TV Squad

• TV Squad Soap Report: Baby mama fever
  

  Filed under: OpEd, Daytime, Reality-Free

  When I heard about the pregnancy, I was shocked. It was so unexpected, such a surprise, a complete unplanned occurrence that had me scratching my head and wondering what was going on. No, I'm not talking about the revelation that John McCain's choice for vice president, Governor Sarah Palin's unmarried teenaged daughter is pregnant.
  
  I'm talking about Guiding Light's Reva Shayne's stunning discovery that she's having a baby well into her 40's and after a near-fatal bout with breast cancer.
  
  Seriously, I was floored by that turn in the storyline. The writers had me and every other viewer...
  



• Ol' McMartha has a farm, ee-ay, ee-ay-oh!
  

  Filed under: Food/Home/DIY, Daytime, Reality-Free

  Oh, boy, I can't wait! Finally, after all this time we're going to get to go behind the gates, into the exclusive, much-discussed but rarely filmed Martha Stewart estate. Actually, not the whole estate, but part of it. On her syndicated show, Martha Stewart's 153-acre Bedford, New York farm will be on display in the season ahead.
  
  When the show returns with new episodes on September 15, Ms. Martha will share all the fun stuff she grows and prunes and plants. You know what this means, don't you? Compost heap! Seriously, Martha believes in natural recycling.
  
  There will also...
  



• People magazine catches the reality TV wave
  

  Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Food/Home/DIY, Programming, OpEd, Daytime, Talk Show

  In a media crossover, People magazine is coming to TV screens. ABC has scheduled an hour-long special called Half Their Size: The People Magazine Weight Loss Challenge for Sept. 30 at 10 p.m.
  
  The franchise began in People in 2002, and focuses on folks who need to shed more than a few pounds -- preferably, half their size. Obviously, the magazine stories have been a big hit, since anything about losing weight is always a big hit.
  
  The show will focus...
  



• TV Squad Soap Report: Have I got a story for you...
  

  Filed under: OpEd, Daytime, Reality-Free

  Everyone thinks they can write. No, really. If you talk to anyone who likes TV and movies, invariably you'll hear that they have a great story. Well, some do and some don't. In the soap business, just about every kind of story has been told.
  
  A show like Passions, which has recently come to an end, told wild tales about witches and sorcery and dwarfs and demons.
  
  General Hospital has been firmly set in plots about mobsters in the manner of The Godfather, with Sonny Corinthos a latter day Michael Corleone.
  
  As the World Turns,...
  



• Get ready for Jesse's Court (Ventura, not Jackson)
  

  Filed under: Industry, Programming, Daytime, Celebrities, Reality-Free

  As I type this, there are 11 court shows currently in first-run syndication, with Judge Judy leading the pack. These shows have become one of the more stable franchises for stations across America, as original programming has made way for pre-packaged fare. With the market seemingly saturated by the amount of court shows, you would think that the studios would be holding off in producing any new series.

  Hello! It's television -- the obese glutton of the media world!

  Four new series are being worked on right now. Three of these will...
  




• Are you ready for more spaghetti-eating cats? - VIDEO
  

  Filed under: Daytime, Video, Talk Show, Reality-Free

  The mystery of the spaghetti-eating cat has been solved.
  
  If you have no idea what I'm talking about, here's the skinny. During a segment on binge drinking on The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet, the show suddenly - and without any explanation at all - switched to a picture of a cat seated at a table eating a plate of pasta. The cat wasn't on the show and they never said why it happened. But now a spokesman for the show has explained what happened. It wasn't a technical glitch or similar error, it was actually done...
  



• A Martinez says yes to One Life to Live
  

  Filed under: Daytime, Casting, Reality-Free

  It's not unusual anymore when a primetime star suddenly makes the jump into daytime. Recently, Michael Gross has signed on to The Young and the Restless. Patrick Duffy is a semi-regular on The Bold and the Beautiful, Bruce Weitz is a Mafioso kingpin on General Hospital, and if you tuned in yesterday you got to see John James terrorize half a dozen Oakdale residents on As the World Turns as a deranged doctor. If you're keeping score, they were previously the stars from Family Ties, Dallas, Hill Street Blues and Dynasty, respectively. So, really, a primetimer coming to daytime is SOP (standard...
  



• TV Squad Soap Report: Why I'm loving SOAPNet's Night Shift
  

  Filed under: Daytime, TV Squad Lists, Reality-Free

  There was no surprise when SoapNet announced that it would be broadcasting another season of the late night spinoff ofGeneral HospitalNight Shift. The premiere season was a ratings blockbuster for the cable channel, a big hit with fans and well-received by the critics.
  
  What was surprising was news that a new head writer, Sri Rao, would be taking over from Bob Guza, Jr., and that two major players from GH's history -- Tristan Rogers and Antonio Sabato, Jr. -- would be starring in this go-round.
  
  I enjoyed Night Shift, year one, so I was inclined...
  



• Check out David Letterman's first show - no, not that one! - VIDEO
  

  Filed under: TV Royalty, Daytime, Video, Talk Show, Reality-Free

  I think I'm one of the very few people - maybe not even David Letterman himself - who remembers the very first David Letterman Show with a real fondness. No, not NBC's Late Night with David Letterman, I'm talking about his morning show, which ran on NBC for a very short time in 1980. I'm not quite sure how I watched this show. I would have been in high school in 1980, so I don't know if I skipped school to see some episodes or what (it was way before I...
  



• Anderson Cooper reviews Living Lohan - VIDEO
  

  Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Daytime, Video, Celebrities, Talk Show, Reality-Free

  This could be the first of a new series of features here at TV Squad, where instead of reviewing shows ourselves, the ones we wouldn't ordinarily review, we get celebrities to review them. So Tom Hanks and Kathy Griffin, get your video cameras ready!
  
  The clip after the jump is from Live with Regis & Kelly. Anderson Cooper is guest hosting this week, and during yesterday's show he took the opportunity to review Living Lohan, the E! reality show that stars everyone in the Lohan family not...