Fans of the late, lamented, made-in-Utah series "Everwood" will soon have a way to watch the show — just not on TV.
The Warner Bros. Television Group is planning a new version of the late, lamented television network The WB. But this time around, it will be an online service that will feature free streaming episodes of Warner Bros.-produced shows such as "Everwood" and "Gilmore Girls."
"Everwood" is not currently airing on any TV network, and only the first season (of four) has been released on DVD.
Plans for the online network are a bit sketchy at the moment. We don't know, for example, if WB shows that were produced by studios other than Warner Bros. — including shows such as "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Dawson's Creek" and "Felicity" — will be included. And, apparently, there will be some short series produced specifically for the new WB — series with episodes that are, perhaps, five minutes long.
But the plan is to provide those free, streaming episodes of all the shows Warner Bros. produced for The WB from 1995-2006. And, in addition to "Everwood," that would include "Jack & Bobby," a fantastic show that isn't available anywhere (including on DVD).
Details are forthcoming. ...
IT WASN'T THAT LONG ago that Tucker Carlson just oozed arrogance. As co-host of the political shoutfest "Crossfire" on CNN, Carlson was under the impression that he was the hottest thing since Larry King.
And when his CNN bosses didn't want to make such a polarizing figure a mainstream anchor, he quit and took his act to MSNBC, never to be seen again.
OK, a few people watched "Tucker," but very few. MSNBC gave the low-rated show the ax this week, replacing it with "Race to the White House With David Gregory" for the time being.
This is shocking only because most people would be surprised to learn Carlson still had a show.
EVERY TIME I THINK NBC Universal chieftain Jeff Zucker can't get any dumber, he proves me wrong.
Appearing at the Harvard Business School's 2008 Entertainment and Media Conference last week, Zucker complained that print reporters report too much about the downsizing of NBC News, according to the trade publication Broadcasting & Cable.
"The thing they want is for the (TV-news) business to die faster (than the newspaper business), because that's what makes them feel better," he said.
No, Jeff, that's not it. If anything, it's concern about the future of journalism in general when corporate suits like you are in charge.
There's a reason Zucker is known as Zippy the Pinhead in some quarters.
E-mail: pierce@desnews.com