TV Bulletin Board (Nov. 12)
11/13/08 16:39
NBC's already pivotal Sunday Night Football matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins will be further spiced by Bruce Springsteen's halftime performance of his new song, "Working On a Dream."
Springsteen is warming up for a bigger halftime performance at the Feb. 1st Super Bowl in Tampa, which also will be on NBC. But will the Cowboys show up?
***Earlier on the same Sunday, CBS' 60 Minutes hopes to retain last week's crown as prime-time's most-watched show with the first post-campaign interview of president-elect Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama.
CBS announced its latest big score Thursday, with correspondent Steve Kroft set to tape his interview with the Obamas on Friday, Nov. 14th in Chicago.
Last Sunday, Kroft led 60 Minutes with his election night interview of Obama's four principal campaign strategists. That edition drew 18.5 million viewers nationally to edge CBS' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as prime-time's highest-rated show for the week of Nov. 3-9, according to Nielsen Media Research.
60 Minutes will have to do better than that Sunday night. Another CBS crime drama, NCIS, already is the clubhouse leader with a personal best 18.8 million viewers for Tuesday's episode.
***Tonight's the night (Thurs., Nov. 13) for Anthony Edwards' return to NBC's ER, where he'll reprise Dr. Mark Greene in a series of flashback scenes. ER is commemorating its 15th and final season with encore visits by some of the series' most popular stars and characters. The biggest fish of all, George Clooney, hasn't been landed yet. But you've got to think he'll reappear in some way before ER checks out sometime next year.
***HBO's live, sixth season finale of Real Time with Bill Maher is on Friday (Nov. 14th) at the usual 10 p.m. (central) start time. Scheduled roundtable guests are Ashton Kutcher, Jon Meacham and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. The host's one-one-on interview subjects haven't been announced yet.
***NBC's Saturday Night Live has added two featured cast members, Abby Elliott and Michaela Watkins, with both joining the show on Nov. 15th.
Abby is the daughter of veteran comedian Chris Elliott and the granddaughter of the late Bob Elliott, who teamed with Ray Goulding to form the famed Bob & Ray comedy duo. She last worked with the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, which was founded by Amy Poehler, who recently left the show as planned after having her first child.
Watkins comes from the Groundlings Theater, where former/current SNL cast members Will Ferrell, Phil Hartman, Laraine Newman and Kristen Wiig got started.
***Finally, Rosie O'Donnell is beginning to dribble out the guest list for her live Nov. 26th variety show on NBC. So far she has Kathy Griffin, Jane Krakowski, Alanis Morissette and Ne-Yo
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