NBC's new reality series gives away a restaurant chain

NBC has ordered an ambitious culinary competition series with a prize that is among the biggest in reality show history.

The network has greenlighted a program from “Top Chef” producers Magical Elves in which the grand-prize winner will launch his or her own chain of restaurants. The show’s working title is -- and this is catchy -- “United Plates of America.”

A group of would-be restaurateurs will compete to impress a panel of wealthy investors from the cooking and business world. Challenges will test competitors’ savvy on such subjects as their restaurant’s concept, menu and marketability and their ability to manage staff.

“We’ve done a lot of work in the culinary space, but there’s a lot more to this subject than just cooking, and we’re excited about expanding our creative energy,” executive producer Jane Lipsitz said.

G4 orders police reality series 'Campus PD'

G4 is putting a spin on the police reality series with “Campus PD.”

Each episode follows officers on duty in five U.S. college towns as they deal with the challenges of university mayhem.

Conan O'Brien spoofs 'Twilight Saga: New Moon'

Is this an easy joke? Yes. Is it funny? Oh yes. Here's Conan O'Brien presenting a "clip" from "The Twilight Saga: New Moon."

Ratings: 'WWII in HD,' 'Jon & Kate'

The premiere of History's "WWII in HD" delivered 2.6 million viewers for the network Sunday evening.

The documentary series made History the top cable network from 9-11 p.m. among the male demos, delivering triple-digit percentage gains from what the network usually posts in the time period. Night 2 held up well, dipping only slightly to 2.5 million.

Emmys will air earlier next year

By Nellie Andreeva

The Emmys are moving to August again.

'Three Rivers' update: Season high? Not so much

Ah those pesky preliminaries. Sunday's "Three Rivers" showed a season high in the early ratings. Now that nationals are in, we see the show didn't spike after all -- 8.2 million viewers and 1.8 rating, same demo # as last week and only the slightest gain in viewers. Does this hurt the show's chances for more episodes? Well, it sure doesn't help.

'Daily Show' vet John Oliver gets series

Another "Daily Show" regular is getting his own Comedy Central series.

John Oliver will host a new stand-up comedy series for network starting in January. The network has ordered six episodes of "John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show," which will feature performances by Oliver's favorite comedians (including Janeane Garofalo, Brian Posehn, Paul F. Tompkins and Marc Maron). Each hour will feature four stand-up performers.

Locklear barely boosts 'Melrose'; 'V' falls again

The CW was hoping for a little more than this. 

Heather Locklear joining "Melrose Place" boosted the show a paltry 14% Tuesday from its series-low-matching performance last week. The CW soap was seen by 1.5 million viewers and drew a 0.8 preliminary rating among adults 18-49. Among the CW's key women 18-34 demo, however, the show improved more -- rising 33% to six-week highs -- though that's still dropping 30% from its "90210" lead-in. 

Over on ABC, the third episode of "V" (9.3 million, 3.1) fell another 18%. And on CBS, the network's entire drama lineup hit across-the-board season lows.

Yet there was some positive ratings news last night: After rising 17% on Monday, NBC's "Jay Leno Show" (6.1 million, 2.0) rose 5% -- matching its highest rating on any night in six weeks and coming in second place at 10 p.m. despite its "Biggest Loser" (9.4 million, 3.7) lead-in dropping a notch. 

Sarah Palin gives Oprah biggest audience in two years

Oprah Winfrey’s interview with former vp candidate Sarah Palin scored the talk show host her highest rating in two years.

Monday's episode of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" drew a 8.7 household rating and 13 share -- the best since Winfrey had the entire Osmond family on the show in 2007.

That means Palin also topped Winfrey's heavily viewed interviews with Whitney Houston at the start of the season.

Palin is making the rounds to promote her new book, "Going Rogue," which came out Tuesday. 

Monday ratings: 'Dancing,' 'Castle' hit season high

Look, Monday ratings!

Fox and CBS tied the night while ABC led among total viewers. Most shows roughly on par compared to their previous performances, though ABC's lineup hit season highs and NBC's "Heroes" sunk to a new low.

Fox's "House" (12.9 million viewers, 5.1 adults 18-49 rating) and "Lie to Me" (7.8 million, 2.9) were both down just slightly.

CBS was steady for its "Playbook" episode of "HIMYM" (8.4 million, 3.5). "Accidentally on Purpose" (7.8 million, 3.0) and "Two and a Half Men" (14.1 million, 4.8) were up a bit. "Big Bang Theory" (13.5 million, 5.1) climbed 9%. "CSI: Miami" (13.5 million, 3.8) slumped a tad after last week's crossover.

Gordon Ramsay gives you a shopping list

Fox has set a date for its live cooking show with Gordon Ramsay and has released a shopping list for viewers (below). "Gordon Ramsay: CookAlong Live" will air as a one-hour special on Tuesday, Dec. 15 where the master chef will show viewers how to prepare a three-course meal. Presumably he won't yell at you.

Here's the shopping list:

Winning Obama health care reform ad chosen (video)

Democrats have picked a winning ad in their user-generated health care reform video contest.

Celebrities such as Will.i.am, Rosario Dawson and Seth MacFarlane were on a panel to help choose the ad, which was selected after 1,000 entries were whittled down to 20 finalists last month.

The winning video goes straight for the dying-children jugular and looks pretty much like what you tend to get from a professional lobbying group. Seems the contest was more about generating publicity for the process than selecting a winner that feels truly grassroots and unique.

Ratings delayed ... 'til Wednesday

"Due to a power outage at Nielsen in Oldsmar, FL, all data expected this morning will be delayed ..."

UPDATE: Nielsen says there's going to be no data at all today ... it's just a data free day.

Come on back tomorrow we'll have some ratings for you then.

MTV acquires rights to Jackson's 'This Is It'

MTV Networks acquired the exclusive U.S. TV rights to "Michael Jackson's This Is It" ...

Of course, it's called "Michael Jackson's This Is It," but it's not really Michael Jackson's movie, is it? The man never intended to release his half-assed rehearsal footage onto Imax, did he? ... Anyway, the movie will start airing on MTV and its sister music networks in 2011.

What's better, you think -- a clip from "Michael Jackson's This Is It" or a performance from the Strokes' "Is This It"? Let's compare ...

Bob Saget to explore American subcultures on A&E

Bob Saget will travel the country exploring strange American subcultures in a new reality series on A&E.

In “Bob Saget’s Strange Days” (working title), the "America's Funniest Home Videos" host immerses himself in cultures such as the world of mail-order brides to joining a survivalist cult prepping for the end of the world to rushing at a fraternity.

The series is in production and expected to hit the air next year.

“Bob Saget has been a part of the television landscape for years, but now we’ll be seeing him in a completely different light as he travels the country to explore ways of living that most of us know nothing about,” said Robert Sharenow, senior vp of reality at A&E. “The show will reveal hidden corners of the real America and the real Bob Saget, who is even funnier and more relatable when just being himself than any other role he’s ever played.”

Obnoxious network habit: Pop-up promos

This AP story hits an issue I suspect plenty of viewers feel strongly about: annoying, pop-up ads. For my money, the worst offender has been TNT, which relentlessly plasters theatrical movies with leisurely pop ups, so much so that, as Frazier Moore suggests, if I see a second-run movie in TNT's listings that I want to watch, I go rent it. Nothing like Kyra Sedgwick strolling across Middle Earth with a flashlight to ruin "Fellowship of the Ring." Here's the AP:

Somewhere in the universe of TV viewers, there's got to be a person who actually likes those pop-up, on-screen promotions.

Someone who thinks, "Thank you, network people, for those useful, informative announcements that block what I'm watching to tell me what I'm watching, or tell me what I could be watching next, which will then be blocked by reminders of what I could be watching after that."

Neil Patrick Harris joins Twitter ...

... and gets 5,000 6,000 9000 a lot of followers in his first couple hours after one Tweet ... 

CBS to swap 'Three Rivers,' 'Cold Case'

CBS is going to re-arrange Sunday night next week.

As a little experiment, the network is going to swap 9 p.m.'s "Three Rivers" and 10 p.m.'s "Cold Case" to see if either show is improved by the change.

The one-time scheduling switch comes as rumors circulate that CBS is contemplating an additional script order for "Three Rivers" (two) and possibly even ordering additional episodes (five). The network may be waiting for nationals to come in tomorrow for Sunday's episode (which hit a season high in the preliminary ratings) before making a decision. 

As noted in that ratings post, "Rivers" tends to get blamed for the performance of "Case," which rose last year when it had a better lead-in from "Without a Trace." CBS probably figures they'll give "Case" the stronger "Amazing Race" lead in and push "Rivers" to where there's less competition at 10 p.m. and see what happens. Worth a shot.

Sarah Palin talks to Oprah

By Reuters

Sarah Palin said a run for the White House in 2012 is "not on my radar screen right now" as the Republican carefully did not close the door to a possible candidacy in an interview that launched her big book tour.

New trailer for HBO's 'The Pacific'

For those who can't wait for HBO's "The Pacific," check out History's "WWII in HD" that's airing this week. First episode ran last night and was pretty amazing. In the meantime, here's the second trailer for "The Pacific"...