The Hatfield-McCoy feud, which has been used for over 100 years to allude to the most bitter of disputes, is making its way up the Big Sandy River (a tributary of the Ohio) to unleash its wrath on modern-day Pittsburgh. Executive Producer Charlize Theron is working on the pilot, which as far as we know will be called “Hatfields & McCoys.”

Set in present-day Pittsburgh, the drama begins when a startling death reignites the legendary feud between the families. Unleashing decades of resentment, the blue-collar McCoys will put the Hatfields’ wealth and power at risk as they go to war for control of the city.

The pilot will be written by John Glenn (“Eagle Eye,” 2008 and the upcoming “Warriors”) but the specifics of the individual stories are still unknown. But as a Pittsburgh-based studio with roots in the area, we’d like to posit some plotlines the show should address:

Idea 1: The wealthy Hatfields try to sink the blue-collar McCoys by using their powerful Eat’n Park-chain to buy up and destroy all of the McCoys Kings Family restaurant franchises. The Kittanning King’s and Natrona Heights Eat’n Park restaurants wage war along Route 28, leaving the icing of thousands of wounded Frownie Brownies and Smiley Cookies in their wake.

Idea 2: The Hatfields of 941 Penn Avenue cut off the supply of Primanti’s sandwiches running from Market Square to the McCoy’s South Side slopes split-level by taking control of the Smithfield Street Bridge. A battle ensues as a lack of soggy fries cripples the McCoy’s South Side-starch trade.

Idea 3: The Hatfields of the North Hills declare war on the McCoy’s of South Hills as the two families battle for market share of Stussy-hat sales between the PacSuns of Ross Park and South Hills Village malls, respectively. The dispute ends reasonably, as both parties realize customers want Ocean Pacific gear instead.

Idea 4: The Hatfields buy Sandcastle and the McCoys buy Kennywood. The two families wage a war across Homestead using bacteria-laden, blue-hued water from the Raging Rapids and bottom-shelf spiced rum from the Sandbar.

Idea 5: The Hatfields and McCoys both plan a hostile takeover of the Pittsburgh Pirates. The feud is squashed by the Nuttings.

The time-tested feud is in viewer demand as History’s six-hour miniseries “Hatfields & McCoys” (Kevin Costner and Bill Paxton) is rated the highest-rated mini series or movie on cable since 1998. So perhaps the Pittsburgh pilot has a good chance to be picked up. Here’s hoping.

Tweet us your ideas for Pittsburgh-based Hatfield-McCoy feud plotlines @NewShowStudios

Most of us over the age of 13 (HBO’s “The Sopranos” debuted in 1999) grew up in a television world where network programming reigned supreme. A lot of debate has been given to network-programming quality versus cable programming. And for the most part, during the first half of the aughts, the Emmys’ Drama Series category nominations were dominated by network shows, with the exception of the peppering of a “The Sopranos” here and a “Six Feet Under” there.

Last night’s Emmys showcased a Drama Series category completely devoid of any network nominations. And, here is how the rest of the cable vs. network saga breaks down.

9 total wins for the networks; 22 total wins for cable

NBC won zero(!) awards

Not one network show was even nominated for Best Drama this year

Out of the 9 network wins, “Modern Family” won 4 of the awards

4 out of the top 5 total award winners came from cable:
Cable
“Game of Thrones” 6
“Homeland” 6
“Game Change” 5
“Hatfields & McCoys” 5
Network
“Modern Family” 5

Wins for programs (as opposed to individuals starring in programs) were split: networks 2, cable 3
Cable
– “Homeland” (Drama Series)
– “Game Change” (Miniseries or Movie)
– “The Daily Show” (Variety Series)
Network
– “The Amazing Race” (Competition Program)
– “Modern Family” (Comedy Series)

Wins for individuals were split networks 7, cable 18

Network with the most cumulative awards is ABC, 5

Cable network with the most awards is HBO, 6

Granted, Emmy awards are not a definitive judgment on the quality of a television show. But, they are significant indications of the shift in what people are watching, and what viewers and pundits consider to be quality television.

* Wins are considered the awards awarded during the primetime telecast

Logo Credit: Jerry Seinfeld / ComediansInCarsGettingCoffee.com

“Be amused by me if you will — this isn’t costing me much.”

That sentenced above is kind of the essence of the Web series in a nutshell, right? You can afford to be wrong, flop or get a lukewarm response.

Of course the goal is to be good, great even, but if you aren’t quite on the mark, then no harm no foul.

Even when ‘The Jerry Seinfeld’ is the creator, that’s the approach he takes. And in his own Web series, which the link below to the New York Times details, he rides around in old cars with his funny friends and lets us ride shotgun. He thinks it’s funny. He laughs non-stop throughout.

Is it funny to the rest of us? Yes. But even if it isn’t, no skin off Jerry’s back. He’s having fun and money is no object.

The Web series, “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee,” isn’t really about anything. Yes, it’s a Web series about nothing by a guy who brought us a hit series about nothing.

Clearly, Seinfeld has a knack for making something out of nothing. But, he’s not alone.

The phenomenon of Web-Original Programming allows just about anyone to create entertainment that’s friendly to his or her budget and put it out there for the world to see. Maybe it finds an audience, maybe not, but it’s a terrific way to share an idea and find out if it has any legs.

Seinfeld shows us funny can be simple, cheap and about anything…or nothing at all.

Until Next Time…

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/04/arts/television/jerry-seinfelds-online-comedians-in-cars-getting-coffee.html?ref=television

The 2011/2012 season of television is an interesting indicator of the American viewing audience’s programming preferences. Few things shed more light on what viewers want to watch like cold, hard statistics. And it appears as though America is grasping back at its blue-collared manliness, favoring the gridiron over the stage.

And after eight seasons in the most-watched spot, Fox’s “American Idol” got sacked by NBC’s “Sunday Night Football,” which boasted a 1-million-viewer surplus over “American Idol”’s 19.7 million viewers, according to the Associated Press.

But don’t celebrate too soon, football fans. Five out of the ten most-watched shows are of the singing or dancing variety, dominated by two nights of “American Idol,” two nights of “Dancing With The Stars” (5) and one night of “The Voice” (9).

Good old crime dramas can never be counted out, though. In the third spot, according to The Washington Post, sits the country’s most-watched scripted series for the third consecutive season. CBS’ “NCIS” virtually matched last season’s audience with about 19.5 million viewers, and “Los Angeles: NCIS” sits proudly in the sixth spot.

CBS rounds out the remaining spots of eight and ten with their very popular scripted comedies, “The Big Bang Theory” (8) and the Ashton Kutcher-reincarnated “Two and a Half Men (10).

So for those of you keeping score and looking for the next big thing in television, may we suggest pitching a professional football league in which the players must sing like J-L0, dance like Hines Ward and solve crimes like Mark Harmon?

In mid April, ABC’s “Good Morning America” surpassed NBC’s “Today” by 31,000 total viewers for the week, marking its first full-week victory over NBC since 1995, according to the New York Times.

Morning show wars are burning up television airwaves. The battle is fought by the three super powers of morning programming: ABC’s “Good Morning America”, “CBS This Morning” and NBC’s “Today.”

These wars aren’t without casualties, as the networks skirmish to find the secret sauce that will appeal to viewers and shift the Nielsen ratings.

Ann Curry, one of the victims, was removed as Matt Lauer’s co-host after only one year in the chair — a move presumed to counter sagging ratings. But the day after Ann Curry’s final appearance, “Today” was beaten by a margin of 670,000 viewers. Oopsie. The poor showing suggests that fans of the show are not impressed by the permanent appointment of Guthrie in the seat.

And things got worse for NBC, according to Mediabisro: “’Today’, which began broadcasting from London this week ahead of the Summer Olympics, continues to struggle. Compared to the same week last year the show is down -12 percent in total viewers and down -20 percent in the younger demo. “Good Morning America” is up +4 percent in total viewers and up +4 percent in younger viewers.”

Is CBS on the rise? Major shifts in CBS morning programming began in 2010 as Harry Smith, host of CBS’s “The Early Show”, signed off after nearly 4,500 broadcasts in December of 2012. “The Early Show” would then be replaced by “CBS This Morning.” Although CBS sits last in the morning show ratings, “CBS This Morning” continues to show consistent growth: up +7 percent in total viewers and up +6 percent in younger viewers. But CBS recently announced it will replace Erica Hill with Norah O’Donnell, the network’s chief White House correspondent. Should be interesting to see how this move plays with Nielsen.

It’s quite difficult to predict what viewers want to watch while they sip their coffees and do their crosswords. Perhaps shifting formats and rotating casts of talking heads destabilize a viewing base instead of engaging it. After all, “Good Morning America” leads the ratings, and they’ve maintained the stable presence of Robin Roberts and George Stephanopoulos for the past three years.

Television without commercials; The American Dream. But could that dream – if fulfilled – jeopardize TV’s existence? Yes, according to CBS, NBC and Fox, who have filed suit claiming Dish Network’s AutoHop violates their copyright.

This debate began in May, when AutoHop debuted. AutoHop offers viewers who record network television the ability to black out commercials. Turn it on, and all the ads recorded on most prime-time network shows are automatically skipped without having to flip through channels or fast-forward.

“How does Charlie Ergen [Dish Network Chairman] expect me to produce ‘CSI’ without commercials?” asked Leslie Moonves, the chief executive of the CBS Corporation, in response to questions from reporters on Wednesday morning before his annual upfront presentation.

Because advertising revenue helps networks pay for production costs of TV, AutoHop is a huge thorn in the side of networks.

According to the Christian Science Monitor, “The estimated $68 billion in ad dollars the television industry collects each year helps to offset the spiraling production costs of prime-time dramas and comedies, network news operations, late night talk shows and sports.”

But do technological advances have the ability to kill off TV commercials anytime soon? Probably not. The choice to skip commercials has existed since the invention of the remote, even before – when viewers could simply get up off the couch and turn off the television or skip to another channel to avoid advertising.

A very similar argument was already ruled not a violation of copyright in 1976. Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc., ruled that the making of individual copies [Betamax cassettes] of complete television shows for purposes of time shifting does not constitute copyright infringement, but is fair use.

AutoHop may be a sticking point between Dish and the major TV networks, but it probably will have less affect on advertising purchases than the networks think. In fact, last month’s demand for commercial purchasing was so strong that the networks were able to raise ad rates despite concerns over viewers bypassing commercials through technology.

So at least for now, viewers will either have to suffer through commercials or dodge them by using such time-tested techniques as changing the channel, going to the bathroom or simply making a sandwich.

Television is an invaluable source for news. So it’s no surprise a recent survey of the TV-viewing public proved that September 11th was the most remembered event in TV history.

According to a recent Sony Electronics and the Nielsen survey, “The Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack is, by far, the most memorable moment shared by television viewers during the past 50 years, twice as impactful as the second-ranked moment, which was the coverage of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.”

It goes without saying that monumental events command the eyes and ears of the American public and garner huge viewing audiences. But that doesn’t discount the power of TV fiction, which has the ability to capture the hearts and minds of America, too.

Here’s the list of the Top 10 Series Finales of all time (most of them were sitcoms).

10. Home Improvement (ABC) – 35 million viewers

9. Family Ties (NBC) – 36.3 million viewers

8. All in the Family (CBS) – 40.2 Million viewers

7. The Cosby Show (NBC) – 44.4 Million Viewers

6. The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (NBC) – 50.0 Million Viewers

5. Magnum P.I. (CBS) – 50.7 Million Viewers

4. Friends (NBC) – 52.5 Million Viewers

3. Seinfeld (NBC) – 76.3 Million Viewers

2. Cheers (NBC) – 80.4 Million Viewers

1. M*A*S*H (CBS)– 105.9 Million Viewers

Source:  http://blog.koldcast.tv/2011/koldcast-news/10-most-watched-television-finales-of-all-time/

Let me start by saying I don’t believe in curses—not in sports, not in entertainment—not in life. (Not even if you live in Boston or end up on the cover of SI before a big game.)

I do believe that if you star in a sitcom for double-digit years that it will be difficult to separate yourself from that character for the rest of your career. If that is a curse, it is probably one that has made you very rich and very famous (you poor baby, lol).

And, yes, I am talking to you dear cast of NBC’s Friends.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved Friends. I loved Friends so much, I thought those people were my actual friends. The early years were brilliant. They had an excellent run and now Rachel Green, the Gellers, et al have tried to move on and it hasn’t always been with awesome results; they haven’t exactly been cursed either.

If I’m not mistaken, Ms. Courtney Cox has had pretty decent results with ABC’s Cougar Town; Matt LeBlanc just won a big, beautiful Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Comedy or Musical for Showtime’s Episodes (2011); Lisa Kudrow is also doing some nice work on Showtime’s web Therapy.

Okay, so David Schwimmer…I don’t know, the guy has been working and nothing has been huge or horrible. He acts, he directs…he does Broadway!

Jennifer Aniston literally cannot get a haircut without me hearing about it and she has worked consistently since Friends wrapped. Okay, she has had a really hard time “not being Rachel Green” in many a role, but I loved her in The Good Girl, Horrible Bosses and Derailed. She has shown some range over the years… She isn’t Meryl Streep… but that’s okay, right? 

Which brings me to Matthew Perry. The article below addresses the non-existent curse and how Perry is trying to break it with his new gig on NBC’s comedy pilot Go On, in which he’ll play “a sportscaster who is lifted up by a mandatory support group after he experiences personal loss.”

Hmm. I like Matthew Perry, as I like all my ‘friends’ and I wish them well as they go forward professionally.

They are not cursed. They are rich, talented and beautiful…

Just like the Stiletto Showgirl LOL.

Until Next Time…

Read more: http://www.tv.com/news/news-briefs-matthew-perry-is-trying-to-break-the-friends-curse-again-27979/#ixzz1oXD8kxG9

Image Source:  Featureflash / Shutterstock.com