Mon June 25

[Seven/8:30pm] Desperate Housewives. "Gossip." Gaby's engagement party is upstaged by an unexpected announcement. The neighbourhood is full of gossip about the dead body found in a Wisteria Lane home. Susan gets help as she if faced with the hardest decision of her life.
[Seven/9:30pm] Brothers and Sisters. "Bad News" Sarah finds it very difficult to get past her husband's alleged indiscretions with another woman. When Nora fails her writing class, her teacher allows her to pass on one condition - she must go on a date with him. Kitty has to calm the Senator down after a disastrous helicopter crash. Guest starring ROB LOWE.
[Seven/10:30pm] Boston Legal. "Brotherly Love". Alan defends a shady lawyer accused of trying to cover up a murder his brother committed. Brad makes a stand against the firm that could cost him his job. Denny uses The Secret to wish Raquel Welch into his life. Guest starring Phyllis Diller.
Boston Legal Sydney: Bride Wore Blood: Guest Megan Mullally (Will & Grace)
[Seven/11:30pm] Scrubs THEIR STORY. In a unique twist, J.D. turns his narrating duties over to Ted, Todd and Jordan and the problems each have to solve. Ted tries to settle a pay dispute between the nurses and Dr. Kelso. Todd thinks he has found his calling in plastic surgery. Jordan messes with Elliot and Keith's relationship.

[Ten/4:30pm] Bold & The Beautiful. 20th Anniversary
[Ten/7:30pm] Big Brother. Nominations.
[Ten/8:30pm] Supernatural. “All Hell Breaks Loose.” Part 1 of 2 part final.
[Ten/9:30pm] Torchwood. “Day One.”

[SBS/7:30pm] Mythbusters - Salsa Escape - There's a myth that someone tried to remove concrete from a concrete truck with dynamite, so Adam and Jamie get hold of an old cement truck. They want to load it with just enough cement to coat it, let it harden and blow it up. In 1996, a Mexican prisoner, Juan Lopez, escaped from his cell by dissolving the bars on his cell window with salsa from his jailhouse dinners. He took six years to corrode the bars and hasn't been seen since. Adam and Jamie build their version of a Mexican prison and Adam uses salsa combined with AC current, while Jamie uses DC current from a radio, plus salsa to see if it really works. (From the US, in English) (Documentary Series) (Rpt) PG CC
[SBS/8:35pm] South Park - Cancelled - The boys discover Earth is nothing but one big intergalactic reality show and it's about to be cancelled. (From the US, in English) (Animated Comedy Series) (Rpt) M (D,S) CC WS
[SBS/9:00pm] Drawn Together - Short clips from previous episodes set the stage to select the winner of Drawn Together House, (From the US, in English) (Animated Comedy Series) MA (A,S) CC WS
[SBS/11:00pm] Oz - Straight Life - With drugs at record levels in the prison, Administrator Tim McManus and Sister Peter ask black leader Kareem Said to help fight the influx. McManus also talks to Schibetta for his assistance. When Schibetta refuses, his three mates are transferred out of the Emerald City experimental unit, and Schibetta makes a deal with the blacks. O'Reily watches this happen and reports it to the authorities because he wants to be the one close to Schibetta. His plan backfires because Schibetta was just testing the loyalty of his new allies and has other means of getting the drugs in. (From the US, in English) (Drama Series) (Rpt) MA (L,A,D)

[Nine/12:00pm] Movie: On Golden Pond (US 2001) Remake with Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer.
[Nine/7:30pm] What’s Good For You. Final.
[Nine/8:35pm] 1 vs 100
[Nine/10:30pm] Wimbledon. Day 1

[ABC/8:00pm] Australian Story
[ABC/8:30pm] Four Corners. Jonathan Holmes explores ways that Australians can cut energy consumption, and asks: how do we improve the design of our homes and the products that we put inside them
[ABC/9:20pm] Media Watch
[ABC/9:30pm] More than Enough Rope. This week: THE PERFECT GUEST: Michael Parkinson. Some guests are so good at the job that Andrew could quietly slip away and the interview would go on just fine. There's no better example than Michael Parkinson, ably supported here by Antonio Banderas, Mel Brooks, Matt Damon, Josie Jackson, Gerard Donaghy and Glenn and Jane McGrath.

[Ovation/9:30pm] ABBA Special Read more...

Morning glory caps Seven win

Seven’s new Morning Show stormed over its opposition in Week 25, a familiar scenario to the networks at large this year.

Seven won the week with a 28.7% share to Nine’s 27.9%, TEN’s 21.3%, ABC’s 16.8% and SBS’ 5.2%.

Seven won all cities except Brisvegas with national wins on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday. Nine won Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday evenings and the week in Brisneyland.

Once again Seven News won six nights out of seven, in a week where the new Station Manager at STW9 Perth signalled possible changes to its local News. It is a long shot to expect it to turn around such deep-seated problems anytime soon, and whatever moves are afoot will be in keeping with WIN’s agenda not PBL’s.

News was especially big on Monday night following the Melbourne city shooting. Even TEN News passed the 1m mark.

It was an untimely incident as Seven’s new Morning Show kicked off, but the show won convincingly with 272,000 to David and Kim’s 147,000 and Kerri-Anne’s 126,000. On the second day Seven had slipped to 223,000, Nine 111,000, but without the US Golf lead-in David and Kim had dropped to a hollow 78,000. By the end of the week there was little change for the three. Larry and Kylie had arrived in a seamless Sunrise segue.

Other top performers for Seven were Today Tonight, It Takes Two, All Saints, Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Better Homes and Gardens, The Rich List and Home and Away. The return of That 70s Show was down on My Name is Earl but did ok with 1.1m. Seven’s divided Wednesday shows (some of which air in Sydney and Brisbane on Thursdays) continue to compromise a nightly win.

Once again 60 Minutes was the top show of the week, as the sole heavy offering in a timeslot dominated by light fare. Nine’s screening of new CSI episodes helped it win Sunday night. Next was RPA: Where Are They Now, and a very strong 1.4m for McLeod’s Daughters –an encouraging sign before Sea Patrol launches. Other top shows included 1 vs 100, Nine News, ACA and Temptation. Somewhat embarrassingly, unscreened eps of the now-axed Backyard Blitz won its timeslot with 1.28m –a genre Nine had declared as “exhausted.” The Nation picked up 16,000 to score 626,000 but was trounced by the An Interview with Princes William and Harry Seven, just under 1.1m.

A new episode of House returned as TEN’s best show of the week, and the network again pushed Nine into third place on Tuesday night on the back of NCIS. Next was a Simpsons repeat (ahead of a new Simpsons), the Law and Order franchises and Big Brother. Torchwood did very good business with 987,000 and Pirate Master charted 905,000 in its first of two screenings, moderately higher than its predecessor Teen Fit Camp. As stated above, David and Kim now have a serious fight to keep alive.

The Chaser romped in at 1.4m and Spicks and Specks 1.3m. Taggart did terrific business followed by ABC News, New Inventors and Robin Hood. The final Sideshow petered out at only 614,000. Where does this leave a second season?

Mondays again did well for SBS.

Ratings Week 25 Read more...

Mr Sour Grapes

He's at it again.

Isaiah Washington now says ABC fired the wrong guy. They should have really fired T.R. Knight from Grey's Anatomy. Yep, the very target of his homophobic attack.

And why? Because, according to Washington, T.R. Knight lied when telling Ellen De Generes about the incident during her talk show.

This guy just doesn't let up.

He also says he is going to sue (no surprise there, it's the US after all).

Washington accused Knight of exploiting the controversy in order to get a salary increase and to enhance his role. He says he never used the word against Knight but "I used the word during a disagreement with Patrick. I apologized for that. We shook hands and went back to work."

And who did he make the remark about? The jolly green giant?

In another interview Washington also likened himself to Malcolm X, as a victim of media persecution.

"This happened to Malcolm X, this happened to Paul Robeson -- this misconception can happen to any man of power that loves himself and wants to spread that love and that humanity throughout the world."

Washington is just pissed that he's going to be enormously unemployable and that all the work he did with gay groups as an apology didn't secure him his tenure.

Don't let the door hit you on the way out, Isaiah. Read more...

Nine offers Sea Patrol online

Nine will offer the entire premiere episode of Sea Patrol online as a free download three days before it airs on Free to Air television.

In a first for an Australian drama, the network is hoping to create a buzz and cross-promote the series for maximum effect.

The episode will be available from 6pm Monday July 2 at www.seapatrol.ninemsn.com.au

It screens on air at 8:30pm Thursday July 5.

Thereafter, each episode will be available for a $1.95 download directly after airing on Nine, viewable for five days. Nine has previously used this promotional tool for McLeod's Daughters. It will also offer fictitious character webisodes and a "Making Of" narrated by Sea Patrol actor Josh Lawson.

Director of drama Jo Horsborough said the online element of the show would "expand the television experience" for viewers by offering more than they could see on TV.

Great to see Nine making this move!

Source: West Australian.
Read more...

Changes at STW9 Perth

The new boss at STW9 Perth is flagging possible changes for the Nine affiliate including selling off the news helicopter and a possible line-up change for the news team.

"They've gone through two years of uncertainty with the takeover and they've done a fantastic job, the presenters," George Papadopoulos told Southern Cross Broadcasting.

"I wouldn't swap them. Maybe one of them might go and do a current affairs-style show, I don't know, we might even bring someone else on board," he said.

From July 1 WIN's WA General Manager Ian Mcrae will take over from outgoing 9 General Manager Michael Mitchell.

Source: The West Australian.
Media Spy
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