DAVID BIANCULLI

Founder / Editor

ERIC GOULD

Associate Editor

LINDA DONOVAN

Assistant Editor

Contributors

ALEX STRACHAN

MIKE HUGHES

KIM AKASS

MONIQUE NAZARETH

ROGER CATLIN

GARY EDGERTON

TOM BRINKMOELLER

GERALD JORDAN

NOEL HOLSTON

 
 
 
 
 
A Veteran TV Writer Interviewed, A New TVWW Writer Introduced: More Treats from TV Worth Watching
January 21, 2011  | By David Bianculli
 

The latest contributions from our ever-expanding, ever-surprising TV WORTH WATCHING roster of writers are worth trumpeting, so here I go, reaching for the brass horn. Long-time TVWW correspondent Tom Brinkmoeller lands an exclusive interview with TV writer-producer Steven Bochco as they revisit Doogie Howser, M.D., Bochco's 1989 comedy-drama series starring a very young Neil Patrick Harris. And our newest correspondent, David Sicilia, takes time off from his professorial duties as an expert on business history to analyze the CBS reality series Undercover Boss...

undercover-boss-Subway-sand.jpg

David's headline for his inaugural TV column (he intends to look at TV shows with an interest in business and moneymaking, which covers everything from NBC's The Apprentice to A&E's Storage Wars) lets you know what to expect from this clever curmudgeon: He dubs Undercover Boss, in which executives disguise themselves as mere workers, an exercise in "Corporate Cross-Dressing." Please welcome David to our merry band, and read his introductory column, which he calls TV Moneyland, HERE.

And for the record, though he might not offer this information willingly himself: Before becoming a respected college professor and author, David Sicilia once toiled as one of those "mere workers," slinging dough at a Fort Lauderdale pizza joint. Welcome, David. I'll take mine to go, with no anchovies.

(No anchovies? You've got the wrong man...)

doogie-howser-season-1.jpg

And for Tom Brinkmoeller's first Raised on MTM piece of 2011, he not only welcomes the addition of Doogie Howser, M.D. to the new HUB network -- for a former newspaper reporter, that would be too easy -- but tracks down and talks to the creator of that pioneering single-camera dramedy, writer-producer Steven Bochco. His exclusive interview can, and should be, read HERE.

Add to these our recent TVWW Contributors posts on the opening nights of CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight (taken to task by P.J. Bednarski in his latest I Like to Watch column HERE) and Fox's American Idol (similarly taken to task by Ronnie Gill of Altered Reality in her latest column HERE), and we've had a great week here at TV WORTH WATCHING.

Hope you're enjoying it as much as we're enjoying bringing it to you.

Thanks, guys!

 

2 Comments

 

susteph said:

i spell my name DANGER.

hard to believe that's really nph in the picture. he's so young. how old is he there, 10? cute.

[Glad to know somebody got my obscure Firesign Theatre "Nick Danger, Third Eye" reference with the "no anchovies" line. And Neil, at the time, would have just turned 16. -- DB]

Comment posted on January 21, 2011 12:31 PM


Tausif Khan said:

Yes, please, please interview more television show runners. Is it possible that you might get an interview from Shawn Ryan? I don't want The Chicago Code to face the same fate as Terriers.

Also, in terms of David Sicilla's column because he is interested in the business side of television I would like to hear what he has to say on the NBC-Comcast deal, how the internet is changing the way that television does business and how television executives are measuring ratings differently with the advent of DVR and sites like Hulu.

Comment posted on January 21, 2011 2:36 PM
 
 
 
 
 
Leave a Comment: (No HTML, 1000 chars max)
 
 Name (required)
 
 Email (required) (will not be published)
 
UWRRS
Type in the verification word shown on the image.