You probably don’t watch alot of TV and i totally support it. Most of it is mindless drivel designed to amuse (stop musing, ie stop thinking, ie idiot box LOL!) With that said, You-will-love-this-show! It is absolutely the best series on tv since the first seasons of another Mark Burnett creation (Survivor anyone?) “The Apprentice”.

An absolute study on an abridged pitch process where you get to not only see the venture capitalist “sharks” either eviscerate ‘contestants’ for having the gall to be so unprepared or delusional… You also get to see A-type personalities and what happens when they all get to react to the same stimuli.

The inventors and businessmen who’ve appeared have come in all creeds, sizes and colors, and it’s just great, great tv. The lone lady on the show, Elizabeth, seems to be the most aggressive, optimistic, and therefore successful with the model as it seems every update the producers show is another Elizabeth story where she went for someone’s pitch, changed their life with the investment figure they asked for (if not the percentage- but you’ll understand after you watch..) and now is participating in yet another fruitful business relationship.

This snippet though, is from Daymond John the powerful, powerful brother who helped creat urban fashion as we know it. He has various brands, but of course, the two most famous would be FUBU and Coogi. Check this out.. Terrance J from 106 and park is asking the questions… and dont miss season two!

I don’t know if you guys remember a TV show called “On The Lot” a few years ago.
The show was produced by Steven Spielberg and Mark Burnett and I think it was canceled after the first season.
The show was about these independent filmmakers to make a short film every week and one gets eliminated each week.
Well, I wasn’t on the show but I submitted myself and was lucky enough to go to the second round of casting.
They wanted me to make a short film about “Your Dream” and this is what I made for them.
The film had to be under 3 minutes and this is exactly 3 minutes.
In the film, I don’t show what the dream is but hints are in the movie.
Check it out and let me know if you find it. : )

Craig Wright, criador de ‘Dirty Sexy Money’, se uniu ao produtor Mark Burnett para criar um novo projeto para a CBS.

Ainda sem título, o piloto, escrito por Wright, será produzido pela Sony Pictures TV e fala sobre um advogado que após um acidente de carro quase fatal, recebe uma segunda chance do fantasma de sua ex-mulher.

O roteirista também está atrelado a produção, ao lado de Burnett e sua mulher, Roma Downey. O acordo com a CBS possui uma multa com grande compensação financeira caso o piloto não se transforme em seriado.

Para quem não é familiarizado com Craig Wright, foi roteirista de ‘Lost’ e ‘Six Feet Under’, ganhando um WGA Award pela primeira e um Emmy pela segunda. Wright também foi produtor executivo de ‘Brothers & Sisters’, drama da ABC.

What’s the thing every woman wants and every man wants to be?

You got it. A hero.

And that’s what Bill Clinton proved himself to be today. Just heard on CNN that he sweet talked Kim Jong-il into releasing Euna Lee and Laura Ling, two reporters arrested in March for supposedly “hostile” acts against the state and sentenced to 12 years hard labour.

At the time of this entry I have no idea what Clinton said (or promised) to secure the pardon, but all I can tell you is I felt a deep down visceral pleasure in that news.

You know, with the coming release of GI Joe and the just released Harry Potter installment, we’re saturated with the notion that heroes have to be preternaturally strong, possess magical abilities or have access to the most unique weaponry devised by man or Hollywood.

Even Clinton, white-haired devil that he is, has “super powers” that most of us can’t even imagine laying claim to, such as…..Hillary, world’s second most powerful wife, music played when he entered a room.

But the average joe? Not so much.

He’s got a 9-5 job that takes up most of his energy; bills to pay from a salary containing a lot fewer zero’s than a presidential paycheque. He’s got a lawn to mow, kids to ferry around and then when he’s got a few minutes for himself guess who wants a piece of that?

I suggest ladies, and I urge you guys to think about meeting each other’s expectations somewhere in the middle. I think when I was young I heard some claptrap about women never having to accept compromise as a solution to anything. You were supposed to go after what you want from a guy and never settle for anything less. Without the numbers at hand, I can’t say for sure, but I’d be willing to bet that that strategy works, oh, 2 times out of ten.

Guys don’t like to be “told” and women don’t like the word “no.”
So where does that leave us?

With compromise. I am now a convert. Ahhhh. I say the word, and I feel like I’m in a commercial where the soft wind is blowing freshly washed sheets on a line and the sweet scent is bathing me in yummy goodness.

Compromise is an act of respect. Simple as that. Every time I think of the word, I get a picture in my mind’s eye of a man and women standing facing each other, hands clasped near their heart centre’s and looking into each other’s eyes. Hmm. Remind you of something? The day you got married perhaps? When you promised a whole bunch of things. Or if you’re not espoused, then the simple act of being in unison before you tear up the sheets

If you haven’t got it in you to give it all, then be a hero and give what you can. Small acts of loving kindness, bestowing attention and
making an effort go a long way in a woman’s eyes and heart.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Speaking of heroes, I picked up a neat little trick years ago from Barbara Sher. She wrote “Live the Life You Love.” And it in there was an exercise in which you picked your “allies”. Sure they could be your parents, your boyfriend/girlfriend, husband/wife, friends, etc….but Sher also suggests that you choose allies from your childhood; from history; from fiction. Living or dead or non-existent your very own band of super companions to lift you up when you’re struggling, or cheer you on when you get a bright idea.

I remember doing the exercise with a grin on my face. I put Gandhi in the corner by the window next to Elizabeth the first. Sherlock Holmes lounged in a chair while Winston Churchill stood behind him. My room got very crowded.

Then a couple of years ago I took it one step further. I created a sort of “wish” book; things I wanted to do, see and be.
Being Queen, CEO and Chief Poohbah of Linda Kaban-dom, I realized I needed a Board of Directors, so I made a “portrait” of me and my gang and pasted it into my book.

I’m in the middle surrounded by 12 over-achievers from the worlds of politics, TV, world peace, motivation, science and spirituality. Starting at the top right: Robin Sharma, Canada’s premier leadership coach; followed by Mark Burnett, author of “Dare to Succeed” and creator of Survivor and The Apprentice. Winston Churchill is next; you know this guy…the saviour of the free world and the one who said, “Never, never, never, never give up.”

After him is the dude I would give my right arm to meet, The Dalai Lama. My beloved Deepak Chopra is next. Followed by Einstein, Gandhi, Wayne Dyer; and the lady who gave me my mantra, Eleanor Roosevelt. She said, “You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”

Another great lady, Helen Keller who said, “The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate pushes of each honest worker (or husband, wife, lover, friend [my words] ), rounds out the female contingent on my Board.

And last but never least, Richard Carlson and Henry David Thoreau.

With these advisors behind me, I feel like I can do anything; because their greatest gift was to come before me and show me how.

You might want to give this exercise a chance. We all need allies and heroes in our lives.

by Andrew Osborne

Way back in 2000 (which is somehow nearly a DECADE ago now), a little show called Survivor totally rocked my world.  Not only was I drawn in by the novelty and addictive simplicity of the fledgling “reality TV” craze (before it mutated into a monster of unspeakable Kardashian horror), and not only did I fall hard for Season One sweetheart (and future Rob Schneider co-star) “Cooleen” Haskell…

…mmm…Colleen…

…but I’ve always been (and remain) a huge fan of any movie, documentary, game, play or TV show with a “disappearing cast” format, from Ten Little Indians to Afghan Star.  (In fact, next time you’re on a Super Shuttle, try playing the following game:  look around at the other passengers, then figure out who would die first, second, third, etc. and who would survive if you were all characters in a horror movie.  Sometimes I’m pretty sure I’d make it to the end of Super Shuttle:  The Movie, sometimes a mother and child get on and I realize I’d be toast…but either way, the commute to the airport just flies)!

But anyhoo…in the early seasons, Survivor wasn’t merely entertaining:  it actually rewired my brain chemistry.  At one raucous viewing party during the never-topped first season, while passionately rooting for the doomed Pagong tribe against Richard Hatch and his despised Tagi Alliance, one of my fellow gym-class-hating friends from way back when turned to me with a look of astonishment and said, “Oh my God…I think I finally understand why people love sports!”

And I pretty much had to agree.  After thirtysomething years of more or less completely ignoring everything but a Larry Bird-era Celtics championship here and a doomed Red Sox World Series bid there, I suddenly began to comprehend the addictive reality show appeal of sports (along with the generally peaceful white noise zen of sports talk radio).

Even more revelatory, however, was the weekly microcosm of realpolitik that finally, finally beat into my overeducated liberal skull why (and, more importantly, how) greedy, manipulative assholes like Hatch (and, later, Cheney-Bush) could so easily roll over well-intentioned but ineffectual opposition to consistently get people to vote against their own self-interest time and time again.  Forget What’s The Matter With Kansas? All I really needed to know about politics, I learned from Survivor.

And though producer Mark Burnett’s brainchild is no longer the fascinating sociopolitical experiment it once was (and has been more or less treading water in terms of fresh ideas since at least the unfairly maligned “rich vs. poor” Fiji season — and p.s. to Burnett:  how ’bout an international all-star edition?), it’s nevertheless an interesting coincidence, in the current political climate, that this season’s primary villain is a rich Texas oilman whose strategy for victory (and still yet more personal wealth) is to cynically destroy his own tribe with relentless negativity and actual sabotage, like burning the socks of a highly capable tribemate (who just happens to be black…not that there’s anything wrong with that).

Teabaggers…meet your ideal presidential candidate for 2012.

But ANYWAY, the reason I started this whole post in the first place was to say that sometime around the second season of Survivor, my Exile colleague Scott Von Doviak started a weekly e-mail game, which I later inherited, and which I now share with you!

To play along at home, pick three Survivors from the current season and give yourself ten points each time their tribe wins reward or immunity.  Subtract two points for every vote your Survivor receives at tribal council, and subtract twenty points each time one of your Survivors gets voted off.

Points and bonuses increase if any of your Survivors reach the Merge or the Final Four, but in the meantime, you can also rack up points by answering questions about each week’s show, like, for instance…

Episode Two:  Taking Candy From a Baby

A twist gives a contestant a chance to make friends with the opposing tribe.  An epic battle fuels bad blood between tribes, and Russell goes on the warpath.

Questions:

Which tribe wins REWARD?  (+10)

Which tribe wins IMMUNITY?  (+10)

Who gets the THE BOOT?  (+20)

Bonus questions:

1.  Is Evil Russell the one who, predictably, says something about “taking candy from a baby?”  (+5)
2.  Whose metaphorical candy does Evil Russell take and/or what is the metaphorical candy?  (+10 for closest ballpark guess)
3.  Which Survivor gets the chance to make friends with the opposing tribe?  (+10)
4.  Does the aforementioned Survivor wind up getting the boot?  (+5)
5.  Who does Probst eject from the “beat the crap out of each other” challenge?  (+10)
6.  Who does Evil Russell go on the warpath against?  (+5)
7   What is the comment that makes Evil Russell go on the warpath?  (+10 ballpark)
8.  Who appears first in the Survivor opening credits, assuming they finally get around to having some this week?  (+10)
9.  Who appears last in the Survivor opening credits?  (+10)

Survivors ready?  GO!!!!

I don’t watch a lot of T.V. But when I do its CNBC Fast Money, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Colbert Report, Fareed Zakaria’s GPS, and my NFL team (Eagles of course). And even with  that being said, I can watch most of these online now.

This new show by Mark Burnett the creator of, well, a crapload of reality shows including Survivor and Apprentice has his best one yet.   It’s called Shark Tank and it’s essentially The Apprentice meets American Idol. People pitch their business Ideas in front of would be investors (including Daymond John creator of FUBU) in an intimidating atmosphere. If you have a business idea and have plan to execute it, this show is a really good depiction of what you may encounter (without the dramatic background music).

(double click after commercial to enlarge)

Audrina Patridge is moving on.

Sidenote: The OMG! thing was sarcasm. I hate ‘The Hills’ and everything that has come out of that show from the bottom of my big, fat, disgusted heart. Let’s move on to the news, shall we?

After several stars decided to leave MTV’s mega-popular hit “reality” series  ‘The Hills’, including the show’s stars – Lauren Conrad, Heidi and Spencer Pratt and Whitney Port (who has her own spinoff, though), the fake reality show is losing another cast member – Audrina Patridge.

“It feels like I’m graduating. I’m taking the next step and growing up and maturing and moving on in my life”, said Patridge. The actress, 24, moved to LA in pursuit of a movie career and has obviously succeeded – she now has a movie coming out in September – ‘Sorority Row’ – and is working with Mark Burnett, creator of ‘Survivor’ on a reality show for MTV.

MTV’s signature show starts its new season Monday, September 29th.

Audrina Patridge has decided to follow in the footsteps of former castmate, Lauren Conrad, as she has also decided to leave her hit show, The Hills.

“I’m almost done with The Hills. We’re in the middle of finishing these episodes, and I’ll be leaving then,” Audrina revealed at a junket for her new thriller Sorority Row Sunday in LA.

“It feels like I’m graduating,” she added. “I’m taking the next step and growing up and maturing and moving on in my life.”

This might also have to do with the fact that Audrina,24, is currently developing her own reality show with Survivor producer Mark Burnett.

Audrina also plans to continue pursuing her acting career, and credits The Hills for helping her, “I feel like it’s helped me a lot going to auditions and sitting in front of the camera… blocking the camera out and just getting into character.”

The new season of The Hills is set to premiere Sept. 29 on MTV.

Daniel Castro, Folha de S. Paulo

A Rede TV! fechou anteontem a compra dos direitos do reality show “Shark Tank” (literalmente, tanque de tubarões). A emissora planeja começar a gravá-lo neste ano para estreá-lo no início de 2010.

Adaptação americana para o japonês “Dragon’s Den”, “Shark Tank” é uma evolução de “O Aprendiz – O Sócio”, exibido pela Record em 2008. A produção da versão americana é de Mark Burnett, criador de “Survivor” (“No Limite”) e de “O Aprendiz”. Nos EUA, está no ar há três semanas, pela ABC.

A Rede TV! ainda negocia para ter Burnett, considerado um dos novos “deuses” da televisão mundial, como seu consultor na adaptação do reality show.

O programa se sustenta com cinco homens de negócios endinheirados. A cada episódio, eles se deparam com candidatos a empreendedores que têm ideias de negócios, mas não o capital para concretizá-las ou fazê-las evoluir.

Os empreendedores têm de convencer os investidores de que seus projetos são viáveis. Dizem também o dinheiro que precisam e quanto de participação no negócio estão dispostos a oferecer aos investidores.

Nos EUA, já foram apresentadas propostas como uma fábrica de tortas, um aparelho que revela como estão as salas de espera de médicos e até um elefantinho para ajudar pais a darem remédios a crianças.

A Rede TV! ainda não revela detalhes da produção do reality show, cujo maior desafio é encontrar os cinco investidores. A emissora comprou os direitos da 2waytraffic, empresa do grupo Sony, a mesma que vendeu “A Fazenda” para a Record.

With a slate that is very rich is the balance of drama versus comedy, ABC is making their way through the aspect of the Leno landscape with a determination of ease and poise. Looking at their upcoming slate, the essential building blocks for many successful seasons begin to take shape simply for the essence of testing the waters.

Modern Family This comedy, unlike series co-star Ed O’Neill’s previous family outing, takes its cue from the mockumentary format but more Christopher Guest than “The Office”. It follows three interconecting groups of the same family, all with their little quirks and idiosyncracies. Exec Producer Steve Levitan says that the essence of the show is within the paradox. There are actually fathers now to young daughters that are in their 70s which makes it probably pretty hard to keep up. Ed O’Neill, Al Bundy forever, (who plays the said father of sorts) says that this show is an entirely different thing from “Children”. He also speaks of his recent dramatic work like “Dragnet” which he says was fun but alot of work.

This series by its design is much more ensemble plus it’s a comedy. He sardonically says with a smile that his wife in this show is pretty much the same as the last one (in this one he is married to a hot young Latina woman). He says jokingly that he is older than his new co-star but also fairly deadpan that he was older than Katey [Segal] (who played Peggy Bundy). He admits that here he is completely in over his head and just trying to keep up.

Shark Tank  After we had met Mark Burnett on ABC’s set visit the day before he jetted off for “Survivor”, he spoke of the interesting dynamic of the sharks in “Shark Tank” in the fact that these people are participating in the show with their own money (not ABC’s or his). As a result, they have something perssonally on the line. Seeing them in front of you and their very obvious and strong personalities, you see what some of the contestants are up against.

Kevin Harrington, the first of the sharks, says that the first step that was essential in the process was that Burnett’s people looked at thousands and thousands of products to get it to these final few so they are the cream of the crop. Due dilligence was taken which was very important to them. 

Robert Herjavec, the seeming conscience of the group, says the excitement for an young entrepreneur is infectious in this new digital era. The bar though, in his mind now, is higher since these people can’t get money from the bank because of the current economic crisis. Success is all forward momentum. Herjavec says that the reason we are in the crisis we are in now is because the rich people were risking money that was not their own. This country was built by small business but he believes that it is the blind pursuit of pure greed that got us to where we are today. 

Kevin O’Leary, the admitted cruelest shark in the group, says that the only reason you give people money is to make yourself more money. All the rest is crap, in his words. He says that liquidity is very hard to come by and you want that idea to get to cash sooner. Greed for him is freedom and provides financial flexibility. Greed is powerful and important pure and simple. Herjavec comes back at him and says that “the big guy in the sky is going to get a big spatula and whack you with it”. He says that greed is not the point to it all. O’Leary tells Herjavec that he is “absolutely wrong”.

Daymond John, a shark who made his fortune in fashion, says that after the lights come up after this show, there will be alot of work for them afterwards. He says that he will probably lose money on half the deals he made on this show but, in that shark room, you get a lipnus test of what reality is. To Kevin O’Leary’s perception of greed, he retorts that the people in jail still want more money too.

Hank Kelsey Grammer returns to television after his bout with health problems and the cancellation of “Back To You” with a significantly optimistic comedy of life. The story behind this sitcom is a man who took a fall financially who moves back to his hometown with his family after a life of luxury is taken away from him due to the current financial crisis.

Kelsey compares his character in “Hank” to that of “Back To You” in saying that the latter was a lothario whereas his character here (Hank) is blissfully ignorant about the task of being real. In his mind, Hank sacrificed his parachute of luxury (since it was his company that got sunk) in order to make other people have something instead of nothing. He helped make them whole and took responsibility for the downfall of his company. He says that the boon of this show is that one of the greatest human characteristics is the ability to laugh at certain situations.

Kelsey also detailed the timeline of what happened from here to there in terms of his trajectory from his last show to this one. He says that he started “Back To You” where he enjoyed working with Patricia Heaton tremendously. Fox hired Jim Reilly who had originally turned down the pitch from Kelsey at NBC. Then the writer’s strike began. This, he says sarcastically, pre-empted the recession on themselves in advance. From this point onward there was very little ability for Fox to have a sense of commitment to the show. There was also, he says, building tension between him and Reilly. Then off he went. And then the heart attack happened.

After he recovered, Kelsey thought about the fact that there wasnt really a traditional family show on television. He was pitched one other concept about a successful man who was after teenage women which he didnt think was quite right at the time. Kelsey, in encompassing his thought, wants to lend himself to this character like he did to Frasier. Frasier liked clutter like Hanks loves sports. Hank is not pompous. He loves the American Dream and the aspect of working back up from the bottom. He is just out of touch with some things. Grammer uses an example from his own life that mirrors Hank. He says that he was trying to make a cup of coffee with three friends one morning and they couldn’t figure it out. Hank probably has the same problem because in his world, coffee was always brought to him. He wouldnt have done that task in years.

In terms of his heart attack, Kelsey says that there is obviously a connection to one’s life and the stresses that are involved. The doctors had told him, in his own words, that the heart attack was stress related. He jokes that it was time for him to get retooled. He now chuckles that he is somewhat bionic.

In the show he jokes that he wants to take his character in a baking direction as well. He says with a laugh that people seem to think he can play rich obviously because he is so “damn sophisticated”.

In terms of the business of TV itself, with introspection on departures like the one of Ben Silverman at NBC, Grammer’s thought is that executives always change. One of things that many people don’t know is that Kelsey is a producer on “Medium”. With that show, he and his partners had sold it to NBC. Grammer then speaks of another executive (Les Moonves at CBS), “being the selfless egoless man he is” (according to Kelsey), who, because the show was made by CBS but picked up at NBC, used it as a rallying point on the quality of shows at NBC. Grammer said that Moonves (whom he had pitched the show to unsuccessfully) spent the next five years trying to make something similar to “Medium” that was good. The press release for “Medium” next season on CBS points to the fact that, according to Kelsey, “Medium” is a spin-off of “Ghost Whisperer” (which he says Les made to be like their show). He jokes that this was “a bit disingenious” of Moonves. 

Tucker Cawley, the exec producer of the show, provides more basic structure comments in terms of “Hank” saying that the scripts will touch on this “riches to rags” situation. Hank. as played by Kelsey, doesn’t see his new home as being less. He instead reserves a bit of American optimism. Hank still had a nest egg of sorts so he doesn’t have to worry about making ends meet. The character started with nothing and now sees himself as simply down but coming back up. The stories will also address the downsizing of a lifestyle and how Hank comes to see his family and himself in a different way.

Hank believes that he is destined to return to greatness and he will. It just won’t be the “greatest” like he imagined. Cawley just wants to make sure there is a hopefulness to the show. They have only shot one episode post pilot so now it is simply a question of what Hank is going to do. Melinda McGraw, who plays Hank’s wife, follows up in wonderful spouse fashion saying “Redemption is a rocky road. We [Hank and his family] are creatures of habit…and those habits are nice.”

Flash Forward This new series which was gotten a significant amount of buzz off its supposed tie-in with “Lost” is a creature of a different sort as discussed in this review. However after viewing it before the panel, the mythology and cinematic story structure do create a comparison in addition to the inclusion of two “Lost” veterans in the cast in the form of Dominic Monaghan (“Charlie”) and Sonya Walger (“Penny”).

David Goyer, most recently lauded because of his work on “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight”, is the creator and exec producer of the show along with his wife Jessika. To the inevitable mythology base and story structure, he says that they have the story progression to go three seasons for sure. He came across the novel “Sawyer” [another coincidental "Lost" reference] through Jessika who was working in development for him at the time. The novel addresses the concept of what would you do if you know where your choices led you.

Goyer speaks of the “Lost” connection as he is “pretty good friends” with Damon Lindelof [who runs "Lost" with Carlton Cuse]. He is a big fan and the way that show connected with fans proved to Goyer that there was a place for shows like that. Lindelof told Goyer that ABC was very supportive of their vision and to the fact that you could maintain a show with such a large ensemble. “Lost”, in Goyer’s mind, traffics a lot in shades of grey which is one of its strengths. Lindelof told him in making this new show to “stick to your game…and your guns”.

But Goyer doesn’t think that the lessons of “Lost” are applicable to “Flash Forward”. He is first and foremost a fan of story (which seems at least similar on the surface to the other show). He explains that the base concept of the “Sawyer” book involves particle physicists at CERN in Switzerland which gives a hint to the aspect of where the genesis of “Flash Forward” is based. They took that premise and truncated it. He does allude that the author of the book will write an episode in the show’s first season.

For those with a love of details (and easter eggs for that matter). there is a kangaroo (idealogy anyone?) in the first episode which will return more than once over the series. Goyer jokes that “the kangaroo is the thing…people like the kangaroo”. He reserves the point though that kangaroos are not very easy to train as they have learned to his dismay. He does promise that the bouncy critter will return in Episode 6.

The psychological basis for the event portrayed in the show comes from Goyer’s observation of other countries in the world following 9/11. He says he experienced an enormous outpouring of sympathy in Paris (as he was there right after the attacks) from the French. He says he is trying to capture a little bit of that feeling in this show since the event portrayed here is something that everyone on the planet experiences. He also teases that there is a reason why some of the characters are looking at the calendar in their flash forwards (which are quickly explained in the pilot).

Goyer says that “the razor’s edge” is what the show traffics in. He says that he believes people flock to drama because of conflict whether it be responsibility or infidelity. It is about the progression of A to B to C. He said that they made the decision very early on to not tell the actors where they are going in terms of story. He says that they have to “titrate” certain information out in order to give the semblance of continuity in the characters. He says that Hitchcock would do that with some of the actors he worked with as well.

To that point, Goyer says that this point is written into all the actors’ contracts in the aspect that they don’t have to reveal story details. In terms of scripts, he says they have alot of them in the bank. They have written up to script 11 and had 7 done before they even started shooting the pilot.

Changing the future which is a crucial part of the story in the series is, according to Goyer, half the mystery. The characters in the series break down into three specific categories: fearful, hopeful and agnostic. In terms of the treatment of the “flash forwards”, whatever the characters were feeling emotionally at the time it happened was real to them, which he says specifically relates to the lead character, played by Joseph Fiennes. Goyer hopes people will tune in for how these people wrestle with these issues.

Jessika Goyer, speaking of the gestation of the series from her point of view, says that when he was talking to David initially about it, she could tell the idea was spinning in his brain. David went to Brannon Braga (a veteran of “Star Trek”) and found a way to make the story work. In the book, according to Jessika, the flash forward is 21 years into the future which is different from the actual series. The show address thematically, in her mind, what people can do to change their lives. Her hope is that alot of these questions will help alter and shape the audience’s perception.

Marc Guggenheim, another exec on the show, reveals that by the end of the first season they will get to a fateful day in April 2010 which is alluded to in the pilot. He makes the joke that if the show doesn’t work, they will be back next year with a show about wacky particle physicists (making reference to the book’s original concept). He says the date referenced in the pilot is one of significance in the show and is actually a date they are airing on: a Thursday to be exact. For him the show is about the resillience of humanity but the challenge is how you capture that moment.

Dominic Monaghan, a wild card in the buzz over this series, does not reveal who his character is but speaks to the zeitgeist noting that there are similarities to “Flash Forward” in “Lost” in terms of its large ensemble cast and ambitious storyline. He also speaks to the fact that with a cast that is similar in many ways (to “Lost”) in addition to a globally connected storyline, it is easier to sell the series internationally (which is very important overall in terms of resell value). “Flash Forward” he says is as deeply rooted in a mythology that needs to be solved as “Lost” but adds that it is more simplistic. He says that he was in Hawaii (where they shoot “Lost”) when he read the pilot for “Flash Forward”.

He jokes half seriously that he didnt want to take parts away from Americans (then he realizes what he said looking across the room at Englishman Joseph Fiennes). David and Jessika asked him to meet. It was a bar on Sunset called Delanceys where Dom had a pint of Boddingtons. He said it was one of those special meetings but that the most important thing for him was to do something completely different from Charlie on “Lost”. Goyer said he had just the part for him. After that, Dom again half jokes that it was just about agreeing on money.

Joseph Fiennes, who takes the brunt of the series on his shoulders much like Matthew Fox’s Jack on “Lost”, says that it is “David’s fault” that he is on the series. He says that TV is the medium for writers which is what interested him about the project. There is a large conflict here with the characters and great room for them to grow. He says that within this structure you are not as much a slave to the three act structure. Things are not set in stone. And what you are not told (as is a specific exercise of this show in terms of the agreement he had to take on as an actor) you “can embrace the future as you saw” it. Or he warns “you can also embrace a strategy where [your actions] become a self fulfilling prophecy. He also admits that it was a way to get out of a flouncy shirt and put “a gun on my belt”

“Flash Forward” has the most buzz of any show heading into this season but it is just a matter if it can maintain the drama with the sense of wonder without becoming too vague. This is its challenge but, after seeing the pilot, the potential is strong.

The essence of Part II of the ABC Summer 2009 TCA Summer Press Tour continues next.

On Sunday, August 23rd, the CEO of The Bean, Janis Okerlund, will stand before “The 5 Sharks” of ABC’s newest reality show…”The Shark Tank”…

if you haven’t seen this show yet, you need to tune in! It’s very entertaining. It is produced by Mark Burnett, executive producer of Survivor and The Apprentice….(from ABC.com)

“Shark Tank, an exciting, new reality show that gives budding entrepreneurs the chance to make their dreams come true and become successful — and possibly wealthy — business people. But the entrepreneurs must first try to convince five tough, multi-millionaire tycoons to part with their own hard-earned cash and give them the funding they need to jumpstart their ideas.

In these trying economic times, it’s difficult for an individual possessing a dream or even a working small business poised for growth to get a loan for a risky venture. Whether it be an imaginative enhancement for an existing product, a family recipe that has all the ingredients to become a profitable culinary treat, or the latest technological gadget that could take the world by storm, most of these dreams die an early death because no one dared take a financial chance on someone with an unproven and oftentimes outrageous proposal. Many of these people now see Shark Tank as their last chance at success. Some have been laboring on their ideas for years or even decades, have invested large amounts of money, and are being pressured to throw in the towel by friends and family. Others have simply never had access to the means to live out their dreams, until now. Enter the Sharks of Shark Tank– five multi-millionaires who lifted themselves up by their bootstraps to make their own entrepreneurial dreams come true and turned their ideas into empires.

Each week, ambitious entrepreneurs from across the country will present their breakthrough business concepts, products, properties and services to the panel of ruthless investors. Their goal is to convince these merciless moguls to invest their own dollars in the concept. Convincing real-life millionaires to part with their own money is no easy task, because when the idea is poor, the Sharks will tear into the ill-prepared presenters and pass on the idea with a simple, “I’m out!” — sending them running for the exit.

But these Sharks aren’t just out for blood, they too have a goal: to own a piece of the next big idea. Entrepreneurs will be asked to give up a percentage of their companies’ equity to the Sharks in order to get the investment they need. But when the Sharks hear a really top-notch idea, and more than one of them wants to sink their teeth into it, a war between them will erupt. Then the once-desperate entrepreneur can rejoice when the Sharks reveal their true interest in the product and bid up the price of the investment.”

Only Janis currently knows what the actual outcome was. She shot the episode on Thursday Aug 13th, and is under a “Gag Order” not to reveal what deal she made…or did she? Tune in to ABC Sunday, August 23rd, at 9pm and find out with us.

Regardless of the outcome, The Bean Coffee Company will never be the same from here on out. National exposure is a key moment in any products life, and we know it was a part of the show to have “The Sharks“  taste the product on air. With the amazing responses we get every day to the flavor, aroma, and easy drinkabilty (because fo its Low Acidity) of our coffee, we know people will come by the website and try some for themselves…

The Bean Guy

Sometimes there exists on television an idea, a program so seemingly out of the realm of tact that you have to wonder at what point a lone television executive voiced the opinion that “it might not be the best idea to run this show right now,” only to be quickly rebuffed with a “too bad, it’s already in the can and on the schedule.”

Exhibit A for that argument is ABC’s new Mark Burnett-produced Shark Tank, in which all of America is able to watch as a panel of “self-made millionaires” evaluate the product ideas of regular joes and ultimately decide to (or refrain from) investing money in the contestants to advance their endeavors. I think you’ll agree that, on paper, that sounds like a mighty nice thing for ABC and these millionaires to do. After all, we are a nation going through some tough times right now. It’s nice to spread the wealth around, right?

Ah, if only it were that simple. If only we could tune in each Sunday to have our hearts warmed with the tales of dreamers seeing their goals fulfilled. It would be like watching a real-life version of  Touched by an Angel, a program which also once ran on these very same Sunday nights. Alas, with Burnett at the helm, very little good can come of this. But let’s watch:

First up is Mr. Todd, whose pie factory is not only struggling to keep up with demand (a good problem) but also a product in which McDonald’s is interested. Alas, Mr. Todd doesn’t have the money to front to keep things going until actual liftoff. Hence, he appears in front of the Shark Tank, and leaves with 50% of his business sold to two of the investors. Congratulations, Todd! All you hard work now means you owe these two people half your earnings.

Next into the Shark Tank is inventor Darrin Johnson, who proposes the Ionic Ear, a surgery-mandatory invention that basically acts as an internal blue-tooth transmitter. A little out there, sure, but creative. Johnson makes his presentation, then stands back as his idea (and his character) is derided as “crazy” by the panel. Following Johnson is a father of two who has mortgaged his house several times and invested thousands of his own money into his idea, which brings ads to doctors’ waiting rooms. The panel basically tells him he’s wasting his own and his family’s future with his ridiculous dreams, and deny him money as well.

The final two contestants fill out the model: a woman with an invention that helps children take medicine — she sells her idea for over 50% to one of the investors, effectively losing controlling interest in her prospect; and a couple of college students who refuse an offer to basically buy their whole company, and for which they’re treated as stupid and greedy.

I can understand why, in theory, Shark Tank would be an interesting premise. But in these times of economic downturn, where callous, fatcat businessmen in suits are making our decisions, refusing our loans, and changing the rules financially against us, do we need to watch a television program where these same types of suited businessmen play judge and jury — nay, God– to people just trying to find their own ways in this world? As we open letter after letter each day from credit card companies, banks, student loans and other institutions who seem to hold our monetary futures in their grip, do we really need to turn on the television to see caricatures those same people holding the brass ring over our heads?

Burnett’s a master of reality programming. His Survivor is in the pantheon, and The Apprentice presents the business world in such a cartoonish way that the Donald’s faux-scary threats are almost endearing. But despite the fact that you’re almost guaranteed to see someone get some money in each episode (they’ll surely edit it that way), it’s strangely masochistic to watch the dreams of others dashed. America’s Got Talent and Idol are one thing, but when this much money is on the line for these contestants, the futures of real people, and sometimes real families, are at stake.

Shark Tank might have been the type of program that brought a little levity to trying financial times; instead, it’s a macabre mirror image of a real world that’s scary enough as it is. In times where true-life money struggles are being experienced by millions, we surely can do better than turning into a competition for our entertainment. If you want to see real people in real situations being judged and evaluated, approved or disapproved for loans which will change their lives, drive down and sit in the lobby of your local bank. Too soon, ABC. Too soon.

I was a bit wary of this show, to be honest. I didn’t know how it was going to work or if this was really that good of an idea (see what I am doing, this show is about good business ideas vs. bad business ideas). Especially since shows like this have been done before and failed. The good thing is it had Mark Burnett going for it and was based on the established Dragon’s Den from the UK.

I was actually pleasantly surprised at how engaging it was and that is basically because of the people they get and the Sharks. For a lot of these people it is do or die and they go into an easy to follow but slightly complicated negotiations with the Sharks and they need to figure out if they are getting screwed or if they can truly count on one of the sharks to help them. Each business idea was interesting and different and all of them had a unique sell.

The Sharks are pretty blunt though. They will tell people if their idea is good or if it is terrible. Most of them don’t want anything to do with the person coming in and will mock them to their face. There are a few “nice guys” but mostly all of them are pretty mean. There is one dull castmember though. Kevin Harrington. He didn’t add anything to the show and basically said he was out very early to every person.  Daymond John is slightly interesting but the show really focuses around Barbara Corcoran, Robert Herjavec, and Kevin O’Leary. Robert plays good cop to the rest of the group. He tries to be warm and inviting which also makes him suspicious. He is perhaps the friendliest guy there but he is still a business man and I think he can cut some throats like the rest of them. He and Kevin O’Leary (the bastard on the show) play off each other quite well. In fact if they cut out everyone but these two guys and Barbara I think the show would still fly. Barbara is also a bit more warm then the men but she has she-devil written all over her face and she looks like she can be a huge bitch as well. However she was quite endearing with a few of the contestants.

I don’t know if I want to really delve into each of the entrepreneurs who came in. Some were exciting and a few were jut plan sad. I guess they were all a little intimidated by the Sharks but most of them weren’t really good at negotiations or making deals usually only offering like 10% instead of 50% stake in the company. I don’t know much about business but I would think if a complete stranger is offering up their money they want a bit more stake.

I will continue to watch this show, I don’t see it lasting to long since it didn’t get great ratings and I don’t really understand what ABC was doing premiering it over a month early before the fall season begins…it might die before then.

Watch Lori Lite, founder of Stress Free Kids on ABC’s new show, Shark Tank. See if she can manage her own stress and anxiety as she seeks much needed funds to grow her business. “Shark Tank” SUNDAY, AUGUST 23 (9:00-10:00 p.m., ET).

http://abc.go.com/primetime/sharktank/index?pn=index

We have developed a line of books and CDs designed to introduce research-based, stress-management and relaxation techniques to children, teens, and adults. Our website was created to inform, educate and share ways we can counteract stress and give our children the tools they need to ease anxiety, manage anger, promote sleep, boost self-esteem, and enjoy relaxation.

This is a pretty remarkable story out of Brazil.  It’s not a place not famed for rigorous law enforcement, true, but a television presenter by day and drug kingpin by night who takes out hits on rivals and then scoops his own news team is an innovation in production that I last saw in the movie Running Man. (And hoped for more than a few reasons I wouldn’t see again.)

Money quote:

The authorities believe that Mr Souza commissioned at least five murders in order to get rid of drug trafficking rivals and to boost his programme ratings.

They say he wanted to prove his claims that the region he represented in the state of Amazonas was plagued with crime.

What’s that?  You heard right, he was also a state legislator!  (Amazonas seems from a cursory glance to be a little bit like Mississippi.  A really fucked up Mississippi.)  Whenever somebody in Tallahassee gets me down, I’ll think of this charming face and feel better.  Especially when I think of the fact that Souza

remains free because for the moment his political role gives him immunity.

I was going to say “Mark Burnett, eat your heart out,” but I fear Mr. Souza might take it literally.  And not even Survivor is that bad.

ABC’s Shark Tank

August 9th, 2009

I wasn’t going to bother saying anything about ABC’s Shark Tank, which debuted tonight following Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, but then my brother made a pretty reasonable point: as a Canadian critic, I have more experience with CBC’s Dragon’s Den, the Canadian series based on the Japanese series that inspired this ABC series, than most. And since I’m in the process of analyzing Canadian television in my thesis, I figure it makes sense to take some time to consider just how the different sensibilities of these two countries have inspired the way these two series differ.

However, I came across two problems when I tried to do this watching tonight’s premiere. The first is that I don’t particularly like Dragon’s Den – no, it’s not a bad series, but I find that its back and forth between “look, embarrassing entrepreneurs!” and “legitimate success” to be like American Idol but without either the humour or the enjoyment. Because they’re real people, you feel bad when they’re clearly so far off the mark, and when they are successful I don’t really know them well enough to know just how much of a success it’s been. It just does nothing to appeal to me (I don’t particularly like Idol auditions to begin with), and the “cruelty” of the dangerous Dragons (cutthroat business people) isn’t really all that interesting.

The second problem, however, is that the differences between these two programs are driven less by national differences and more by economic ones – while Dragon’s Den was brought to Canada during a relatively successful period, Shark Tank was developed in the midst of an economic recession and emerges at a time when this kind of success seems legitimately rare, and where dreaming big and failing big are both staples of the American (and for that matter, North American) experience. It makes my own opinion of these entrepreneurs kind of moot, and shifts the show’s responsibility from entertainment to topical connectivity, a burden that has little to do with nationalist discourses.

And a burden the show deals with as best it can, really.

The big change between this version and the Canadian one is the slickness of it all. There’s an elevator, and a giant shark tank, and more importantly every single person gets an emotional back story. It’s a sign that the show wants to give everyone a story so that their failure or their success is an emotional experience for us as an audience: when a father losing his house fails miserably in front of the Sharks, you feel as if you’re watching a person’s darkest moment. And when someone succeeds, you want that sense of elation and success to translate through to the audience.

They’re changes that work, I feel, but it really plays into the manipulation that reality television offers: ad breaks in between deals, tense music as that moment where deals are made comes and goes, and a sense of tension largely created by these emotional contrivances. The show remains engaging because real people with real ideas is legitimately compelling on its own right, but the extra layers of shine are off-putting at the end of the day. When the offers come up in graphics, making sure we didn’t miss the pretty straightforward elements, it really is the pinnacle of Canadian series turning into glossy American concotion.

But the show at its core remains really compelling for offering a glimpse into the world of business: a young woman offering a single product is told that this may be a better licensing deal for a major company as opposed to an actual business in its own right (but gets money anyways), and the aforementioned father struggles with the Sharks’ advice that he abandon his dream. And when a successful business offers part of their spinoff business, the Sharks are quick to offer them money for the existing company understanding that they want a piece of what works before they’ll consider something new.

In those moments, the show is really interesting – I know very little about business, but these people do and I feel like I’m learning something from this experience. The conflicts that emerge are technically driven by producers prodding the sharks to be as angry as they can be, but I feel as if there are economic reasons for all of it, providing a logic to their reasoning that helps manage the series’ expectations. When the final set of contestants drops out having overvalued their business in their minds, and walk away unsure of whether they’ve made the right decision, that uncertainty is a good thing for the show, and will make this a potentially successful series. For me, I’ve seen enough of Dragon’s Den to get my fill, but I see this working about as well for ABC as it did for CBC in Canada.

Cultural Observations

• Holy tongue twister, people: College Foxes Packing Boxes and College Hunks Packing Junk became just downright ridiculous by the end of that final negotiation.
• Interesting to see a few deals made on the show, it’s clear they probably spread them out amongst the episodes in order to make them seem a bit softer. Barbara is clearly the softest of them (talking a bit too much about how the Emmy the Elephant woman reminded her of herself).
• I like that there’s a good mix of high-rolling business ideas and some smaller ones – it’s a good way to keep a sense of diversity.
• We only got one “ridiculous” one, where a man intends to put bluetooth receivers into people’s heads using surgery, but I thought it was pretty well handled on an embarrassment level.
• Love how a contestant opens with a shark pun, and the Sharks just sit there – most enjoyable.

Overall I am a little disappointed.

It was epic. The shots of wildlife and the trek were amazing. The cast was dynamic. The whole concept was great. Plus it wasn’t just four people who were all nice, Mark Burnett and his casting team had gotten four people who all were leaders in their own right. They all thought they new what was right. This led for some very interesting discussions and a lot of good fights. I think the thing was it got very repetitive.

Don’t get me wrong, it was a good show and I am glad I watched it but I never felt like we went anywhere. The ending was nice with them all coming together, almost a little emotional actually but their whole hike felt very familiar. If they weren’t arguing about water they were arguing about Pasquale. If Kevin wasn’t getting lost he was being extremely naive and slowly them down. If Mireya and Benedict weren’t having their showmance they were making fun of the other two and say how stupid they were. Plus I hated the hypocritical nature of them all. It was like whenever one of them wanted to stop and look at a rock or an animal or if they wanted to talk to a local the others had a problem with it. But boy if someone got mad at them for doing the same thing they would throw a hissy fit. Biggest case in point was Pasquale talking about the rocks. Granted they are rocks but they fascinated him. Sorry Mireya that it isn’t a monkey. I know a lot of people hate Pasquale and he got on my nerves as well but everyone was just as bad as he was, and he even defended himself. He told us why he was this way with his emotional story of having to carry someone down from Mt. Everest.

I don’t mind people disliking each other on shows, the best seasons of Survivor, The Amazing Race, or Big Brother is when they are at each others throats. But I guess since their was no elimination or outcome it just felt annoying like we weren’t getting anywhere. The only people I truly liked were the Masai warriors and the porters, you actually cared for them and if they got hurt.

The highlight of the show has got to be Benedict getting malaria and becoming delirious it was fascinating to watch and Mireya was truly heartbroken. What a great episode that was. The other highlight has got to be the ending where the entire village surrounded them as they continued to walk, almost like they were in an impromptu parade.

If they did an Expedition: South America or an Expedition: Asia I probably would watch but they need to probably make sure they don’t exactly all hate each other…but it is a reality show and I’m not looking for everyone to get along. I just don’t need the same basic cycle every episode.

Mark Burnett

Reality television  producer Mark Burnett, was honored with a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.  The Emmy Award winner, who has produced more than 1,100 hours of  television in over 70 countries, including shows such as: Survivor, The Apprentice, Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader, and daytime shows Martha was also named one of   Time Magazine’s  Most Influential People.

Audrina Patridge is one step closer to having her reality show air on MTV. According to Entertainment Weekly, the Hills star’s new series is currently in development at MTV.

The new reality show is titled The Audrina Show and is being produced by Mark Burnett (Survivor, The Apprentice). The Audrina Show will focus on her personal and professional life. Umm what professional life?

Audrina’s final episodes of The Hills will begin airing in the fall and will also feature former Laguna Beach star Kristin Cavallari.

Audrina Patridge recently told repoters the upcoming fifth season of theHills will be her last on the popular “reality” series.

Audrina’s new reality show, starring herself, is moving along full steam ahead and has found a home.  The show, tentatively titled, The Audrina Show, will air on MTV.  Surprise, surprise!  Actually we are a little surprised, as we thought the show may fit in and be claimed by E!

Audrina’s “docusoap” will focus on Audrina’s personal and professional life.  It seems like viewers are on the fence as to whether or not they’ll  watch it.

But for starters, hopefully the Mark Burnett-Patridge team can come up with a more interesting title!

I’m a little behind putting this up and I haven’t watched any episodes yet since the first (sitting on my tivo). However I was surprised at how much I liked this show. I need to go and watch episode 2 and 3 though considering that the fourth episode will be on in just a few days. What I liked about this show was that it had some history, some Eco-Challenge, and some good reality show bickering. This was truly a Mark Burnett show. He did a great job casting our four explorers who are all very A-Type personalities and already seem to be getting on people’s nerves. I think the two that were probably the most aggravating were Pasquale and Benedict. Both seemed to want to be in charge but kept trying to be polite. Pasquale did definitely take the lead and Benedict let him but Benedict seemed to be a sour puss the whole time and complained the whole time. That is one that that could kill this show. Since it is all about traveling, if they get lost every single episode it could really bog it down and become extremely repetitive. Also how far away are they from each other. How did Kevin get lost so easily? If I was him, with the least experience, I would have stuck extremely close to the other people…I mean we are in Africa with a bunch of very dangerous animals.

I also loved the opening. Mark Burnett, for the most part, knows how to start a show. The four crossing the ocean from Zanzibar into the mainland was epic and very interesting to see.

At this point I really like Mireya but her whole “I can be just as strong as the boys” stick could get old very early. However she seems to be the only person who isn’t stupid and abrasive. Like really Kevin? You don’t think you should bring water? This is a Mark Burnett production they aren’t going to help you.