Big Picture
Michele Williams: Paris Pretty Plus, Victoria Beckham struts and Courteney Cox steals a smooch. Get the latest pics!
MORE PHOTOS +Most Commented
- TV's Top Couples Tournament: Vote in the Final Round! (2036)
- TV's Top Couples Tournament: This Round Is Closed, Please Stand By (697)
- Afternoon Mail! Are Gleeks Having More Sex Than Vamps? (586)
- Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart Photos Galore! New Pics From Their Post-Twilight Flicks! (553)
- TV's Top Couple Tournament: And the Winner Is... (499)
- Beyoncé and Jay-Z Share First Photos of Baby Blue Ivy! (398)
- Whitney Houston Dead at 48 (396)
- Morning Mail! Is Lea Michele Ready to Walk Like an Egyptian? (286)
- Life After Breaking Dawn?! Maybe, Says Studio Head! (226)
- Morning Mail! Céline Dion Talks Whitney Houston's Tragic Death (221)
Top 10 Stories
- American Idol: Did Tent Girl Get Better? Who Passed Out Onstage? And Who's Headed to Vegas?!
- Survivor: One World Insider: Chivalry Is Dead, Y'All
- Seal Takes Off His Wedding Ring
- Kim Kardashian, Movie Star? It's "Very Much Possible," Says Tyler Perry
- Charlie Sheen Gets Cease-and-Desist From Warner Bros.: Don't Use Our Men Photos!
- Grey's Anatomy: Ellen Pompeo Opens Up About Baby "Guilt," Her TV Marriage and Cristina's Crisis
- Whitney Houston Death Certificate Reveals Burial Location, Still No Cause of Death
- Did Lil Wayne Really Just Get Engaged?!
- Real Housewives' Michaele Salahi and Her New Man, Neal Schon, Sued by Her Ex for $50 Million
- Whitney Houston's Hotel Death Room Already Booked? Not So Fast...
Fashion Police
Leighton's Valentine's Look Plus, Ashlee Simpson and Cate Blanchett. Rate the highs and lows!
MORE PHOTOS +
Our Partners
ABC Wins the Week
Ellen's big coming-out episode was the foundation of the whole success, pulling a surprising 36 million viewers. And the magazine show PrimeTime Live, another of the the nine ABC shows that placed in the week's top 20 of total viewers, was all about Ellen DeGeneres' struggle to come out.
The network also got a boost from the Oscar-winning Forrest Gump, which beat its major competition, part one of Robin Cook's Invasion, the sci-fi made-for-TV movie on NBC. Even the miniseries The Shining improved on its disastrous first night in its second and third installments.
All this must be sweet revenge for ABC Entertainment president Jamie Tarses, whose name keeps coming up in the press as the executive most likely to take the fall for the network's sorry season. On Monday, ABC felt it had to put out a statement, in the name of president Robert Iger, expressing "...confidence that, under Jamie's leadership, we will be able to turn around ABC's prime-time performance."
The 33-year-old Tarses had been touted as a wonder-woman. While at NBC, she helped develop a number of sitcoms, including Friends, that were specifically designed to attract the Adults l8-49 audience most favored by advertisers.
Still, her move over to the top at ABC 11 months ago was considered by many in the industry as too much, too soon. The fact that her arrival stepped on the toes of the division's popular chairman, Ted Harbert, heightened controversy. He resigned in February, leaving her in complete command of a network for the first time.
She inherited a weak lineup of new series and a list of departing standbys like Roseanne. Faced with few other choices in the vital sweeps period, Tarses has had to program feature movies and stunt specials and settle on gimmicks like 3D.
On May 19, she flies solo for the first time: ABC will announce its lineup for next fall, the first full schedule designed by Tarses.
0 Comments
Now loading...