WFAA8 anchor Campos hardly a wallflower at Dancing with the Stars

09/29/10 02:59 PM

Edward R. Murrow is too dead to spin around in his grave anymore and Peter Jennings probably has given up, too. Which serves as our intro. to WFAA8 anchor Gloria Campos' Dancing with the Stars interlude on Tuesday's 10 p.m. newscast.
Ed Bark

Premiere week uppers and downers

09/29/10 12:16 PM

CBS scored the biggest in the first week of the new TV season while ABC and Fox both struggled. Get our complete scorecard here.
Ed Bark

Nice start for LOLA (a k a Law & Order: Los Angeles)

09/29/10 10:40 AM

NBC again extends the Law & Order brand Wednesday with an offshoot set in L.A. Maybe canceling the mothership wasn't such a bad idea after all. Our review is here. Plus, check out Tuesday's D-FW Nielsen ratings for the numbers on newcomer No Ordinary Family, returnee The Good Wife, etc.
Ed Bark

Lone Star dumped; Dallas Film Commission head hopes to pick up pieces with possible new North Texas productions

09/28/10 06:08 PM

As previously noted in these spaces, Lone Star was on life support going into its second episode Monday night. And the ratings were even worse, prompting Fox to shoot it down early Tuesday evening. Get all the details here, plus comments from Dallas Film Commission head Janis Burklund.
Ed Bark

CBS11 names new early morning co-anchor

09/28/10 12:15 PM

D-FW-based CBS11 has tabbed Lisa Pineiro to join Scott Sams on the station's weekday early morning news program. She might be a bit rusty at first. Get the details here. Also, ABC's super-powered No Ordinary Family debuts Tuesday. Our review is here.
Ed Bark

Burns' Tenth Inning errs on the side of Yanks, Red Sox while also pumping up with 'roids

09/27/10 03:08 PM

Ken Burns' classic 1994 Baseball film goes into overtime Tuesday and Wednesday night with his four-hour The Tenth Inning. Our review is here. Also, see our complete wrapup of the Dallas Cowboys-infused D-FW weekend Nielsen ratings.
Ed Bark

Blue Bloods shows vital signs with Selleck its heartbeat

09/24/10 03:19 PM

The last weeknight of the new fall season ends with the premiere of Tom Selleck's Blue Bloods series on CBS. Our review is here.
Ed Bark

$#*! Dale Hansen Says (an update); two high-profile network execs leaving after being pushed

09/24/10 01:01 PM

WFAA8 sports anchor Dale Hansen's latest jab at weathercaster Pete Delkus proves him to be a master-baiter. Get the video and some details here. Plus, a pair of prominent TV network executives took falls on Friday. And the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings chart the performance of Thursday's new and returning series.
Ed Bark

ABC's Austin-made My Generation has lots of character (or is it characters?)

09/23/10 04:44 PM

ABC leads off its Thursday prime-time lineup with My Generation, a made-in-Austin scripted serial soap that also drinks liberally from the "reality" TV genre. Our review is here.
Ed Bark

Presenting two new Thursday night comedies -- NBC's Outsourced and CBS' $#! My Dad Says*

09/23/10 01:11 PM

The new fall season continues apace with a pair of freshman comedies. Our review of NBC's Outsourced is here. And you can get our take on CBS' $#*! My Dad Says by going here.
Plus, the Wednesday D-FW Nielsen ratings chart the ups and downs of that night's new and returning series.
Ed Bark

ABC takes two new season swings Wednesday

09/22/10 05:24 PM

A new ABC legal drama, The Whole Truth, goes against two other legal hours in Wednesday's closing hour of prime-time. Our review is here. Plus, ABC sandwiches the freshman comedy series Better With You between two returnees, The Middle and Modern Family. Go here for our review.
Ed Bark

Idol expectedly names Tyler, J-Lo as judges to the tune of a badly botched live online feed

09/22/10 01:42 PM

American Idol's new judges are as long-rumored, with Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez joining holdover Randy Jackson. But in a possible foreshadowing of more problems to come, a trumpeted live online feed of the announcement went belly-up, irking a steady stream of Tweeters. Get our two-ply coverage here.

Also, those in search of a new guilty pleasure might want to strongly consider the Dallas-produced, Dallas-originated Ma's Roadhouse, which has a new episode Wednesday night on truTV. The details are here. And the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings chart the ups and downs of the second night of TV's new fall season.
Ed Bark

WFAA8 hitting the road in hopes of pulling up bootstraps

09/21/10 06:31 PM

Did anyone catch that new black-and-white ""On the Road" image campaign for WFAA8 Monday night? It aired during the heart of ABC's Dancing with the Stars season premiere. And you can get our take on it -- as well as see it for yourself -- by going right here.
Plus, we review Jim Belushi's surprisingly entertaining new legal drama, The Defenders.
Ed Bark

NBC's new Undercovers takes a madly in love Hart to Hart approach to spy work

09/21/10 01:52 PM

NBC's Undercovers makes the most of two super-telegenic spies who also are very much in love -- and married. That's an exceedingly rare occurrence in a prime-time TV drama of any genre. Our review is here.
Ed Bark

Night one of the new fall season -- is it too soon to start playing taps for Lone Star?

09/21/10 10:31 AM

It's early. In fact it's just Night 1. But the first ratings returns for Fox's critically acclaimed, made-in-North Texas Lone Star are dismal -- both locally and nationally. Meanwhile, NBC's Chase, also filmed in these parts, fared appreciably better but not great. Get unclebarky.com's complete D-FW ratings breakdown right here.
Ed Bark

Presenting reviews of ABC's Detroit 1-8-7 and Fox's Raising Hope and Running Wilde

09/20/10 06:24 PM

Tuesday rings in three more broadcast TV newcomers, with a fourth (No Ordinary Family) coming next week on that night. Our review of ABC's Detroit 1-8-7, starring Michael Imperioli, is here. And a combo look at Fox's Raising Hope and Running Wilde can be found here. The weekend D-FW ratings also are in, with the Cowboys drawing more than 1.3 million agonized D-FW viewers in defeat.
Ed Bark

Whoa, almost forgot. Unclebarky.com turns 4 today.

09/17/10 08:01 PM

How to explain this? Well, your
friendly content provider loved The
Lone Ranger -- and Batman -- as a kid.

Amid the rush and crush of the new fall season, I almost forgot to note another milestone in the life of unclebarky.com. It all began on Sept. 17, 2006. So today is the fourth anniversary, with Year 5 on the immediate horizon.

Thanks to all readers for their help, encouragement and occasionally disparaging words. We'll continue striving to write about local and national TV as we see it without any corporate entanglements or other static. It really is best that way. Light a candle and let's keep pushing ahead.
Ed Bark

North Texas two-step commences Monday with premieres of Lone Star and Chase

09/17/10 04:09 PM

Monday, the official start of the fall season, is super-loaded with high-profile new and returning series. But many eyes in these parts will be trained on NBC's Chase and Fox's Lone Star, both of which are being filmed in North Texas. We do a big shebang double review right here.
Ed Bark

HBO renews mob ties and triumphs anew with Boardwalk Empire

09/17/10 12:10 PM

The network of The Sopranos returns to New Jersey Sunday with a crackerjack new gangland series co-produced by Martin Scorsese. Our review of Boardwalk Empire is here.
Ed Bark

Dean makes the seen on TXA21

09/17/10 09:42 AM

Jody Dean's morning show on Dallas-based KLUV radio will be simulcast on TXA21, staring in late October. Get the details here. Also, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings are in.
Ed Bark

Reviewing two more Monday newbies: NBC's The Event and CBS' Hawaii Five-0 (which also is an oldby)

09/16/10 02:44 PM

Most of the fall season's better new drama series are clustered on Monday night. We've got reviews of NBC's The Event and CBS' Hawaii Five-0 -- with unclebarky.com's North Texas Two Step coming soon.
Ed Bark

CBS loads up on fat jokes for new Mike & Molly; big returns for Wednesday night reality competition finales

09/16/10 10:19 AM

The CBS sitcom Mike & Molly, premiering Monday, lards its two plus-sized title characters with way too many fat jokes. Get the skinny here (sorry). Also, we have the D-FW ratings returns for Wednesday's big night of reality competition finales, plus the premieres of Survivor: Nicaragua (co-starring a disheveled Jimmy Johnson) and Jimmy Smits' Outlaw. The Tuesday D-FW Nielsen ratings also are in.
Ed Bark

WFAA8's Shipp wins, loses on high school football probes

09/15/10 02:09 PM

WFAA8 investigator Brett Shipp's investigations into the Southlake Carroll and Euless Trinity football programs have left him with a 1-1 record. Of course, WFAA8 played up the win while downplaying the expose that didn't pan out. Meanwhile, rival stations ignored WFAA8's exclusive role in the downfall of Southlake QB Daxx Garman while at the same time reporting the story. Our commentary and an accompanying video are here.

Also, Oprah Winfrey's Australian vacation giveaway on the premiere of her final season paid dividends in the D-FW Nielsen ratings. And on our home away from home, locatetv.com, check out all the big players in play during the official Monday night launch of the latest fall season.
Ed Bark

NBC's Outlaw stars Jimmy Smits as renegade U.S. Supreme Court justice turned justice-seeker

09/14/10 11:24 AM

NBC launches its first new fall series of the season Wednesday, with Jimmy Smits' Outlaw inheriting a nice head wind from the season finale of America's Got Talent. It's preposterous beyond belief but then finds firmer ground with next week's much better second episode. Our two-pronged review is here. Plus, NBC's Sunday Night Football set another national ratings record with its Cowboys-Redskins season opener. Get all the details on our TV Bulletin Board page.
Ed Bark

Bizarro season-opening Cowboys loss is another cringe-inducing mega-hit locally

09/13/10 11:17 AM

The Dallas Cowboys opened their latest regular season on NBC's national stage Sunday night. How many D-FW viewers took in the carnage? Our complete report is here. Also, CW33 news takes yet another jaw-dropping turn for the worse. And on our home away from home, locatetv.com, we assess the possibilities of Larry King's CNN replacement, Britisher Piers Morgan.
Ed Bark

Jimmy Johnson discourses on hair-raising Survivor experience

09/10/10 11:36 AM

"Obsessed" with Survivor since its inception, former Dallas Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson finally gets his chance to be a participant in Survivor: Nicaragua, which premieres Wednesday, Sept. 15th on CBS. He discoursed at length during a Thursday teleconference with TV writers. Our account is here.

Also, we have a complete recap of Wednesday's storm-tossed D-FW Nielsen ratings, plus a look at Thursday night's total dominance by the NFL's regular season kickoff game between the Saints and Vikings.
Ed Bark

CW's Nikita flexes a star in the making

09/09/10 03:47 PM

CW's other new fall series, a Nikita re-do, premieres Thursday, Sept. 9th in tandem with the Season 2 return of The Vampire Diaries. Maggie Q as the title character could be an A-lister in the making. Our review is here. And for more on the actress, check out your friendly content provider's previous summer "press tour" dispatch on locatetv.com, where you'll also find a discourse on HBO's True Blood winding down while Vampire Diaries offers a junior league alternative.
Ed Bark

Rain rain went away -- but not before WFAA8 brought it home with sobering overhead pictures of flooding and rescues (plus much, much more inside)

09/08/10 03:42 PM

Wednesday's North Texas downpour caused heavy flooding in some quarters, prompting D-FW's four major TV news providers to preempt regular programming for live coverage. WFAA8 excelled above and beyond, particularly when HD Chopper 8 pilot Troy Bush was at the controls. Our commentary and pictures are here.

Plus, TNT has green-lighted a pilot for a possible new series version of Dallas while CNN has nailed down Larry King's expiration date and his replacement, Piers Morgan.

Furthermore, the new and winningly amusing Terriers series premieres Wednesday night on FX. See our review. And the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings also are in.
Ed Bark

CW33 "sexpert's" new video bio is a (G-rated) show-and-tell from her bed

09/07/10 06:01 PM

Reporter Shana Franklin seems to be reveling in her still somewhat new role as Dallas-based CW33's resident "sexpert." Her newly posted video bio finds her in bed with four loves of her life while hubby mans the camera. Oh, but we tease in the same manner her station would. Have a look if you'd like.
Ed Bark

CW's Hellcats cheers for itself as fall season's first broadcast network premiere

09/07/10 04:44 PM

The CW network jump-starts its new season this week with Wednesday night's unveiling of the new cheerleader series Hellcats. It's not exactly jump-up-and-down, good, but . . . Our review is here. Plus the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings chart the numbers for the weekend's big TCU and SMU football games. And a new edition of TV Bulletin Board catches up on some significant developments in the worlds of news and entertainment.
Ed Bark

Happy Labor Day weekend from unclebarky.com

09/03/10 12:42 PM

It's time to take off for a while. So happy Labor Day weekend to all, and we'll reconvene on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, check out our season finale of TV THEME SONG-ville. And for all 12 episodes, simply scroll up and down the Network News & Reviews pages for September and August.

Plus, we revisit a 1978 gambit in which WFAA8 reporter Byron Harris and two mates blockaded I-30 from Dallas to Fort Worth while driving the then maximum legal speed of 55 mph. And the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings also are in.

Again, happy Labor Day weekend! And thanks for your continued support of this one-person work force.
Ed Bark

Conan O'Brien finally feeling a sense of entitlement

09/01/10 02:17 PM

Closing in on two months before its premiere, Conan O'Brien's late night TBS show at last has a name. O'Brien spills it himself in an amusing two-minute video you can watch on our Network News & Reviews page. Also, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings pit the first-place Texas Rangers against NBC's potent America's Got Talent after President Obama starts Tuesday night with lukewarm numbers.
Ed Bark

WFAA8's Shipp draws flag for taunting high school football team targets on Facebook

09/01/10 02:30 AM

WFAA8 investigator Brett Shipp has been around long enough to know better. But he couldn't resist twitting two North Texas high school football powers on his Facebook page well before his Tuesday night expose aired. Get the details here. Also, our pre-fall season trips to TV THEME SONG-ville enter their final stages with a look/listen tied to Angie Dickinson's picturesque Police Woman series.

Plus, another month is in the books on unclebarky.com's most heavily stocked pages. That means that the Dallas-Fort Worth TV and Network News & Reviews pages are newly in the August archives in case you still want to catch up.

Thanks to all for clicking on any advertisers of interest. And a special thanks to all who have made their amazon.com purchases after first clicking through one of the ads on unclebarky.com. We get a small commission on each buy, and it all helps.
Ed Bark

Above the Fold

So tell us what you really think about what you see on TV