Upfronts 2012: TNT gets more reality; TBS builds off its reruns

NEW YORK -- Turner Entertainment Networks held its upfront presentation Wednesday at the Hammerstein Ballroom -- squeezing in as one of a couple of cablers in a week of broadcast networks -- and unveiled beefed up slates for TNT and TBS.

The "Dallas" remake might be the highest profile of TNT's new shows set to premiere this summer, with more announced in the works, including a medical drama, "Monday Mornings," and two more unscripted series in addition to its soon-to-be-launched "The Great Escape."

TBS, meanwhile, seems to be the new network offering life support. After giving Conan O'Brien a home for his talk show, the network has now taken in ABC's "Cougar Town."

VIDEO: Watch 2012 TV previews

"It's good to be back on cable," Courteney Cox, star of "Cougar Town," told Show Tracker at Turner's luncheon with reporters. "There's not as much micro-managing. And I think we'll find that "Cougar Town' is a great fit with the network. I definitely wish ABC had paid more attention to us. It's nice to feel wanted." The series will roll out on the network in 2013.

TBS also has a new competition series, "King of the Nerds," built to complement its "Big Bang Theory" repeats; the newly green-lighted "Deon Cole's Black Box," in the vein of "The Soup" and "Tosh 2.0";  and "Who Gets the Last Laugh?" And much was made of the network's success with its repeats of "Family Guy" and "The Big Bang Theory."

Here's an overview of what to expect:

Late Night: Bill Maher on 'stupid' Mormonism, Mitt Romney bullying

If you've ever thought to yourself, "Gee, I wonder if Bill Maher would rather have been bullied as a kid, or molested by Michael Jackson?" well then you, my friend, are in luck.

In a Tuesday night appearance on "Conan," the always-incendiary comedian responded to recent allegations Mitt Romney was something of a bully during his prep school days.

Initially, Maher expressed indifference to the stories about Romney's adolescent antics. "When this issue first arose I thought, 'Well, you know what, I never hold anybody responsible for things they did as teenagers,'" he said. But Maher drew a distinction between  "doing something stupid that hurts yourself" and "doing something that hurts somebody else."

It was at this point that Maher, for some reason, brought up Michael Jackson. "When I was 12 years old, I was beaten on the playground, just like the Mitt Romney thing, I was held down and somebody just punched me in the face while other kids watched," he recalled. "If I could go back to 1968 and trade that experience for being gently masturbated by a pop star, I would do it in a second." We'll take your word for it, Bill!

A strident atheist, Maher also used his appearance to take a shot at Romney's Mormon faith. He suggested the candidate's defense of "traditional marriage" is especially ironic, given that his ancestors practiced polygamy. "Of all the people to be making this claim, a Mormon?" he sneered. "This is a religion that is so stupid that Tom Cruise would not join it."

Conan O'Brien is not generally inclined to intellectual debates on his show, but he took issue with Maher's attack on Mormonism. "Who am I to throw stones when you eat a cookie and you turn into Jesus?" O'Brien asked in reference to his own Catholic faith.

Thus, in the space of a single interview, Maher -- with an assist from O'Brien -- managed to offend Mormons, Scientologists, Catholics and Michael Jackson fans. Could this be an all-time record?

(Fair warning: The above clip contains some late-night language.)

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— Meredith Blake
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'Cougar Town' gets a new ZIP Code in move from ABC to TBS

"Cougar Town" is packing up and moving to a new address.

The ABC sitcom starring Courteney Cox, which has a loyal fan base but has never drawn a huge audience and may have been close to getting axed, has been given new life by TBS. The series is moving to the cable network for its fourth season.

In addition, TBS has also acquired the encore rights for the first three seasons of "Cougar Town" that originally aired on ABC.

" 'Cougar Town' is a smart, whimsical sitcom that draws its humor from likable, relatable characters," said Michael Wright, head of programming for TBS. "We are thrilled to have 'Cougar Town' moving to the TBS neighborhood as the network continues to expand its slate of original comedy series."

The show stars Cox as Jules Cobb, a recently divorced mother starting a new phase in her life.

Fans were starting to get nervous when ABC delayed the return of the show's third season. It finally came back Feb. 14, and show runner/co-creator Bill Lawrence organized viewing parties around the country hoping to boost support for the series. He even flirted with changing the title of the show in the hope of improving its poor ratings.

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Photo: Josh Hopkins, left, and Courteney Cox in "Cougar Town." Credit: Adam Rose / ABC

 

Late Night: Conan O'Brien, Andy Richter lend their voices to 'Halo 4'

 

On Tuesday night, Conan O'Brien lived the fantasy of millions of gamers with a behind-the-scenes look at the hotly anticipated "Halo 4." 

He met with 343 Industries executives Frank O'Connor and Kiki Wolfkill, who showed him "top secret footage" from the game -- who knew it included so many little dogs? -- and even invited him to voice one of its characters. 

O'Brien, of course, asked trusty sidekick Andy Richter to join him. They were cast as a pair of workers on board what O'Connor described as a "massive hangar" in the world's largest spaceship -- or, as O'Brien put it, "I'm a clerk working in a loading dock." He pushed for a less anonymous role, suggesting his character wear one of his distinctive suits or at least hold a sign reading, "I'm Conan O'Brien." (It didn't work.)

In the funniest part of the segment, Richter and O'Brien recorded their heavily improvised voice-over, playing two clinically depressed space drones. (Sample dialogue: "I sure hate my life.") And like all truly accomplished actors, they were even required to die dramatically, grunting and groaning as if they were being pummeled with the butt of a rifle.

It's a tough job, but someone's got to do it. 

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-- Meredith Blake

twitter.com/MeredithBlake

Whitney Houston's daughter Bobbi Kristina cast in Tyler Perry TBS sitcom

Bobbi Kristina Brown, the 19-year-old daughter of recently deceased singer Whitney Houston, has been cast in a recurring role on Tyler Perry's TBS sitcom, "For Better or Worse."

A representative for Perry confirmed the casting but provided no other details about the role or when Bobbi Kristina, whose father is singer Bobby Brown, would appear on the series, which revolves around a married couple played by Michael Jai White and Tasha Smith. The comedy, which debuted last year, is based on characters introduced in Perry's film "Why Did I Get Married?"

Bobbi Kristina, who apparently has no professional acting experience, was interviewed last month by Oprah Winfrey on OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network.

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-- Greg Braxton

Photo: Bobbi Kristina, left, daughter of Whitney Houston, is interviewed by Oprah Winfrey on "Oprah's Next Chapter." Credit: Harpo Inc. / Associated Press

 

Conan O'Brien renewal by TBS shows the power of 'Team Coco'

Team Coco makes a powerful ally.

TBS announced Wednesday that it is renewing "Conan," the nightly talk show hosted by former "Tonight Show" host Conan O'Brien, through April 2014 -- despite some disappointing ratings that have had TV veterans buzzing about the show's performance.

In the release, TBS pointed directly to the power of "Team Coco," as O'Brien's rabid fans describe themselves. The host has more than 5 million Twitter followers, "more than any other late-night host," according to the network. Video clips from the show on YouTube and elsewhere drew 83 million views in 2011.

That's all well and good, but TBS doesn't sell ads or collect subscriber revenue on Twitter. "Conan" has in 2012 averaged 1.1 million total viewers, according to Nielsen -- not bad for a cable talk show but far below totals for "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno," "The Late Show With David Letterman" or even "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart."

The renewal is "a little surprising considering Conan's audience delivery is not that much different [than how] George Lopez had been performing when he got axed," said Brad Adgate, an analyst at New York ad firm Horizon Media.

But TBS is counting on growth. The network says "Conan" has delivered three consecutive months of improving ratings. And his audience does skew young: Nearly three-quarters are in the 18-49 age demographic favored by advertisers. Throw in the relatively low cost of making a talk show and you end up with a show that should be delivering a reliable -- if not huge -- profit.

In the release, O'Brien joked, "This means I'll be taping episodes of 'Conan' well into the Ron Paul presidency."

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-- Scott Collins (twitter.com/scottcollinsLAT)

Photo: Conan O'Brien won't have to look for a new home in late night. Credit: Art Streiber / TBS

Late Night: Inspired by Puppy Bowl, Conan unveils 'Puppy Conan'

Conan O'Brien knows a good thing when he sees it. On Wednesday O'Brien debuted "Puppy Conan," an all-canine version of his talk show inspired by the Puppy Bowl, Animal Planet's increasingly popular Super Bowl counter-programming.

"I thought we should jump on the puppy bandwagon. If people love it, why don't we get in on this thing," O'Brien explained. "So if you don't want to watch the show we're doing right now, we have an alternative. Please enjoy 'Puppy Conan.' "

As the audience cheered, an exact, miniature replica of the "Conan" stage emerged from behind a set of curtains. Two adorable, bewigged puppies took the place of O'Brien and his sidekick, Andy Richter.

Puppy Andy appeared to have a case of stage fright, turning away from the audience and nestling his head into the corner of his armchair. "I think Puppy Andy hates his wig as much as I do," joked Human Andy. 

"That's as depressed as I always am at rehearsal," Conan said, pointing to his forlorn-looking puppy counterpart. "Doesn't it look like Puppy Conan and Puppy Andy are having a fight?"

Puppy Conan and Puppy Andy then welcomed their celebrity guest, "Justin Bieber" -- a Chihuahua in a sandy blond wig and fitted black T-shirt. 

Things got a little disorienting -- and a little raunchy -- when O'Brien and Richter joined their canine doppelgangers onstage and "Justin Bieber" began to sniff around O'Brien's nether regions.

"Justin Bieber just popped up between my legs," he said. 

"TMZ's going to run with that quote," Richter quipped. 

Hopefully we won't have to wait until next year for another installment of "Puppy Conan." 

 

 

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'Conan' writer offers slavery deal to tea party

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-- Meredith Blake
Twitter.com/MeredithBlake

Late Night: 'Conan' writer offers slavery deal to tea party

Earlier this month, tea party activists in Tennessee, seeking to downplay the Founding Fathers' connections to slavery, launched a legislative campaign to revise the state's history textbooks. Not surprisingly, their proposal has prompted allegations that the tea party is trying to "whitewash" history. 

On Wednesday night's "Conan," show writer Deon Cole responded to the controversy.

"So, the Tennessee Tea Party wants to erase and overlook all the negative things that slave owners did to African American people in order to shine a light on them so they'll look good," he began.

But, rather than get upset, Cole proposed a simple solution: He'll overlook all that nasty slave-owning business if, in exchange, white people will forget about a few mistakes black people have made over the years. 

Among the many embarrassments Cole cited were some easy targets, like Milli Vanilli, Al Sharpton's hair, and "Basketball Wives," seasons one through three. But there were also a few more, shall we say, loaded suggestions, like "all black people talking in movie theaters" and "black people not tipping." 

After rattling off his list, Cole asked, "So, do we have a deal?"

No word yet from the tea party. 

 

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— Meredith Blake 
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Late Night: Mitt Romney delivers Top 10 list

It's become something of a tradition for American presidential candidates to willfully submit themselves to ridicule, to prove they don't take themselves too seriously. Who knows if the capacity for self-deprecation is actually a valuable asset in a president, but it seems like a requirement on the campaign trail. So it was that Mitt Romney, who's been pigeonholed as the handsome-but-charmless candidate, stopped by "The Late Show" Monday night to deliver the Top 10 list. The theme: "Top 10 Things Mitt Romney Would Like To Say To The American People."

Several of the entries, like No. 10: "Isn't it time for a president who looks like a 1970s game show host?"; and No. 1: "It's a hairpiece," were riffs on Romney's cartoonish good looks. Others, like No. 9: "What's up, gangstas -- it's the M-I-Double-Tizzle," were funny because of their contrast with Romney's square image. No. 2 was the only entry that seemed like something Romney might honestly be thinking: "Newt Gingrich? Really?"

As for Romney's performance, the former Massachusetts governor was as wooden as ever, though he earned points for his willingness to play along. The Times' Maeve Reston assesses the politics of Romney's cameo.

 

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-- Meredith Blake 
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 Photo: Mitt Romney, left, and David Letterman on "The Late Show." Credit: CBS.

Late Night: Julie Bowen impersonates costar Sofia Vergara

Fresh off her triumphant impersonation of a pelican on "The Tonight Show," "Modern Family" star Julie Bowen once again showed off her skills as a mimic on Tuesday night's "Conan." This time, she did a spot-on impression of her costar, Sofia Vergara.

Bowen disagreed with Conan O'Brien, who suggested that Vergara seems indistinguishable from the character she plays on the show. "You're hanging out with Sofia and she's like"-- cue a perfect imitation of Vergara's thick, nasal Colombian accent -- " 'I cannot do this, why do we have to do this?' Or whatever it is we she says she can't do, and she can do anything."

Among the many things that Vergara can do, according to Bowen: Ride big horses, juggle flaming chainsaws.

"The word 'action,' she is magic," Bowen claimed. "She's a born performer."

Looks like Vergara's not the only one.

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-- Meredith Blake

twitter.com/MeredithBlake

Photo: Julie Bowen, left, and Sofia Vergara, together at the Emmy Awards Sept. 18 in Los Angeles. Credit: Frazer Harrison / Getty Images.

Late Night: Conan O'Brien officiates gay wedding on his show

This week Conan O'Brien returned to his home turf, New York City, to host his TBS talk show from the Beacon Theatre. O'Brien capped off the week by doing something that, for now at least, he can do in New York but not California: He officiated a gay wedding.

On Thursday night O'Brien's longtime costume designer Scott Cronick married his partner David Gorshein. While Gorshein waited underneath the chuppah, Cronick walked down the aisle accompanied by his favorite celebrity, Andy Cohen of Bravo.

Onstage, the couple exchanged heartfelt vows. "Anyone in the world would be happy to wear one of your designs, but no one is possibly happier than I am to wear your ring," Gorshein said.

"I have only one vow for you. I vow to fill your every day with so much love. Cameras or no cameras, I am here today and I am yours forever," Cronick promised his partner.

After the men stepped on two glasses (one for each groom), O'Brien declared, "By the power invested in me by the state of New York and the Universal Life Church, I now pronounce you husband and husband. You can kiss the groom."

After they kissed, the newlyweds rode off into the sunset with some help from "Ted Turner," a recurring character on the show.

Watch the ceremony below, but make sure you've got some tissues handy.

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-- Meredith Blake
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Photo: Conan O'Brien. Credit: Kevin Wolf / Associated Press.

Late Night: Conan caught looking at Nicole Scherzinger's cleavage

Nicole Scherzinger stopped by "Conan" on Monday night to plug her much-hyped new reality series, "The X Factor."

Dressed in a skintight leopard-print dress, Scherzinger dutifully told O'Brien about how she was introduced to fellow "X Factor" judge, Simon Powell. As fascinating as her story was, O'Brien's attention began to wander ... to Scherzinger's prominently displayed cleavage.

The brave Pussycat Doll would not let this injustice stand. "Focus, Conan," she said, gesturing away from her bust and toward her face.

The audience erupted in laughter, but sidekick Andy Richter opted to stick up for his boss."'That is so unfair!" he protested.

O'Brien also defended himself against the allegations of leering. "I'm sorry ... let's be real here for a second. You didn't think I was going to look down there?" he asked. Always one to ham it up around beautiful women, O'Brien spun his head around wildly and zoomed in for a closer look, eventually falling out of his chair.

"My God, I just threw my neck out," he said.

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-- Meredith Blake
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