The Hollywood Reporter: The theme of CBS' upfront last year was airing riskier, outside-the-box programming. As most of those shows stumbled, what are you doing for next season?
Nina Tassler: It's still continuing to do business with our heavy hitters and fresh new voices. We have some great new procedurals, certainly "Eleventh Hour" and "The Mentalist." What's interesting is they represent an evolution in the procedural form -- much more character driven and more humorous. But if you look at some of the other pilots/presentations we're doing -- "Mythological Ex" and "Ny-Lon," these are very female-driven character pieces. So we're certainly sticking our toe back in the water (of procedurals), but we're also finding character-driven and female-driven pieces.
THR: Will CBS be less likely to renew a show with passionate fans but low ratings in the wake of "Jericho"? "Moonlight" looks like it could, sooner or later, turn into a similar situation.
Tassler: One thing "Moonlight" has going for it is it wins its time period. Unlike "Jericho," "Moonlight" is not serialized. Moonlight was a presentation (rather than a pilot). By the time the strike hit, we were still making certain discoveries and exploring new ideas and the show's mythology.
THR: Given the success of Mondays, any chance of expanding the comedy block or launching a new hour of comedy somewhere else?
Tassler: That's definitely something we'd like to do. We'd like to open another night for comedy. That's definitely on horizon. Everybody else is lamenting they can't launch new comedy, can't sustain it. Before the strike, "The Big Bang Theory" was giving all the indicators this was going to be another hit comedy for us.
THR: It's tough to imagine CBS not renewing "How I Met Your Mother" and "The New Adventures of Old Christine." Can you confirm they're coming back?
Tassler: I can't confirm, but the last two episodes of "Christine" did great, Britney (Spears) week did great on "Mother," and the next week did great, too. Both shows look good.
THR: Conversely, any chance at this point for "Cane" or "Shark"?
Tassler: They're both on the bubble. We haven't made any decisions yet about "Shark." With "Cane," it's a real long shot.
THR: In the wake of the strike, you've ordered a lot of presentations this season. Will you make that a permanent strategy?
Tassler: It's certainly going to inform future pilot seasons. One of the things we were really able to do is explore a more cost-effective model. What we watched year after year are these big splashy pilots get stripped down for the series and they no longer resemble the pilot. It's much better to shoot a presentation, then make adjustments in an additive way. We're also doing more formats. You have a version of a pilot, then you can see how that show worked in a series. It gives you all the information necessary to determine if something has the legs to go to a series.
THR: For years, CBS hasn't been able to launch a successful show Tuesdays at 10 p.m. -- is it the slot, or the shows?
Tassler: We just haven't found the right show to go there yet.
Original here
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Hip-Hop Artist Refuses To Stand Against The Pirate Bay
A Swedish hip-hop artist who the IFPI used as leverage in their legal battle against The Pirate Bay, wants nothing to do with the case. Without consultation, the IFPI were claiming damages on his behalf from The Pirate Bay, even though they don’t even own the rights to his music.
Like most of the music industry associations around the world, the IFPI claims to champion the cause of the artist, by promoting them and protecting their interests. One such artist is Max Peezay, a Swedish hip-hop artist who is mentioned in the IFPI legal case against The Pirate Bay. It’s claimed that money was lost as a result of Max’s music being available for download via the site.
The thing is, the CEO of the IFPI in Sweden, Lars Gustafsson, never asked Max Peezay if he wanted to be used in the case against The Pirate Bay. If he had, he might’ve been clear on Max’s views on this matter, in that he wants nothing to do with it.
Brokep of The Pirate Bay told TorrentFreak: “He’s pro-file sharing. Some of his lyrics already state that. And he’s not willing to feel like a sell-out to please Ifpi - who never actually asked him for his permission to sue in his name.”
Characteristically over-stepping the mark, the IFPI forgot a little detail when putting Max Peezay forward in The Pirate Bay case says Brokep: “In fact, they [IFPI] didn’t even own the rights to his music.”
According to a SVD report, due to the refusal of Max to being involved in the case, the IFPI have reduced the amount of money they are claiming from The Pirate Bay by roughly 12,000 EUR (apprx $19,000), which unfortunately won’t reduce the $2.5m total claim by much.
Brokep has a message for all of the other pro-filesharing artists: “What we’re waiting for now is all of those other artists to speak up as well. We know many of the artists actually put up their albums on The Pirate Bay themselves - and we’re really happy about that! And we know that you don’t like to be abused by the record labels in this farce. So we want you to show your support. Not necessarily for TPB but for your fans. It’s an important message to send to the community.”
The Pirate Bay case will generate huge amounts of publicity when it kicks into high gear so it’ll be interesting to see where the artists really stand on this issue and who they align themselves with, the IFPI - or the public.
The X-Files: I Want to Believe
I don’t really want to believe that something as cool as the upcoming X-Files sequel has a title such as The X-Files: I Want to Believe, but alas it is true. At least, it is true if you believe the words of series creator and movie writer/director Chris Carter. Carter told the Associated Press today that the second go-round of Mulder and Scully would have the aforementioned title.
Commenting on the title, Carter said: “”It’s a natural title. It’s a story that involves the difficulties in mediating faith and science. `I Want to Believe.’ It really does suggest Mulder’s struggle with his faith.”
As well, the story from AP writer David Germain states that this second X-Files film will be a stand-alone, earth-bound story that will be inviting to both die hard fans and newcomers alike:
“It has struck me over the last several years talking to college-age kids that a lot of them really don’t know the show or haven’t seen it,” Carter said. “If you’re 20 years old now, the show started when you were 4. It was probably too scary for you or your parents wouldn’t let you watch it. So there’s a whole new audience that might have liked the show. This was made to, I would call it, satisfy everyone.”
Hardcore fans need not worry that the movie will be going back to square one, though, Carter said. The movie will be true to the spirit of the show and everything Mulder and Scully went through, he said.
“The reason we’re even making the movie is for the rabid fans, so we don’t want to insult them by having to take them back through the concept again,” Carter said.
So I suppose, with all of that said, that this is the point where all of you hardcore X-Files fans out there get to weigh in on this new title. Personally, as someone who stands 50-feet away from the series (having never really gotten into it), I think that the title seems silly at first glance. But after reading the explanitory quotes from Chris Carter, it makes a little bit more sense. However, even though it makes sense, that doesn’t mean that it is marketable. But who knows, its marketability is really up to you, the fans.
So what do you think?
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