- NATPE “winning” with Charlie Sheen: The biggest attraction at NATPE was the presence of former Two And A Half Men star Charlie Sheen, who appeared at an invitation-only event to talk about his new FX show from Debmar-Mercury, Anger Management. Sheen says he’s happy with the new venture and he feels more relaxed and was looking forward to the faster-paced production schedule and working with showrunner Bruce Helford, who was executive producer of The Drew Carey Show.

In fact, Sheen was in such a good mood at the panel, he would even give his former boss Chuck Lorre a hug (now that’s forgiveness.) There is a lot of buzz surrounding Management – the show has sold well internationally, despite FX ordering only ten episodes. If successful, ninety more episodes will be produced to air on FX and to be sold in broadcast syndication, similar to how Tyler Perry’s sitcoms were sold.

- Digital companies were more than represented at NATPE, and none was bigger than Netflix. The beleaguered video-streaming service outlined its plans to devolve into more original programming during a NATPE panel moderated by former NBC executive Jeff Gaspin. Netflix plans to launch new drama Lilyhammer on Feb. 6, and early next year, plans to add new original drama House Of Cards and revive former Fox sitcom Arrested Development. According to Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos, Netflix is aiming to have five first-run shows on its streaming service in 2013, and pointed out his service’s real competitors are HBO, Showtime, and Starz – premium channels the service no longer does business for the most part, and is still trying to get away from its image as a DVD rental service. After months of decline, Netflix stock shot up 22 percent this week on news of its fourth-quarter subscriber and financial growth.

- Mad Men creator Matt Wiener said that HBO passed on his pitch for his series “hundreds of times” during a panel at NATPE hosted by Broadcasting & Cable (Wiener got the last laugh of course – those executives are no longer with HBO.) The Brandon Tartikoff Legacy honoree pointed out Mad Men is based on real life and real people (sorry, no space aliens or time-traveling islands here.) Wiener even went as far to make this blunt observation: things haven’t changed for women in the workplace since the 1960′s, the era where Mad Men is set. Wiener notes the harassment and discrimination has been driven underground by legislation (and sadly, this is more than true in today’s ad agencies.)

- And speaking of the late NBC programmer, Brandon Tartikoff’s collection of 4,000 personal items including programming, project evaluations, letters, interviews, and speeches are being donated to the USC School of Cinematic Arts by his widow Lilly. The collection, which has been sealed since Tarktioff’s death in 1997, is being made so students can learn about one of television’s legendary programmers and help inspire future generations.

NATPE notes:

- Twentieth Television has now sold its new entertainment newsmagazine strip Dish Nation to 70 percent of the country for a September debut, including WFLD-TV here in Chicago. The series features radio personalities from around the country talking about the day’s entertainment stories while they are on the air.

- Also clearing 70 percent of the country for next fall is off-GSN game show strip Baggage from Sony Pictures Television and hosted by Jerry Springer. The series was tested last year on select stations, including WCIU in Chicago. It is not known however, if WCIU picked up the show for next fall since Sony did not release a station list.

- Univision announced its was adding English closed-captions to some of its telenovas, in hopes of attracting more English-language viewers. The first telenovela to get this treatment: El Tailsman, which debuts on Monday.

- Finally, MeTV is taking its talents to South Beach. The Chicago-based classic TV channel announced this week it has signed an affiliation deal with WPLG-TV in Miami for carriage on channel 10.2 and many local cable systems, effective April 24. With the Miami addition, MeTV now reaches 73 percent of the country. The announcement comes on the same week NATPE is holding its gathering in Miami.

And that’s a wrap for NATPE 2012.

Yeah, you’re going to need a lot of liquor when you read this news.

Man, you really got to weep for the media business these days. Tuesday was clearly a dark day for those who still care about the integrity of the business as two (more) dark clouds are descending on the horizon.

One cloud is named Bethenny; the other is named Khloe.

During the NATPE gathering in Miami on Tuesday, Warner Bros. announced it had signed a deal with Fox Television Stations to air an hour-long talk show hosted by Real Housewives of New York City star Bethenny Frankel for a six-week summer test run. The talk show is billed as a “no-nonsense perspective on everything from pop culture and current events to relationships, beauty, fitness, and lifestyle segments”. The program is being exec produced by Ms. Frankel and Ellen DeGeneres, who had her on her show several times.

Fox plans to test the show at WNYW in New York and KTTV in Los Angeles and a few other Fox-owned stations. However, don’t look for Fox O&Os WFLD or WPWR to participate – usually, Fox does not include the Windy City when testing syndicated product.

Of course, this is from the same brain trust who renewed the awful Jeremy Kyle talk show for a second season, despite averaging numbers similar to those of all-news WIQI-FM. Despite her very solid credentials (author, chef, and entrepreneur), she is best remembered for appearing in Real Housewives and the ultra lame spinoffs Bethenny’s Getting Married and the soon-to-launch Bethenny Ever After (she was also a runner-up on the Martha Stewart edition of The Apprentice, but only seven people actually remember that show.)

I suppose next we’ll have a daytime talk show hosted by Real Housewives of Atlanta pain-in-the-ass NeNe Leakes very soon. Yeah, just plop it between Jerry Springer and Maury Povich every afternoon (this would’ve been a reality if Randy Michaels were still at Tribune.)

But much, much worse than this project was the hire made yesterday at a Dallas radio station.

On the same day, Clear Channel Media (yes, that what they want to called now – different name – same old BS) announced it was hiring Khloe Kardashian Odom to host a short shift at the company’s KDMX-FM in the Dallas-Fort Worth market, beginning Monday. Ms. Odom’s one-hour lunchtime show on the Hot AC station (approximately Noon to 1 p.m. CT) plans to play requests, feature interviews with celebrities, and other goodies. So of you want to hear the latest regarding the love life of Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo – remember, you heard it here first.

Ms. Odom of course, is married to current Dallas Mavericks player Lamar Odom, who met her during his playing days with the Los Angeles Lakers. Khloe’s famous sisters of course are Kim and Kourtney Kardashian, the latter one she appeared with on docu-reality series Kourtney & Khloe Take Miami on E! Kim Kardashian was also married to a basketball player for a brief time, whose scam of a wedding was also seen on E!

During the time Odom was playing with the Miami Heat (2009-10 season), Khloe Kardashian held down a late-night radio gig for a brief time at Top 40 outlet WHYI-FM.

A real tough break for aspiring radio personalities in the Metroplex. So much talent out there – and Clear Channel hires Khloe Kardashian for an hour-a-day, likely voice-tracked shift. What total BS. The only reason why she was hired was to get cheap publicity for KDMX, which it really didn’t need – in the Arbitron PPM survey for October 2011 (the latest one not influenced by Christmas music), KDMX ranked 6th overall in the Metroplex.

This is part of Clear Channel’s mission to rely more on nationally-recognized personalities like Ryan Seacrest and Mario Lopez and less on live, local, personalities. The Khloe Kardashian hiring – not to mention WGN Radio’s hiring of Chicago Blackhawks now-injured goon Daniel Carcillo to host a one-hour weekly music show – are just more symbols of what’s wrong in the media business and radio in particular. Really, this is how you stay relevant in 2012?

As you may have heard by now, many Chicago radio fans were upset when WLS-FM decided to replace legend Dick Biondi in the 7 p.m. -to-midnight shift with John Records Landecker, shoving the 79-year old veteran to a 11 p.m.-to-2 a.m. time slot. Now imagine if it was Khloe Kardashian taking over Biondi’s shift instead…

Let’s just say Chicago police would get plenty of practice preparing for those NATO/G8 protesters coming to town in May.

As far as NATPE goes, the days of the big booths with a just-as-big picture of Mary Hart front and center are long gone. But the mission remains the same – for individuals to gather and network with industry professionals (not to mention making a sale or two.) The three day gathering got underway Monday with increased attendance and increased expectations in its second year in South Florida.

Here’s a brief synopsis what happened on the first day:

- There were panels a plenty at NATPE and among the first that were held was a discussion of web video and what it would have to do to evolve from videos of cats falling off TVs to premium content. The panel was led by News Corp. Chief Digital Officer Jonathan Miller and Yahoo’s executive VP Ross Levinsohn. Both men believe the premium content revolution will begin this year (and the sooner, the better. If yours truly has to watch YouTube videos of imbeciles snatching food from drive-thru windows one more time…) Both men also talked about how Netflix and Hulu are playing an important role in that revolution.

- NBC president of late night and alternative programming Paul Telgady appeared at a panel Monday and acknowledged the talent show competition is glutted, but there might be room for at least one or two more similar shows as NBC is readying The Voice for its post-Super Bowl season premiere on February 5. Earlier, American Idol had its season premiere and was down significantly from last year. Meanwhile, Telgady addressed the difficulty on programming on Saturday night as Fox recently announced it was programming original animated programming in the daypart.

- Former ABC and Comcast Cable Networks executive Ted Harbert spoke about his new duties as head of the NBC-owned stations, which WMAQ is a part of and how excited he is. He spoke about the upcoming Steve Harvey and Jeff Probst shows in daytime, and the upcoming new series Smash and Fashion Star in primetime. He also stressed that being cheap didn’t exactly work out at the owned station group (having news vans parked in New Jersey while a fire is raging in Queens to save money isn’t exactly the best way to utilize your newsgathering tools.)

You want sales? Well, we got them right here:

- Chicago-based MeTV acquired rights to several classic children’s animated series from syndicator Broadcast Partners. The package contains several series from the Filmation library (Fat Albert, Archies, He-Man, She-Ra,) and other cartoons such as Gumby and Mr. Magoo. The deals come as MeTV plans to launch a classic animation block on Saturday mornings this spring.

- Meanwhile, the other Chicago-based retro TV network had some news of its own: Antenna TV, run from WGN-TV (and appears on 9.2 here) announced Monday it has acquired WKRP in Cincinnati for airing beginning this April, where it will air Sunday nights in primetime. The deal covers only the original CBS series and not the syndicated revival, which aired from 1991-93.

- Don’t know why, but the Peter Rodgers Organization acquired rights to failed 1990′s syndicated dramas Conan The Adventurer, which ran during the 1997-98 season and Acapulco Heat, which ran during the 1993-94 and 1998-99 television seasons. Both series were formerly syndicated by the now-defunct Keller Entertainment Group (the 1993-94 airings of Acapulco Heat were originally syndicated by All American Television, which folded into Fremantle Media in 1997.)

Happy 90th, Betty!

It’s time to grab your favorite beverage (a six pack of it would be best…) because it’s time for T Dog’s Six Pack! In this edition, Jerry Bryant expands his business, Betty White’s is actually on her rockers celebrating her 90th birthday while the Rev. Michael Pflager is far off his.

Rounds of Hot Cocoa for everyone.

Those who spoke up against SOPA and PIPA. Power to the people, man: After the millions… and millions… spoke out against the ultra-flawed Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA) – with an assist from Wikipedia and Reddit (who blacked out their sites last Wednesday) and Google (who put a black bar over its logo on the same day), the backers of the legislation postponed their bills until further notice so they can be reworked. It is important to our democracy that we keep a free and open Internet and resist potentially intrusive government regulation. Don’t get me wrong, I’m against piracy – yours truly is a content creator himself – but these pieces of legislation go way overboard.

JBTV goes national – of sorts. It may not be national coast-to-coast (at least not yet), but Jerry Bryant’s JBTV indie music show is expanding its presence beyond Chicago. Seen locally on WMAQ’s Non-Stop Chicago digital subchannel, JBTV has picked up by nine other Non-Stop stations in NBC O&O markets to air Saturday nights beginning February 18. With this deal (which was first reported by Chicagoland Radio & Media on January 17), JBTV has been cleared in the top six markets plus Washington D.C., Miami, San Diego, and Hartford, Conn. JBTV began showcasing indie music acts since 1984 and has aired locally in the past on WGBO-TV, WJYS-TV, and public access channel Chicago Showcase (where it still airs, in addition to its WMAQ 5.2 clearance.) NBC is planning a national rollout of its Non-Stop format, which would expose JBTV in even more markets.

Betty White. First Bill Cosby saved NBC, now can Betty White? Last week, the Oak Park native toasted her 90th birthday on NBC in a Monday night (Jan. 16) special, which drew 12.4 million viewers . That was followed by a preview of her new prank series Betty White’s Off Her Rockers – it drew 12.2 million viewers and a 2.6 in the adult demo. This marks the best performance in the Monday night time period since the heyday of Deal or No Deal and Heroes. Even a Saturday night repeat drew respectable ratings, attracting an additional 4.9 million viewers. Raise a cup of Hot Cocoa and toast Betty White for her 90th!

Rounds of New Coke for everyone.

Remodeled. Wednesday night’s premiere of this uninteresting drivel drew just 707,000 viewers – the lowest-rated debut ever for a series on network television. The numbers were about as low as those for FM News 101.1 and Nine FM – two entities that had few listeners than the entire population of Joliet.

Are you There, Chelsea? Good grief! Chelsea looks like a real-life Peppermint Patty and there’s even a character who looks like Marcie! At any given moment, you’d think Charlie Brown would walk into the bar and get hit in the face by a drink. Yup, Chelsea’s there… but much like this season’s new comedies – the laughs are not.

Rev. Pflager takes on The Bachelor. Yours truly has never been a fan of The Bachelor. So its kind of odd to see the Rev. Michael Pflager (the pastor of St. Sabina Church) taking on the veteran reality show… a program that’s been on the air for a decade – and not the raunchy CBS comedies that air opposite it – especially 2 Broke Girls, a show filled with male genitalia and vagina jokes. And thumbs down to the Sun-Times for actually making this non-story a lead on the paper’s website Thursday – and not giving the same treatment to the SOPA/PIPA debate (the Sun-Times isn’t really giving us a reason to pay for their crappy website.)

As for Pflager, he needs to SHUT UP – he’s said enough. He and “community activist” Andrew Holmes are to the left what the just as moronic Parents Television Council and Rev. Donald Wildmon’s America Family Association is to the right, who only want to blame television, music, and movies for society’s ills. Pflager’s ramblings are nothing but idiotic and stupid. Pflager and the Sun-Times only prove what a national laughingstock Chicago media is. Why does the local media news media give these idiots a platform to begin with? This does not happen in any other market.

(For the record, yours truly does applaud Pflager for his work on making the South Side a better place to live – I met him twenty years ago and he is a nice guy -but he’s become so full of himself the last fifteen years or so. The Jerry Springer protests actually turned me against him.)

In Tuesday’s editions of the Sun-Times, look for an article on how much Mancow Mueller hates Scooby-Doo.

Man, I need more Betty White.

The National Association of Television Programming Executive – or NATPE convention begins Monday in Miami and as always, there’s syndication news to report on. Here’s the latest:

- CBS-owned WBBM-TV in Chicago and twelve other CBS markets have cleared TNT’s Leverage for weekend off-network syndication beginning next fall from Trifecta Entertainment, which acquires the syndication rights from executive producer Dean Devlin’s Electric Entertainment, which produces the show. The CBS deal puts the show in eight of the top ten largest markets. Earlier, ION picked up the rights to Leverage to begin airing this summer. TNT has picked the series up for a fifth season.

- Even though both shows experienced ratings erosion this season, Twentieth Television has renewed Divorce Court and Judge Alex for two more seasons, through 2014.  Divorce Court – which has been already been through three incarnations (1957-69; 1984-91; and 1993), is now in its thirteenth season while Judge Alex is in its seventh. Station groups renewing the show include Fox, Tribune, CBS, Local TV, and Sinclair. Both shows air locally on WPWR-TV.

- A brand new syndication company (at least I haven’t heard of them) is launching two new weekend half-hours this fall: Bellum Entertainment is bringing Unsealed: The Alien Files and Unsealed: The Conspiracy Files to market, presumably to run as back-to-back half hours. UFO and paranomal activities are the main focus of Alien; while conspiracies are the focus of the other show (hence the title.) Tribune Broadcasting (whose former syndication division used to air prime-time specials on these type of subjects in the ’90′s) has signed its 26 markets to carry the series this fall. Locally, both series are to air on WGN-TV.

- Can the first-run syndication comedy make a comeback? That’s what Byron Allen is hoping as he and his Entertainment Studios are planning two first-run sitcoms to air in syndication – The First Family, which features an African-American family in the White House (no, it won’t be the Obamas) and Mr. Box Office, which features a disgraced celebrity whose community service includes teaching in the toughest high school in America. Entertainment Studios has ordered 104 episodes for both series and plans to air the series in both broadcast and cable syndication and on digital platforms (stations beware: the last time anyone made that type of commitment to an unproven first-run sitcom was when stations were stuck with three underperforming years of Harry and The Hendersons. And no, I wasn’t involved in the show.)

Since its heyday in the mid-to-late 1980′s with series as Small Wonder, Charles in Charge, Mama’s Family, and Out Of This World, the first-run comedy (not counting Tyler Perry’s sitcoms) have been dormant as HUT levels have plummeted over the years in those weekend time periods those programs formerly aired in. The last first-run sitcom to air in weekly syndication (at least to yours truly’s knowledge) was during the 1997-98 season when Canadian import Student Bodies was on the air.

AMC

To the delight of critics (and fans), AMC announced it was extending the third season order of hit series The Walking Dead from thirteen to sixteen as the second season with thirteen new episodes premieres on February 12. Also: Mad Men begins its fifth season on March 25. Meanwhile, fans seethed when The Killing ended its freshman without solving the murder that basically was the main plot. AMC’s senior vice president of original programming (Joel Stillerman) told critics at TCA the murder would be solved on the second-season finale. A tip for writers out there – don’t make promises unless you can really deliver on them.

Current

Current co-founder Al Gore addressed the press at TCA and said despite recent troubles, the network is not for sale. Meanwhile, Current president David Bohrman confirmed that Keith Olbermann will anchor its election coverage, despite Olbermann clashing with his bosses regarding the issue. Asked why he wasn’t at the panel at TCA, Bohrman told the audience “Keith is on vacation”. Since this is Keith Olbermann we’re talking about, I’m surprised he wasn’t sent on a permanent vacation.

FX

At the FX panel, network president and GM John Landgraf said the decision to pick up Anger Management with former Two And A Half Men star Charlie Sheen attached to the project is not a “cynical publicity stunt”. In the new show based on the 2003 theatrical,, Sheen played a person trying to set back on track and re-establishing a relationship with his thirteen year-old daughter. Production on the series hasn’t begun yet (thus the lack of a panel), but Landgraf is confident in the project, with debuts this summer with a ten-episode commitment.

Other panels included Wilfred, Justified, and Archer, which debuted its new season Thursday. FX also revealed it was planning a new late-night talk show for Russell Brand.

GMC

Before you ask, this cable network is not about trucks – no, GMC originally stood for Gospel Music Channel – but in the last few years, the little-known cable channel has diversified its programming lineup. In addition to its Gospel Music programming, the network has comedy-themed movies, gospel-based stage plays, and reruns of classic sitcoms Amen and Cosby (the 1996-2000 CBS version.) No monster truck rallies, though.

HBO

The premium channel’s announcements include the return of the critically-acclaimed Game of Thrones on April 1; and the premiere of two comedies: Judd Apatow’s new series Girls on April 15 and Veep on April 22, featuring Julia Louis-Dreyfus. On March 10, HBO premieres the new film Game Change, which is about the 2008 Republican presidential ticket and John McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin as her running mate.

Meanwhile, HBO trotted out the principals behind the new drama Luck to promote its January 29 premiere. From director Michael Mann and creator David Milch, the series stars Dustin Hoffman and Nick Nolte, and set in the world of horse racing. All four men had to set some things straight about tensions on the set, which they promptly dismissed.

Hulu

For the first time ever, an Internet streaming service has made an announcement at TCA, and with good reason: Hulu announced its first original scripted series, Battleground. But before you guys in the sci-fi/geek community jump up and down with joy, here’s  the premise: It’s a drama that explores the chaos behind the scenes in a Wisconsin Senate race. Sorry, no monsters vs. aliens. Then again, this is politics…

Investigation Discovery

It looks like what Erica Kane did on the daytime soaps she’ll examine in real life: former All My Children star Susan Lucci has signed on to host a series on Investigation Discovery (a spinoff of Discovery Channel) as host and narrator of Deadly Affairs, a new ten-part series which focuses on real-life love triangles, infidelity, and runaway grooms.

On a more serious note, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Werner Herzog is producing a short-term series for Investigation titled On Death Row, where he plans to interview death row inmates in Florida and Texas. It debuts later this year.

Nat Geo

Oh brother, what will they come up with next? The National Geographic Channel (or Nat Geo for short) greenlighted two new projects: Are You Tougher Than A Boy Scout? which pits adults against real Boy Scouts for merit badges (let’s see how the adults start a fire) and Wicked Tuna, which follows fishermen in the Northeast. Both series are expected to premiere later this year.

OWN

The struggling network helmed by Oprah Winfrey (who was absent this time around)  introduced three new series at TCA: new dating/reality series Lovetown, Ga. where matchmakers enists a whole town to find mates for local singles (huh? Well, its sounds better than Excused); Lives On Fire, another reality documentary series following the lives – and dangers – of four female firefighters; and a game show from Harpo Productions called Are You Normal, America?

Starz

Executive session: Starz held an executive session at TCA to discuss the future of Boss and discussion of new series Magic City and returning Spartacus: Vengeance. Starz President and CEO Chris Albrecht said stood behind the Chicago-based and shot drama, in which Kesley Grammer plays an unscrupulous mayor of Chicago (though nothing like the current Chicago mayor in real life, who is an even bigger douche.) Albericht gave Boss a second season before it premiered, but will have to prove itself more if it wants to see a third season.

Starz had a new series announcement at TCA: It will launch Marco Polo, a series based on the 13th-century explorer and produced by The Weinstein Company with John Fusco as showrunner. Albericht said he sees no problem with Spartacus existing side by side with Marci Polo since both series are time-period pieces, given both shows are financed differently.

Sundance

Sundance Channel announced it was launching new original documentary series Push Girls, which chronicles four women who are paralyzed from the neck down. Fourteen episodes have been ordered, and it debuts in April. Sundance also renewed existing series All On The Line With Joe Zee and Iconclasts.

TLC

Remember when TLC stood for The Learning Channel? This doesn’t help: The network ordered eight episodes of Leave It To Niecy, where former Reno 911 star Niecy Nash goofs around with her family. Someone should have left this in the pilot reject pile. Well, at least she doesn’t have eight kids.

TNT

(The Dallas panel will be covered in an upcoming, separate post.)

TNT unveiled the sequel to The Closer as the series closes out its seven-year run. In Major Crimes, a spin-off due to premiere this summer is basically a continuation of the series with a different kind of feel, according to creator and showrunner James Duff. Mary McDonnell takes over top billing  from departing regular Kyra Sedgwick, who is moving on to other projects. Can Major Crimes match The Closer? Or will it become the next Sanford Arms? We’ll see by the end of the year.

TV Land

Original Kings of Comedy member Cedric The Entertainer once again headlines a TV show: this time, he’s a minister in Cleveland in Have Faith, a spin-off of Hot In Cleveland, which was recently renewed for a fourth season and picked up in off-network syndication by CBS Television Distribution. Appearing in WB’s The Steve Harvey Show, Cedric The Entertainer headlined a short-lived sketch comedy for Fox during the 2001-02 season.

Weather Channel

Curious on why this wasn’t announced during NBCUniversal’s portion of the press tour (Weather is owned by NBCUniversal.) But the cable channel announced it had declared Hurricane Hunters a firm go. The series follows Air Force pilots and quest to gather data from the eye of a hurricane.

Winners

Rob! Critics said “shame on America” for tuning in to this trype – 14 million viewers did for the premiere of this alleged sitcom featuring alleged comedian Rob Schneider, a 1990′s Fox sitcom throwback. Rob also drew a 4.1 rating among adults 18-49. Power to the people, man.

Downtown Abbey. The second-season premiere of the ITV series and British import drew 4.2 million viewers for PBS and saw an 18 percent increase in the adult demo audience from the previous season. In other words, it’s yet another network that beat The CW in the ratings.

Archer. The bumper clips that airs during Fox’s Animation Domination Sunday night was funnier than Family Guy or the stupid new show that premiered. The season premiere of Archer takes place on January 19 at 9pm Central, and yours truly is checking it out. Thank you Fox for giving yours truly another excuse not to watch your Chicago station’s crappy 9pm newscast!

Losers

Work It. After two low-rated episodes, ABC’s critically panned sitcom Work It is out of work.

Univision. Saturday’s TCA session involving the Spanish-language network was about as disastrous as a Lovie Smith press conference. Message to Univision staff: You are working at a major press event, not behind the counter at Sears – or is this where Big Media is hiring their PR personnel from these days?

Michael Patrick King. If this person is such “a terrible writer”, as he said during his raucous session at TCA, then the 2 Broke Girls producer should step aside and let more talented individuals get a shot. But that won’t happen since all he cares about is money and Hollywood is about as corrupt as Chicago politics.

CBS took its turn at the stage Wednesday and Thursday at the TCA Winter Press Tour. This writeup not only includes CBS, but its sister properties Showtime and CW.

- Did she throw new sitcom Rob! under the bus? In a rather brief meeting with critics, CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler said on Wednesday it would take time finding the right companion to the network’s Thursday night monster hit The Big Bang Theory. But given the strong debut of Rob! Thursday night (13.5 million viewers and a 4.1 adult demo rating), they may have just found it.

Ms. Tassler also talked about the network’s development slate, which features up to nine dramas and six comedies all vying for slots next season at the network. Tassler also said she wasn’t worried about NBC’s suddenly stronger lineup (of The Voice and Smash, effective February 5) having an effect on CBS’ strong Monday night lineup, which she defended the often-risque content of (more on this in an upcoming Think Tank.)

- The biggest controversy at the press tour was the panel for CBS’ new hit comedy 2 Broke Girls. Michael Patrick King (who created the show along with Whitney Cummings) came under fire for the ethnic stereotypes and the raunchy humor on the show, to his surprise. At times, the panel became about as intense as the Robert Feder-Warner Saunders fracas at a local AFTRA meeting a few years back. Kind of odd how the critics are shocked about 2 Broke Girls’ humor when Seth McFaralane has been doing this type of humor for years – and at past TCA panels, critics never questioned him about it.

- By comparison, Chuck Lorre’s panels for Two And A Half Men and Mike & Molly were sedate. Lorre said he nearly came close to ending Men after last year’s debacle with Charlie Sheen, who was fired for slamming his boss in the press. Lorre “wished him well” as Sheen has moved on to a new project (FX’s Anger Management.)

Ashton Kutcher was also on hand, and even though his deal is only for one year, he initiated that he would love to return next season.

- Another veteran show holding a panel was NCIS, about to celebrate its 200th episode – a feat only reserved nowadays for animated series or syndicated shows in their first season. So how do you celebrate? “We had cake and some speeches. And we went back to work”, series star Mark Harmon was quoted as saying according to the Hollywood Reporter.  NCIS plans nothing special to mark the occasion (e.g., a flashback show), but when you averages 22 million viewers a week, you don’t really need to.

- Everything old is new again – CBS This Morning is back – but this time with Charlie Rose, Erica Hill, and Gayle King instead of Harry Smith, Kathleen Sullivan, and Mark McEwen, the original trio who launched the newscast on November 30, 1987 to replace the ill-fated The Morning Program.  The new group and exec producer Chris Licht met the press at TCA and noted that Morning was going to be different from competitors Today and Good Morning America – for example, no Al Roker-like weatherman, instead deferring it to the local affiliates’ weather person. Mr. Licht and King also say they may try to get big-name guests on their show including Oprah Winfrey – Ms. King’s former employer and BFF.

Showtime

- In an executive session with critics at TCA, Showtime Entertainment President David Nevins said his premium channel is investing heavily in documentaries, the first is on former Vice President Dick Cheney. Others in developemnt include rap mogul Suge Kinght, and Richard Pryor. Nevins also said there’s an endgame in place for Dexter, which was renewed for two seasons.

- New seasons of Nurse Jackie, The Big C, and Borgias premiere on April , which is Easter Sunday.

- At the Borgias panel, exec producer James Flynn says he sees the series running four seasons (did he have a talk with ABC’s Paul Lee  when he saw this vision?)

- During his Shameless panel, John Wells’ made waves by saying it was be impossible to sell series he created like The West Wing and ER to the broadcast networks today. But all isn’t lost: Wells said he has sold pilots to the major networks in the last few months. Wells also went on to say that NBC needs to put more groundbreaking shows on the air (and NOT of the reality kind.)

But don’t hold your breath. As long as puerile crap like Fear Factor and Who’s Still Standing occupies space on NBC’s schedule, it won’t happen.

The CW

The CW (co-owned by CBS and TimeWarner) hardly generates any interest from the mainstream media – unless you count female-targeted websites and ratings-obsessed message board geeks.  With that said, here’s what going on – and its not much:

- I can’t believe the critics didn’t fall asleep during this show’s panel… I guess that’s the reason why he was that loud: Paul Fisher took the stage to talk about his new reality show ReModeled where the former modeling agent takes an agency and revamps it – similar in vein to what chef Gordon Ramsey does on one of his 56 reality TV programs, Kitchen Nightmares. He looks to group together 150 agencies into something called “The Network” and plans to help small modeling agencies improve their clout and to change models’ lives and routines. All in all, this does not sound like an interesting TV show. Remodeled premieres on Tuesday.

- Also at TCA, the network has picked up a new game show to air this summer called Oh Sit, in which contestants play a game of musical chairs and race through an obstacle course for big prizes (it’s basically Wipeout meets Name That Tune.)

Maybe so, but "you" isn't really clear enough.

Tuesday and Wednesday saw Disney’s ABC and ABC Family take over the TCA Press with ABC Entertainment President Paul Lee addressing the media on Tuesday regarding numerous issues:

- Lee said that despite low ratings AND the show being pulled off the schedule AND the episode order being cut, Pan Am actually has a shot of returning next season. In other words, ending the series early and “waiting to decide its fate” would make people actually forget about it when its canceled in May. Smooth move, Paul.

- Lee also said there is no word on the fate of General Hospital, the last remaining soap on ABC’s schedule. He acknowledged a decision must be made, but there is no timetable. ABC has to act soon – General Hospital’s time slot will be turned over to the affiliates on September 10. “It depends on how the new shows do” Lee was quoted as saying, referring to soap opera replacements Chew and The Revolution, which debuts next Monday. Lee even said (maybe in jest) that a decision on Hospital might not even be made until next year. Next year? What? Look, Let’s face it: Chew has already equaled the ratings of All My Children and ABC is not going to drop Revolution after a mere nine months in a marketplace where syndicated shows get two or three years to prove themselves. Yep, I’m calling it: General Hospital will be canceled. Stop bullshitting us, Paul Lee. You just only stalling so you can put off hearing from angry General Hospital fans. How did this moron land a position like this anyway? Oh, that’s right. It’s the media business. How else do you explain Randy “Court Jester” Michaels is still around?

- Lee defended the decision to green-light alleged comedy Work It, which dropped 20 percent in the adult demo rating from its premiere last week. “I thought there was room for a very, very silly show” Lee was quoted as saying. Yeah, it’s silly alright – just not funny. I guess Lee was at Randy Michaels’ and Kevin Metheny’s poker party at the Tribune Tower when he green lighted this crap.

- Lee also said he is using ABC’s highest-rated programs to launch new series. Grey’s Anatomy is being used to launch Scandal while Don’t Trust the Bitch in Apartment 23 leads out of Modern Family. Cougar Town returns in March, but a time slot has not been assigned. Lee also said the network plans to screen the pilot for The River at movie theaters all across the country before the series premieres next month.

- So you want to start a revolution…. At the press tour was the cast of the new talk show The Revolution which debuts Monday replacing One Life To Live, which ends its run Friday after 43 years. While fan angst isn’t at the fever pitch when All My Children was dropped for The Chew last September, it’s still evident and the cast had to address the issue right way. Ty Pennington:  “We can’t replace the show, but what we offer is something different. It’s all about change and the Revolution is certainly about change.” “Hope and transformation” was thrown around a lot at the presentation.

Don’t know about you, but after reading reviews, I still don’t know what this program is all about. What’s the premise again? The five hosts weren’t exactly clear when they tried to define this concept at TCA. While what ever this is a good alternative to Maury and Judge fill-in-the-blank, a show filled with “good intentions” doesn’t exactly lead to an entertaining program.

- Meanwhile, Marc Cherry and the rest of the cast of Desperate Housewives held a session at TCA outline their plans to close out the show after eight seasons. Cherry said he will make a cameo om the series finale when it airs in May. He told the audience he had a vision on how the series would end when he first created the series. In reference to whether if there would be any reunions or movies, Cherry said “[and] I’m just never sending any of these gals to [Abu] Dubai”, in reference to the heavily panned box office failure Sex in the City 2 (its also a place where Garfield would send Nermal whenever he annoyed him.)

- As for new series, one with a rather interesting title is Don’t Trust The Bitch in Apartment 23 (with the B bleeped out), created by American Dad! executive producer Nahnatcnka Khan with David Hemingson and Jeff Morton, The premise?  A conservative girl from the Midwest is forced to bunk with a wild roommate (you know, the B) who parties hard (like having sex on top of – or maybe with birthday cakes.) Khan defended the “girls gone wild” concept, which is a hot trend right now on TV (for better or worse.) Another unique characteristic on the show is former Dawson Creek’s star James van Der Beek, who plays himself (though the device has been tried before with Dirty Dancing star Jennifer Grey in It’s Like, You Know, an ABC sitcom which ran during the 1999-2000 season.)

If the series is successful, look for the spinoff – Don’t Trust The W—- in Apartment 24 – with Real Housewives of Atlanta’s Nene Leakes as the W.

- Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes touted her new drama Scandal at TCA, in which a professional fixer (played by Kerry Washington) who solves problems – before they can happen (it’s like predicting the future and doing something about before it’s too late.) Ms. Rimes said she came up with the premise of the show from meeting a real-life professional fixer (certainly, they’ll have an episode where Kerry Washington tries to stop tries to stop the Chicago Bears from hiring GM Jerry Angelo and Offensive Coordinator Mike Martz.) Scandal premieres April 5 at 9 pm (CT) after Grey’s and run there for a few weeks. Private Practice meanwhile, will temporarily move to Monday after Dancing With The Stars.

Meanwhile, Paul Lee made some predictions herself – he envisions Grey’s Anatomy running another ten years. Ms. Rhimes wasn’t entirely sold on the idea: “We’ll see what happens”, she was quoted as saying. Despite serious missteps (the Ferry Accident Arc, characters appearing as ghosts, etc.), Grey’s continues to do well – the series is the top-rated in the time slot in the adult demo and key female demos.

At the panel for new Sunday might drama GCB, many wondered if the B stood for Belles or if it stood for Bitches. Exec Producer Robert Harling said the B actual stood for Belles, but it originally stood for Bitches (the Apartment 23 sitcom actually has the “bitch” title, albeit bleeped out.) The premise revolves around a recently divorced mother of two who returns to the affluent Dallas neighborhood where she grew up and finds it in moral disarray.  The series debuts March 4.

- In other Disney/ABC news tidbits at the tour, ABC Family announced it would develop a movie based on The Nine Lives Of Chloe King, a series the network canceled last year… ABC Family is also looking at several reality-show formats to green-light… at the ABC News panel, news chief Ben Sherwood wants Good Morning America to beat Today in the ratings, but did wish luck to CBS’ new morning effort (they’ll need all the luck they can get)… Sherwood also said ABC has no plans on recent arrival Katie Couric anchoring World News Tonight, fill-in or otherwise… Disney plans to replace SOAPnet with Disney Junior, a new cable channel targeted to preschoolers on March 23.

- Twentieth Television announced a new syndicated strip titled Dish Nation, a new entertainment magazine show featuring the nation’s radio personalities dishing dirt on the hottest pop culture topics. Dish has already cleared 55 percent of the country, including the entire Fox-owned station group. Look for the series to be paired with TMZ in many markets, including WFLD-TV locally.

Dish was tested last summer on several Fox-owned stations and featured radio personalities from Detroit, Atlanta, and New York City (which was represented by WPLJ’s Scott Shannon and Todd Pettengill.)

More radio teams are expected to be added as the series launches in September. No word on what Chicago radio celebrities would participate (and before you ask, I don’t know if new WGN Radio personality Johnathan Brandmeier would be a part of this.)

Don’t know about you, but this is one of the lamest ideas yours truly has ever comes across… and it involves radio. Makes sense to me!

- Rachael Ray’s daytime talk show has been picked up for two more years from CBS Television Distribution, extending the show’s run through at least 2014. Currently in its sixth season, Ray has averaged a 1.6 rating, up 7 percent from last year. In the crucial female 25-54 demo, its averaging a 1.0 rating  and up 11 percent from last year. Renewals include several ABC-owned and CBS-owned stations.

Locally, Rachael Ray airs at 10 a.m. on Tribune Broadcasting-owned WGN-TV.

-  In a rather unique partnership, Adell Broadcasting’s WADL-TV in Detroit is partnering up with the Journal Register to launch a prime-time news show beginning Monday. Titled News @ 9,

In addition, WADL is picking up America Now! from Debmar-Mercury featuring Orland Park native Bill Rancic and former ET co-host Leeza Gibbons. The series is scheduled to run at 7:30 pm and 9:30 p.m. each weeknight. Debmar-Mercury plans to sell the show at the upcoming NATPE convention. So far, America Now! does not have clearances in the top three markets, including Chicago.