It started out with so much hype and hoopla. And yet this week, less than 18 months after its launch, the lights will finally dim for Smash, a show that NBC once viewed as their next big thing.

I’ve written about Smash a few times here at Remote Patrolled and it’s no secret that I’m sad to see the show come to an end. Smash had its issues but then most shows do – especially when they’re trying to break new ground. If the alternative is CBS style slop like NCIS that pulls in 20 million viewers a week, give me an ambitious failure any day.

While I’m disappointed that Smash is ending, I’m happy that it’s at least finishing in the right way. The story of Bombshell, the show’s main musical, is coming to at an end, as is the second show of the series, Hit List. The main characters’ stories have all been largely wrapped up. If Smash had run for a third season it would likely have had to start with an almost new slate of storylines. This is a good time to end the show.

What I will most miss about Smash is its originality. For the last 3 years on Remote Patrolled I’ve rallied against the lack of fresh ideas on our TV screens – especially on the broadcast networks, who seem to stand around clueless as the cable networks scoop them time and again with brave and buzzworthy shows like The Walking Dead, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Game of Thrones, Girls and countless others…

Part of me wonders if Smash would have worked better – and run longer – on a network like HBO. Smash has a devoted, upscale, urban audience but it’s not a big enough audience for even a troubled network like NBC. But on HBO, where the envelope could have been pushed even further… who knows?

Where Smash worked best was when it took us inside the world of Broadway theater. I loved seeing the creative process coming together. I loved the perilous insecurity of the on stage talent. And most of all I loved those songs…

Seriously the songs of Smash were truly superb at times and would have worked wonderfully on a live stage, as was the show’s original intention. I’ve already raved about ‘They Just Keep Moving The Line’, the best song ever written about the unfair and brutal nature of the creative industry, where rejection is par for the course. Add to the list ‘Let Me Be Your Star’, Smash’s passionate pilot number and the fabulously campy ‘Let’s Be Bad’. Then there are the standout Hit List tracks including ‘Heart Shaped Wreckage’ and ‘Broadway Here I Come’. Jeremy Jordan’s on screen character Jimmy may have been a douchebag with a capital D, but boy can that guy sing. And Megan Hilty should have a long and glittering career ahead of her. She was the luminous, passionate heart of Smash, even at its rockiest moments.

Yep, Smash did make some mistakes along the way. There were too many domestic dramas in season 1. The peanut poisoning storyline was ridiculous. And Sean Hayes was horribly wasted during that truly terrible Dangerous Liaisons detour.

But Smash was never anywhere near as bad as certain critics liked to make out. In a way the reaction to Smash reminded me of the Sex and the City backlash. Did Smash invoke so much ire because it too had a predominantly female and gay audience?

The fact is Smash also made many amazing decisions along the way. Angelica Huston gave the show class. Debra Messing remains one of the most likable actresses on our screens – I loved her back and forth scenes with her writing partner / best friend Tom. And killing off Andy Mientus’ sweet and sensitive Kyle packed a real emotional wallop. Plus the decision to broaden season 2 to include TWO very different musicals with very different theatrical styles and songs was a masterstroke.

So I for one will miss Smash a lot. And I have a feeling the show will come to generate quite a cult following in the years to come. Thanks to NBC for being brave enough to produce the show in the first place, and for taking the risk. Thanks to the songwriters for those amazing tunes – which I’ll always have on my ipod! And thanks to the on screen and behind the scenes talent for making a great, crazy, sometimes confounding, but often soaring series.

Oh well – at least we still have Nashville… time to listen to ‘Wrong Song’ once again…

Sometimes you do have to wonder at the thinking behind network decisions!

We’re currently in the heart of May. The broadcast network ‘season’ is pretty much at an end, with season finales airing left and right. And yet the nets are still intent on premiering a handful of new shows. To which I say… why?

 A couple of weeks ago ABC launched Family Tools. I had a feeling the show would struggle and sure enough it was ABC’s lowest rated comedy premiere to date. After 2 weeks on the air the series has already been cancelled. The ax has also fallen on How To Live With Your Parents which launched in early April. Hannibal meanwhile barely has a pulse.

Next week ABC is launching the crime drama Motive, a generic procedural that even TNT would reject as too vanilla. Fox meanwhile has the long delayed Goodwin Games, starring the criminally under appreciated Becki Newton whose career spiral since Ugly Betty has been shocking. And speaking of troubled shows, NBC will finally unveil Save Me, the Anne Heche starrer that’s been on the shelf since forever.

 What do all these series have in common? Zero buzz. Which does make you question – why are the networks even premiering them in the first place. And how the heck did they even get made in the first place?

Okay to be fair to Motive it’s a Canadian series that’s likely only an acquisition or a minimal co-production for ABC. There’s not much money on the line and the model has worked before, as evidenced by Flashpoint which ran for five seasons on CBS. Consider it cheap early summer filler.

But the other shows are all fully financed network projects that were picked up for series. Even 6 episodes of these shows would have cost at least $12 million bucks ($2 million an episode is a very conservative estimate for the network comedies given the name talent attached).

Sure the networks haven’t spent any money promoting these shows. I haven’t seen any posters for The Goodwin Games or Save Me. And I’m sure the only on air advertising will be on the networks themselves. But even so, there are some publicity costs. All in these shows will represent an undoubted write down if they flop. Which let’s be honest they will. Just like Bent and Best Friends Forever did last summer.

I honestly don’t know why any broadcast network would premiere a show in April or May. It’s the end of the TV ‘season’. Viewers are exhausted, as their favorite shows wrap up and their DVR’s get overloaded. Cable competition in the Spring is intense. And then of course there’s the weather which doesn’t exactly encourage sitting at home in front of the TV.

Obviously Fox and NBC know they have stinkers on their hands and are trying to offload their respective shows. But when you premiere a new series this shoddily it really has no hope of success. Bent actually received some strong critical reviews last summer but the way in which it was dumped onto our screens meant it had zero chance of success. Is there actually any point in airing these series when they’ll likely rate worse than a repeat of an actually popular show?

The solution? Well first up networks have lots of holes in their schedules in the regular TV season. Was there really no slot that would have worked for these shows to at least test them? NBC has devoted its Voice lead in largely to Revolution, Go On and The New Normal over the Fall – yet the latter two have been cancelled and Revolution is a dead show walking (it will be the new Smash next season). Why don’t NBC rotate more shows into this plum slot? Honestly if a show can’t stand on its own two feet after 8 weeks airing after The Voice it’s probably never going to work. Ditto Fox and American Idol. Glee doesn’t need the lead in anymore – but it could have helped audiences find and test The Goodwin Games. Even a special ‘pilot’ airing could have been helpful. Why not?

If the broadcast networks aren’t spending any money promoting these shows anyway why not at least air them during the regular season so at least there’s a slight chance they might get some traction. When a network throws a show out in May it’s basically telling the audience not to bother watching. If the network itself has given up – why should audiences care?

Of course the biggest question of all is how you can make 6 episodes of a show and then decide to essentially throw it away. Isn’t that what pilots are for? And we all know how rigorously networks test and analyze their new shows. What happened? Is this another example of the messed up pilot production system where networks greenlight too many shows too quickly, making decisions they later regret down the line?

So you have to feel a little sorry for the likes of The Goodwin Games and Save Me. These and other shows thought they’d won the TV lottery when they were picked up to series last year. But chances are they’ll be just a dim memory come the Fall. That’s TV for you!

This week I read an interesting story on the industry website TV News Check. The basic thrust – Fox are considering a new plan whereby they would air original episodes of shows ALL year round – with NO repeats?

The reasoning is simple. Ratings for all 5 of the broadcast networks have been falling – hard! CBS has remained fairly stable but NBC, ABC and Fox are all in a downward spiral – just look at how low the bar for series renewals has become recently. Nashville and Revenge will probably get more series even though they’re both currently scoring around a 1.7 in the 18-49 demo. NBC will probably bring back Parks and Recreation which scores around 3 million viewers a week. In years past all of these shows would have been cancelled by now.

Meanwhile cable is booming. Shows like Breaking Bad, American Horror Story and Sons of Anarchy attract major buzz and regularly out-rate everything on The CW – and often NBC. And then there are the big guns – Game of Thrones, True Blood, The Walking Dead and pretty much all the USA and TNT dramas – that totally dominate their network counterparts. Add in the juiced up reality ratings for the likes of Duck Dynasty, Long Island Medium, Swamp People and Pawnstars and you can see why the networks are worried.

The fact is the network model is outdated. One of the most striking elements of the US TV system is how networks regularly schedule repeats between September and May – padding out a 22 episode run to a 33 week ‘season’ – and then essentially giving up during the summer months. As a Brit living in America it’s a strange system to me – we’d never air repeats during an original UK run (that said Brit TV has a LOT more problems to contend with!)

It was a model that worked 10, 20, 30 years ago – but not now. There are just too many demands on viewers’ time and too many shows that run in sequence and week after week on cable. Fact is it’s often hard to know when your favorite shows are running originals and when they’re airing repeats. Plus often the network’s scheduling is all over the place. One of the reasons Revenge has fared so poorly this season is that ABC have done a disastrous job of scheduling it – running repeats against other repeats and then airing new episodes opposite major award shows (plus season 2 has sucked overall!)

Add to this the number of serialized shows on air, which only compounds the problem. CBS is procedural heavy with self-contained ‘murder of the week’ style episodes which generally repeat better – hence its relative stability. ABC, Fox and NBC on the other hand run far soapier / arced series.  And it’s really hard to build momentum when you’re off air for 3 weeks, back for a week, and then in repeats again. Especially when your cable competition is airing all originals.

Already networks are starting to change. Fox’s The Following aired all 15 of its episodes in sequence without any breaks and the resultant strong ratings proved the plan worked. The same network used to follow a similar pattern with 24 years back.

So if the plan works why aren’t more networks adopting it? The reason of course is cost. Filling your schedule with ALL originals is obviously a lot pricier than throwing some repeats into the mix. And at the moment the networks are nervously watching their costs go up and their ratings go down.

So here’s what I’d suggest. Stick with the repeat plan with comedies (for now) since they generally repeat well. For serialized series either opt for shorter runs – like The Following’s 15 episodes (demanded by star Kevin Bacon who wouldn’t do 22) – or air seasons in two chunks (as NBC has done with Revolution and AMC does with The Walking Dead)

Obviously that leaves gaps that networks need to fill. The obvious answer is more reality programming which is generally cheaper – but as Splash and Ready For Love have proven a bad reality show can crater your network ratings. On the flipside, hit the jackpot and you have a show that can run and run. A great example would be ABC’s Shark Tank which is now the number one show on Friday nights, actually repeats well, and is cheap to make. So put simply the networks are going to have to get better at picking reality hits – which means more original ideas and no more singing contests or weight loss shows!

Finally the networks are going to have to figure out a way to make CHEAPER original drama series. Fact is, it really shouldn’t cost 3-4 million to produce an episode of a network drama. We already know that stars don’t necessarily equal success so networks should invest more in strong concepts launching fresh faces. Perhaps they should adopt an American Horror Story style model where the cast can rotate – and if a star becomes costly they can be jettisoned down the line.  No more Friends style network negotiations!

But what do you think? How would you fix the network model? Do you mind repeats? And where do you see TV going in the next few years? Comment away!

American Idol – season 12. What happened?

For a season that started so strong, how did TV’s formerly biggest music show end so miserably. Ratings are down drastically year-to-year, the judging panel is falling apart, the show feels exhausted and NBC’s The Voice is thrashing Idol in ratings AND buzz. Personally, as a huge Idol fan, I’ve checked out.

So what went wrong? Here’s what I think are the five main flaws of Idol this season:

DATED THEMES: I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again until someone at Fox gets the message. American Idol is the most lazily produced show on TV. Seriously how else do you excuse prehistoric themes that come back year after year – Motown Week, Beatles Week, Songs From The Year You Were Born, Hollywood Week. And then Idol wonders why The Voice is crushing it in the 18-49 demo?

Look we all know the Beatles have a huge back catalogue. But you know Pink has racked up a pretty large number of hits too. And so has Beyonce (when you include all the Destiny’s Child songs). Heck even Rihanna Week could work as a theme.

The fact is all of these artists are young, current and relevant to the people who buy music today. The Idol winner isn’t going up against Paul McCartney or Diana Ross in the charts – she’s facing off with Ke$ha and Katy Perry. So when you get contestants to sing 1950’s ballads it makes them seem irrelevant and dated. People may complain about The X Factor – but at least the Simon Cowell show has contestants perform current songs and unusual choices on a regular basis. When was the last time you heard songs like California Gurls, Give Your Heart A Break or Edge of Glory on Idol?

WHERE ARE THE MENTORS? Which brings me to my second point – why on earth did Idol get rid of the celebrity mentoring idea?

Remember in years past when the likes of Lady Gaga, Jon Bon Jovi, Gwen Stefani and even Quentin Tarantino coached the contestants before their performances? Again it made Idol feel current, gave us a side of the stars we hadn’t seen before and often produced some interesting moments (remember Adam Lambert shocking Randy Travis with his nail polish!)

Now all the mentors are largely gone and we’re left with the unpleasant Jimmy Lovine, trying to fill the Simon Cowell void and often at loggerheads with the Judges. Why the switch? And why get rid of such a winning idea?

And sorry I don’t call a last minute appearance by Harry Connick Jr – appearing for what feels like the umpteenth time – a step in the right direction.

SCRIPTED REALITY: We all know American Idol can play fast and loose with the truth at times with the producers creating excessive backstories, editing pre-performance packages and pushing an agenda. Personally I’ve always hated that type of heavy handed producing – it undermines the Idol brand and takes away the essential point of the show which is that America chooses its OWN Idol.

But this season the producers (yep old stalwarts Ken Warwick and Nigel Lythgoe. Again) have outdone themselves. We all know Idol wanted a female winner this season – but did they have to stack the deck so heavily that all five male contestants would be sent to the slaughter so quickly. What’s behind some of the puzzling critiques the Judges have been ‘coerced’ into delivering this season (since when does a cover of The Power of Love make a contestant ‘current’). And why do so many of the contestants complain of last minute song switches – after 12 years on the air how come Idol doesn’t have an entire library of cleared material to choose from?

THE JUDGES PANEL HAS BECOME PAINFUL: I was a big fan of the new Idol Judges early in the season and vocally supported them here at Remote Patrolled. But that was largely during the pre-taped rounds when the Idol team could edit and clarify their comments. Now the Judges have gone live… oh boy!

Look I still like Keith Urban. He’s sweet, smart and spot on. Nicki continues to be the caustic Simon Cowell figure – though in recent weeks her critiques have been all over the place. Sometimes she’s spot on but at others who knows what Minaj is thinking!

Then there’s Randy Jackson who’s as irrelevant as ever. And those stock catchphrases ‘in it to win it’, ‘best performance of the night’ (normally spoken around song number 3!) and of course ‘pitchy’ and ‘rough’ – have just become the stuff of caricature.

Finally how can we forget Mariah Carey. Well I wish we could actually. Those long, meandering critiques that go nowhere. The false niceties. The lack of any real judging. What a disappointment Carey has been.

Keith and Nicki are clearly in their own show now – I love how Minaj has her back almost permanently turned to Jackson. And of course we all know about the tensions between the two divas. When Fox considers bringing back J. Lo and believes it’s an improvement you know you’re in trouble. How strange that Idol – and The X Factor – have so struggled with their panels, while The Voice has managed a perfect balance twice!

THE FORMAT IS STALE: Look, American Idol has been on air for 12 seasons now and is still a significant hit for Fox. That’s an impressive run by any standards. But compare the show’s first and current seasons and there’s really not much difference.

The last significant rule change was the addition of the Judge’s Save several seasons back. We still get terrible group numbers that no one wants or enjoys. The Ford commercials are now just pointless time fillers. The Thursday Results shows remain horribly padded (unlike The X Factor which really improved its Results shows last season). In fact the whole production feels tired. Sure Idol is as slick as ever – and Ryan Seacrest is the consummate professional. But no show can go on forever and Idol sure feels like it needs a rest – or retiring about now.

So I’m afraid I’ve largely checked out of Idol this season now – and honestly I don’t think I’ll be back for Season 13. I hope show stopper Candice wins this year and I think Idol has a legacy no one can knock. But even a number one show has to know when to call it a day. And 12 years in – maybe that time is now…

But what do you think? Agree or disagree? Are you still watching Idol this season – or did you check out along the way?

When it comes to TV formats the ‘business makeover’ concept is far from a new idea. There’s Tabatha Takes Over, Kitchen Nightmares, Remodeled and many more.

But recently one show has emerged as the king of this mini genre. Its name – Bar Rescue, currently airing its third season on Spike (and in virtual non stop reruns at weekends)

The idea is simple. Each week, bar industry expert Jon Taffer arrives at a different struggling bar somewhere in America and endeavors to turn the business around through a team of experts, staff re-education, an ambitious makeover and lots of tough talk (and frequent shouting). The result is one of the most addictive reality shows currently on our screens!

Okay, on paper it all sounds very like Kitchen Nightmares, the horrible Gordon Ramsay shoutfest that airs on Friday nights on Fox. But Bar Rescue is different – mainly because it feels less contrived and a lot more real. The problem with Kitchen Nightmares (the US not the UK version) is that the whole point of the show is essentially to see Ramsay lose his temper and belittle people. But Bar Rescue feels different. Taffer shouts and screams but you feel he genuinely wants to help. And his advice is top notch.

Which brings me to another key component of Bar Rescue – the makeovers and improvements themselves. A business makeover show is only as good as the person overseeing the reinvention. It’s why I savaged an episode of Tabatha Takes Over last year when the Bravo star attempted to renovate a rundown bar of her own. Tabatha may know her stuff in the world of salons but she knows squat about the bar industry – and it showed!

Jon Taffer on the other hand lives and breathes this world and the authenticity is all over Bar Rescue. The changes Taffer proposes always make sense. And the makeovers are fantastic. We’re not just talking a quick paintjob and some new glasses (hello Tabatha) – but an entire overhaul of each business.

Best of all, Bar Rescue is beautifully produced by the team at 3 Ball, makers of The Biggest Loser. These guys do a great job at producing compelling reality shows that are ‘produced’ but not ‘over-produced’ – trust me, there’s a big difference! I’m sure that Bar Rescue is heavily edited, subtleties are dropped and storylines built up to create dramatic arcs. But the show doesn’t feel fake. And Taffer doesn’t feel like he’s coming in and putting on a performance each week.

Another reason for the success of Bar Rescue is that it’s a world everyone can identify with. We’ve all drunk in bad bars. And many people have dreamt of opening a bar of their own. Plus there are so many different types of bars out there that it will be a long time before Bar Rescue runs out of storylines. By contrast, the CW’s Remodeled, which took on struggling modeling agencies, was a bad idea from the outset. Who can identify with a run down modeling agency? And how does the show not become the same concept week after week? (No wonder the show was a one and done series)

Bar Rescue airs on Spike and I think it’s a great sign that a network that used to be known for uber macho fare like the Ultimate Fighter is now expanding its brand. I’ve always hated the cliché that guys only want tits, ass and action. Between a refreshed Spike and the new Esquire network, the TV industry is finally taking a cue from the saturated men’s magazine market and providing some real choices for guys. That’s great news!

So if you haven’t checked out Bar Rescue yet – do give it a go. But watch out… you may lose big chunks of your weekends to the constant reruns…!

Every TV network has its little fiefdoms.

There are the development teams, press and marketing, production, financial – and many more. But one of my favorite departments has to be the scheduling team – those men and women who are paid solely to figure out the best places to position the network’s shows for maximum ratings and exposure. To which I say… what are these people thinking! I mean seriously – can you believe some of the bizarre scheduling decisions the networks have recently made…

Take Revenge. ABC’s serialized soap was granted a ‘promotion’ to Sunday nights last Fall – and has since seen its ratings fall of a cliff. Okay in part that’s because Revenge has had a rocky second season, especially for the first half of the year. But recently Revenge’s ratings have been the result of some utterly terrible scheduling decisions.

First ABC keeps Revenge off the air for weeks at a time – fatal to a heavily serialized show – and then brings it back opposite major awards show including the Golden Globes and The Grammy Awards. The result – some pretty shocking ratings. Then, when there’s no ‘event’ competition, the show suddenly goes into reruns! Last week Revenge aired opposite the season finale of The Walking Dead, the biggest show on TV… yet it’s now on hiatus for the next 3 weeks. Talk about stupidity!

And speaking of The Walking Dead – why on earth did HBO schedule the season premiere of Game of Thrones opposite the Dead finale? The two fantasy themed shows both have identical audiences, so why not wait a week and bring Game of Thrones back to a huge audience (instead of the very good – but not great – boost the show did get).

 Head on over to NBC and you’ll find more scheduling craziness. As we all know NBC currently has one hit show, The Voice – the one series on the network that can boost any other show. Yet the hugely compatible Smash re-launched without a Voice lead in, and newbie comedies Go On and The New Normal were brought back in January without the protection of the music reality show – and subsequently crashed and burned! Now The Voice lead in is being used for the generic dating show Ready For Love… while potentially promising Hannibal has been left to flail in the Thursday at 10pm death slot!

Fox makes its share of bizarre decisions as well of course. We all remember the X Factor fiascos of the last two years – at one point last Fall baseball interruptions meant you literally had NO idea when the Simon Cowell reality show was airing (and the show subsequently hit lows from which it never really recovered). And what about American Idol? Why on earth is Fox scheduling the already weakened Idol on Thursdays at 8pm against The Big Bang Theory, the hottest show on network TV, while the flailing Glee stays protected in the 9pm slot?

Want more? Why did three networks decide to schedule 6 comedies against one another in the Tuesday at 9 block last year. The decision killed off Happy Ending and Don’t Trust The B**** In Apt 23, left Go On and The New Normal on life support and cannibalized the ratings for the once promising New Girl. Over on cable – why does every hot show have to air on a Sunday night? Mad Men, Game of Thrones, Nurse Jackie, Veep – to name a few. And why does hit starved NBC wait until the summer to schedule America’s Got Talent when the Fall and Spring schedules are in a state of crisis?

Yep network schedulers pull in the big bucks but their ways are a mystery! But that’s just me. What network decisions leave you scratching your head? Comment away…

I’m a big Joan Rivers fan, mainly for her ability to tell it like it is. And last week Rivers engaged in yet another piece of typical truth telling…

As you may have read Joan poked fun at ousted Today anchor Ann Curry – which generated a typically heated response online. But the part of Joan’s act that most interested me was when she complained that the Today show had rested on its laurels for too long… and that’s why their ratings had recently taken a downward spin. We all know the story. Today was the number one morning show for over 17 years… and now they’re number 2. And don’t forget this is a show that brings in hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue for NBC. It’s a money making machine!

You may or may not like Rivers and her routines – but she speaks the truth – and there’s a valuable lesson for a lot of TV producers out there. I moved to the US almost 8 years ago and was a faithful Today watcher for all those years. But a couple of weeks ago I switched over to Good Morning America myself. And I don’t plan on going back.

Everything about Good Morning America feels fresher. The team camaraderie feels real and the fun doesn’t feel forced. The show zips along faster. There’s more camera movement. The set is brighter. They use songs from the current pop charts at the top of the show. The whole show just feels fresher.

The Today show by contrast has been feeling lumpy for a long time now. Matt Lauer comes across as impatient and unhappy. Al Roker continues to do his hideous corny uncle shtick. And Savannah Guthrie and Natalie Morales are identikit pretty anchors – swap them around and I doubt anyone would notice.

Meanwhile the Today show itself doesn’t seem to know when to move on from a story – the endless coverage of the new Pope, Kate’s baby, the Manti T’eo saga. And the show’s interviews are so utterly toothless they’re almost pointless. I’ve lost count of how many times Matt has allowed certifiable crazies like Michelle Bachmann to come and spout utter nonsense, unchallenged. The whole show now feels lazy – and viewers have responded accordingly.

Of course the Today show isn’t alone. Check out American Idol, which this season has literally nose-dived in the ratings. And no wonder when the show continues to trot out stale themes including Motown Week, Beatles Week and Classic Rock Week, while restricting contestants to the same old songs. Seriously the Idol producers are some of the laziest people working in TV these days. You can say many things about The X Factor (and I certainly have), but you can’t deny that the show allows fresher song choices and far more elaborate staging. It’s definitely not lazy.

Another example? Why is America’s Next Top Model DOA in the ratings these days – while Survivor and The Amazing Race are still going strong? Because Top Model didn’t deviate from its central premise until too late in its run. This summer Model will be introducing male contestants to the show – a great idea if had been implemented sometimes around cycle 5 – not cycle 20!

In this golden age of TV viewers simply have too many choices and shiny new options to distract them. And formulas start feeling, well, formulaic pretty soon! I loved Project Runway in its early seasons but there are only so many times you can watch designers breaking down and malfunctioning sewing machines. The format has hardly changed in years.

Can the Today show turn itself around? Absolutely. The same for Idol. They’re both terrific shows at their hearts – but they need retooling – and fast! And until they acknowledge there’s a problem nothing will change. Today is already working on its reboot – while Idol still seems to be in denial. It’ll be interesting to see what happens on both fronts in the months to come…

Time for another TV recommendation at Remote Patrolled and this time around we’re heading over to FX for their 1980’s spy series, The Americans.

To be honest, at first glance I really wasn’t sure if The Americans was for me. I’m not a huge fan of spy series and then there was the 1980’s setting… put it this way The Americans sat on my DVR and quickly accumulated episodes.

But then I decided to give the FX show a go and week by week the show has definitely grown on me. So now I feel ready to give it my Richie thumbs up. And here’s why…

The Americans revolves around Elizabeth and Phillip Jennings (Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys), a seemingly ordinary couple living in suburban DC with their son and daughter. But of course Elizabeth and Phillip aren’t what they seem. Turns out they’re Russian spies, deeply embedded in suburban America with a cover so good even their kids don’t know who they really are.

It’s the height of the Cold War and tensions with the Soviet Union are through the roof. The Jennings are frequently sent on risky escapades by their KGB supervisor Claudia (Margo Martindale) – while still trying to maintain their cover. Adding to the fun? After years of (arranged) marriage Elizabeth and Phillip are actually falling in love with one another. Then there’s their neighbor Stan, an FBI agent who’s already suspicious of the couple. Of course Stan has his hands full with his crumbling marriage and the Russian mole he’s both blackmailing and falling in love with!

The Americans works because it grounds its spy capers in the realistic day-to-day world. This isn’t 24, where Jack Bauer and Chloe could save the world from a laptop. This is old school spying – Morse code transmissions, bugging devices, hidden messages and the like. Elizabeth and Phillip have to put themselves on the line on a constant basis, crossing dubious moral codes along the way. Both are trained and ready to kill anyone who gets in their way. But they’re also conflicted – believing deeply in their cause while growing ever more comfortable in their American lives (Phillip in particular).

Of course it goes without saying that The Americans features top-notch performances. Keri Russell is harsher than in previous roles, the flintier of the pair, bruised by a dark past and adamant in her political beliefs. Meanwhile Matthew Rhys is clearly relishing the challenges of his role – a far cry from Brothers and Sisters wan Kevin! And I’m loving Margo Martindale’s tough and matronly KGB master, proving once again that all the best roles for women are on our TV screens.

Best of all The Americans has plenty of room to grow in the seasons to come. Will Phillip follow through on his instinct to defect – and would Elizabeth go with him? What happens when the kids find out what mom and dad do? Or neighbor Stan? Are there moral boundaries the couple will refuse to cross? And how long can they continue to juggle their double lives?

Sure The Americans may also crumble down the line (it’s why I’ve checked out of NBC’s Revolution) but I have a feeling the show’s producers know where they’re going. So I’m going along for the ride – and I encourage you to do the same.

It’s pilot season in Hollywood which means every actor is jostling for a position on the possible Fall schedule – including a few of my actor friends out in LA!

Of course in the opening stages of the process it’s all about STARS and which network can attract which name to headline their project. Already this season the likes of Eddie Murphy, Rebel Wilson, Mandy Moore, Andy Samberg, Toni Collette, Greg Kinnear, Anna Farris, Robin Williams, Michael J. Fox, Virginia Madsen and Sean Hayes are attached to high profile series – instantly catapulting their shows up the ranks and increasing their chances of making it to series. Heck, NBC has already committed to 22 episodes of its new Michael J. Fox comedy – a pretty risky move for a network that’s not exactly swinging from the rafters at the moment.

The above names represent just a small sampling of the recognizable actors throwing their hats into the ring this pilot season. But here’s the question… do audiences actually care?

Probably not. Just take a look at this last TV season for instance. Last Fall CBS was high on Dennis Quaid starring in Vegas, NBC was touting the return of Matthew Perry in Go On and ABC’s 666 Park Avenue had one of the glossiest casts on TV (Terry O’Quinn, Vanessa Williams, Dave Annable)

And what happened. Well 666 Park Avenue is no more, Vegas is a dead cert to be cancelled in a few weeks time and Go On is hanging on by a thread – if it didn’t air on ratings challenged NBC it would have been a goner a long time ago.

Meanwhile the number one show of the season is Revolution, a star free series that succeeded for three reasons – its buzzy premise, high profile producer JJ Abrams and a blessed time slot, directly after The Voice. Then there’s Arrow on The CW, which became a big hit based on its comic book roots and walking six pack Stephen Amell. And just look at the big hits on cable – The Walking Dead and The Vikings aren’t exactly bursting with famous names and yet they’re dominating the ratings!

The networks have tried three times now to launch a show on the back of Christian Slater’s celebrity status – and audiences have pushed back all three times (Slater gets another shot this season).

In many ways TV is fast becoming like the movie industry where the cache of stars is also fading fast. Sure we still have big names – Cruise, Jolie, Smith, Tatum – but year after year it’s the comic book movies, the animated smashes, the hit books turned movies and the familiar characters that pull in the really big bucks. So with this in mind this Fall I’d be putting my money on S.H.I.E.L.D., Joss Whedon’s Avenger spin off or NBC’s Gothica which is like Once Upon A Time with monsters!

Of course there are always exceptions to the rule. The number TWO show of this season has been The Following, Fox’s crazy cult series featuring Kevin Bacon hunting an army of serial killers. In many ways The Following has been a bigger hit than Revolution since it launched in the dead month of January and didn’t have the benefit of a Voice style lead in. Ratings have stayed consistent and strong and the show has established its own audience now.

Would The Following have been as big a hit with Christian Slater in the lead? Probably not.  Slater’s status has been wounded by his string of flops and I think audiences wanted to see Kevin Bacon in a TV series. His name definitely helped launch the show. But by the same token The Following had a terrific premise, a buzzy – and controversial – ad campaign and actually barely featured Bacon on the posters. Once again the idea is king. Stars only get you so far…

But of course it will take a while for networks to learn this lesson. Nervous executives will continue to push for empty star vehicles as an insurance policy against their own instincts – and once again we’ll likely see a series of high profile flops. The industry has changed, cable has caught on but the broadcast networks remain behind. Maybe that’s why The Walking Dead, Duck Dynasty and The Bible are this week the three biggest shows on TV… a star may help get a greenlight but they certainly don’t guarantee a hit…

A few weeks ago I posted my list of five actors who help make their shows that little bit better!

Well today it’s time for the reverse… five characters who do nothing but drag down their respective series. To be fair it’s often not the fault of the actors themselves – but more the general dreariness of the roles themselves, all of which certainly get me reaching for the remote.

Take a read – and let me know if you agree with my choices…!

Raj Koothrappali – The Big Bang Theory

Let’s be honest here – The Big Bang Theory is all about Sheldon Cooper. When the show’s laugh-a-minute lead is away from the screen CBS’s comedy smash undoubtedly starts to wane. Still at least Exec Producer Chuck Lorre is smart enough to surround Cooper with a genuinely winning ensemble – most notably the show’s second MVP Amy Farrah Fowler.
But there’s one member of the nerd herd who long ago outstayed his welcome – Raj.

Seriously does this character make anyone laugh? Sure Sheldon, Leonard and Howard all have their idiosyncrasies, but is there any TV character in recent memory quite as pathetic as Raj? We get that Raj can’t talk to girls but do we need the point hammered home week after week? Especially after all his friends – even Sheldon – have successfully hooked up. Raj is now just plain annoying and the character is paper thin, a one note joke that long ago stopped being funny.

The answer isn’t rocket science – jettison Raj now. He really won’t be missed!

Aiden Mathis – Revenge

I’ve talked at length here at Remote Patrolled about Revenge’s soggy second season, from which the series is only now starting to recover creatively (and in the ratings). Too much Initiative intrigue. Overly complicated plots. The underwhelming arrival of Emily’s mom. And Aiden.

You can tell that easy on the eye actor Barry Sloane is doing the best he can with the material he’s saddled with, but the sad fact is that Aiden is an unnecessary element in the Revenge universe and one that constantly takes Revenge away from its soapy roots and into a bizarre 007-style world. We don’t know Aiden’s long lost sister so it’s hard to care too much for her. His plotlines are hideously complex. And his romantic involvement with Emily takes her away from the only character with whom she really has chemistry – Daniel.

Come on Revenge, there has to be a suitably dramatic way of writing Aiden out of the series… a dead body on the beach or at the bottom of the sea, perhaps!

Jon Snow – Game Of Thrones

You have to admire Game Of Thrones for the expert way it juggles its numerous plot lines. But any show with so much going on has to have a couple of flat moments. And for Thrones those moments have a name – Jon Snow.

It’s not that Snow (Kit Harrington) is a bad character – or that Harrington himself is a bad actor. He just doesn’t have much to do.

While Tyrion, Cersei and King Joffrey have plenty of delicious, meaty material to work with, Jon Snow spent most of last season wandering around in the freezing cold and flirting / fighting with the scrappy Ygritte. And boy did the pace slow to a crawl during these scenes. We were all waiting for a payoff that frankly never happened – aside from those final few seconds that teased the upcoming undead storyline.

Here’s hoping Snow has more to work with this season. And if not, maybe Game of Thrones needs to scale back on some of its storylines…

Mr Wolfe & Noah Werner – Suburgatory

Just like fellow ABC show Revenge, Suburgatory went from being a hot show in season 1 to a hot mess in year 2. But unlike Revenge, Suburgatory hasn’t stopped sliding.

In part that’s due to the ample dead weight the show is carrying around. I’m a big advocate of more gay characters on primetime TV, but Suburgatory’s school counselor Mr Wolfe (Rex Lee) is just plain annoying. Ditto his dull husband. And local dentist Noah (Alan Tudyk) has been a comedic drag ever since the show launched. Add in Tessa’s long lost mother, self professed token black character Malik and most worrying of all, the show’s co-lead George – none of whom EVER score a laugh – and you have a series in freefall. No wonder ratings are way down year on year. There’s just too many weak links on this formerly funny comedy.

Dylan Homes – Modern Family

Modern Family has pretty much the strongest ensemble on TV. Seriously – there’s no weak links in this cast. Even Lily has grown on me now that the writers have figured out her snappy attitude.

But part time player Dylan (Reid Ewing) never seems to hit any funny notes. To me, he’s just the stereotypical loser boyfriend with a dead end job and limited prospects. Funny for five minutes – in season 1 – but really not necessary anymore.

Personally I’d love to see Haley explore the dating pool a bit more – especially given actress Sarah Hyland’s crack comic timing. She can do better than Dylan. And so can the show.