Tag / The Voice

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NBC Upfronts

NBC announced their new fall schedule yesterday, one which they hope is strike-proof, between reality programming and shows that were renewed early to keep them in production prior to the strike.  The week gets off to a familiar start with The Voice returning for another round on Mondays, followed by The Irrational, starring Jessie L. Martin as the latest behavioral science expert who uses his skills to help governments, law enforcement, and corporations.  Tuesday leads off with the week’s sole comedy block, with the Night Court sequel followed by Extended Family, starring Jon Cryer and Abigail Spencer as divorced parents who continue to raise their kids in the family home.  That is followed by another hour of The Voice and the rebooted Quantum Leap.

Wednesday and Thursday continue to be dominated by Dick Wolf franchises, with his three Chicago series running back-to-back-to-back on Wednesday and the two original entries in his Law & Order franchise the following night.  Found, starring Shanola Hampton as a public relations specialist who helps keep the spotlight on missing children, caps of the night.  The Wall kicks things off on Friday, followed by two hours of Dateline NBC.  Sunday remains filled with the NFL.

Law & Order: Organized Crime moves to midseason for its fourth season as a new show runner comes onboard.  La Brea will return for a shortened third and final season, as will the second half of Magnum PI‘s fifth season.  On the comedy side, the George Lopez comedy Lopez vs. Lopez, will be back for a second season while the futures of Young Rock , American Auto, and Grand Crew are up in the air.  A second season of Password is also expected, though it is dependent on the resolution of the writer’s strike.  New shows for midseason include The Americas, with Tom Hanks narrating a look at the “wonders, secrets and fragilities of the Americas – Earth’s largest landmass and the only one to stretch between both poles,” Deal or No Deal Island, which pits teams against each other and the banker to win lots of money, and an untitled America’s Got Talent spinoff series.

Shows gone from our sets include The Blacklist, New Amsterdam, and possibly others.

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NBC Upfronts

Comedy makes a return to the one-time home of Must See TV, as a single hour-long comedy block comes to Friday.  NBC announced their new fall schedule yesterday that contained a single comedy and only two new shows making the cut.  The week gets off to a familiar start with The Voice returning for another round on Mondays, followed by a reboot of Quantum Leap, where a new team looks to follow up on the mysteries of the original.  Tuesday leads off with more of The Voice, followed by a second season of La Brea and the fifth and final season of New Amsterdam.

Wednesday and Thursday continue to be dominated by Dick Wolf franchises, with his three Chicago series running back-to-back-to-back on Wednesday and three entries in his Law & Order franchise the following night.  The Capital One College Bowl kicks things off on Friday until November, when it will be replaced by the new George Lopez comedy Lopez vs. Lopez, Young Rock.  Both will be followed by two hours of Dateline NBC.  Sunday remains filled with the NFL.

The Blacklist moves to midseason for its tenth go-around, though it is still producing a full 22-episode season.  Comedies waiting for midseason include a Night Court reboot, starring John Laroquette and Melissa Rouch, and the returning American Auto and Grand Crew.  Several drama pilots were not ready for consideration but may see life as midseason replacements.

Shows gone from our sets include This Is Us, The Thing About Pam, Ordinary Joe, The Endgame, Mr. Mayor, Keenan, and the never-aired Hungry.

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NBC Upfronts

In a sad state of affairs for the one-time home of the Must See TV comedy block that dominated the ratings and multiple nights of programming, NBC announced a fall schedule yesterday that contained nary a single comedy and only 3 new shows making the cut.  The week gets off to a familiar start with The Voice returning for another round on Mondays, followed by Ordinary Joe, a new heartfelt, life-affirming drama telling parallel stories about a recent college grad and the different paths he could take based on a single decision.  Tuesday leads off with more of The Voice, followed by La Brea, an epic adventure that begins when a massive sinkhole opens in the middle of Los Angeles, pulling hundreds of people and buildings into its depths, and, finally, the new season of New Amsterdam.

Wednesday and Thursday have both been turned over completely to Dick Wolf, with his 3 Chicago series running back to back to back on Wednesday.  Thursday has been handed over to his Law & Order franchise, with the new L&O: For The Defense leading off the night, followed by the returning SVU and Organized Crime.  The Blacklist returns on Friday, followed by 2 hours of Dateline NBC.  Sunday remains filled with the NFL.

The comedy lineup won’t be back until midseason, with new shows American Auto, a workplace comedy that takes the wheels off the automobile industry, and Grand Crew, a new comedy from the the Brooklyn Nine-Nine team that proves that life is better with your crew, joining the returning Kenan, Mr. Mayor, and Young Rock.  This Is Us will also return at midseason for a sixth and final season.  The fate of a number of other shows, including Debris, Ellen’s Game of Games, Good Girls, Manifest, and Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, are still up in the air.

Cancelled shows include Connecting and Superstore.

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iTunes Top 200 Artists: #81-89

It’s been 4 years since we last counted down the Top 200 artists in my iTunes library.  Since my iTunes stats are still intact, across multiple PCs, iPods, iPads, and iPhones, I figured it was time to take another look at the artists that have entertained me the most based on number of plays from late 2007 through January 1, 2021.

We continue today with the next batch of 10 artists, breaking past the 100 play plateau with the 2 remaining tied for 89th place, the single artist at 88, 2 tied for 86th, and the single artists at 85th through 81st.

#89: Chance The Rapper
iTunes stats: 93 plays
Previous ranking: #139

Somehow the two clips from his intro video for the 2016 White Sox jumped 50 spots due to a 182% increase in plays over the last 4 years.

#89: Roxette
iTunes stats: 93 plays
Previous ranking: #95

Sweden’s second best selling musical act after Abba, the pop duo nearly doubled their listens while moving up 6 spots on the chart.

#88: The Muffs
iTunes stats: 94 plays
Previous ranking: #70

A big 18 spot drop for the band most well known for a Fruitopia commercial back in the day, thanks to a mere 32 new plays.

#86: Soul Asylum
iTunes stats: 97 plays
Previous ranking: #88

43 new listens for the Minneapolis-based band pushes them up 2 spots in the rankings.

#86: Christina Aguilera
iTunes stats: 97 plays
Previous ranking: #84

The former Voice star sees a 73% increase, enabling her to drop only 2 spots.

#85: The Outfield
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NBC Upfronts

Earlier this month, NBC presented their upfront presentation in the guise of a 30 Rock reunion episode.  Jack McBrayer’s Kenneth, who had been put in charge of NBC in the series finale, continues in that role in the special, putting together the fall lineup for the real NBC that will air… sometime.  The week will get off to a familiar start with The Voice returning for another round on Mondays, followed by another season of Manifest.  Tuesday stays static, leading off with more of The Voice, followed by This Is Us and New Amsterdam.

Wednesday also stays the same, with Dick Wolf’s 3 Chicago series running back to back to back.  Thursday starts with a small comedy block, with Superstore followed by Brooklyn Nine-Nine.  Law & Order: SVU moves up an hour for its 22nd season, followed by a new spin-off series, Law & Order: Organized Crime, bringing Christopher Meloni back to the L&O fold.  The Blacklist returns on Friday, followed by 2 hours of Dateline NBC.  Sunday remains filled with the NFL.

New shows on tap for midseason include The Keenan Show, a family comedy starring Kenan Thompson, Mr. Mayor, a comedy starring Ted Danson as a wealthy businessman who runs for mayor of Los Angeles for all the wrong reasons, and Young Rock, inspired by and starring Dwayne Johnson.

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NBC Upfronts

NBC announced their new fall schedule yesterday and very few changes are afoot, with only 3 new shows making the cut. The week gets off to a familiar start with The Voice returning for another round on Mondays, followed by Bluff City Law, a new drama about a Memphis family’s law firm and family nonsense.  Tuesday stays static, leading off with more of The Voice, followed by This Is Us and New Amsterdam.

Wednesday is turned over to Dick Wolf, with his 3 Chicago series running back to back to back.  Comedy still reigns supreme on Thursday, with Superstore, followed by Perfect Harmony, a new Bradley Whitford comedy.  The Good Place returns for its fourth season, followed by Sunnyside, a new comedy from Michael Schur.  Law & Order: SVU finishes the night in its 21st season.  The Blacklist returns on Friday, followed by 2 hours of Dateline NBC.  Sunday remains filled with the NFL.

Will & Grace and Manifest will return at midseason, along with Blindspot, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and Good Girls.  New shows waiting for spots on the air include Indebted, about a young couple who have to deal with their broke parents, The Keenan Show, a family comedy starring Kenan Thompson, Council of Dads, a drama about a man who overreacts to a health scare, Lincoln, a small screen adaptation of The Bone Collector, and Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, about a computer coder who starts to hear the innermost wants and desires of the people around her through songs.

The network has yet to make decisions on the future of Abby’s, The Enemy Within, and The Village.

Cancelled shows include A.P. Bio, I Feel Bad, Marlon, Mignight, Texas, and Trial And Error.

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NBC Upfronts

NBC announced their new fall schedule yesterday and very few changes are afoot, with only 3 new shows making the cut. The week gets off to a familiar start with The Voice returning for another round on Mondays, followed by Manifest, a new drama about a missing plane that returns 5 years in the future. Tuesday leads off with more of The Voice, followed by This Is Us and New Amsterdam, a new medical drama that stars some old favorites.

Wednesday is turned over to Dick Wolf, with his 3 Chicago series running back to back to back.  Comedy still reigns supreme on Thursday, with Superstore, The Good Place, and Will & Grace joined by I Feel Bad, from executive producer Amy Poehler.  Law & Order: SVU moves to Thursday for its 20th season.  Blindspot remains on Fridays, where it will continue to lead off the night.

The Blacklist returns at mid-season, debuting on Fridays after Blindspot.  Also returning are A.P. Bio, Good Girls, and, after a pick-up from Fox, Brooklyn Nine-Nine.  Four new shows also wait for spots on the air, including Abby’s, starring Natalie Morales as a woman who runs a bar in her backyard, The Enemy Within, a spy thriller starring Jennifer Carpenter, The Inbetween, which sounds fairly ludicrous, and The Village, about the inhabitants of a Brooklyn building.  Similar to last year, the fate of Timeless is still up in the air.

Cancelled shows include The Brave, The Carmichael Show, and Great News.

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2017 Emmy Awards – Reality and Movies

Emmy_statueWith the Emmy Awards scheduled for Sunday night, here’s day two of my predictions for the awards, today focusing on reality shows and made for TV movies.  I likely have seen not seen most (any?) of these, so I will probably not have an informed decision, but when has that ever stopped me.

Outstanding Reality Show Host

Alec Baldwin, Match Game

W. Kamau Bell, United Shades Of America

RuPaul Charles, RuPaul’s Drag Race

Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn, Project Runway

Gordon Ramsay, MasterChef Junior

Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg, Martha & Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party

RuPaul already took home the prize for hosting the long-running hit.

Outstanding Reality Show Competition

The Amazing Race

American Ninja Warrior

Project Runway

RuPaul’s Drag Race

Top Chef

The Voice

The Amazing Race is the usual favorite in this category and I don’t see a reason for that to change this year.

Outstanding Variety Talk Series

Full Frontal with Samantha Bee

Jimmy Kimmel Live

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

The Late Late Show with James Corden

Real Time with Bill Maher

A little more turnover here, thanks to the ongoing changes that is the late night landscape.  I think John Oliver and his HBO show, Last Week Tonight, certainly deserves the award.

Outstanding Variety Sketch Series

Billy On The Street

Documentary Now!

Drunk History

Portlandia

Saturday Night Live

Tracey Ullman’s Show

Given the election boost, I’m going to give the nod to SNL this time around.

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NBC Upfronts

NBC announced their new fall schedule yesterday and changes are afoot.  The week gets off to a familiar start with The Voice returning for another round on Mondays, followed by The Brave, a new drama starring Anne Heche which is sure to do well.  Tuesday has an attempt at a comedy hour, with Superstore and The Good Place sandwiched in-between The Voice and Chicago Fire.  Wednesday has 3 returning dramas, starting with The Blacklist.

The network will try to revitalize the Must See TV brand on Thursday, with the revamped Will & Grace leading off the night and this year’s breakout hit This Is Us, before a dramatized version of the Menendez brothers murders.  Blindspot moves to Fridays, where it will lead off the night.

Midseason will bring comedies A.P. Bio, starring Patton Oswalt, and Champions, from executive producer Mindy Kaling.  On the drama side, there is Good Girls, about suburban moms who decide to start robbing banks, Reverie, starring Sarah Shahi as a hostage negotiator, and Rise, from the people behind Parenthood.  Timeless, which was cancelled last week and then not cancelled, will also return at some point.

Cancelled shows include The Blacklist: Redemption, Chicago Justice, Emerald City, Powerless, Trial & Error, Grimm, and The Celebrity Apprentice.

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iTunes Top 200 Artists: #81-88

3 years ago, we first counted down the then Top 100 artists in my iTunes library.  Since that time, I’ve successfully managed to migrate my music collection to a new PC with the stats intact.  So, I figured it was time to take another look, expanding out the field to the top 200 artists, based on number of plays from late 2007 through January 1, 2017.

We continue our march up through the the top 100 with this next batch of artists, which includes:

#88: Soul Asylum
iTunes stats: 54 plays
Previous ranking: #70

20 new listens for the Minneapolis-based band causes them to drop 18 spots in the rankings.

#88: John Morris
iTunes stats: 54 plays
Previous ranking: N/A

The composer of the score from the best movie ever made, Clue: The Movie.

#88: Artie Lange
iTunes stats: 54 plays
Previous ranking: #76

The comedy stylings of Arthur Lange drop 12 spots despite 23 new listens in the past 3 years.

#84: The Cranberries
iTunes stats: 56 plays
Previous ranking: #80

A small 4 spot drop for the Irish band, who picked up 26 new listens to their 8 tracks over the last 3 years.

#84: The Beastie Boys
iTunes stats: 56 plays
Previous ranking: #91

30 new listens in the last 3 years bumps the Beastie Boys up 7 spots in the rankings.

#84: Gin Blossoms
iTunes stats: 56 plays
Previous ranking: #63

25 years after the release of their debut album, the Arizona group drops 21 spots due to a small increase of 18 listens over the past 3 years.

#84: Christina Aguilera
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