Radio Recap -- July 30, 2008

It's time for a RADIO RECAP
"Must Hear TV" on "The Frank DeCaro Show" on Sirius OutQ 109
Wednesdays, 1-2 PM



In news from today's installment of "Must-Hear TV"...

• Audiences are already mad for season 2 of AMC's Mad Men. Sunday night's premiere more than doubled the season 1 average for viewers (2.0 million vs. 915,000), and also grew significantly in the all-important Adults 18-49 and 25-54 demos.



And I'm telling you if you're just tuning in to this destined-to-be-a-classic show, stick around. I've seen episode 2. And whereas episode 1 laid a lot of groundwork, there are now some juicy surprises coming already this Sunday...






• All you callers who constantly ask about this one -- and with John Barrowman as the lead, why wouldn't you? -- BBC America announced at ComicCon last week in San Diego that they will be carrying Season 3 of the Doctor Who spinoff series Torchwood. 5 new episodes are being produced in the UK for airing in 2009, with BBC America airing them here shortly thereafter.



I know a lot of you will be saying "Any casting news?" And "why only 5 episodes?" The answers so far appear to be "No comment" on both fronts.

• I know from witnessing it first-hand (click here for a link to my coverage of an Extreme Makeover for the Vitale family of Long Island) that Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is the real deal. This show changes lives for the better, empowers neighbors to help, and has a cast of talented designers who really care. Recently, there have been news reports of winners unprepared for the tax bills accompanying their new digs, and now comes the first report I've heard of a pending foreclosure.



According to tvguide.com, the Harper family of Georgia used their new mini-mansion, built with the goodwill of 1800 of their nearest and dearest, as collateral on a $450,000 loan to prop up their construction business. When the business failed, the loan defaulted, and now for what I think is the first time, an Extreme Makeover house can be yours, second hand, at an auction beginning August 5. Doria and I had slightly differing opinions on this story (no, I love you more, Doria!). What's yours?





• Casting news for another show a lot of you are asking about: the ABC adaptation of the British drama Life on Mars. We've already talked about the series lead Jason O'Mara, playing modern-day detective Sam Tyler who is mysteriously transported back to 1973. Now from tvguide.com comes word that the show has cast one of its key female roles: Gretchen Mol, who you may know from the 2005 HBO movie The Notorious Bettie Page (a film which Frank and I like to call "The Notoriously Boring Bettie Page"), as 1973 pioneering female detective Annie.

• Extra's own little Eve Harrington, namely Mario Lopez, has pushed past current anchors Mark McGrath and Dayna Devon, and now has the show all to himself. McGrath is reportedly going back to making music with Sugar Ray, and Devon is swapping with Lopez, becoming a special correspondent rather than host. Season 15 of Extra, with Lopez alone at the helm, starts September 15.

And you callers asked...

• Brian in Toledo wondered why Fox seems to be even more trigger-happy than the other networks in cancelling decent shows. Good question! Yes, they originally goofed with Family Guy -- how cool that they were able to rectify that mistake? (Yes, Frank, I said "rectify.") To be fair, they did stick with Arrested Development through 3 seasons, and nurtured 24 when it wasn't quite yet a hit. And other networks cancel things awfully fast these days too --remember ABC, with its 1 aired episode of Emily's Reasons Why Not, or CBS, which showed Viva Laughlin exactly twice?



But it's true -- Fox has blown through an awful lot of shows which should have lasted longer. As I often posit, the News Corporation itself is kinda schizoid, with its conservative news operation and its sometimes raucous network. And so that network seems to be as well -- the development people seem to go for edgy or experimental comedies -- think Andy Richter Controls the Universe, Greg the Bunny, The Tick -- and then the scheduling people seem to chicken out. Someone from Fox please weigh in -- am I right?





• Tom in Miami asked about The Riches. At the Television Critics of America conference in Los Angeles 2 weeks ago, FX president John Landgraf was asked that very question: is the show coming back? The answer: it's not decided as of this time (this was July 15.)

• John in Texas asked about the L Word spinoff, and the news is: it's happening. According to Showtime president Robert Greenblatt at the TCA convention on Saturday, July 19, they even know which L character is about to get her own show -- but the actress doesn't even know yet! The show will go forward, with L Word producer Ilene Chaiken at the helm, after the mothership wraps production on its sixth and final season this year.

• Ray in Ossining, I have no news on when Empty Nest might be coming to DVD, and neither does my bible, http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/. But it seemed to me to have taken too long for The Golden Girls to come out on DVD, so it might be a while. And John -- as Frank said, it's hard to figure out the logic of why some things come out so slowly on DVD, and in this case why Footballers' Wives DVDs would be so far behind the UK run. Let's ask BBC America -- is it because you guys want us watching them on air first?

Well that's it for me -- my theme music is playing me out. Tune in next Wednesday for the next installment of...

"Must Hear TV!"