WHO: Nina Tassler, President, CBS Entertainment
PREDICTIONS: Lots of questions about the health of the CSI franchise, the decision to cancel Without a Trace, and the latest Big Brother scandal that no one really cares about.
9:13 am/PST: A reporter starts things off with a bang by erroneously calling Nina by her predecessor’s name, Nancy. “I’m Nina,” she responds. Could’ve been worse. He could’ve called her Les.
9:16 am: Twelve hours after news broke that a new version of Let’s Make a Deal would replace Guiding Light this fall, a reporter asks Nancy Nina which show Let’s Make a Deal will be replacing. It’s going to be a loooooooooong week.
9:17 am: Sounds like Flashpoint is a goner. “There are no plans” to produce new episodes beyond the nine already in the can.
9:19 am: “It seemed premature” for NBC to issue a press release declaring Conan the new king of late night, adding, “Dave is at the top of his game… We see this as a great opportunity.”
9:22 am: In response to the failing grade CBS just received from GLAAD, Tassler concedes that “we certainly have to improve our scripted content… hopefully we’ll do better next year.”
9:27 am: How does CBS plan to reverse CSI‘s ratings slide this season? They’re giving Laurence Fishburne some new duds, of course! Tassler reveals that they’re listening to fans who “wanted to see him more comfortable in his clothes” by giving Langston a “little bit of a wardrobe makeover.” Additionally, longtime viewers “wanted to see the group back together,” hence the return of Jorja Fox. She also dropped this spoilery tidbit: Catherine promotes Nick early in the season!
9:30 am: Tassler calls the cancellation of Without a Trace “a tough decision.” Says she’s happy the show at least went out on a creative high.
For more scoop from the exec session, including Tassler’s dig at departing NBC boss Ben Silverman, read Lynette Rice’s Hollywood Insider recap.
Why the hell are they not producing more than the 9 episodes of Flashpoint? Lame, lame, lame…
I think she’s forgetting that Craig Ferguson is the King of Late Night.
Letterman IS HAS BEEN and will ALWAYS be the KING of Late Night. Is what Johnny Carson wanted!
Without a Trace went out on a creative high??? on what planet does Tassler live? cancelling WaT at this point was bad enough but that last episode was an all time LOW!!!
I totally agree! That was one of my favorite shows and that finale was a HUGE let down… they had the re-run on last night and i just had to roll my eyes! Pathetic!
Absolutely agree with you, Sky. That finale was a joke. After seven seasons, the actors and the fans deserved better material than that.
I’m sooooooo pissed! If CBS was gonna cancel Without a Trace they should have done it right, not bring in Brian to screw up everything between Jack and Sam. CBS sucks.
Will there be a CBS comedies panel later? I’d love some HIMYM scoop (or really just to see if the show’s improved ratings/Emmy nominations have mollified the absurd suits at the Tiffany network).
I totally agree! That was one of my favorite shows and that finale was a HUGE let down… they had the re-run on last night and i just had to roll my eyes! Pathetic!
So what was the Big Brother scandal that no one really cares about?
Apparently no one really did care about the Big Brother scandal…
I’m wondering that too! Is it the fact Lydia is giving Jessie some serious under the covers action and they haven’t even hinted at it on the broadcasts?
you forgot to include this little gem: “George Ead’s back issues played a surprisingly prominent role in last season’s CSI downward spiral. Grissom’s exit, not so much”
hahaha, there goes whatever respect I had left for Tasslers credibility!
First of all, Conan IS the king of late night. Second of all… “creative high”?! LOL!
What the heck; Flashpoint got almost the same ratings as Numbers and routinely won its timeslot. Why aren’t they producing more episodes? Darn it.
They were filming a new Flashpoint ep just last week down the block from my place.
Flashpoint will still be airing in Canada on the CTV network. I’m hoping that it will survive a couple seasons here. Maybe they can shop it to Fox or CW or some other cable network.
Ausiello, love you or hate you, at least you do a great and passionate job covering TV! Some of these “reporters” could be replaced by a small child or object. They just show up for the free breakfast then fall asleep don’t they?
YES WE WOULD LIKE FOR
YES GRISSOM WOULD BE GREAT , THE ONE YOU GOT TO REPLACE HIS JUST NOT RIGHT…AND THERN YOU CANCELED WITH OUT A TRACE, AND BOSTON LEGAL ALL WOIULD BE GREAT TO WATCH AGAIN, BUT NO YOU LEAVE THE CRAPPY SHOWS ON AND PULL OFF THE GOOD ONES..YOU NEED TO ASK TOUR VIEWERS WHATY TO DO.SEEMS YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW TO WIPE YOUR ASS….AGB
Ew! Really? Another crappy remake??? Another crappy game show??? That is what is replacing Guiding Light? Excuse me while I go throw up.
ARTHUR, I don’t quite know how to tell you this, but Boston Legal was on ABC.
CTV has committed to producing 13 episodes of Flashpoint in 2010 for broadcast in Canada. CBS hasn’t yet decided if it will pick up these episodes or not. It only has committed to the nine episodes that will complete filming in 2 weeks. CBS is supposed to make a decision on the 2010 episodes within the next 2-3 months.