Big 12 Expansion Saga Never Ends

The Big 12 college conference has always stunk of instability. Created in the 1990s with the merger of the Big 8 conference and the four strongest members of the scandal-ridden all-Texas Southwest Conference, the Big 12 ushered in an era where two 12-team conferences (the SEC being the other) dominated the college football landscape with sprawling 12 team line-ups.

The only problem with the Big 12 is that the Big 8 teams and their relatively scandal-free reputation conceded the majority of the power to the Texas schools – going as far as allowing the conference's headquarters to be in Texas. With the majority of power residing in Texas, the Texas schools virtually dictated the direction of the conference. This became painfully obvious to anyone paying attention to college sports in the late 2000s when conference realignment became front page news.

With Nebraska, Colorado, Texas A&M and Missouri all leaving for greener pastures, the conference recruited yet another Texas school Texas Christian (TCU) and eastern outlier West Virginia (WVU) to shore up the Big 12 ranks for a total of ten teams. But rather than even try to get back to 12 schools, the Big 12 conference stood firm with ten schools and the majority of power still squarely residing in Texas. The likelihood of stability was further lessened when ESPN partnered with the University of Texas and gave the school its very own cable sports channel, The Longhorn Network. That move by Texas only served to further alienate the former Big 8 / non-Texas schools. It became obvious the the Big 12 conference was merely the University of Texas, a handful of other lesser Texas schools and some former Big 8 schools with limited options for new conference homes.

The turmoil in the conference came to a head more than once in the past half decade. The Pac 10 nearly became the Pac 16 by plucking off the best of the Big 12 conference but this move was apparently squashed at the last minute because the University of Texas wanted to bring along a few of its Texas school cousins.

Other schools in the conference have still been mentioned at attractive expansion candidates by other conferences. The B1G (Big Ten) has been tossed about at a potential home for the University of Kansas and the University of Oklahoma. The complication lies with both of these school supposedly being tied to their in-state brethren (Kansas State University and Oklahoma State University). The SEC has as well as the Pac 12 has also been tossed in as potential homes of the University of Oklahoma.

But then the talk of expansion came up. The Big 12 looked like it was just days away from getting back to a total of 12 schools in its geographically sensible conference. The University of Cincinatti and Brigham Young University were mentioned as frontrunners. Of course there were others such as the University of Memphis, Colorado State University, University of Houston, University of Connecticut, University of Central Florida and University of Southern Florida who were brought up.

There was a divide, though, It seemed like the University of Oklahoma and the remainder of the former Big 8 schools as well as WVU were in favor expansion while the University of Texas and its Texas bloc of schools were against expansion. Again, the University of Texas looked to be wielding its power and standing in the way of expansion. No expansion meant no possible chance for an increase in television rights fees and definitely no lucrative Big 12 cable sports channel – especially with the University of Texas and their Longhorn Network standing in the way.

Now, though, expansion talk has cooled. In fact, many are speculating that the Big 12 has come to a consensus that ten schools is the perfect fit for the foreseeable future. Well, for the future until 2025 when the conference's Grant of Rights agreement as well as current television agreement comes to an end. If you were one for conspiracy theories, you could speculate that this stability is only leading to one final upheaval in 2025 where the conference wither finally dissolves to be swallowed by the Big Ten, Pac 12 and SEC or flexes its might and swallows at least a portion of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and the Power Five conferences (Big Ten, SEC, ACC, Pac 12, Big 12) shrinks to the Power Four conferences and finally makes sense for an expanded college football playoff.

Either way, any significant upheaval seems to have been pushed down the road around nine years. In 2025, though, all bets are off and that's when I'll be back to update you on this hot topic.

CBS fall 2015 schedule thoughts

In the past two or three years, network television's quality has both declined and increased. I have The Walking Dead) being shown on AMC -- a cable channel.

seen a number of great ideas with an almost infinite amount of potential completely squandered and left to wither and die. I have also seen dreck and lowbrow, low-concept programs become middling hits. To find a hit nowadays, though, is a challenge as television viewing is more fragmented than ever before with the continuing rise of Netflix, Amazon becoming a player and the most popular series (

CBS (aka The Tiffany Network) had been able -- until the past year or two -- to avoid the sliding ratings and rarely had more than two series which turned out to be complete dogs. They continually churned out crime dramas which pulled in steady ratings and spawned spinoffs. On the comedy side, their multi-camera shows followed a formula of set-up, easy joke, laughter. It worked and they built on their Monday comedy success with a solidly watched Thursday comedy block. That new Thursday block quickly laid waste to NBC's once-popular Thursday comedy block.

But the success of the CBS Thursday comedy block came at a price. Failing to find a big hit after How I Met Your Mother began its decline and eventually ended its run, the two-hour Monday comedy block was scaled back to a mere hour for the 2014-15 season. The anchor 2 Broke Girls  failed to improve or even maintain its viewership levels.

The schedule for the fall 2015 season on CBS is the most disappointing and lackluster of all of the networks -- and that says a lot given the bottom-of-the-barrel crap NBC is rolling out.

CBS FALL 2015-16 SCHEDULE
(New programs in UPPER CASE; all times ET)
MONDAY
8-8:30 PM The Big Bang Theory
8:30-9 PM LIFE IN PIECES
8-9 PM SUPERGIRL (Starting in November)
9-10 PM Scorpion
10-11 PM NCIS: Los Angeles
TUESDAY
8-9 PM NCIS
9-10 PM NCIS: New Orleans
10-11 PM LIMITLESS
WEDNESDAY
8-9 PM Survivor
9-10 PM Criminal Minds
10-11 PM CODE BLACK
THURSDAY
8-11 PM, ET/ NFL Thursday Night Football (Premieres Sept. 17)
5-8 PM, PT
8-8:30 PM The Big Bang Theory (RTP) (Starting in November)
8:30-9 PM LIFE IN PIECES (Starting in November)
9-9:30 PM Mom (Starting in November)
9:30-10 PM ANGEL FROM HELL (Starting in November)
10-11 PM Elementary(Starting in November)
FRIDAY
8-9 PM The Amazing Race
9-10 PM Hawaii Five-O
10-11 PM Blue Bloods
SATURDAY
8-9 PM Crimetime Saturday
9-10 PM Crimetime Saturday
10-11 PM 48 Hours
SUNDAY
7-9 PM 60 Minutes
8-9 PM Madam Secretary
9-10 PM The Good Wife
10-11 PM CSI: CYBER

 The biggest shock is that beginning in November, CBS will have no comedies on it Monday night lineup for the first time in over 60 years. This is not just the end of an era, it also marks the continued slide of sitcoms on network television. There will be a mere 12 hours of comedies each week on network television when November rolls around. I am sure that the number has been far lower before but when spread across four major networks it is definitely a low point for televised comedies.

The one series that sticks out like a sore thumb for CBS is Supergirl. It's not geared towards the silver hair crowd. It features a female lead. It could also be the beginning of CBS actively trying to attract younger viewers with the cheesy but young-skewing Scorpion pairing well with Supergirl. Two hours of dramas which could actually appeal to people under 50 years old. Or Supergirl could be a complete failure and vanish by February. Just wait and see.

Last Man on Earth WAS promising

FOX comedy “The Last Man on Earth” started out with an explosion of greatness. A stunning and almost dangerous concept starring but one actor, the under appreciated Will Forte who was the bumbling MacGruber in numerous SNL sketches. The concept was risky but played out wonderfully — one solitary man leaving a bleak if not interesting existence after a virus wiped out 99.99999999% of humanity. It was a wonderful one-man show. Forte’s Phil Miller traveling the country in search of any glimmer of humanity.

I even liked the second episode where the moderately grating Kristen Schall was introduced. She is wonderful as the voice of Louise Belcher on another FOX comedy, the animated and overlooked “Bob’s Burgers” but just like  her role as Hazel Wassername on NBC’s “30 Rock” a few years ago, her acting simply rubs me the wrong way. Her characters are grating and borderline annoying but I suppose that’s why she is playing the characters she is playing.

But a comedy starring even two characters was too good to be true and too good to last for long. Future episodes saw the addition of two more characters. Hopefully that’s where the character additions stop because what quickly became a multi-faceted show focusing more on Phil Miller’s desire to be with the more attractive of the last two apparently living females in America showed just how much of a dickhead he is — even to the only other apparently living guy in America. Everyone needs friends, no matter how much they deny having such a need, and pushing them aside in an effort to have the more desirable of two women possibly shows why Phil Miller survived. He was left behind to suffer through a miserable and incomplete life.

He could choose to be a better friend and a better husband but instead he continually finds ways to alienate those around him. That is, until the most recent episode. Forte’s character chose to change his life to make a better life for those around him. He decided to clean up his poop pool, he reluctantly allowed his wife to move into his house and is beginning to realize that, for better or worse, this weird existence is his new life and that he needs to make the best of it or continue to be a self-loathing and shallow dickhead.

I know that even after a short while that television shows change and evolve but I hope to see more of the weirdness that comes with what is now a small group of  survivors left as the last people in America — possibly Earth — and less of the relationship drama. Check out “The Last Man on Earth” Sundays at 8 PM and/or 8:30 PM (C/T) on FOX.

Craig Ferguson will be missed

I will admit that when Craig Ferguson first took the reins of ‘The Late Late Show’ on CBS, I missed
Craig Kilborn. That feeling, though, would be short lived. Craig Ferguson had a bit of a bumpy start as a talk show host but soon found his footing and developed a quirky, off-beat sense of comedic art that will not be replicated any time soon.

The low budget of the show paired with the fact that it was owned by David Letterman’s production company — Worldwide Pants — meant that the show wasn’t going anywhere even if ratings fell to ‘Mulaney’-like levels. Low expectations often mean creative freedom and that is exactly what the quirky Scottish-born Ferguson took advantage of.

With a cast of oddball characters including a foul-mouthed assortment of puppets, the horse Secretariat, Geoff the skeleton robot, lip-synced songs and plenty of random dancing in what he referred to as a “dimly lit studio” gave the show the flavor it needed to be a success at 11:30 PM (CT).

Craig Ferguson could have easily been another talk show host with a band, a mildly edgy joke-filled monologue followed by two showbiz guests and a band to round out the hour but he took things a step further. Sometimes he had only one guest. There weren’t always bands on the show. And his interview style was one where it was conversational and he held nothing back. He made guests feel comfortable and made his producer feel uncomfortable by often times swearing which made Ferguson come across as more genuine than any late night talk show host before him.

Ferguson got the job because he had stand-up comedy chops and had already proven himself during his tenure on ‘The Drew Carey Show’. He was a dark horse and that made him even more likable and real.

It will be quite some time before another show is as uniquely different and genuine as ‘The Late Late Show’ with Craig Ferguson was. His ten year run, which ended Friday, will stand out as the pinnacle of 11:30 CT late night talk shows for quite some time as others strive to be lesser-known carbon copies of their 10:30 PM CT siblings.

Standalone HBO streaming is a good thing

HBO announced yesterday that their streaming service, HBOGo, would be available as an a la carte service for anyone who wants to pony up the subscription fee (estimated to be around $20/month) could do so without having any cable television subscription. That is the first step in cable television channels giving viewers the power to choose the most important channels and paying for only what they want to watch.

The bad part is that most of the people who would want to subscribe to a standalone HBOGo service would still need to be strapped to a cable television company to receive streaming content because cable internet is the norm for a large percentage of internet customers.

In the end the cable companies still get your money and you are still dependent on them because people have few, if any, options. The only other viable option is to sever all ties to cable companies. I did this just over a year ago and went with DSL (just a fast and actually cheaper) but opted to subscribe to DISH TV service because my cable company (Mediacom) moved to metered internet service and my Netflix habits would have burned through that data cap in no time at all.

And it's those very data caps / metered internet access that cable companies will impose on their customers to keep them from cutting the cord to television service completely. This borderline monopoly is the kind of practice that keeps the cable companies insanely profitable and keeps customers tied to their television service.

The only hope is municipal fiber internet service or for a company like Google to become ultra aggressive in their deployment of fiber internet service. True competition is the only thing which will force cable television companies to be competitive -- both in price and speed -- with their internet service.

I watched Mulaney last night

I went out of my way to set my DVR to record the newest FOX sitcom, "Mulaney" last night and  I still am unsure what to think of the new multi-camera series starring comedian and former Saturday Night Live writer John Mulaney.

The series got off to an admittedly rough start. I may have cracked a smile or two early on but the series premiere was well over half finished before I laughed for the first time. Given John Mulaney's history -- hell, he wrote and created the hysterical SNL character "Stefon" -- I still have hopes that this show finds its footings and starts to become a consistent performer and generator of laughs.

In terms of what "Mulaney" is all about, the series is drawing a lot of comparisons to "Seinfeld". Both comedies star a stand-up comedian who appears to have absolutely no acting chops. Both show feature roughly the same number of supporting cast members including a man who could be compared to "Seinfeld" arch nemesis Newman, an Elane character portrayed by former SNL player Nasim Pedrad and John Mulaney's best friend who is also a comedian and appears to be the George Costanza of the cast.

The biggest problem with John Mulaney is that his acting is stiff. No, scratch that, his acting is as stiff as setting concrete. His on-camera presence is lifeless while what I have seen of his stand-up performances, while still somewhat stiff, has sings of life. Somewhere, buried deep beneath the fact that "Mulaney" appears to be about, wait for it, NOTHING again like its on-paper cousin "Seinfeld", there is a decent sitcom hiding.

After reading numerous reviews about "Mulaney" from those privy to seeing screeners of future episodes, the FOX sitcom does manage to find the funny and shore up its shaky footings by, at the latest, the sixth episode. With this being a desperate network and that the executives had enough faith before this series even aired a single episode to hand it a whopping sixteen episode commitment means that  the suits at FOX will either ride out the 16 ordered episodes and see how things pan out or unceremoniously ax this show over the extended Christmas break. All signs, though, point to "Mulaney" airing its 16 episodes in their entirety and maybe more if ratings and reviews improve.

I, for one, want this show to succeed even though it has the often maligned laugh track and is a blatant "Seinfeld" rip-off. Be sure to get in on the ground floor of "Mulaney" and watch as it improves. It airs Sunday evenings at 8:30 PM C/T on FOX.

My life before Netflix

There was an earlier time in my life when I lived with a couple friends. One had an account to something called "Netflix". I had heard of it in passing but never really understood the value of it. It was a cute little business model -- set up an account, click some movie titles on their website and you would begin receiving DVDs of movies and a few television shows which Netflix offered. Watch at your leisure, toss the disc in the enclosed envelope and mail the sum'bitch back. A few days later your next disc arrived, lather, rinse and repeat.

I then went over ten years without any first-hand exposure to this company. Until my sister-in-law got a Netflix account and set me up with her password. It was as easy as rolling out of a tilted bed. The Netflix app was already on my Roku box and within minutes we were entranced with the treasure trove that is the legal online streaming world. Oh, sure, in the past we had dealt with torrents of television shows from networks we legally subscribed to because our cable package didn't come with a DVR (it's something like a $10/month add-on) but that was getting to be a hassle to deal with what with the downloading, having to leave the computer on and the mildly clunky interface with whatever app I was using on my Roku.

In short, Netflix was flat out easier. The Roku interface is easy as hell to use -- even our then four year-old could navigate through Netflix and find a plethora of cartoons to watch. The price was right, too and it has never once failed to function even when pushed through the lowest speed internet tier I could find because I am cheap.

Last summer, though, truly proved the value of Netflix when, in August, a little show entitled 'Orange is the New Black' appeared exclusively on Netflix. We devoured that series, watching two or three episodes each night and, sadly, within a week or so we had finished what was a truly well-written series featuring a topic (life in prison) which hadn't really been touched since HBO's 'Oz'. The difference being that OITNB had plenty of moments of humor in it and the writing team managed to blend drama and comedy with a setting that is anything but funny. It is a series that feels like it could easily exist on the best cable channels (think along the lines of FX or A&E or AMC) whom dabble in original programming.

Instead, 'Orange is the New Black' landed on a platform which is designed for binge watching. Much like the fourth season of 'Arrested Development', you could sit down for a few hours and devour episode after episode and feel extremely sad after a couple sessions when you realize that you have to wait about an entire year for fresh episodes. Then, if you're like me, you dive into the first episodes of 'The X-Files' and start watching those early episodes that aired in one's teen years before your rural home received a FOX television station signal.

I have taken a more leisurely approach to watching the first handful of seasons of 'The X-Files' due to time constraints, summer being here and the simple fact that a shitload (120 or more) of episodes exist and I don't have 90-some hours available to block out to watch one of the greatest procedural / sci-fi case-of-the-week series to ever air on television.

But even with my lessened viewing, I continue to subscribe. I wholly plan on finishing season eight of 'Dexter' even if it completely ruins some of the brilliant earlier seasons (it should have ended after the season with John Lithgow as The Trinity Killer) but I like to finish what I start.

I'm sure there will be a day when I  no longer see the value of netflix but, for the time being I still subscribe, I still watch and it manages to keep myself and my daughter entertained. It is there for me on cold winter nights and rainy summer afternoons. It isn't appointment television because that hasn't existed in a decade. It exists because it's easy and it's a quality entertainment option. Who needs movie theaters when you have Netflix and RedBox? Who really needs cable or satellite when you have the earlier options combined with Hulu and Amazon Prime? I have sampled the Hulu and Prime options but I stick with Netflix as my lone streaming option because I have yet to cut the cord but that day is coming... fast. Streaming is the future and Netflix is doing it right. Now if we can just get over the whole net neutrality issue, then Netflix has a solid future. Without net neutrality, Netflix will be unaffordable and unreliable. Fix that and streaming is clearly the future.

NBC comedy trailer 'A to Z'

Because the 2013-14 television season hasn't completely wrapped up yet, it's time to check out some trailers for television series which haven't produced more than one episode yet. Let's take a look at 2014 NBC comedy A to Z from former Parks and Recreation star Rashida Jones. A romantic comedy that feels mildly like the recently ended How I Met Your Mother from CBS. A guy who likes to put the cart in front of the horse in terms of relationships and a quirky girl (HIMYM's Cristin Milioti) who meet one time before officially meeting at an online dating company where said pushy guy works.




Overall, A to Z looks like it is worthy of a shot. It has sight gags to make you laugh, an endearing story about a likely drawn out and pitfall-filled romance and Katey Sagal as a narrator (at least in the pilot preview). Give it a look this fall at 9:30 (8:30 CT) on Thursday evenings on NBC. It seems like a smart comedy and it fits the ongoing trend of single camera comedies.

FOX 2014-15 television schedule

FOX is shaking things up by holding back the faltering Glee for midseason and ditching its animation domination block on Sundays and placing the offbeat Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Mulaney there. If you hoped, though, that reality shows were being minimized with the earlier cancellation of The X Factor, you will be disappointed as Utopia gets an hour on both Tuesday and Friday and Chef Gordon Ramsay continues his seemingly continuous string of cooking competitions with Masterchef Junior leading off Friday nights. FOX still manages to squeeze in three new hours of dramas and is holding back what seems like a ton of shows for midseason but with their new year around scheduling strategy, I wouldn't expect any shows to see repeats outside of Saturday nights.

FOX FALL 2014 SCHEDULE
(New programs in UPPER CASE; all times ET/PT)
MONDAY
8-9 PM GOTHAM
9-10 PM Sleepy Hollow
TUESDAY
8-9 PM UTOPIA
9-9:30 PM New Girl
9:30-10 PM The Mindy Project
WEDNESDAY
8-9 PM Hell’s Kitchen
9-10 PM RED BAND SOCIETY
THURSDAY
8-9 PM Bones
9-10 PM GRACEPOINT
FRIDAY
8-9 PM Masterchef Junior
9-10 PM UTOPIA
SATURDAY
7-10:30 PM Fox Sports Saturday
SUNDAY
7-7:30 PM NFL Game
7-8 PM Bob’s Burgers
8-8:30 PM The Simpsons
8:30-9 PM Brooklyn Nine-Nine
9-9:30 PM Family Guy
9:30-10 PM MULANEY

NBC 2014-15 schedule

NBC seems hellbent on shaking up its long-running Thursday night schedule which for the bulk of the past 30 or so years featured two hours of comedies. That, though, all ends this fall with two new comedies sandwiched between The Biggest Loser which will do the new comedies no favors and the final 13 episodes of Parenthood and in February comedies are planned to vanish all together from the night as The Blacklist takes over the middle hour of primetime. Tuesdays are still a launching pad for comedies as in previous years and Monday at 10 PM figures to be the go-to place for the most-promising drama on their schedule to launch. A whole slug of comedies are being held back for midseason and the inevitable replacements as fall series get canceled.

Comedies being held back for midseason/replacement are:

Mission Control
Mr. Robinson
One Big Happy
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Parks and Recreation (final season)

NBC FALL 2014-2015 SCHEDULE
(New programs in UPPER CASE; all times ET)
MONDAY
8-10 p.m. — “The Voice”
10-11 p.m. — “The Blacklist” / “STATE OF AFFAIRS” (beginning Nov. 17)
TUESDAY
8-9 p.m. — “The Voice”
9-9:30 p.m. — “MARRY ME”
9:30-10 p.m. — “About a Boy”
10-11 p.m. — “Chicago Fire”
WEDNESDAY
8-9 p.m. — “THE MYSTERIES OF LAURA”
9-10 p.m. — “Law & Order: SVU”
10-11 p.m. — “Chicago P.D.”
THURSDAY
8-9 p.m. — “The Biggest Loser”
9-9:30 p.m. — “BAD JUDGE” (“The Blacklist” beginning Feb. 5)
9:30-10 p.m. — “A TO Z”
10-11 p.m. — “Parenthood”/”Allegiance”
FRIDAY
8-9 p.m. — “Dateline NBC”
9-10 p.m. — “Grimm”
10-11 p.m. — “CONSTANTINE”
SATURDAY
8-11 p.m. — Encore programming
SUNDAY
7-8:20 p.m. — “Football Night in America”
8:20-11:30 p.m. — “NBC Sunday Night Football”

Aereo vs. Television Networks

The case of Aereo vs. The Big Four Television Networks is complicated if you don't know the story behind the ongoing legal battle. If you know even the tiniest amount about Aereo, the tech company which essentially allows customers to rent tiny antennas and, in turn, receive live online streams of their local broadcast stations, the argument in favor of Aereo seems rather strong.

Aereo's tiny internet-streaming antennas are rented by customers for a small monthly fee along with a limited amount of DVR storage time (20 hours). The fact that Aereo makes a recurring profit off of this service without paying a retransmission fee to local broadcast affiliates (like cable and satellite companies do) is what the big four television networks are angry about. They want their cut. They ALWAYS want their cut. But is Aereo any different than cable television providers were in their infancy?

It wasn't until 1992 that congress mandated cable television providers to seek approval to retransmit local broadcast television signals over their systems and that also opened the door for local broadcasters to seek retransmission fees from cable providers. Cable television essentially had a free run of fifteen years before local network television affiliates realized that cable television was an area that they, too, could profit from.

The unfortunate part, though, is that local broadcasters are treating Aereo and their innovative format for consumers to bypass bloated cable television packages like it is an established company which has a history of immense profitability and wide adoption rates. In reality Aereo is just the opposite. It is a relatively new start-up which is still expanding into major metropolitan areas. In an era where cable television providers are trying to find ways to keep their customers tied to their services (television AND internet service), Aereo is seen as a disruption.

Are the major broadcast television networks rallying their lawyers in an effort to file lawsuits against the manufacturers of rofotop television antennas? Why aren't they? Those manufacturers allow consumers to view thier television signals for free after the cost of purchase -- somewhat in line with Aereo's business model. Sure, Aereo is an ongoing subscription service but the basic idea of receiving over the air local network affiliates is the same, only the technology has changed.

In short, Aereo is being challenged by network television's lawyers because they are a viable company with a legitimate future. Let Aereo get a foothold and see where it leads. It is unlikely in this age of hundreds of channels that Aereo would ever pose a huge threat to the gobs of cash paid by cable companies to broadcasters in the form of retransmission fees but if it does come to that then the boradcasters have a legitimate argument and can rightfully demand some sort of retransmission fee from Aereo as well.

The one marked difference here is that while Aereo's service allows consumers in selected cities to cut the cord from cable television, they still need internet service which is no longer a luxury item and should be considered as an almost essential utility service. Aereo's potential growth almost insures that cable providers will not only continue to provide internet service at the same price to customers but that their need for increased speeds will increase. And with the reluctance of the near monopolistic cable televisoon providers to seriously increase speeds at realistic prices, their profit margins will remain healthy for the forseeable future.

In short, let an interesting start-up gain a foothold with the disclaimer that the boradcasters will be revisiting the topic of retransmission fees if/when subscriber penetration reaches a pre-determined threshold.

Who will replace David Letterman?

After longtime Late Show host David Letterman publicly announced his plans to retire in 2015 during the taping of last night's show in New York City, there has been rampant speculation regarding who his replacement will be.

The general rules of succession, if they were to ever apply, clearly state that current Late Late Show host Craig Ferguson would inherit the Late Show hosting duties. The only problem is that Ferguson has cultivated a very unique brand of oddball humor for his later time slot and while there is no doubt in my mind that he could adapt to an earlier time and appeal to a wider audience, the general consensus is that he is extremely happy right where he is.

The next logical guess in Jon Stewart, current host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central. Viacom and CBS used to be corporate siblings so the familial ties are sort of there. Stewart is a phenomenal interviewer and has shown through the years that he is equally comfortable interviewing politicians, athletes and movie stars. He is definitely a strong contender but a Jon Stewart helmed Late Show at CBS would be a virtual carbon copy of what Letterman has cultivated. That's not a bad thing at all but the face of late night television is changing. Jimmy Fallon has brought the wacky to The Tonight Show with skits and games involving his guests. I can't see Jon Stewart bringing anything close to that to the table. And maybe that's a good thing. Not every show needs to be a carbon copy of the others. With that being said, consider Jon Stewart the front runner.

Another interesting name being tossed about is Louis C.K.. On the last season of Louie on FX, the stand-up comedian even went as far as to pen a multi-part episode in which he was asked to audition to be the replacement for David Letterman in a surreal series of events which included David Lynch directing him and taping the audition. In classic Louie fashion it was awkward as hell and of course the powers at CBS were playing him against Letterman all to be able to get Letterman to agree to a bit less money. Yet another scenario in which Louie came out in the end as the loser. Expect real life to, again, play out like his life on the TV series. Louis C.K. would be an interesting choice and he has the chops to do an amazing monologue (as he proved once again during his second time hosting SNL) but to the best of my knowledge he has never interviewed another celebrity, a politician or an average Joe. Louis C.K. gets placed in the longshot category.

This brings us to another television actor and comedian, Tina Fey. If CBS were to go in the direction of the lovably awkward Tina Fey, it would be a landmark choice. First off, Fey would be the first female late night host (yeah, I’m discounting the existence of Chelsea Handler, Wanda Sykes and Joan Rivers) and it would also be following somewhat in the footsteps of Letterman in that her career, as well, truly took off at NBC with her role on SNL then her starring role on 30 Rock as well as producing sitcoms at the peacock network. Fey, again, is unproven as an interviewer but is hugely familiar with a live environment from her days behind the Weekend Update desk at SNL and her recent co-hosting gigs on The Golden Globes. I doubt, though, that Fey would go head-to-head against her former counterparts (Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers) as these guys are her friends but a cross-network competition between friends could be far more interesting that the back-biting of days gone by was between Letterman and Jay Leno. One big lovefest is better than a bitter rivalry. I'll put Tina Fey in the middle of the pack of contenders.

Next up is Stephen Colbert. His name as a possible successor to David Letterman is a somewhat fresh addition to the list of contenders. Colbert cut his teeth at a satirist under the tutelage of Jon Stewart at The Daily Show and now has his own made up persona at The Colbert Report on Comedy Central. He has a satirical and somewhat dry wit, he can interview, he has had experience with the traditional musical guests that would be an integral part of any network televised late night program and Viacom-owned Comedy Central was once affiliated with CBS. Stephen Colbert may be less polarizing than Jon Stewart when it comes to political guests as a potential Late Night host because anyone with any common sense realizes that Colbert is playing a character on his current series. It is widely known that he has liberal leanings but I feel that Colbert is capable of asking tough questions when needed as well as doing the typical schmoozing that the job demands. Colbert is a definite front-runner.

We can't forget about Chelsea Handler. She is leaving behind her rather lucrative gig at E! (which she called something along the lines of a cess-pool and a horrible place to work which sort of serves as a way to sever ties with the entire Comcast television universe including NBC). She has hosted Chelsea Lately on E! for seven years with a contract ending in 2015. Her choice, too, would be a landmark move with a female late night host on network television. There are drawbacks, too. Handler is brash and her comedy style can be a bit abrasive to say the least. On the flip side, though, having a brash and unapologetic late night host on network television would be a huge departure from the norm as everyone else seems to be in the business of kissing ass rather than being honest. Chelsea Handler's sometimes profanity-laced comedy would be an interesting companion to that of Late Late Show host Craig Ferguson who routinely gets edited and/or bleeped by the CBS censors. Hell, he almost makes a game out of it and I have a feeling that Handler would as well but she has a temper and would likely fail to accept it meaning that she would butt heads with CBS management frequently and her existence would be stressful and her time spent at CBS would probably be short because of her temper. Chelsea Handler is a definite dark horse as a replacement for David Letterman.

A number of other possibilities are being tossed around including Jerry Seinfeld (too rich), Jon Oliver (too green), Neil Patrick Harris (an actual middle of the road contender with strong hosting skills and an existing CBS presence), Ricky Gervais (too abrasive and British), Joel McHale (doubtful unless taping of the sixth season of Community is its last and contingent on the length of his contract at E! - the bonus is that he does stand-up comedy) and then there's Craig Ferguson who stands to win no matter what happens. He gets a $5 million payday if he gets passed over as Letterman's replacement but he likes the low expectations of his later time slot. Ferguson's brand of comedy fits the time period he is currently in and if moved an hour earlier he would likely suffer the same fate as Conan O'Brien did at NBC. However, Ferguson is already in Los Angeles and would beat out NBC who has both of their  late night programs based in New York City.

Truly, the Letterman replacement race boils down to Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and Neil Patrick Harris. The next year or so should be very interesting.

The Walking Dead season 4 finale

About 15,000,000 million people each week watch AMC's The Walking Dead. That number, coincidentally, is dangerously close to the number of theories swirling around various corners of the internet related to the Season 4 finale of the post-apocalyptic zombie series centered on the lives of a dozen or so Georgians as they struggle to survive and build a steady life with death, the undead and danger around every turn.

The latest twist, "Terminus", hinted at throughout the second half of season 4 of The Walking Dead and unveiled at the end of Sunday's episode, seems to have brought the likes of Glenn, Maggie, Bob and Sasha to the self-proclaimed safe haven only to be welcomed by Mary (pictured at right) who happens to bear an eerie resemblance to a painting uncovered by katana-wielding Michonne earlier in the second half of The Walking Dead's fourth season. The painting, coupled with the lack of other survivors, unlocked gates, inward-facing barbed wire, a huge grill with no signs of animals nearby, a complete lack of walkers and the uber-creepy name of "Terminus" seems to be screaming out to us that Daryl, Rick, Carl, Michonne, Carol, Tyreese and the rest of the gang will be fighting for their own survival once again during Sunday's finale.

Whether Mary and the rest of the unseen residents of Terminus are part of some sort of religious cult (often speculated after someone kidnapped Beth Greene in a previous episode) or a group of cannibalistic survivors (a plot point brought up in The Walking Dead comic books), this Sunday's season finale promises to be action-packed and it's a given that a "major" character or two will be killed off in some fashion.

The truth is that the characters most likely to be killed are Michonne, Carol, Maggie or Glenn. Also likely to die once they meet Rick Grimes' reunited group are most of the members of the group of marauders which Daryl has found himself part of for the past couple episodes. While I doubt that Beth Greene, Maggie's younger blond sister, will be killed in The Walking Dead season finale, I am fairly certain that she will be in great peril at what will be one of the greatest cliffhangers shown during the entirety of the zombie apocalypse series.

How I Met Your Mother's Cobie Smulders photos

After nine seasons of How I Met Your Mother we know that Robin Scherbatsky (Cobie Smulders) isn't "The Mother". Hell, that was established in the early seasons of the long and rambling series but that doesn't mean that we can't all enjoy the eye candy that is the smoldering Cobie Smulders. Maybe it's because I have the dark-haired beauty on my "list" or maybe it's because Cobie Smulders is not only talented but also an excellent specimen of eye candy. Check out the sexy and racy photos of Cobie Smulders below:



















All images via Esquire

More accurate cable TV channel names

Cable television is both a land of excellent programming and a complete and utter mess where sameness across multiple channels reigns supreme. After all, how many different outlets can possibly air virtually indistinguishable crime drama repeats from CBS? What really irks some, though, more than programming is the fact that the same names of these channels from when they were unique and catered to a niche still exist today even though their programming strays very far from that "heritage" name.

MTV becomes TV
MTV once served a purpose. It was the go-to place for music videos but even before the advent of YouTube, Vevo, iTunes and everything else online, the channel began loading up on unscripted "lifestyle" programming catering to a teen and early twenty-something audience. With marathons of "Teen Mom" and "True Life", the channel is ripe for rebranding simply as "TV".

VH-1 becomes 1
VH-1, like MTV, used to show music videos around the clock. I always viewed it as the more mature of the two music video channels. Since that time it has devolved into some sort of bastardized format consisting of shows about mob wives and basketball wives and other dreck nobody would admit to watching.

The Weather Channel becomes Whether
Because the channel is owned by Comcast/Universal which is the proud owner of such blunders as Cloo, SyFy and E!, it is only fitting that they would transition to a cutesy little play on their former name and, in the process, further blur the channel's once clear identity.

Sochi Olympic curling schedule

The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia are just days away and my favorite winter Olympic sport, by far, is Curling. The artistry and skill of gliding the stones down the long lane of ice, polishing the lane to steer the stone and using the stones to block or bump the opposing team from the scoring area. Living in Minnesota -- the epicenter of curling in the United States -- the sport of Olympic curling gets plenty of live coverage on CNBC, NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) and USA Network. Clear out your DVRs because February brings us hundreds of hours of intense Curling action.


Monday, February 10, 2014
NBCSN
2:00 AM Germany vs. Canada

USA
4:00 AM USA vs. Switzerland

NBCSN
10:00 AM Sweden vs. Great Britain (women)

CNBC
4:00 PM USA vs. Norway

Tuesday, February 11, 2014
NBCSN
2:00 AM USA vs. Russia (women)

USA
4:00 AM USA vs. China

CNBC
4:00 PM USA vs. Great Britain (women)

Wednesday, February 12, 2014
NBCSN
2:00 AM USA vs Denmark

USA
4:00 AM USA vs. China (women)

CNBC
4:00 PM Switzerland vs. Great Britain

Thursday, February 13, 2014
USA
4:00 AM USA vs. Great Britain

MSNBC
9:00 AM Canada vs. Denver

CNBC
4:00 PM USA vs. Japan (women)

Friday, February 14, 2014
NBCSN
2:00 AM USA vs. Germany

USA
4:00 AM USA vs. Denmark (women)

CNBC
4:00 PM USA vs. Russia

Saturday, February 15, 2014
MSNBC
4:30 AM Canada vs. Japan (women)

CNBC
4:00 PM USA vs. Sweden (women)

NBC
11:00 PM USA vs. Sweden (women)

Sunday, February 16, 2014
NBCSN
2:00 AM USA vs. Canada

MSNBC
4:00 AM USA vs. Canada (women)

CNBC
3:00 PM USA vs. Sweden

Monday, February 17, 2014
NBCSN
2:00 AM USA vs. Korea (women, Russia vs. Great Britain (women)

USA
4:00 AM USA vs. Switzerland

CNBC
4:00 PM Denver vs. Great Britain (women)

Tuesday, February 18, 2014
CNBC
4:00 PM TBD

Wednesday, February 19, 2014
USA
4:00 AM TBD (women)

MSNBC
8:00 AM TBD (women)

MSNBC
1:30 PM (TBD)

CNBC
4:00 PM (TBD)

Thursday, February 20, 2014
CNBC
4:00 PM TBD, Gold Medal Final (women)

Friday, February 21, 2014
NBCSN
2:00 AM TBD, Bronze Medal Match

CNBC
4:00 PM TBD, Gold Medal Final

Sarah Silverman's un-aired 2012 NBC comedy pilot

Each year, prior to a slate of new television series being picked up to air during the upcoming television season, dozens of pilots are filmed. Only a small percentage of those make it to the broadcast airwaves and some are better left un-aired. NBC, though, has been in no position for the past decade or so to leave a stone unturned. While it would be cost-prohibitive to film even six episodes of each pilot the network considered, it's a strategy worth considering for NBC who basically put its only stable comedy, Parks and Recreation, on hiatus for the remainder of the calendar year.

While I could go on about the horrible state that NBC is in as a network, instead I'll cut to the chase. The studio behind the un-aired pilot for Susan: 313 starring Sarah Silverman was released online yesterday and while it's probably best that it remained un-aired, it does have more potential than some of the dreck that NBC did air last year. Think of 1600 Penn, Animal Practice, The New Normal, Guys With Kids and Save Me.



While Sarah Silverman's Susan: 313 would likely never have been as popular as anything shown on CBS, it seems polished enough to me and has enough potential that the 5th or sometimes 7th rated television network (NBC) would be wise to reconsider it.

"The Blacklist" might be the best new drama of 2013

My DVR is doing a bit of heavy lifting this week as television shows debut on the major networks. Some will be gone before the first snow flies here in Minnesota but others will be the cornerstones of the television schedules for a few years to come. The best, so far, is "The Blacklist" on NBC which desperately needs a hit outside of "The Voice". The James Spader-starring "The Blacklist" is likely that hit. While it started off a bit dry and slow, it picked up steam if you managed to stick around after about 15 minutes.

It had the elements of a law enforcement procedural with what could be best defined, moving forward, as a criminal-of-the-week type show but it also has plenty of underlying and likely long-running questions which will keep viewers tuned in. What is the big secret that new FBI profiler chick's husband is hiding?

SPOILER ALERT: He had a lot of cash and an awful lot of different passports squirreled away in that well-hidden wooden box under the floor of the couple's dining room.

What does James Spader's character ultimately want with the FBI profiler whom he chose to surrender to? Why did he choose her first day on the job to surrender? What crimes landed Spader's character on the FBI's most-wanted list?

Whatever the case, check out "The Blacklist" Mondays at 9 PM c/t on NBC and watch the premiere episode below.

Why are we letting Paul Deen distract us?

So, let me get this straight. Paula Deen, a diabetic southern hag born in the 1940s used a racial slur? Once? And this is news? Yeah, I get it, racial slurs have no place in our society but Paula Deen, again born in the 1940s in GEORGIA, used a racial slur... at some point in her life! Color me totally amazed. A southerner using a racial slur.

I agree that when crap like this is exposed that the person who uttered the racial slur -- especially being that she is a television host -- should probably be pulled from her gig but why is this news? I'm sure there are hundreds, hell, maybe thousands of politicians from south of the Mason-Dixon line who use certain racial slurs on a semi-regular basis knowing full well that what they are saying is 100% wrong and probably makes more than a few around them feel rather uncomfortable hearing racial slurs flow somewhat freely.

But Paula Deen is a television chef. Who cooks everything with butter. Did I mention that she's from Georgia? And was born in the 1940s? That isn't exactly a racially tolerant area or era.

But while we are distracted by a racist diabetic from Georgia who cooks with nothing but butter the NSA is spying on us, abortion is being outlawed in multiple states and the courts are debating the legality of same sex marriage. But we care so much about a cable TV chef who uttered a racial slur at some point in her life because it's easier to focus on celebrities of any level than deal with actual important news. God, America is circling the drain faster than usual.

Creed Bratton's song and a wrap-up of "The Office" finale

If there was one network sitcom that defined the past decade or so, for me it was "The Office". I don't know that I ever missed an episode of the uncomfortable at times workplace comedy on NBC. As far as cultural relevance of the series, it ushered in an acceptability of laughtrack-free and single camera sitcoms. It was a series whose comedy made you think. No longer were you pushed by recorded laughter to laugh at moments whom producers deemed laugh-worthy. Its brand of comedy was subtle at times and over-the-top zany at others. It felt like "The Office" could have actually been filmed in a mundane American workplace because much of the dialog and antics taking place during the show simply felt real.

The characters, too, from "The Office" felt genuine. They had layers just like real people do. Dwight Schrute was a bizarre man who was genuinely good at his job and, as the finale last night showed, he was the best manager that Dunder-Mifflin could have ever hoped for.

Pam Beesley was the receptionist-come-sales rep with a heart of gold. Her goals in life were simple and it seemed that she lived them out on the screen. She found the love of her life in co-worker Jim Halpert after one of the longest but most heartfelt courtships ever played out on television.

Andy Bernard, who joined the series in the third season, was the inept and awkward office worker who was simply searching for approval. He was never good enough for his father and he was a flat-out terrible manager of Dunder-Mifflin's Scranton, PA branch once that title was bestowed upon him. It seems that only after he burned his bridges to live out his dream and even fail at that did he truly find himself and find that approval, in former warehouse worker Darryl of all people, and find his way in life.

But "The Office" was about an expansive cast of supporting characters as well. Kevin, Oscar, Phyllis, Angela, Erin, Ryan, Stanley, Kelly and, of course, Creed, who managed to accent of even steal every scene.

It was only fitting, then, that Creed Bratton played a pivotal part in the emotional song-filled sendoff at the Dunder-Mifflin offices. Playing on his real singer/songwriter past as a member of 1960s group 'The Grass Roots', he played a song during what could possibly be the best moments of the entire finale episode of NBC's "The Office".



While "The Office" has officially ridden off into the sunset and ended its run as NBC's highest-rated sitcom of the moment, "The Office" is one of the few sitcoms which will stand the test of time, in my opinion at least, because it was groundbreaking. It re-invented comedies on television and it had a hell of a run even if it did have plenty of hills and valleys in its nine seasons. One thing is for sure, it will be missed.