had to be sold so in walked one potential buyer --played by John Stamos. Did you know he was first choice to replace Sheen and turned CBS down because it was a losing proposition.
Then came the co-stars from Dharma And Greg:Jenna Elfman and Thomas Gibson.
Another cute touch.
Then replacement Ashton Kutcher sauntered in and this sitcom sank like a stone.
He played a would-be suicide who's a billionaire and he buys the property complete with the two occupants. Sure he was nude (to the studio audience) but the zingers suddenly stopped.
This became an aging sitcom in desperate need of life support.
Here's how CBS should have handled Sheen's departure.
1. Repackage the show with the two remaining regulars going off and meeting up with Kutcher in a completely different environment. No mentioning of Sheen after the initial credits.
2. Re-title the show and shop it to the public as a spinoff. As in Frasier which ran forever with Kelsey Grammer in a new situation.
3. then CBS would have a hit and not a re-warmed show where we'll fiorever be wauting for Sheen to return in someway or other.
Stuck against FOX's House and the second half of ABC's Dancing With The Stars and this old show doesn't seem to have much of a chance.
Sure, ratings will be big the first week out. But don't forget House doesn't return until Oct. 3.
And just as important there's going to be no ratings flow into Molly & Me which starts its sophomore season Sept. 26.

John A: A Resolutely Canadian TV Drama

People have been asking me when the Canadian TV season starts.
They're not thinking of those well made series shot in Canada but set in some unknown place --the ones that are made to sell to American TV networks.
They're thinking of Canadian Canadian shows.
Well, Monday night at 8 on CBC-TV comes a two-hour drama that's as relentlessly Canadian as maple sugar.
The title says it all: John A: The Birth Of A Country.
And the cast reads like a who's who of Canadian TV stars.
Shawn Doyle (The Eleventh Hour) plays John A. Macdonald back when the future prime minister was just another member of a faltering Canadian coalition. Canada in those days comprised an uneasy union of Upper and Lower Canada.
Set against him there's another future Father of Confederation: Peter Outerbridge (ReGenesis) as George Brown, editor of the Toronto Globe.
Aidan Devine (The City) plays another Macdonald, John Sanfield Macdonald, erstwhile leader of the Liberal party and the future first premier of Ontario.
Also there's David La Hayne (George Etienne Cartier), Jean-Michel Le Gal (Antoine-Aime Dorion).
Veteran producer Bernard Zuckerman (This Is Wonderland) made it and veteran Jerry Ciccoritti (Death And Life Of Nancy Eaton) directed it with some class.
The meaty script is by Bruce M. Smith from Richard Gwyn's recent Macdonald biography.
As a former history student at University of Toronto I wish there was more insights from the biographies of Macdonald and Brown by Donald Creighton and Maurice Careless.
The saga opens in 1861 with the union of Upper and Lower Canada going nowhere fast. Governments fall regularly because of the animosity between English and French.
A lot of the story is personal --comprising dual biographies of Macdonald and Brown, ironically both Scotsmen but fiercely loyal to the British crown.
As the American Civil War heats up there's deep concern President Lincoln will one day turn his armies --numbering over a million men --northward and consider Canada easy pickings.
We see Macdonald as first a political opportunist saddled with an ailing wife addicted to opium for her pain.
And Brown is so violently anti-French he cannot cobble together a majority because he has no seats in Quebec.
Now making a drama set in 1861 to 1864 in today's Toronto is a real challenge --there are so few authentic buildings left.
But the on-location photography takes us to University College and Osgoode Hall for some exteriors. Production designer Tim Bider and Costume designer Mary Partridge-Raynor have created alchemy in recreating those Victorian times.
I'm not sure Doyle is quite right as John A. --he's too serene. I think the real Macdonald was more charismatic , mercurial, and certainly a heavy drinker.
Outerbridge complete with thick Scottish accent has the juicier part and with his whiskers in place shows how passionate and volatile Brown could be in his love of the emerging nation of Canada.
Much of the "action" centers on the historic debates between the two antagonists and to me these moments seemed exciting helped by Ciccoritti's directorial touches and the fluid camera work of Michael Story.
At one time CBC was all into dramatizing Canada's past.
I remember being on the set of CBC's big 1978 hit The National Dream. And I was on the set of a companion 1979 mini-series Riel.
And later there were dramatic recreations of the lives of Laurier, Rene Levesque, Tommy Douglas with diminishing returns.
I'm hoping there is still a place to tell uniquely Canadian stories on CBC.
If that is so the future of the public network is justified.
JOHN A. PREMIERES ON CBC-TV MON. SEPT. 19 AT 8 P.M.
MY RATING: *** 1/2.

So Who Cares About The Emmy Awards?

Here are my predictions for Sunday night's Emmy Awards. As I think this out i see few of the Top Ten U.S. shows are listed. Instead a lot of shows from cable weblets few people watch seem oce again to be dominating the nominations.
For Outstanding U.S. Comedy Series it just has to be Modern Family. I'm thinking the only other contender is the Office which is losing Steve Carell.
For Outstanding Drama Series I'd pick Friday Night Lights which has been consistently ignored by Emmy over the years and has finished its run.
Best Supporting Drama Actor should be John Slattery (Mad Men) because it was his best season.
Best Supporting Drama Actress should be Kelly Macdonald (Boardwalk Empire) although Christine Baranski (Good Wife) is right up there.
Best Drama Actor should be Kyle Chandler (FNL) although Steve Buscemi (Boardwalk Empire) is a close contender.
Best Drama Actress should be Kathy Bates (Harry's Law) but probably Juliana Margulies (Good Wife) will win.
Best Comedy Actress should be Amy Poehler (Parks And Recreation) but some sources say it's Laura Linney (The Big C).
Best Comedy Actor should be Steve Carell (The Office) just because he's leaving after a great run.
Best Comedy Actor should be Ed O'Neill (Modern Family) --he wasn't even nominated last year.
Best Supporting Comedy Actress should be Jane Lynch (Glee)--I see no other contenders.
So do you agree with me or not?

Ron James Returns For His Third Season

So here I am wandering through Toronto's increasingly decrepit subway.
And I can't help but noticing the multiple posters for new CTV and Global TV series debuting this fall.
It's strange but I can't find a single poster promoting a Canadian series.
And both CTV and Global are Canadian networks.
That leaves the heavy lifting to CTV and the cable weblets.
Which means it's important to welcome back Ron James for his third season of comedy capers starting on CBC Friday Sept. 16 at 8 p.m.
I've watched the preview DVD and am liking what I see.
Ever since I first interviewed James for his short lived Canadian sitcom Blackeye I've been a fan. And in my estimation he truly honed his craft through hundreds of one night stands across Canada in the past decade..
When his show debuted I had mixed feelings --after all the estimable RCAF was just then getting cancelled.
But James wisely refused to stray into political commentary --CBC already has Rick Mercer and This Hour Has 22 Minutes for that.
His sketch pad is all of Canada, He doesn't overly dwell on Toronto but goes out touting the advantages of all kinds of Canadian locations.
"This year I'm starting out by saluting Kingston," he chuckles on the line from his comedy offices. And James really gives it to the denizens, mentioning the area has nine prisons for starters.
"I'm going to take on Owen Sound. Look Out!" he laughs. "Then Kelowna, then Banff. There's lots of comedy material in all these towns."
For me the first episode seems tightly edited, better written, a seamless mixture of a funny monologue and competing sketches.
Says James: "The first season it was all touch and go. We actually did the skits as we were taping each show, it was real pandemonium for me. "
This year James's team wrote the monologues and commentaries first and then stitched in comedy sketches that completed James's ramblings.
So he begins with his ideas about weekend fanatics who dress up in period gear and prance around recreating battles or sci fi encounters.
And then on comes a very lively, well researched skit about a group of Southern Confederates in costume headed by a bearded James going up against various wizards and dragons headed by guest Kids In The Hall's Kevin McDonald.
I won't give away too much except to say it certainly works and is well edited and fast paced.
Remembers James :"It was shot in Summerhill Park and the call time was for 6 a.m. Temperature was boiling hot. I had a fake beard glued on and the glue ran and it was very itchy. It all had to be staged with the extras and it just worked out so nicely."
There's also time for a L'il Ronnie segment about head lice that had me itching --I noticed the voice of mom was supplied by the talented Linda Kash.
"I think what we're doing is breaking down the fourth wall, making everything flow as one and it's a great feeling when it happens. Later we'll venture to PEI and examine the twin phenomena of potatoes and Anne."
The show is working more the way James always hoped it would work and he's always generous in giving guests their fair share of the laughs.
And BlackFly is even running on a cable network --I recently caught one episode at around 3 a.m. and it still makes me laugh.
I tell James I recently heard a lady asking in a downtown DVD store where the DVD for Ron James's show was. The sales clerk merely shrugged.
Season 3 deserves a DVD release, I tell you. Better pass that word along to the CBC bureaucrats.
SEASON THREE OF RON JAMES PREMIERES ON CBC FRID. SEPT. 16 AT 8 P.M.
MY RATING: ***1/2.