After 26-and-a-half years as TV critic for The Dallas Morning News, I left in September 2006 and immediately launched my one-person, tin can website as an unfettered vehicle for news and views th...
Although definitely not for everyone, HBO’s Watchmen is one of the damnedest things you’ll ever see while Amazon Prime’s Modern Love is infinitely breezier and more conventional. ...Plus, W...
NBC5 anchor Meredith Land, who has co-helmed the station’s 10 p.m. weeknight newscasts for the past nine years, will be vacating her late night duties after the November “sweeps” ratings pe...
Walton Coggins goes against type in a big way while Patricia Heaton tries to launch her third long-running sitcom hit. ...And you can find our take on Heaton’s Carol’s Second Act right here.
The Big Four broadcast networks again almost got skunked during Sunday’s Emmy Awards, with only NBC’s Saturday Night Live emerging a winner. But ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox remain invested in the t...
Amazon Prime lets loose with its latest original series on Friday, Aug. 30th, and Carnival Row is picture perfect with storytelling that can’t quite match up. ...And the Dallas Cowboys’ last ...
Kirsten Dunst is electric as the star of Showtime’s new 10-episode On Becoming a God in Central Florida, which premieres on Sunday, Aug. 25th. ...Also, the terribly sad news of Luke Laufenberg�...
HBO’s new televangelist dramedy, The Righteous Gemstones, premieres on Sunday, Aug. 18th. Your friendly content provider is preaching its virtues, and our review is here.
Fox4 has hired Terrance Friday as its new weekend morning news anchor. ... And NBC5 consumer reporter Samantha Chatman is leaving the station after three years to return to her hometown -- and al...
Also, unclebarky.com broke the story that WFAA8 traffic anchor Demetria Obilor is leaving Daybreak after a two-year tenure. All the details, and a further look at the real story, are on the Dalla...
After a long absence, HBO has remastered and relaunched its first epic miniseries, 1998’s 12-part From the Earth to the Moon. ...Also, in case you missed their departures, we have the storyline...
We’ve just returned from France, where they were having a heat wave with temps at one point hitting 103 degrees. ...Meanwhile, here’s a review of Showtime’s limited series The Loudest Voice...
Everyone needs a sojourn now and then. ... Unclebarky.com will return late this month with all new adventures in penmanship.
Showtime’s City on a Hill, paced by Kevin Bacon, dramatizes Boston’s corrupt cop shop, circa the early 1990s. ...HBO’s Euphoria, is an ultra-graphic depiction of high schoolers gone wild.
The last major ratings “sweeps” period of the 2018-19 TV season is in the books, and we have all of May’s results for you on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page. Ed Bark
Adapting Joseph’s Heller’s Catch-22 is a tough nut to crack. ...Plus, CBS announces its prime-time plans for next season, as does its sister network, The CW.
The May “upfronts” are in high gear, with broadcast networks touting their new seasons while Madison Avenue advertisers gather to drink it all in -- literally. ...Plus, HBO’s two hour, 40 m...
But HBO’s Chernobyl is brilliantly done and well worth your time, either on a weekly basis or as a binge when it’s run its course. ...Also, CBS shakes up its newscasts, with the key change be...
CBS’ act of contrition continues with The Red Line, an eight-hour limited series that further addresses critics who branded the network a bastion of white males after its 2017 fall lineup was a...
CBS’ The Code is another of the network’s pro forma military dramas. ...Plus, Monday’s D-FW ratings “snapshot” highlights the numbers for the NCAA hoops title game between Texas Tech an...
Dallas-based Fox4 will be losing a big part of its history with the retirement of mainstay reporter/anchor Richard Ray after 36 years in the saddle. ...Plus, The CW’s In the Dark premieres on T...
Netflix is looking for a big bang for its bucks with The Highwaymen, in which Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson star as the dogged lawmen pursuing Bonnie and Clyde. ...Plus, NBC premieres the new...
Simpson, under another name, was brought to trial for a new murder while Marcia Clark, also under another hame, got a second crack at him? ABC’s The Fix, a serial drama series created and produ...
Saturday Night Live and executive producer Lorne Michaels have been star makers for numerous cast members. The latest could be Aidy Bryant in Hulu’s Shrill.
Our Back Channels page strikes again by reprinting a story that originated in 1981, not the “Red Scare” 1950s. Even so, Dallas-based WFAA8 was still including a Communist/subversive clause in...
But Daybreak anchor Ron Corning has decided to see what’s out there after eight years with the early morning WFAA8 program. ...Plus, we review Acorn TV’s Manhunt, whose three episodes began s...
Fox4 and CBS11 are both losing on-camera news staffers. CBS11 reporter MaryAnn Martinez already has left the building and Fox4 sports reporter/anchor Edward Egros will be departing at the end of ...
After a 35-year career at WFAA8, anchor John McCaa’s last newscast will be on Friday, March 1st. ...And Fox4 has hired a co-host to join Mike Doocy on the station’s late night Free 4 All prog...
John McCaa’s successor, Chris Lawrence, made an unexpected in-studio debut last night -- but as a Twitter emcee not an anchor. ...Plus, NBC launches its latest spy drama, The Enemy Within on Mo...
Sammy Davis, Jr., unfairly caricatured by some as a slap-happy buffoon, gets an overdue appreciation in PBS’ I’ve Gotta Be Me, which premieres on Tuesday, Feb. 19th under the enduring America...
BET has pledged to get into scripted original programming in a big way this year after programming on the cheap for much of its existence. A notable step forward is the 10-episode American Soul s...
TNT gets ambitious Monday night with the first hour of its new limited series, I Am the Night. ...Unclebarky.com also looks at HBO’s Breslin and Hamill: Deadline Artists, which likewise premier...
Don Cheadle’s role as Marty Kaan in Showtime’s House of Lies is reenacted in large degree in Showtime’s Black Monday, which premieres on Sunday, Jan. 20th. Our review is on the Nat’l New/...
The Syfy network’s ambitiously mounted Deadly Class is something to see and hear, although some might be put off from the very start. ...Plus, in case you missed it, there’s also a look at Th...
An up-close look at HBO’s latest incarnation of True Detective is right here. And our take on Fox’s sci-fi series The Passage can be found here.
CBS has a new and novel sitcom called Fam, which premieres Thursday, Jan. 10th at 8:30 p.m. (central). It’s novel because the interracial relationships are firmly in place but not dwelt on.
ABC passed on the first intended spinoff of The Goldbergs before buying a retooled version of Schooled that could use a little detention. It launches on Wednesday, Jan. 9th, and our review is on ...
Fair warning: The 76th Golden Globes awards are coming Sunday night to NBC. ... A case can be made, and it’s on our Network News & Reviews page.
Back by popular demand -- we make this stuff up -- here’s unclebarky.com’s list of 2018 departures of on-camera personnel from D-FW’s four major TV news providers. It’s been an annual com...
After 33 years as a street reporter with D-FW’s Fox4, Fil Alvarado has announced his retirement at age 70. ...They can all be seen on the Network News & Reviews page if you happen to be in the ...
And now Episode 1 of the annual Uncle Barky’s Countdown to Christmas is ready to regale you. We begin with a Dallas Mavericks Christmas video that harkens back to an earlier Dirk and former tea...
The CBS11 news room will have a joyous holiday season after pulling off an upset November “sweeps” win at 10 p.m. in total viewers. Fox4 also has reason to celebrate its November “sweeps”...
Dallas-based TEGNA8 has taken quick action in naming a replacement for mainstay anchor John McCaa, who will be retiring in March. On Monday, the station named Chris Lawrence to join Cynthia Izagu...
More details and a link to her forthright and heartrending video are on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page. ...TEGNA8’s heavily promoted report last week on an alleged gang rape and subsequent cover...
ABC is hoping that Tuesday will be its biggest night of the new season, with freshman series The Rookie and The Kids Are Alright joining the network’s Roseanne-less The Conners. ...But our revi...
The broadcast networks’ annual premiere week is almost in the books, and your friendly content provider has plowed through all of the new shows. So here are links to our reviews in one big help...
Netflix strives to be both distinctly different and cookie-cutter conventional with its wealth of new series. Mission accomplished with Maniac, reviewed here, and The Good Cop, reviewed here.
Plus, NBC sneak-previews the new comedy series I Feel Bad with back-to-back episodes following the Wednesday, Sept. 19th season finale of America’s Got Talent. ...Details are on the Dallas-Fort...
Our review of Hulu’s The First, starring Sean Penn, is right here. And a look at Netflix’s Norm Macdonald Has a Show -- plus the self-inflicted baggage he carried into it -- is also on the Ne...
And it got worse for owner Jerry Jones’ bottom line when the game’s D-FW Nielsen ratings fell well below those for the previous two season-openers. ...Plus, Leslie Moonves has been ousted as ...
Plus, Tribune Media Company is canceling Morning Dose TV, which is produced by D-FW’s CW33 and has been syndicated to several other Tribune-owned stations. And in case you missed them, we also ...
Four actors had taken on the big-screen persona of daring Jack Ryan before Amazon turned to John Krasinski for the first go-around as a TV series. ...And Hanna Battah, still a newcomer at Fox4, h...
New programming announcements on the part of networks and streamers alike reflect the #MeToo movement’s ongoing power push. ...And the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” highlights the ...
The Syfy network made five Sharknado movies before finally deciding to stop (or so they say) with The Last Sharknado: It’s About Time. ...Plus, the esteemed Judy Davis co-stars in the Australia...
That failed in a big way, and now investigative reporter Brett Shipp has a new website in which he positions himself as a lone ranger seeking truth and justice for aggrieved clients. ...Plus, we ...
Season Two of Epix’s Get Shorty launches on Sunday, Aug. 12th with back-to-back episodes. ...Plus, the Dallas Cowboys’ first preseason game lights up Thursday’s latenight Nielsens in D-FW.
John McCaa, a mainstay at Dallas-based TEGNA8 since 1984, is opting to retire in March of next year after declining management’s offer to stay on. All the details are on our Dallas-Fort Worth T...
After nearly three years in the position, Mark Ginther was fired Monday as vice president of news at Fort Worth-based NBC5. ...Also, TEGNA8 sports anchor Dale Hansen signs a new two-year deal tha...
Fox4 sports anchor Mike Doocy was alone among his peers Sunday in declining to interview Cowboys owner Jerry Jones under the abruptly stated condition that he not be asked about the ongoing contr...
RIP Walter Evans, who had a three-decade career at D-FW’s Ch. 4 during very different times for local TV news. He died Tuesday at age 86, and we remember him on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Hulu’s Castle Rock borrows from Stephen King’s massive playbook without being a direct adaptation of a previous novel or short story. ...And The CW’s surprisingly textured Burden of Proof i...
Our Network News & Reviews page looks in depth at the careers of six very significant TV producers, and how their work patterns have drastically varied. It’s all right here.
Eligible again after a year off, HBO’s Game of Thrones again led all contenders Thursday in prime-time Emmy nominations. ...Also, the extended World Cup semi-final match between Croatia and Eng...
Set in medieval times, The CW network’s The Outpost has a transparent Wonder Woman vibe. It premieres on Tuesday, July 10th, and our review is here.
My Twitter feed erupted Sunday night after I commented about ABC chief meteorologist Ginger Zee’s participation in History channel’s Evel Live, a three-hour event in which motorcyclist Travis...
Leave it up to HBO to bring you down, which the network keeps doing in Sharp Objects. ...Also, anchor/reporter Cory Smith will be leaving D-FW’s NBC5 when his contract expires at the end of thi...
It starts streaming on Sunday, July 1st, and charts the evolution of EDM (Electronic Dance Music), which once upon a time was disco. ...Also, the latest D-FW ratings “snapshot” spotlights the...
The man who once flexed his way to an acting Oscar in Gladiator will be going plus-sized to play Roger Ailes in a Showtime series adapted from the book The Loudest Voice in the Room. Further deta...
ABC has found a way to spinoff its Roseanne reboot into The Conners after cutting a deal with Roseanne Barr to leave her out of the financial picture after presumably paying her off. All the deta...
The creator of ABC’s Castle shows off little style and no originality with his very similarly premised Take Two, which premieres on Thursday, June 21st. ...Also, in case you missed them, the re...
The fledgling Paramount Network’s most ambitious production to date, Yellowstone, gets going on Wednesday, June 20th with a two-hour premiere. ...Plus, in case you missed it, Fox4 has hired a n...
Presenting a pair of unclebarky.com exclusives on Fox4’s expansion plans. Starting in September, the Dallas-based station is adding yet another hour to its No. 1-rated Good Day program while la...
Your friendly content provider and former Dallas Morning News colleague Barry Horn hope to do just that for you with our brand new podcast, Barky and Barry’s Media Extravaganza. The first two p...
FX premieres the provocative drama series Pose on Sunday, June 3rd, and our review is here. Reviews also are posted of the new Cinemax detective series C.B.
FX’s The Americans called it a wrap last night after six stellar seasons. On the Network News & Reviews page, we have a wrap-up of our own, plus comments from the producers on how/why it ended ...
Roseanne Barr’s racist tweet forced ABC’s hand, and the network responded Tuesday by abruptly axing the season’s biggest “new” hit. ...Plus, NBC belatedly premieres the sci-fi series Re...
The HBO documentary film John McCain: For Whom the Bell Tolls fittingly premieres on Memorial Day. ...Plus, the NBA playoffs continue to thrive in the D-FW Nielsen ratings, particularly among adv...
Plus, Fox4 has hired a new anchor for its weekend editions of Good Day, and she’ll be making a massive market jump. ...Also, HBO premieres another original movie, The Tale, on Saturday, May 26t...
HBO’s remake of Ray Bradbury’s famed book-burning opus, Fahrenheit 451, flickers without nearly enough spark. ...Plus, here’s our take on the overall tenor of the 2018-19 TV season, in whic...
The latest new seasons for ABC and CBS are now in place -- and of course subject to change. ...You can find out all about ABC’s 2018-19 lineup here and see what CBS has planned right here.
In signs of these times, they have a combined total of just five genuine new fall series coming. ...Our in depth look at NBC is here, and you can find the Fox blow-by-blow right here.
It’s been a busy day, with exclusives on both meteorologist Jennifer Myers’ impending departure from Fox4 and the station firing up an even earlier start for its No. 1-rated Good Day. Also, a...
D-FW’s Fox4 is taking a substantial hit with the departure of longtime Good Day staple Saul Garza, who also does the station’s “What’s Buggin’ You?” ... Details and some pointed quote...
After first teaming with incumbent anchor Doug Dunbar in January 2015, Kaley O’Kelley announced Thursday that she’s leaving the D-FW station to seek a “better work/life balance.” ...Plus,...
But that wasn’t the case at the 2018 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, where band leader Mark Knopfler’s no-show killed any chance of the group performing. ...Also, if you missed...
Season One of Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale became the first streaming series ever to win an Emmy as best drama. ...Also, in case you missed the earlier post, Fort Worth-based NBC5 won its first...
Former Fox4 weekend Good Day anchor Jenny Anchondo is back in the early morning mix as a co-host of CW33’s Morning Dose, which is syndicated to six other markets. ...Plus, the weekend D-FW Niel...
Season Two of HBO’s Westworld begins firing away on Sunday, April 22nd. ...Also, TEGNA8 continues its big push for Daybreak traffic anchor/social media maven Demetria Obilor, who’s “Unstopp...
D-FW newscasts reflected different approaches to handling two major local stories -- the death of Barbara Bush and a Southwest Airlines in-flight tragedy that left one person dead. ...Plus, in ca...
Al Pacino returns to HBO for the fourth time, again playing a controversial real-life figure in Paterno. ...Also, Dallas-based KRLD-AM’s longtime partnership with CBS11 has come to an end after...
Tracy Morgan gets his first starring role in a sitcom, and TBS’ The Last O.G. is well-tailored to his talents while also toning him down in spots. ...Also, Monday’s D-FW ratings “snapshot�...
Jeff Paul, a reporter with D-FW’s CBS11 since December 2014, is heading west and joining Fox News Channel. ...Also, the opening night ratings for ABC’s Roseanne reboot were a big boom in D-FW...
The arrivals this week of the Roseanne revival plus newcomers Splitting Up Together and Alex, Inc. give ABC a total of 10 mom, dad and the kids sitcoms this season. ...The review of the new/old R...
Jenny Anchondo, best known for anchoring Fox4’s weekend Good Day editions, has left the station after some parting words to staffers. ...Also, an internal memo obtained by unclebarky.com outlin...
CBS’ Instinct, premiering on Sunday, March 18th and starring Alan Cumming, is the first broadcast network crime series with a gay character in the lead. ...Also, in case you missed them, review...
It’s been a long wait since Season One of FX’s acclaimed Atlanta ended on Nov. ...Also, the latest D-FW ratings “snapshot” spotlights a very big Wednesday for both the Fox network and Fox...
Hulu’s The Looming Tower depicts events leading up to 9/11 -- and whether they could have been prevented via due diligence and cooperation rather than high level infighting. ...Monday’s D-FW ...
Netflix’s expectedly grim Seven Seconds, from the creator of The Killing, is now available for streaming. ...Plus, NBC’s Good Girls premieres in a plum time slot Monday after a heavy dose of ...
But while veteran skier Lindsey Vonn fell short of the gold, the Peacock continued its unbeaten Winter Olympics streak in the D-FW Nielsen ratings. ...Also, you really need to see and hear Marvin...
Fox4 sports reporter/anchor Edward Egros took a lot of punches on Twitter Tuesday after declaring that figure skating is performance art, but clearly not a sport. Let’s take a look on our Dalla...
SMU’s ongoing efforts to preserve vintage WFAA-TV filmed reporting from the 1960s and ‘70s have yielded a vintage clip from the original dirt-digging festivities at what would become the stad...
Showtime’s Our Cartoon President is an extension of the recurring animated snippets on CBS’ Late Show with Stephen Colbert. ...HBO’s Here and Now is from Alan Ball, creator of two previous ...
Those Amazon links that used to be on unclebarky.com until a new mechanism kicked in a couple of years ago have returned where they were before. So if you enjoy the content on this always free si...
David Finfrock, the dean of D-FW weathercasters and NBC5’s chief meteorologist since 1991, is relinquishing that title to incumbent Rick Mitchell, but will remain with the station on a part-tim...
The new Starz drama series Counterpart gives Oscar-winner J. ...Plus, we revive the TV Bulletin Board page with a look at the newly announced Murphy Brown reboot amid a sea of such revivals.
Fox’s new medical drama, The Resident, gets a showcase spot following Sunday’s NFC championship game before moving to its regular Monday slot. ...And the weekend D-FW Nielsen ratings “snaps...
The second of FX’s American Crime Story anthology series, The Assassination of Gianni Versace, premieres on Wednesday, Jan. 17th with the first of nine chapters. Darren Criss is a standout as s...
CBS11’s Kaley O’Kelley, who began co-anchoring the station’s 5, 6 and 10 p.m. weekday newscasts four Januarys ago, is having preventative surgery that likely will keep her off the air throu...
Millennials don’t think much of themselves in Freeform’s Alone Together. ...Also, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” is on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Sunday night’s empowerment-fueled Golden Globes awards on NBC took a significant dip from last year’s ceremony in total D-FW viewers. ...Plus, in case you missed these earlier posts, Showtime...
It was pretty tame this time around, with 13 on-camera departures from D-FW’s television newsrooms compared to 23 in 2016. But we once again have them all listed alphabetically, including info ...
We both hope you’ll have a night and day of peace and joy at the close of a very eventful year. And as an extra added attraction, the finale of Uncle Barky’s Countdown to Christmas offers a d...
It’s always been one of my favorite stories and experiences -- and you can revisit it if you’d like on our Back Channels page. ...Also, another edition of the D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot...
Back by popular demand (in my own mind at least), we present Episode One of Uncle Barky’s Countdown to Christmas. Look for it down the stretch run to Christmas Day on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV p...
Netflix’s 10-episode Season Two of The Crown begins streaming on Friday, Dec. 8th, and it’s again exemplary. ...Also, veteran reporter Joel Thomas leaves D-FW’s CBS11 for family considerati...
Award-laden TEGNA8 investigative reporter Brett Shipp pulled a shocker Wednesday by announcing he’s left the Dallas-based station to run for the 32nd District congressional seat that has housed...
NBC5 appears to have made a solid choice in hiring seasoned former network anchor/reporter Vinita Nair after TEGNA8 didn’t. ... More details on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Matt Lauer, who has anchored NBC’s Today for two decades, is the latest and biggest star to be ousted after charges of “inappropriate sexual behavior” in the workplace. Tangentially, Garris...
Your friendly content provider (and international man of mystery) has returned from abroad to plough through thousands of emails, compute the November “sweeps” ratings results and report on a...
Unclebarky.com is taking some time off while its proprietor goes on a big adventure. Thanks to all readers for your continued patronage, and be assured we’ll be back up after the Thanksgiving w...
It will have been hard to miss a promotion or two or 20 for the National Geographic channel’s most ambitious scripted production to date. The Long Road Home finally hits home screens on Tuesday...
CBS has its third re-do coming on Thursday, Nov. 2nd, when S.W.A.T. joins the network’s existing successful makeovers of Hawaii Five-0 and Macgyver. ...Also, Netflix weighs in with Alias Grace,...
Also, dean of D-FW sports anchors Dale Hansen talks to unclebarky.com about his new deal and shortened work week. And Game 1 of the World Series fends off three strong competitors to win Tuesday ...
Nick Bristow’s successor has stopped with Demetria Obilor hired by Dallas-based TEGNA8 as the early morning Daybreak’s traffic anchor. All the details and ripple effects are on our Dallas-For...
It seldom pays off when networks pirate news stars from rivals by paying them a king’s or queen’s ransom. ...Also, The Simpsons offers its 28th annual Treehouse of Horror Halloween special on...
Striving to get on the map and stay there, DirectTV’s Audience network premieres two comedies Tuesday night starring Jason Alexander and Ron Livingston. ...And go here for the review of Livings...
Mindhunter is the new Netflix drama series from auteur David Fincher, who previously put the streamer on the original series map with House of Cards. This also is the guy behind Fight Club, Zodia...
It’s been a while since Dynasty lit up the prime-time ratings with its wretched excesses, including those hair-pulling cat fights between Krystle and Alexis. But in the era of the reboot, The C...
One has an over-arching Donald Trump premise while the other essentially is a Touched By An Angel remake in times when, boy, that’s the worst thing. Our review of The Mayor is here while Kevin ...
The new fall season continues to roll out, with Monday, Oct. 2nd bringing Fox’s The Gifted and CBS’ 9JKL. ...Plus, Sunday’s upset Cowboys loss to the Rams also became the first regular seas...
Unclebarky.com rolls out another two reviews of fall newbies. Our take on NBC’s Will & Grace re-do is here and you can find the review of ABC’s Marvel’s Inhumans right here.
The numbers, plus performances of three new series on opening night of the fall TV season, are also on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page. Furthermore, we have reviews of both NBC’s Law & Order True...
Dallas-based TEGNA8’s new, distinctly different “We Are WFAA” campaign is a hard-sell mashup with a heavily “urban”-centric downbeat. We try to make sense of it -- while also showing it...
CBS offers a pair of new comedies, ABC has prime-time’s latest medical series and NBC marches into battle with the first of the fall season’s military dramas. ...And click here for a critique...
The awards themselves ended up seeming somewhat beside the point Sunday night, as host Stephen Colbert, presenters and recipients took repeated shots at President Trump. ...Also, the weekend D-FW...
Reporter/anchor Marcus Moore will be leaving Dallas-based TEGNA8 at the end of September after a nearly six-year stint. He can’t yet confirm where he’s going next, but it won’t be far, uncl...
They’re all airing in part or entirely opposite Sunday’s prime-time Dallas Cowboys-New York Giants season opener on NBC. But there many other ways, if you choose, to later watch Fox’s The O...
The seventh edition of FX’s American Horror Story begins taking shape on Tuesday, Sept. 5th with AHS: Cult. It’s also a bloody demolition of Donald Trump, and our review is here.
Netflix launches its first grass-fed sitcom, Disjointed, on Friday, Aug. 25th. ...Also, Thursday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings snapshot is ready to roll.
Fort Worth-based NBC5’s latest salvo in D-FW’s weather wars is a nifty, contemporary spot that departs from the station’s rather countrified image. ...Plus, we revive the Web Browser page w...
Show runner Matt Nix persuaded the network to shoot The Gifted’s opening hour in Dallas after his earlier very positive experience with 2010’s The Good Guys. ...Also, a January 2007 TV “pre...
Marlon Wayans stars in the new NBC sitcom Marlon. ... It premieres on Wednesday, Aug. 16th with back-to-back episodes, and our review is here.
Plus, check out the opening night D-FW ratings for Bravo’s Season 2 premiere of Real Housewives of Dallas. Also, a review of Epix’s new series version of Get Shorty after seeing the first six...
I’ll be there almost for the duration, missing just a handful of early panels on Tuesday, July 25th after arriving in mid-afternoon on that day. ...My first press tour was in the summer of 1980...
But it also has a witch, a “fallen angel,” a shape-shifter, a psychic, a talking cat and even a few fairly straight humanoids without any apparent supernatural abilities. NBC’s Midnight, Te...
Jet-fueled in the ratings by Donald Trump’s easily ridiculed presidency and Alec Baldwin’s impersonation of him, Saturday Night Live soared to the top of Thursday’s prime-time Emmy nominati...
TNT’s new Will introduces a young Shakespeare on the loose and sometimes on the lam in swervy London. ...Also, Freeform sets forth on Tuesday night with The Bold Type, which wasn’t my type.
Plus, we observe the Friday, June 30th closing of The Palm restaurant in downtown Dallas with this long-ago and still very juicy lunchtime interview with Robin Leach during the heyday of his Life...
A compelling whodunit drives the third and announced final season of Broadchurch, which has its U.S. premiere Wednesday, June 28th on BBC America. David Tennant and Olivia Colman return as the pr...
Netflix’s latest sit-up-and-take-notice new series, GLOW, takes a serio-comedic look at the rise of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling TV show. ...Murrow awards (including the big one) and Tribun...
Megyn Kelly’s much-publicized and criticized interview with hate-monger Alex Jones bombed big-time on the only two fronts that really matter to NBC. ...Plus, Acorn TV’s Loch Ness begins strea...
TNT’s detour toward “edgier” drama continues with Sunday’s launch of the notably explicit Claws. ...All the numbers are on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
The Press Club of Dallas’ seventh annual North Texas Legends awards event played to a packed house Saturday night at the downtown Sixth Floor Museum. Our exhaustive report, complete with homegr...
The seventh annual Press Club of Dallas-sponsored North Texas Legends awards is ready to roll on Saturday, June 3rd at the Sixth Floor Museum in downtown Dallas. ...Also, former WFAA/KXAS reporte...
The May “sweeps” ratings are over and out. ... All the ups, downs and numbers are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Network TV’s Lord of the Dance, ABC, goes ball rooming again tonight with its “re-imagined,” three-hour Dirty Dancing. ...Ed Bark
NBC5 lead investigative reporter Scott Friedman and his team have been assigned full-time for the past six months on an evolving series titled Big Buses, Bigger Problems. They get an extended hal...
The Dallas Morning News weighed in Friday with a front page story that challenged the methods and the source involved in TEGNA8’s ongoing expose of alleged election fraud in Dallas County. Uncl...
A set-in-East Texas Big Bang Theory prequel, titled Young Sheldon, looks like the most surefire hit among the six new fall series announced by CBS Wednesday. Complete details on all sorts of thin...
ABC has a big boatload of new season plans, and dribbled out some of the bigger ones Tuesday after first releasing what was thought to be everything. But the network’s 18-page menu made no ment...
NBC and Fox each added just three new series to their fall menus in times when “stability” is increasingly prized -- even if some returnees remain seriously ratings-challenged. ...Fox is on t...
Amazon Prime begins streaming the full eight-episode first season of I Love Dick on Friday, May 12th. We gingerly review it on the Network News & Reviews page.
Also, in case you missed them, here are reviews of NBC’s Great News and National Geo’s Genius, which both launched on Tuesday but can be seen via On Demand and other venues. And on our Back C...
Oprah Winfrey has two Oscar nominations, but is yet to receive an Emmy nod for her acting. Her standout performance in the HBO film The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks might end up landing Winfr...
Expected the unexpected -- what else? -- when FX’s Fargo rolls into Season 3, starting on Wednesday, April 19th. ...Also, longtime TEGNA8 photographer Arnold Payne does it all himself in this f...
Steve Stoler spent 27 years as a D-FW television reporter, the first 17 with KDFW-TV (now Fox4) before moving to WFAA-TV (TEGNA8). His new self-published book, Tonight At Ten, looks back from his...
A long and winding road trip is over, and your friendly content provider is back at it. Here’s my take on Bill O’Reilly, as he begins a perhaps permanent vacation.
I’ll be off for a while, but have left four new series reviews and a think piece behind. ...Hulu’s Harlots, TV Land’s Nobodies and ABC’s Imaginary Mary all fire up on Wednesday, March 29t...
After a prolonged search, Deanna Dewberry has made a heartwarming choice. The former NBC5 consumer investigator explains why comparatively frigid Rochester, NY and WHEC-TV are her new homes.
ABC weighed in earlier with When We Rise and the Season 3 premiere of American Crime. Now it’s Fox’s turn to venture into social relevance with Shots Fired, a 10-episode drama premiering on W...
The latest D-FW TV news staffer to call it quits (at least in this market) is Fox4 reporter Diana Zoga, who’s gone after just a two-year tenure. More details and her goodbye message to station ...
Ezekiel Elliott’s uncovering of a celebrating woman’s breast, which surfaced in a video posted Monday on TMZ.com, could have repercussions for the star Dallas Cowboys running back. ...Also, c...
FX’s The Americans returns for its penultimate season on Tuesday, March 7th. Our review is here, with an eye toward a big leap forward the Russian spies could take in the show’s last season.
It’s going to be a crowded Sunday of new series, with an emphasis on time travel. ...A our combo look at Fox’s Making History and ABC’s Time After Time is right here.
NBC5 had more local news wins than any of its three rivals in the just-completed February ratings “sweeps.” But all’s not well for any of them, based on the year-to-year numbers.
The longtime producer, and creator of Law & Order and its offshoots, strikes again with Chicago Justice as the fourth series in his Windy City quiver. ...Also, Monday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings “...
Strapping Clive Standen from History channel’s Vikings steps in as a younger Liam Neeson in NBC’s series version of Taken. ...Plus, Sunday night’s Oscars take another dip in the D-FW Nielse...
Now the network takes another bracingly bold step with When We Rise, a four-night, eight-hour miniseries charting the LBGT(Q) community’s civil rights movement. It launches on Monday, Feb. 27th...
President Trump’s silly “enemy of the American people” tweet singled out The New York Times, CNN, NBC, CBS and ABC. ... Unclebarky.com isn’t big on sanctimony, so here’s an against-the-...
The Good Fight, a spinoff of CBS’ The Good Wife, launches for free on the broadcast network before the rest of Season 1’s nine episodes air exclusively on CBS All Access, the network’s new ...
The PBS documentary film Tower takes an unconventional look at the 1966 University of Texas campus shootings. ...Plus, Katherine Heigl gets another shot, this time as a defense attorney with an o...
TEGNA8’s extended Verify Road Trip series, driven by reporter David Schechter and devised by the station’s corporate owner, had another segment on Wednesday’s 10 p.m. newscast. We take a cl...
Noah Hawley, TV auteur extraordinaire, dared to extend the sainted movie Fargo into an exemplary weekly series. Now he’s also turning Marvel on its ear with the visually resplendent and complex...
Sunday’s Super Bowl LI on Fox, a record-setting thriller between the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons, did better than the previous year’s landmark 50th mega-game. ...Also, Fox’s ne...
Three new TV series are coming at you on Thursday, Feb. 2nd. ...And Training Day is here.
Mary Tyler Moore, who with Lucille Ball and Carol Burnett ranks as one of television’s foremost First Ladies, has died at the age of 80. ...Also, Acorn TV has a new version of Witness for the P...
The CW’s Riverdale premieres on Thursday, Jan. 26th, with Archie, Betty, Veronica and Jughead all in the mix. Other than that, look for pulp fiction instead of a gee-whiz Archie comic book.
Nick (full name, Nick Bristow), DFW’s first uniformed early morning traffic anchor, is being dropped by TEGNA8 after nearly 2.5 yrs with Daybreak. ...Also, Lifetime premieres its Beaches remake...
Season 2 of FX’s Baskets launches on Thursday, Jan. 19th, and our review is here. ...They’re detailed on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page, where you also can scroll around to see the latest D-FW...
HBO and Showtime go their separate ways Sunday night with two decidedly different dramas. HBO offers up The Young Pope, starring Jude Law.
Alexa Conomos, a member of TEGNA8’s Daybreak team since 2002, has decided to try something new. She’ll be leaving the show and the station, but has offered to stay in place until management f...
And he does so again in FX’s intriguing but at times tedious Taboo It premieres on Tuesday, Jan. 10th, and our review is here. ...Also, the weekend D-FW ratings are boffo for Sunday’s Green B...
Unclebarky.com proudly presents reviews of: ...Netflix’s new Latina version of One Day At a Time
Fox News Channel’s latter day star player, Megyn Kelly, is ringing in her new year by heading to NBC News. The Peacock announced the move Tuesday and we have a complete story on our Network New...
Fox is sneak-previewing The Mick on New Year’s Day night before the thoroughly irreverent comedy moves to its regular Tuesday slot. Kaitlin Olson from It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia stars,...
And this time there were 23 departures in 2016 among on-camera staffers at Fox4, NBC5, TEGNA8 and CBS11. ...Also, check out the combined TEGNA8/ESPN ratings for Monday night’s Dallas Cowboys’...
TEGNA8 news staffers weren’t exactly overjoyed to get a Christmas Eve message from management that had nothing to do with the spirit of the season. Instead, news director Carolyn Mungo ordered ...
CBS’ partnership with the Kennedy Center Honors dates to their inception back in 1978. ...Also, compare and contrast my Top 10 TV picks of 2016 with a survey of 59 critics, including yours trul...
Details and comments from Archer and NBC5 vice president of news Mark Ginther are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page. Plus, a Telemundo39 reporter’s spontaneous donation of his coat to a homeless...
Madison Adams from Waco’s KWTX-TV will succeed Chelsey Davis as CBS11’s early morning traffic anchor. ...Also, you’ll surely want to see Episode 3 of Uncle Barky’s Countdown to Christmas.
Also, we venture into the land of Acorn TV for the first time to take a look at its latest British acquisition, The Level. ...Furthermore, the Dallas Cowboys set a new season ratings high in D-FW...
After a six-year stay, meteorologist Remisha Shade has been dropped from NBC5’s six-member team. ...Plus, we review Syfy’s new Incorporated, whose principal executive producers are Matt Damon...
NBC5’s local newscasts won six of the eight major November “sweeps” ratings battles, establishing the Peacock as the new station to beat. ...Plus, if you missed it, here’s our earlier pos...
There’s no bigger ratings magnet in D-FW, or any TV market, than a big outbreak of severe weather. Fort Worth-based NBC5 intends to be master of this domain for years to come, lately with a new...
Not far removed from six seasons as Lady Mary Crawley on PBS’ Downton Abbey, Michelle Dockery makes a screeching U-turn in TNT’s Good Behavior, which premieres on Tuesday, Nov. 15th. ...Plus,...
A long-planned trip abroad -- nice planning, eh? -- will waylay further postings on unclebarky.com until Monday, Nov. 14th. By then we’ll know full well who won -- unless there’s a repeat of ...
The Royals, and not those from Kansas City, get a big, bold drama series in Netflix’s The Crown, which begins streaming all 10 Season One episodes on Friday, Nov. 4th. ...And Wednesday’s D-FW...
We break down the opening D-FW newscast ratings, plus the virtual meltdown of TEGNA8’s 5 p.m. newscast, which paid a stiffer ratings price than usual. ...Also, the Back Channels page rewinds to...
And all these years later, they’ll be playing a World Series game in Wrigley for the first time in my lifetime. ...And Wednesday’s D-FW ratings “snapshot” highlights Game 2 of the Cubs-In...
CBS has ended this season’s abbreviated Thursday Night Football run, meaning there are holes to fill. The network fills them with the last of this season’s fall rollouts on the Big Four broad...
For an old hound like myself, the most interesting event at the just concluded 29th annual Dallas VideoFest was “How the News Got Made.” WFAA-TV’s 16 millimeter filmed newscasts from the la...
Hugh Laurie returns to M.D. mode in Hulu’s Chance while Matt LeBlanc is back as his amiable self in CBS’ Man With A Plan. ... Our review of Chance is here, and a critique of Man With A Plan i...
Kelley and Billy Bob Thornton team up for Amazon Prime’s Goliath, which began streaming all eight episodes last week. ...Plus, the Dallas Cowboys’ win over the Green Bay Packers is the new cl...
It’s already a very crowded field, but the premium pay cable network Epix comes to play for the first time with a pair of original scripted series, Graves and Berlin Station. Non-subscribers ca...
Newlyweds Chelsey Davis and Brandon Hamilton are heading back to Phoenix and vacating their early morning posts at CBS11 and TEGNA8. Both have been in D-FW only since the summer of 2015, with Dav...
Take it from her, the heroine of ABC’s new American Housewife sitcom is fat. ...Plus, Monday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” is posted.
The weekend brought a torrent of TV activity, particularly on Sunday. So were the Dallas Cowboys on just one network potent enough to beat the second presidential debate in prime-time on eight ne...
Sarah Jessica Parker returns to HBO for the first time since Sex and the City with the entirely different Divorce. ... And Issa Rae arrives on the HBO scene with the equally distinctive Insecure.
Long in the making, HBO’s new series version of Westworld at last arrives on Sunday, Oct. 2nd. ...Plus, NBC rewinds again via Timeless while ABC quickly re-employs Hayley Atwell in Conviction.
In either case, PBS’ The Choice 2016 serves up the character-shaping life stories that led to Monday’s first show-and-tell debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. ...Plus, we have a ...
”Premiere” week finishes out with two Friday night newbies drawn from oldies. ...Plus, if you missed ’em, here are reviews of Fox’s Pitch and ABC’s Notorious.
And the review of Fox’s Lethal Weapon is here. Also, the Monday-Tuesday D-FW ratings “snapshots” give you the breakdown on the numbers for four fall newcomers -- CBS’ Kevin Can Wait and B...
The Terrence Williams GPS app is newly available for those who want no sense of direction. And in other news, the Dallas Cowboys’ gut-grinding 20-19 season opening loss to the New York Giants w...
Three-year CBS11 veteran Scott Padgett has been named the station’s chief meteorologist, ending a five-month search for Larry Mowry’s replacement. ...Plus, the NFL explodes anew in the D-FW N...
The Dallas Press Club’s latest event, Cowboys Kickoff, drew a full house Wednesday night. As its head organizer and emcee, your friendly content provider is finally free to breathe easy again a...
Following Tuesday’s premiere of Atlanta, FX scores anew with the Thursday, Sept. 8th launch of Better Things. Our review of the latest is right here.
Rick Perry will be the second fallen Texas politician to take a whirl on Dancing with the Stars when the ABC show’s 23rd edition kicks in on Sept. 12th. All the details, including some quotes f...
After a two-year tenure marked by waves of major personnel changes and declining ratings, news director Mike Garber is out at D-FW’s CBS11. All the details are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
After a timeout period during NBC’s Olympics run, a pair of new series are premiering on Wednesday, Aug. 24th. CNBC’s Cleveland Hustles is a notably gentler version of Shark Tank that’s co-...
A new version of the play Hospitality Suite opened in Dallas Thursday night, with former Dallas Stars hockey play-by-play voice Ralph Strangis smack in the middle of it. ...Plus, William Shatner,...
Most networks and streamers are taking a break from program premieres during the ongoing Summer Olympics. Not Netflix, whose most expensive production to date begins streaming on Friday, Aug. 12t...
Also, ratings for the Summer Olympics in Rio continue to surge in DFW after Friday night’s Opening Ceremonies fell pretty flat. Tuesday’s Michael Phelps-powered nighttime coverage had the bes...
Netflix’s animated The Little Prince, which begins streaming on Friday, Aug. 5th, is reason alone enough to subscribe. The voices behind the characters include Jeff Bridges, Rachel McAdams, Pau...
Besides seeing and hearing them in an intimate setting, you’ll also have a chance -- at just $2 per raffle ticket -- to win some very cool sports tems, including a signed Dirk Nowitzki jersey a...
Anchor Shelly Slater, a 10-year veteran at Dallas-based TEGNA8, will soon be leaving as anchor of the station’s 4 and 6 p.m. weekday newscasts. ...Plus, is Hillary Clinton really the “worst T...
Veteran Fox4 sports anchor Mike Doocy will be missing his first Dallas Cowboys training camp in 23 years -- and not by choice. ...Plus, CNN dominated the D-FW ratings for the final night of the D...
Alexandra Pelosi’s latest documentary film is a must-see and highly entertaining look at the moguls who spend millions of dollars on their favorite high-level political candidates in return for...
CNN was the top voter-getting on Night 2 of the Democratic convention, which easily outdrew Night 2 of the GOP’s in D-FW. ...Also, the second-to-last article in our series of political conventi...
Also, our series of convention look-backs continues with a 1996 piece on a harried and dog-tired Eleanor Mondale, who was covering the Republican proceedings for cable’s E! ... It’s on our Ba...
Reporter Kevin Reece, who won armloads of Emmys while at Houston’s KHOU-TV, will be joining Dallas-based TEGNA8 this summer. ...Plus, our latest in a series of on-site reports from previous nat...
Not surprisingly, the concluding Night 4 of the Republican National Convention pole-vaulted over the D-FW ratings highs set for Night 3. And for the first time, Fox News Channel led in both key m...
Our Network News & Reviews page takes a long look at Roger Ailes, including excerpts from an interview we had on the eve of Fox News Channel’s launch. Plus, our last in a series of Back Channel...
Part 3 of our series on previous Republican National conventions journeys to San Diego, 1996, where your friendly content provider interviewed David Brinkley on the brink of his retirement from A...
Our series of look-backs to the TV dynamics at previous national political conventions continues with the saga of Jon Stewart and The Daily Show at the 2000 Republican gathering in Philadelphia. ...
The Republicans begin their four-day national convention on Monday, July 18th in Cleveland, with Donald Trump poised to become the party’s presidential nominee. Also starting today, we rewind t...
The 68th annual prime-time Emmy nominations are in, and voters did a nice job with them this time around. ...Plus, Netflix has a nifty ode to E.T. with Stranger Things, an eight-episode series th...
Informed sources tell unclebarky.com that featured 6 and 10 p.m. weekday sports anchor Keith Russell, who joined D-FW’s CBS11 in March 2015, is being relocated to weekends. ...Plus, HBO’s exc...
Fox4 was D-FW’s go-to television news station throughout Thursday night’s continuous coverage of the downtown Dallas sniper ambush that left five officers dead and seven others wounded. CBS11...
One of D-FW’s signature shoe leather reporters, Jim Douglas, will be retiring from Dallas-based TEGNA8 at the end of this month. Details are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
The USA network’s dark but sometimes stylish Queen of the South is off to a solid ratings start with its first two Thursday night episodes. We catch up with a look at the first three hours of t...
Weekend meteorologist Ashton Altieri is leaving Dallas-based TEGNA8 after a three-year tour. ...Plus, the dean of early morning anchors, Fox4’s Tim Ryan, is on “voice rest,” but not for lon...
Netflix’s Orange is the New Black reboots to some very serious territory in Season 4 after a too amusing Season 3. ...Also, Discovery Channel’s watchable American Tarzan endurance contest jus...
Former Rolling Stone teen wunderkind Cameron Crowe makes the music scene anew (as a 58-year-old) with Showime’s Roadies, which premieres on Sunday, June 26th. ...Plus, Thursday night’s NBA dr...
Lousy national numbers for Sunday night’s climactic Real Housewives of Dallas reunion show continued to work against its chances for a Season 2. ... We put it all in context on the Dallas-Fort ...
After two tours with Dallas-based TEGNA8, bridged by five years in San Diego, trailblazing reporter Mike Castellucci looks as though he’s leaving D-FW for good. ...Also, the first-place Texas R...
ABC’s Game 7 of the NBA Finals blasted into the ratings stratosphere Sunday night in D-FW. ...But instead of a supernatural-powered small town sheriff, it’s a dysfunctional Boston family with...
J.: Made In America documentary miniseries has arrived just two months after FX ended its stellar The People v. ...Meanwhile, the nefarious title character continues to serve time in a Nevada pri...
Bravo’s season -- and quite possibly -- series finale of Real Housewives of Dallas lost almost a half-million viewers nationally from Monday night’s lead-in show -- an “uncensored” recap ...
Another new version of Uncle Buck, this time with a black cast, is sandwiched between two hours worth of ABC’s To Tell the Truth reboot on Tuesday, June 14th. ...And in case you missed it, we a...
The Press Club of Dallas held its sixth annual North Texas Legends event Thursday night, inducing 13 newcomers before a sold-out crowd in the The Sixth Floor Museum. Another big step also was tak...
Vexing publishing problems prompted me to break this news on Twitter Monday night. ... So here is the complete story on consumer-investigative reporter Deanna Dewberry leaving Fort Worth-based NB...
Cinemax’s exorcism-heavy Outcast, adapted from the Robert Kirkman comic books, premieres on Friday, June 3rd. ...And the national ratings for Memorial Day’s Episode 8 of Real Housewives of Da...
Donald Trump tore into the media Tuesday in ways that were both personal and constant. ...Also, Tuesday’s D-FW ratings “snapshot” spotlights a big return for NBC’s America’s Got Talent.
Jordan Spieth won his first Texas PGA tournament with a blazing finish at Fort Worth’s Colonial. ... And the Golden State Warriors closed out the Oklahoma City Thunder after rallying from a 3-1...
Nearly 40 years after ABC made ratings history with Roots, the History network presents an eight-hour remake that premieres on Memorial Day and runs through Thursday of next week. It’s a worthy...
The final May “sweeps” newscast ratings are in. For all the blow-by-blow details (plus analysis), go to our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Fort Worth-based NBC5 has filled Amanda Guerra’s vacated spot by hiring Kristin Dickerson as the station’s new weekend P.M. co-anchor. More details are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
After just two years at TEGNA8, reporter Jenny Doren has left the D-FW station for another, still undisclosed position in the market. ...Plus, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” is in...
AMC oftentimes has been a bloody mess both during and since Mad Men. The new drama series Preacher likewise is thick with carnage, but with a supernatural bent.
Bryan Cranston is letter perfect as LBJ in HBO’s film adaptation of his Tony-winning role in Broadway’s All the Way. What a great movie this is, and our review is right here.
Usually flush with success, CBS traditionally has made fewer new additions to its fall lineups than its rivals. ... All the details, including new sitcoms for Kevin James and Matt LeBlanc, are on...
Reese Witherspoon was among those behind the camera, and Anna Paquin, Blair Underwood and Penelope Ann Miller were in front of it. That wasn’t enough to persuade ABC to order Broken as a series...
Struggling ABC revealed its plans for the fall season and beyond late Tuesday morning. All the details are on our Network News & Reviews page.
NBC and Fox have both announced their menus for the 2016-17 TV season. ...And everything you need to know about Fox right here.
Although blessed with great looks and firm bodies, he or she just can’t seem to find love. ... Fox’s Coupled is the latest to offer a helping hand.
Now in its sixth year, the Press Club of Dallas’ “North Texas Legends” event will gather another imposing group of honorees next month. All the details -- and how to order tickets -- are on...
Real Housewives of Dallas perked up slightly in the national Nielsen ratings for Episode 4 before high-strung co-star LeeAnne Locken guested on Bravo’s following Watch What Happens Live to talk...
But the damage had been done to Janis Joplin, who soared to stardom but never shook her demons. PBS’ two-hour Janis: Little Girl Blue, premiering on Tuesday, May 3rd, vividly and poignantly re-...
TEGNA8 is bringing in a new co-host for its long-running Good Morning Texas while Mike Castellucci segues back to the news department and Carrie McClure departs (as previously posted). All the de...
So here comes CBS11 with a one-two punch of weathercasting legend Troy Dungan and “Exploding Toilets” on opening night (Thursday, April 28) of the May “sweeps” ratings period. ...Plus, in...
An escape artist and a mystery novelist team up to solve crimes in Fox’s Houdini & Doyle, which is set in London, 1901 and premieres on Monday, May 2nd. ...Plus, former CBS11 interim early morn...
Monday’s third episode of Bravo’s Real Housewives of Dallas continued its downward spiral in the national Nielsen ratings. Take a look on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Also, the Friday-Monday D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshots” cover the combined four post-season games played by the Dallas Mavericks (who have been eliminated) and the Dallas Stars (who have adv...
This contrasts with the numerous on-camera anchors, reporters and meteorologists who were offered and took retirement packages at other TEGNA-owned stations across the country. ...Also, the lates...
No matter how unseemly it gets, Campaign 2016 can’t hope to match the craven, ideal-free opportunism of HBO’s Veep. Season 5 starts on Sunday, April 24th, and our review is here.
Monday’s second episode of Real Housewives of Dallas, featuring cast member Brandi Redmond’s “Poop Hat,” took a dump in the national Nielsen ratings for cable programming. It lost more th...
A deadly epidemic threatens to wipe out poor Atlanta in The CW’s Containment. ...Plus, Monday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” spotlights some intriguing numbers from the Dallas Maverick...
The Night Manager arrives as a six-episode miniseries on these shores after debuting earlier this year on the BBC. AMC does the U.S. honors with a gem of an espionage drama drawn from a 1993 John...
Simpson trial came the Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill hearings, which also received heavy live TV coverage and were notable for the “race card” being very effectively played. HBO’s Confirmation...
After two reporter hires this week by D-FW TV stations, another exit is coming. Fox4’s Zahid Arab is leaving the station after just a two-year stay.
Departures have been the norm of late in D-FW’s television news rooms. ...Plus, Monday’s premiere of Bravo’s Real Housewives of Dallas was not so hot in the national Nielsen ratings for cab...
The Press Club of Dallas saluted Texas journalism giant Bob Schieffer Monday night before a packed house in downtown Dallas. Words and pictures are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Ken Burns’ latest film, the two-hour, four-part Jackie Robinson, premieres Monday, April 11th on PBS and concludes Tuesday. ...Plus, we have reviews of TBS’ The Detour and NBC’s Game of Sil...
After a decade of screwing around with other venues, Bravo’s Real Housewives finally takes a shine on Dallas with the Monday, April 11th premiere. ...And as posted earlier in the week, reporter...
Also, David Hasselhoff is back yet again in Hoff the Record, a six-episode “mockumentary” that launched last summer in the UK and now comes to these shores via Mark Cuban’s AXS TV. ...Plus,...
CNN’s three-hour “town hall” meeting, in which Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and John Kasich all individually participated, included a total of 27 questions from the audience. All were from whites...
Patty Duke died Thursday at age 69 after an acting career that took off during her teenage years. The Patty Duke Show also put her through a wringer that tormented her for decades. Our remembranc...
Aaron Paul of Breaking Bad is returning to the small screen, and once again his character is very shaky and unsure. Our review of Hulu’s The Path is right here.
The rushes to the door have resumed in earnest at D-FW’s major TV news providers. ...As previously posted, her colleague, reporter Ellen Bryan, logged her last day at the station on Friday, Mar...
Garry Shandling’s death Thursday silenced one of the great comedic minds of the last quarter-century. He had two classic TV series -- It’s Garry Shandling’s Show and The Larry Sanders Show.
Troy Dungan spent 31 years doing the weather at Dallas-based WFAA8 until his retirement in July 2007. ... Our interview with Dungan, about both keeping the faith and the current state of TV weath...
Dallas-based TEGNA8 has hired Alisha Laventure from Long Island as the station’s latest weekend morning anchor. ...Also, the story on chief meteorologist Larry Mowry’s departure from CBS11 to...
Two weeks after veteran Chicago blogger Robert Feder first broke the news, WLS-TV officially has announced the hiring of veteran CBS11 chief meteorologist Larry Mowry. We have comments from CBS11...
A caper series in the mode of The Thomas Crown Affair. ...Plus, the weekend D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” is loaded with divergent TV attractions, ranging from the musical crucifixion of Ch...
Season 4 of FX’s The Americans launches on Wednesday, March 16th. ...And for Steve Harvey, the continued boffo numbers for NBC’s Little Big Shots solidify him him as prime-time’s reigning h...
The still amusing deadpan stylings of Patrick Warburton are on full display in NBC’s Crowded, which sneak-previews with back-to-back episodes on Tuesday, March 15th. ...Plus, Fort Worth-based N...
The network could and should have called him on several obvious misstatements and contradictions during the time spanning his post-debate interview Thursday night and his welcoming of Dr. ...Also...
Increasingly ambitious WGN America’s latest original drama series begins in 1857 Georgia with the origins of the “underground railroad.” ...Plus, Tuesday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapsho...
Old King Saul and hunky slingshot marksman David are the central figures in ABC’s Of Kings and Prophets, which makes its delayed debut on Tuesday, March 8th. ...Also, the 22nd edition of ABC’...
Larry Mowry, CBS11’s principal forecaster for the past eight years, reportedly will be heading north to Chicago’s ABC-owned WLS-TV, where he worked earlier in his career. The station’s chie...
Fox News Channel’s four-way Republican presidential debate ended up being another round of name-calling among Donald Trump, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz. ...The fourth wheel, John Kasich, again sta...
ABC’s The Family premieres on Thursday, March 3rd before relocating to its regular Sunday night slot. Those with the patience to stick with another of the network’s slow reveals might find it...
D-FW’s February local newscast “sweeps” results are in. All the numbers and our comments are on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Set in 1980s East Texas but filmed in current-day Louisiana, Sundance TV’s six-episode Hap and Leonard makes a distinctive impression on Sundance TV Wednesday night. ...It’s another of the ne...
Cuba Gooding, Jr. won an Oscar 20 years ago for his role as a fictional pro football player in Jerry Maguire. After an admitted series of career missteps, he’s back in form as the title charact...
Without further ado, here are links to my reviews of three incoming shows. ...PBS’ American Masters salute to Fats Domino
The Press Club of Dallas-sponsored “Weathering Heights,” featuring a unique gathering of past and present trailblazing D-FW meteorologists, is coming just a week from today on Monday, Feb. 29...
Virginia-based TEGNA, owner of Dallas-based WFAA8 and 45 other television stations, rolled out “early retirement” packages for older employees Thursday. WFAA personnel are included in the mix...
Which automatically gives Love a pedigree that pretty much pans out. The 10-episode Season One begins streaming in its entirety on Friday, Feb. 19th.
”Weathering Heights,” sponsored by the Press Club of Dallas and organized by yours truly, promises to be a memorable and historic event featuring a panel of trailblazing D-FW meteorologists. ...
Countless books, movies, miniseries and documentaries have delved into the assassination of President John F. ... Hulu’s 11.22.63, adapted from Stephen King’s time-traveling bestseller, is th...
It’s been a busy revolving door this year in D-FW television news, with CBS11’s Arezow Doost the fifth reporter to depart since the first of the year. More details are on our Dallas-Fort Wort...
Judging from the first two episodes, Season 2 of AMC’s Better Call Saul is in no big hurry to get where it eventually must go. But the dialogue-heavy Breaking Bad prequel is still slow-cooked t...
The principal executive producers of the new HBO drama series Vinyl are Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger. And they’re not messing around in this vivid and sometimes too far-out depiction of New ...
Sunday’s landmark Super Bowl 50 on CBS had little offense and lots of defense, particularly by the winning Denver Broncos. Although the game neared the 2.5 million viewers mark in D-FW, it stil...
Reporter Elizabeth Dinh, who primarily worked the morning shift at D-FW’s CBS11, will soon be anchoring weeknight newscasts for a Portland, Oregon station. Details are on our Dallas-Fort Worth ...
Tom Jicha’s The Top 100 American Situation Comedies: An Objective Ranking (written in partnership with Prof. ...Plus, return with your friendly content provider to the 1992 New Hampshire presid...
Richard Dreyfuss has reached the stage of his career where he can play Bernie Madoff without any extra makeup or other appliances. Blythe Danner co-stars in ABC’s two-part Madoff, which premier...
Fox’s first effort to capitalize on the earlier success of NBC’s live musicals paid off big-time in D-FW Sunday night. ... had the day’s biggest haul in both total viewers and advertiser-co...
Ratings were down nationally for Thursday’s Donald Trump-less Republican presidential candidate debate on Fox News Channel. But those other guys easily had enough juice to outdraw Trump’s bel...
It’s been 21 years since O. ... Simpson: American Crime Story re-tells the most famous modern-day trial in history in a way that never gets old.
Hey, it’s a “comedic drama” this time around. Otherwise, the world again is on the even of destruction in NBC’s 10-episode You, Me and the Apocalypse, which earlier premiered in the Unite...
WGN America’s third original scripted drama series, Outsiders, pits a set-in-their-ways mountaintop clan against a rampaging coal mining conglomerate. ...Plus, the weekend D-FW Nielsen ratings ...
Picture the devil as evacuating hell, opening a trendy club in L.A. and then assisting in solving crimes. That’s the deal in Fox’s Lucifer.
Edgy and groundbreaking with its 1993 debut, Fox’s The X-Files returns for a limited six-episode engagement that can’t seem to find itself. It premieres after Sunday’s NFC Championship game...
There’s just no stopping the onslaught of comic book superheroes going prime-time. The latest, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, premieres Thursday, Jan. 21st on The CW.
FX’s Baskets isn’t Zach Galifianakis’ first rodeo -- except that it literally is. He stars as a desperate runner from bulls in this decidedly dark FX comedy series.
Texas-bred robbers/killers Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow get the American Experience treatment on Tuesday, Jan. 19th. ...Ed Bark
The new six-episode Mercy Street is a rare PBS departure from the British pipeline. It premieres on Sunday, Jan. 17th, following the ongoing final season of Downton Abbey.
mold, here comes TBS’ Angie Tribeca with a Sunday, Jan. 17th, 25-hour marathon in which all 10 Season One episodes will be played over and over. There’s some very fine cop shop spoofery going...
Paul Giamatti and Damian Lewis drive Showtime’s Billions into the black despite a few head-hurting financial plots and counter-plots. The 12-episode drama series premieres on Sunday, Jan. 17th,...
Two familiar TV stars with hit sci-fi series under their belts return to co-star in USA’s Colony, which launches on Thursday, Jan.14th. ...And CBS drew the most viewers for its State of the Uni...
The new Fox drama series Second Chance draws on elements from Frankenstein and The Six Million Dollar Man without overly aping either of them. ...Plus, the D-FW ratings for last night’s high-oc...
Sunday night’s Golden Globes awards ceremony on NBC turned out to be a festival of censored presentations. ...Also, the weekend D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” spotlights both the Globes an...
Dallas-based TEGNA8 has decided to part ways with weekend morning anchor Carla Wade, informed sources tell unclebarky.com. Details are on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Jane Lynch, in her first scripted series since Glee, is tart and brassy anew in CBS’ Angel From Hell. ...Also, the start of American Idol’s last season pumped up Fox’s D-FW ratings Wednesda...
Think The Shield and you’ve pretty much nailed the new NBC cop drama Shades of Blue. ... It premieres on Thursday, Jan. 7th after Lopez performs disparate duties on rival Fox’s American Idol.
Anchor Cynthia Izaguirre couldn’t resist the obvious reference.” I feel like Steve Harvey -- all of a sudden,” she said on TEGNA8’s Wednesday 10 p.m. newscast after the station put up the...
American Crime returns to ABC on Wednesday, Jan. 6th with what looks to be a stellar second season based on the first four episodes available for review. ...Plus, Gary Cogill talks about joining ...
Netflix keeps churning it out -- and with a very high batting average in terms of hitting the mark. Its latest binge-worthy production, Making a Murderer, is a 10-hour dissection of a sensational...
Downton Abbey starts its final nine-episode season on Sunday, Jan. 3rd. Perfect for feasting, and our review is here.
News anchor John McCaa, in his 31st year with Dallas-based TEGNA8, remains on the mend and off the air after suffering a hairline fracture of his jaw under unusual circumstances. He details what ...
The first two new network series of 2016 check in Sunday night on Fox. ... And see what Cooper Barrett’s Guide to Surviving Life is all about by going here.
Fox4, NBC5, TEGNA8 and CBS11 all presented wall-to-wall tornado coverage Saturday night, with network prime-time programming out of the picture. ... The official results, based on numbers from Ni...
From the living room of unclebarky.com world headquarters, here’s wishing a very Merry Christmas to all of our readers and pretty much everyone else, too. ...Also, CBS’ colorized two-pack of ...
But few if any years have seen the departures of so many longtime mainstays of D-FW’s TV newsrooms. Our annual “And to All a Good Night” compendium is on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
The Dallas Cowboys’ last gasp loss to the Jets aired on a heavy duty night of holiday parties and other Christmas activities. In D-FW, the ratings paid the price, even though the Cowboys again ...
ABC’s Monday Night Football dressed it all up in a Frank Gifford-recited holiday poem that perhaps should have been intercepted. ... Episode 5 of Uncle Barky’s Countdown to Christmas gives yo...
Episode 4 of Uncle Barky’s Countdown to Christmas stars the greatly underrated Kenan Thompson as Sump’n Claus. Plus, Wednesday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” is now in sight.
CNN’s nine-way Republican presidential candidate debate outdrew all programming Tuesday night in D-FW, including NBC’s two-hour season finale of The Voice. Get all the numbers here, plus a lo...
Episode 2 of Uncle Barky’s Countdown to Christmas shifts to a very inventive spot for Fox4’s Good Day. ...Plus, Monday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” unwraps more holiday season boun...
It’s time for Uncle Barky’s annual Countdown to Christmas, in which your friendly content provider shops for just the right holiday season videos from both the distant and recent past. ...Als...
Syfy’s latest otherworldly serial drama, The Expanse, looks great in HD. ...Plus, the Wednesday-Thursday D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” is in, with a spotlight on last night’s Dolly Part...
And for the fourth time, HitFix.com has surveyed 53 TV critics on their choices for the Top 10 overall and new TV series of 2015. ...And you can compare and contrast our lists on the Making a Lis...
Jessica Jones, another super-powered character from the Marvel playbook, gets a first-rate showcase in Netflix’s 13-episode Season One. ...Plus, Monday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” h...
Guests include Lucille Ball, Louis Armstrong, George Burns, Liberace and Shirley Jones, with a still formative Harvey Korman deployed as Kaye’s featured second banana. ...Also, the weekend D-FW...
In 70 years as a television network, NBC has never had a prime-time series with an all-Hispanic cast. ...Also, NBC’s The Wiz Live out-duels Thursday Night Football in D-FW in the advertiser-pri...
Netflix’s A Very Murray Christmas, which starts streaming on Friday, Dec. 4th, is a stocking stuffer at best. But the mostly straight-ahead song stylings of Bill Murray might go better with a f...
NBC is sneak-previewing back-to-back episodes of Superstore on Monday, Nov. 30th following a lush lead-in from The Voice. ...Also, the Dallas Cowboys were basted on Thanksgiving Day, but still se...
Fox4 won five of the eight competitions and never lost a single weekday at 6 a.m. in D-FW’s November newscast “sweeps.” ... Complete details and the year-to-year numbers you won’t find an...
And in case you still want to partake, unclebarky.com has reviews of two looks at how the first Thanksgiving came to be. The review of National Geographic Channel’s two-part Saints & Strangers ...
Another streamer gets into the drama business, with Crackle the venue and The Art of More its first original series in that genre. Dennis Quaid is the executive producer and name brand cast membe...
Vincent Kartheiser veers far off from his Pete Campbell role on Mad Men as the principal star of National Geographic Channel’s Saints & Strangers. Premiering Sunday, Nov. 22nd, it’s a satisfy...
Amazon takes a bold swing with the post-World War II drama series The Man in the High Castle, which begins streaming all 10 Season One episodes on Friday, Nov. 20th. Premise: Nazis and the Japane...
ABC and Fox have put out detailed blueprints, NBC is dribbling things out and CBS as usual doesn’t have to do a whole lot because most of its shows are in good working order. ...Plus, NBC and N...
Veteran producer Dick Wolf looked to be on the outside looking in a few years ago when NBC began weaning itself from his one-time thriving Law & Order “brand.” But he sold the Peacock on Chic...
Grandson No. 1 is turning one next week. So it’s time for your friendly content provider to spend some quality time out-of-state and away from unclebarky.com.
New York City’s big-time ballet world is portrayed as a cutthroat cesspool -- and worse -- in Starz’s off-putting 8-hour miniseries, Flesh and Bone. ...Also, Thursday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings...
Aziz Ansari, who stood out as a supporting player on NBC’s Parks and Recreation, steps into stardom in his own right with Neftlix’s Master of None. ...And our latest D-FW ratings “snapshot�...
The dawning of a two-tiered CBS arrived Monday when the network announced it will blast off its new Star Trek series exclusively on the All Access pay-per-month streaming service. ...Also, the we...
CNBC’s mishandling of Wednesday’s Republican presidential candidate debate wasn’t even debatable. Virtually everyone drew that conclusion, with Ted Cruz making the most of it while fellow �...
Fans of the bloodily amusing Evil Dead franchise can now get a weekly fix when Ash vs Evil Dead premieres Halloween night on Starz. ...Plus, Tuesday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” highli...
Less than four months ago, NBC publicly denounced Donald Trump for his controversial comments on illegal immigration and wrote him out of the network’s future business plans. Now he’s going t...
CBS takes a flyer with a comic book heroine with Supergirl while ABC follows a Sunset Strip serial killer in the period drama Wicked City. Our review of Supergirl is here and you can find the rev...
Charlotte Huffman, from Philadelphia’s KYW-TV, will be joining Dallas-based TEGNA8’s investigative unit and replacing award-laden Byron Harris, who retired earlier this month. More details on...
NBC5 Fort Worth correspondent Chris Van Horne has a distinction of which he may be unaware. ...Also, Chris Elliott received the Dallas VideoFest’s Kovacs award at a Sunday presentation that eas...
Bounced by CBS despite continued strong ratings, Tom Selleck’s Jesse Stone movies get a new life on Hallmark. Jesse Stone: Lost In Paradise premieres on Sunday, Oct. 18th, and our review is her...
The Texas Rangers’ error-filled 7th inning collapse at Toronto wrote an end to their postseason Wednesday afternoon and early evening. D-FW ratings for the deciding Game 5 of the ALDS built to ...
NBC’s Truth Be Told tries to mine laughs from the interracial friendship of a white college professor and a black standup comedian. ...Plus, Tuesday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” spot...
Tell that to the station managers across the land whose principal priorities are keeping the local newscast ratings from dying on various vines. Your friendly content provider speaks up for them ...
Our Back Channels page recycles a November 2005 interview with former CBS News producer Mary Mapes on the eve of her book tour. Truth, the feature film based on that book, co-stars Cate Blanchett...
Fargo returns to FX on Monday, Oct. 12th with an all-new story and mostly new characters. ...Plus, the Cowboys met the New England Patriots and the Texas Rangers had two ALDS games against Toront...
Dallas-based TEGNA8 has made a move to fill the major void left by longtime medical reporter Janet St. ... Hired to replace her is former KTRK-TV reporter Sonia Azad, who has been a full-time yog...
FX premieres its fifth entry in the American Horror Story franchise, AHS: Hotel, on Wednesday, Oct. 7th. ...Plus, Hulu has started streaming its new comedy series Casual, from executive producer ...
The Texas Rangers finally nailed down the AL West pennant Sunday by pounding the visiting Angels 9-2 behind Cole Hamels. ... Still, another NFL game beat the Rangers head-to-head while the Cowboy...
The Texas Rangers secured a spot in the post-season with Thursday night’s home win over the Angels. It drew a lot of eyeballs, but not nearly as many as Baltimore’s overtime win over Pittsbur...
David Letterman’s voluminous post-Late Show beard is the big attention-getter. But he’s not nearly alone among past, present and in-between-jobs late night talk show hosts.
CBS hasn’t had an enduring medical drama since Chicago Hope checked out in 2000. ...Also, Tuesday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” spotlights Fox’s premieres of Grandfathered and The G...
Exemplary investigative reporter Byron Harris, who’s retiring from Dallas-based WFAA-TV on Oct. 9th after a 41-year career at the station, got a big sendoff Monday night at a memorable Press Cl...
John Stamos and Rob Lowe join Fox’s Tuesday night lineup on Sept. 29th in back-to-back comedies. ...Also, the weekend D-FW Nielsen ratings show the Dallas Cowboys taking a big hit while still d...
ABC’s Blood & Oil, premiering on Sunday, Sept. 27th, is mainly notable for Don Johnson’s participation. He’s back in a prime-time series for the first time since Nash Bridges left CBS in 20...
Quantico premieres on Sunday, Sept. 27th, and the ABC drama series opens with the aftermath of a current-day major terrorist strike on New York City. ...Plus, Thursday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings ag...
Heroes Reborn makes its way to NBC on Thursday, Sept. 24th after the original fizzled out five-and-a-half years ago. ...Plus, Empire returns and again makes Fox a ratings behemoth in Wednesday’...
Wednesday night’s big new season drawing card is the return of Empire. ...Also, Tuesday night’s D-FW Nielsen ratings show a quiet start for Fox’s heavily hyped Scream Queens
Bradley Cooper has gone on to be really big after his 2011 starring role in Limitless. ...Plus, TEGNA8’s Daybreak personalities become “Uppets” in a promo tied to the Tuesday, Sept. 22nd pr...
ABC’s The Muppets, premiering Tuesday, Sept. 22nd, is a “mockumentary” workplace series borrowing from the likes of The Office and Parks and Recreation. ...Ed Bark
Billed as a “comedy-horror murder-mystery,” Fox’s heavily promoted Scream Queens arrives with a two-hour premiere on Tuesday, Sept. 22nd. ... Not so much with the violence but with the lead...
The Dallas Cowboys’ 20-10 win over the butt-ugly Philadelphia Eagles, severely marred by QB Tony Romo’s broken clavicle, drew just over 1.5 million D-FW viewers Sunday, And then came the Emmy...
Sunday night brings the 67th annual Primetime Emmy Awards, and my picks are here. ...Furthermore, Thursday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” highlights the return of CBS’ Thursday Night F...
Wednesday’s 11-way Republican presidential candidate wrestling match on CNN dominated D-FW’s prime-time ratings from start to finish despite going on and on for a full three hours. All the de...
It’s now been nine years since the tin can, one-person website known as unclebarky.com began providing unfettered, independent coverage of national and D-FW television. ...Binge-viewing wasn’...
Stephen Colbert now has a quintet of CBS Late Shows under his belt. ...Also, the Texas Rangers are in the midst of a down-the-stretch battle for first place with the Houston Astros, whom they met...
Presented under the American Experience banner, PBS’ four-hour Walt Disney documentary premieres on Monday, Sept. 14 and continues on Tuesday night. ...Also, the weekend D-FW Nielsen ratings �...
Set in medieval times, it’s from Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter and includes his wife, Katey Sagal in the cast, as well as Stephen Moyer from True Blood. ...Also, CBS11 seeks to keep its e...
Amazon Prime’s Hand of God, which began streaming on Friday, Sept. 4th, has a number of familiar TV faces, including Ron Perlman, Dana Delany and Garret Dillahunt. ...Even though some producers...
Bob Phillips has been a solo act on Texas Country Reporter since the show debuted in 1972. Now he’ll be getting a co-host, his wife Kelli Phillips, when new episodes resume the weekend of Sept.
Netflix’s latest streaming original is the 10-episode Narcos, which telescopes the life and times of Colombian cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar and those who wanted him dead. ...Ed Bark
The Dallas Cowboys’ annual “dress rehearsal” pre-season game, in which most available starters played, ended up a dud in the D-FW Nielsen ratings. Airing on a Saturday night -- which likely...
Fox4’s still No.1-rated Good Day program has had one constant in the last 20 years. ... You can see it on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page, which also lists the many competing A.M. male anchors wh...
Little was expected of The Carmichael Show, which NBC is kissing off with back-to-back episodes on three successive Wednesdays in the nowhere land between summer’s end and the start of the new ...
Premiering on Tuesday, Aug. 25th, Public Morals adds an edge to TNT as part of the network’s goal of re-positioning itself. ...Also, Super Bowl Monday (back to school day) sent TEGNA8 to the he...
WFAA-TV on Friday announced the impending retirement of investigative reporter Byron Harris, who joined the Dallas-based station in 1974 and has won all of the industry’s most prestigious natio...
Its The Walking Dead is TV’s runaway biggest draw among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds. So here comes another one, AMC’s Fear the Walking Dead prequel.
Not generally known for comedy, Patrick Stewart throws himself into Starz’s Blunt Talk after barking out commands for all those years on Star Trek: The Next Generation. The half-hour series pre...
But as a diversion for fans of the critically panned original, Lifetime’s The Unauthorized Full House Story serves as a serviceable place-holder for Netflix’s upcoming Fuller House, which wil...
from Saturday Night Live alums and chums Bill Hader, Fred Armisen and Seth Meyers. The six-episode series premieres on Thursday, Aug. 20th, with IFC already pre-ordering two more seasons.
Morton Downey Jr., agitated son of a once popular crooner, came to prominence in the late 1980s with a foul-smelling talk show that some say was a road-paver for some of today’s TV brayers and ...
Fox Sports Southwest is finally starting to reap some ratings benefits from the Texas Rangers’ late season run for a post-season berth. ...Plus, TEGNA furthers its grip on WFAA-TV (TEGNA8) with...
Sunday’s Jordan Spieth-fueled final round of the PGA championship made a nice showing in the D-FW Nielsen ratings. ...Also while I was away, NBC5 hired a new reporter and CBS11 added a pair of ...
Unclebarky.com is firing up again after two-and-a-half weeks on the summer Television Critics Association “press tour.” ...Plus, those who help unclebarky.com out by clicking on an amazon.com...
It’ll all begin with a bang -- a late Monday afternoon screening of FX’s opening Season 2 episode of Fargo -- before settling into a daily pattern of one interview session after another and u...
Craig Robinson, formerly part of The Office cast, gets a chance to front his own comedy series in NBC’s Mrs. ... He’s a funk singer and high school music teacher stuck in a strictly old-schoo...
Being a temperature taker is where it’s at in local TV newsrooms across this great drizzly land of ours. ... The winner actually gets something of immediate value beyond a shot at actually bein...
So it went to the dad gum drawling board and came up with West Texas Investors Club. It doesn’t premiere until Tuesday, Aug. 4th, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves before jaunting off next...
Brian Glenn, who joined Dallas-based TEGNA8 in August 2013, is no longer with the station. He was best known for his live segments during the early morning Daybreak program.
But its cult status keeps growing by leaps and bounds, in no small part to the presence of Paul Rudd, Bradley Cooper, Amy Poehler and other then largely unknowns. They’re all returning to Netfl...
Dallas Mavericks owner and Shark Tank star Mark Cuban, who only seems to be everywhere these days, gets to chew on a nice-sized cameo role in Syfy’s Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! , which premieres o...
D-FW ratings for Monday’s morning/afternoon coverage of The Open not surprisingly peaked during Jordan Spieth’s last-gasp chance to join the playoff field. But Nielsen numbers for the three m...
The sands of time, not the lure of a public relations position, have convinced CBS11 reporter Bud Gillett that it’s time for him to go. ...Plus, the first three rounds of the rain and wind-rava...
It’s been eight years since the Spike TV network has produced an original scripted drama “event.” But it’s wading back in, with the six-hour Tut premiering on Sunday, July 19th.
The 2015 Emmy nominations, announced Thursday, again put HBO on top with both the most overall nominations and the top program in Game of Thrones. ...Plus, Wednesday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings “s...
Denis Leary, the balls-out star of FX’s long-running Rescue Me, returns to the network with his pants and tongue on fire in Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll. ... And you still wouldn’t want to take ...
Fox’s All-Star game in large part went up against NBC’s America’s Got Talent Tuesday night. ... Details are on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Gradually evicting itself as the home of broad, laugh track-driven sitcoms, TV Land looks for a further “edge” Wednesday night with two new single-cam comedies. ...Impastor is the saga of an ...
CBS ruled D-FW’s afternoon and early evening ratings Sunday via Dallasite Jordan Spieth’s playoff win at the John Deere Classic. ...Also, Frontline’s up-close “Escaping ISIS” offers one...
On Monday, unclebarky.com was first to report that reporters Calvert Collins and Latoya Silmon had both decided to leave Dallas-based Fox4. Now the rest of their stories are complete, with Silmon...
Season 3 of Showtime’s Masters of Sex re-calibrates and is reinvigorated as a result. ...Also, return with us now to a 1985 WFAA-TV promo that harkens to simpler, homegrown times and includes o...
It’s a more “grown-up” show than usual for a network that still has a target audience of 18-to-34-year-olds. ...Sundance TV also also restarts Rectify for a shorter season of 6 episodes, co...
Fox stations across the nation struck it rich Sunday night with the U.S. women’s rout of Japan to win soccer’s World Cup. ...Plus, Fox4 reporters Calvert Collins and Latoya Silmon, both of wh...
As the latest Emmy nominations near -- on Thursday, July 16th -- our Making a List page charts the top 10 losers, all of whom should have been Emmy winners at least once. Also, the TV Bulletin Bo...
ABC’s original The Fugitive, which aired from 1963 to ’67, is newly available on DVD at a bargain price for all 120 episodes of the influential series. ...Not only that, it held the record fo...
For three straight summers, CBS has introduced a “popcorn” miniseries with an otherworldly storyline. The latest is Zoo, which follows 2013’s Under the Dome and last year’s Extant, both o...
The USA network’s drama series generally are heavy on breezy banter. ...Also, Tuesday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” is posted, with a closing note on former CBS11 traffic anchor Tammy...
Netflix’s third 13-episode season of Orange is the New Black began streaming earlier this month. ... But now we have a review of OITNB after watching the entire new season.
The blotchy greens were bumpy and so was Fox’s first-time coverage of the U.S. ... But Sunday’s final round couldn’t have been much more dramatic, with Dallasite Jordan Spieth emerging vict...
Susan Tully, NBC5’s vice president of news for the past 14 years, is moving up the NBC chain. Her new position, effective immediately, is president-general manager of NBC-owned WVIT-TV, which s...
HBO’s trio of Father’s Day newcomers also includes The Brink, an “epic dark comedy series” modeled after Dr. ...Plus, how did Fox do in prime-time with its inaugural coverage of the U.S.
NBC News officially announced Thursday that Lester Holt is the official anchor of Nightly News while Brian Williams gets sent to MSNBC, where it all started for him in 1996. All the details and o...
The new HBO sports series Ballers couldn’t have a bigger draw at the moment. Still battling earthquakes in the blockbuster feature film San Andreas, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson brings his sup...
HBO’s much-anticipated second season of True Detective premieres on Sunday, June 21st. ...Also, Tuesday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” spotlights the big ratings for ABC’s concluding...
The Astronaut Wives Club finally blasts off on Thursday, June 18th after a long gestation period. It’s far more than a breezy throwaway.
Mireya Villarreal, an investigative reporter for D-FW’s CBS11, has been named a CBS network correspondent. ...Plus, who won the ratings battle in D-FW Monday night between the deciding Game 6 o...
The more conventional Proof, starring Jennifer Beals as a skeptical, self-important doc delving into the afterlife, had already been ordered by the old regime. ...Plus, the weekend D-FW Nielsen r...
The Golden State Warriors pulled away in the 4th quarter to rout the Cleveland Cavaliers 103-82 in Game 4 of the NBA Finals Thursday. ... All the details are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Ray Liotta is home on the range as narrator for AMC’s new eight-episode The Making of the Mob: New York, which premieres on Monday, June 15th. ...Ed Bark
Last summer, CNN’s The Sixties kicked off with a chapter titled “Television Comes of Age.” ... End result: a fairly entertaining talking heads/clip show that again has trouble tackling a ve...
As previously posted, Fox4 investigative reporter Becky Oliver will be leaving the Dallas-based station on June 29th after 24 years of tracking down and confronting alleged wrong-doers. In an int...
Becky Oliver, Fox4’s featured investigative reporter for the past 24 years, will be leaving the station later this month. ...Also, Tuesday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” highlights the...
TCU became the last team to qualify for the eight-team College World Series field with a 16-inning win over Texas A&M that stretched all the way to 1:02 a.m. ...How many D-FW viewers hung in ther...
Sunday night’s Game 2 of the NBA Finals outdrew Game 1 in D-FW while Saturday’s history-making Belmont Stakes also made a big haul during the time the race was actually run. Also, CBS11’s 6...
Game 1 of the NBA Finals bounced all competing programs to the curb Thursday night in D-FW. And they also again proved their worth among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds.
But for hardcore fans, it’s pretty much a treasure trove, with its hundreds of pictures and illustrations sometimes making more lasting impressions than its words. ...Also, Tuesday’s D-FW rat...
Although he spent the last 15 years anchoring in Tulsa, new CBS11 A.M. anchor Russ McCaskey is a bonafide North Texan. The stations goes to unusual lengths to hammer this point home in a 30-secon...
Anchor Karen Borta’s new A.M. desk mate, Russ McCaskey, made his debut on Monday, June 1st. ...Also, the Texas Rangers are resurgent in the D-FW Nielsen ratings as well.
ABC has saved one of its better new drama series for the summertime, which no longer is a trash basket for “regular” season rejects. Our review of The Whispers is here.
A trio of solid performances, led by Kelli Garner in the title role, make Lifetime’s The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe a watchable 4-hour wallow. ...Ed Bark
Austin native, Fort Worth-raised and TCU-educated Bob Schieffer is retiring from CBS News this Sunday via his last Face the Nation. ...Plus, if you haven’t seen them yet, the Dallas-Fort Worth ...
It’s very much open to debate whether NBC’s Aquarius is worth 13 hours of your time. ... After the two-hour Thursday, May 28th premiere, the entire Season 1 will be streamed on NBC.com for th...
While I was away, a few rather momentous TV events took center stage. Mad Men signed off on May 17th and Late Show with David Letterman did likewise on May 20th. ...So here’s to both Dave and D...
But ABC, CBS and The CW networks announced their new 2015-16 prime-time schedules after your friendly content provider was enroute to Alaska. So here’s a catchup round for those three networks,...
The May “sweeps” turned out to be history-making for Fox4 and CBS11 -- both of which achieved firsts at the expense of Gannett8. We’ve got all the details, including year-to-year ups and do...
So your friendly content provider will be missing a few things -- including the Mad Men and David Letterman finales -- while away from this grindstone. Some of the networks’ new season announce...
Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Sam Waterston and Martin Sheen join together -- and split apart -- in Netflix’s Grace and Frankie. ... And its four stars, all in their 70s, can still bring it.
Emmitt Smith will try to re-win the Mirror Ball Trophy he took home back in 2006 when Dancing with the Stars presents its first "All-Star" competition this fall. ... See the rest of the roster an...
History channel’s five-part, 10-hour Texas Rising doesn’t premiere until Memorial Day. ...Plus, the Wednesday-Thursday D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshots” again show the ratings power of bad...
HBO’s latest movie looks at vintage blues singer Bessie Smith, with Queen Latifah in the title role. It’s a showy performance in more ways than one.
In less than two weeks, David Letterman will leave the after-hours firmament after a record 33-year run on NBC’s Late Night and then the CBS Late Show. My first-hand, up-close experiences with ...
Fox’s promotions for the 10-part “event series” Wayward Pines have been ubiquitous for the past two months. ... The first six episodes of Wayward Pines were more than enough to put me on bo...
Our Back Channels page begins its David Letterman time travels with a look at your friendly content provider’s up-close experiences with him in Las Vegas. Hey, it was only 28 years ago, during ...
Your friendly content provider had a unique viewing experience Saturday night. It had to do with the Big Fight -- and watching it for free.
NBC’s annual presentation of the Kentucky Derby easily ranked as the weekend’s most-watched D-FW TV attraction during the 15-minute segment in which the race was actually run. ...Plus, Gannet...
Also, revisit an obviously dated weather promo in which a D-FW station’s chief temperature taker actually was praised for using restraint while his rivals all sounded alarms. ...Plus, CBS11 on ...
The Dallas Mavericks’ season ended Tuesday night with the Game 5 playoff loss to the Houston Rockets. ... And how were the numbers compared to the previous four post-season games?
CBS11 has decided not to keep Tammy Dombeck as its full-time early morning traffic reporter. ... Now it’s time for unclebarky.com to take a look at this -- as well as identify her very likely r...
Rowling’s “first novel for adults” into a two-night, three-hour miniseries produced in partnership with the BBC. The magic here is in the slow-cooked depiction of the goings-on in a small, ...
Only on unclebarky.com will you find a complete D-FW breakdown of weekend Nielsen ratings for ABC’s big Bruce Jenner interview, the two Dallas Mavericks playoff games and late Sunday night’s ...
Gannett8 is recalibrating chief meteorologist Pete Delkus’ image in a new series of promos that accentuate his serious approach to the weather at hand. He’s also known as the guy who trades p...
Until his sudden death, Philip Seymour Hoffman had signed to be the principal star of the very dark Showtime comedy series Happyish. The network would have been better off burying it judging from...
It’s easy to get into the rhythm of this new country music-themed spot for CBS11 chief meteorologist Larry Mowry. ... Our assessment and the promo itself are on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Bert Shipp, whose long career at DFW’s WFAA-TV included covering both the John F. ... In subsequent years, he was WFAA’s behind-the-scenes newsroom maestro, as news director and later, assign...
The 50th anniversary Academy of Country Music awards ceremony not surprisingly was a really big drawl in these parts. Our weekend local Nielsen ratings “snapshot” has all the details, plus th...
CBS11’s Stephanie Lucero is the latest veteran reporter to leave a D-FW station in search of something else. ...Plus, Thursday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings highlights are in.
After seeming superfluous for several seasons, The CW network has been making its mark with series such as The Flash, iZombie, Jane the Virgin and now The Messengers. ...Plus, the Tuesday-Wednesd...
Is Netflix’s Bloodline worth your long-term investment? ... You’ll also be witness to one of the best dramatic performances of the season by Australian Ben Mendelsohn as a prodigal son named ...
CBS’ final round of The Masters Sunday flexed in the D-FW Nielsen ratings thanks to Dallas native Jordan Spieth’s dominant performance. It easily ranked No. 1 for the weekend in total viewers...
James, who left Gannett8 just three weeks ago after 15 years as the D-FW market’s premier medical reporter, announced Thursday on her Facebook page that she has “invasive breast cancer that h...
HBO’s Game of Thrones returns for a 10-episode Season 5 on Sunday, April 12th. Heavy metal again abounds, but so do gripping characters.
Billy Crystal is the big brand name and Josh Gad is the guy on the rise. They’re paired as themselves in FX’s The Comedians, a mocu/documentary that premieres on Thursday, April 9th in tandem...
FX’s Louie comes back on Thursday, April 9th to rekindle the power of dour. ...Ed Bark
But CBS11 at last has settled on a new early morning co-anchor to join incumbent Karen Borta. He’s Russ McCaskey, who’s scheduled to start on June 1st after a long tenure at Tulsa’s KJRH-TV...
Newly back from a road trip to the Midwest, your friendly content provider has been catching up while still nursing a hangover from that tough Wisconsin Badgers loss last night. ...Plus, we’ve ...
The boss at unclebarky.com -- me -- has decided that it’s sole employee -- me -- could use a little respite as the Easter season approaches. But we’ve left behind a wealth of reviews of upcom...
PBS’ latest Masterpiece presentation, the six-chapter Wolf Hall, takes its own good time -- and then some -- in again retelling the story of King Henry VIII and his hold on consigliere Thomas C...
Lifetime’s swingin’ new series, The Lizzie Borden Chronicles, picks up four months after the network’s hit movie, Lizzie Borden Took An Ax ended with her acquittal. But in this eight-episod...
Fox has regrouped in recent months by reaping a ratings bonanza with Empire while also scoring with another midseason entry, The Last Man On Earth. But it seems highly unlikely that its latest ne...
The buzz over HBO’s The Jinx is still among us. But now comes the network’s arguably even more startling Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief.
The Friday-through-Monday D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” is in. ...Also, a new TV Bulletin Board has a wealth of munch-able items, including Tuesday’s announced return of The X Files to Fo...
Fox’s Empire drew more than half a million D-FW viewers Wednesday night for its two-hour Season 1 finale. Details are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
The makers of HBO’s The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst, have accomplished what prosecutors and cops couldn’t. ...Also, Tuesday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” is posted.
From the creator of Veronica Mars, it’s The CW’s iZombie. It’s brainy on several fronts, and our review is here.
Ellen DeGeneres gets back into the sitcom game as a co-producer of NBC’s One Big Happy, which premieres on Tuesday, March 17th. So yep, the central character is gay.
KTXD-TV’s (Ch. 47) locally produced The Broadcast has been dropped from the station’s morning lineup. It joins the station’s other major programming initiative, The Texas Daily, which was d...
Both Wednesday and Thursday were eventful TV nights in D-FW and around the nation. But our “Local Nielsen Ratings Snapshots” bring it all home by charting the TV tastes of North Texans, inclu...
Netflix is still basking in the third season of House of Cards and Season 1 of Tina Fey’s Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (after NBC rejected it). ...The review of House of Cards, with no major spoil...
The ratings are still to die for when it comes to AMC’s The Walking Dead. ...Plus, a new TV Bulletin Board page post has specifics on NBC’s and CBS’ summertime schedules, etc.
We have all the numbers on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page, where you can believe what you read without any of those pesky “content-sharing” spins. ...KXAS-TV (Channel 5) carried it back then, ...
From the creator of NBC’s Heroes, it’s the USA network’s Dig. Lowering your expectations would be a good first step.
Meteorologist Jennifer Myers, best known in D-FW television for co-anchoring Fox4’s weekend morning newscasts, has gone public with her impending thyroid removal for what appears to be stage 1 ...
The most daring broadcast network drama series in a good long while gets underway on Thursday, March 5th. Our review of ABC’s American Crime is here.
Jane McGarry, a contributor on Gannett8’s Good Morning Texas since 2013, is joining the program full-time as a co-host with incumbent Mike Castellucci. Details and an interview with McGarry are...
One of last year’s most acclaimed British series, Broadchurch, is back with a vengeance on BBC America. Its eight-episode Season 2 begins on Wednesday, March 4th.
Dallas-based Gannett8 is losing another longtime major contributor with the impending departure of medical reporter Janet St. ...Plus, Monday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” is in.
And the list goes on: From CSI: Crime Scene Investigation to CSI: Miami to CSI: NY to the new CSI: Cyber. This time CBS gets an initially unanticipated bonus -- newly minted Oscar-winner Patricia...
Battle Creek, from the creator of Breaking Bad and its Better Call Saul prequel, has its late-arriving premiere on CBS Sunday. ...Also, Thursday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings are paced by the season f...
The review of ABC’s Secrets and Lies can be found here. And look here for the review of Fox’s The Last Man On Earth.
Nielsen’s latest ratings “book,” the February 2015 “sweeps,” is in the rear view mirror and ready to be charted and analyzed. ...Plus, Fox’s Empire again proved unbeatable in D-FW on ...
Our review of Sex Box -- “the most radical therapy ever seen on television” -- can be found right here. Also, Tuesday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” is in.
Bosch, Amazon Prime’s latest original drama series, began streaming in mid-February. ...Plus, NBC’s The Voice returns in a very big way in Monday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings while local newscast...
An “Arctic Blast” descended on North Texas Monday, with legions of reporters sent to battle the elements while their bosses rubbed their hands at the thought of some big bad weather ratings. ...
Late, great folk artist/bluesman Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter, who had strong ties with both Dallas’ Deep Ellum district and the Texas prison system, is recaptured in a new docu-film premi...
Gannett8 sports reporter George Riba is calling it a career at the end of this week. ...And Empire again gives Fox/Fox4 many happy returns in Wednesday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings.
Amy Vanderoef, who joined Dallas-based Gannett8’s Good Morning Texas in 2006, will be leaving the program early next month. Details and an interview with Vanderoef are on our Dallas-Fort Worth ...
Season 3 of History channel’s signature series comes vividly into view on Thursday, Feb. 19th. ...Also, the latest D-FW ratings “snapshot” is a Monday-Tuesday combo that looks at the curiou...
CBS for some reason is launching yet another new version of The Odd Couple, this one largely the work of Matthew Perry. ...Ed Bark
We’ve noted previously in these spaces that weather is the top priority for all four major D-FW television news providers. ... Our closer look is on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page, with a kicker...
Sunday night’s big 40th anniversary Saturday Night Live special, now elongated to three-and-a-half hours after a preceding red carpet special, promises to be perhaps the biggest people-watching...
Back in 1997, your friendly content provider interviewed Brian Williams and Matt Lauer in New York on the subject of representing a “new generation of news dude.” Both men had become reliably...
NBC’s totally revamped Thursday night lineup gets its final piece with The Slap, a discordant family drama drawn from a same-named Australian series. ... But it may be enough to draw you in.
It was a night quite unlike any other, with the news that Jon Stewart would be leaving The Daily Show breaking shortly before NBC announced a six-month unpaid suspension for anchor Brian Williams...
The new Pop channel (formerly the TV Guide Network) hopes to make a splash with Schitt’s Creek. It stars comedy vets Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy, plus other Levys.
Brian Williams clearly is in the toughest spot of his career. ...Also, Sunday night was a big ratings battleground, with the Grammys on CBS squaring off against AMC’s return of The Walking Dead...
We take a closer look on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page during times when Daybreak is on an up-and-down ratings roller coaster during the ongoing February “sweeps.” Also, Thursday’s D-FW Nie...
AMC’s long-awaited Breaking Bad prequel, Better Call Saul, arrives on Sunday, Feb. 8th and continues on Monday. Bob Odenkirk faces the acting challenge of his career as the constantly on-camera...
Viewers who can’t wait for Season 2 of True Detective this summer will be more than placated by HBO’s The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst. Premiering on Sunday, Feb. 8th, it’s a s...
Still, the new NBC spy drama Allegiance draws from the same basic playbook as FX’s The Americans. ...And there’s a new Super Bowl entry on the TV Bulletin Board page.
Check out some of the latest interesting happenings on the D-FW TV news scene. The venue is our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
ABC’s Fresh Off the Boat premieres on Wednesday, Feb. 4th with back-to-back episodes. It’s the network’s latest effort on the diversity front, and our review is here.
The New England Patriots’ dramatic Super Bowl win over the Seattle (“Hope you like our gift”) Seahawks sent the D-FW Nielsen ratings soaring Sunday. But did they sky past the 2011 edition f...
Thursday marked opening night of the four-week February “sweeps,” with ABC throwing the hardest punches with the return of its “Thank God It’s Thursday” lineup of Shonda Rhimes-produced...
The still fledgling Pivot network offers its first original drama series on Thursday, Jan. 29th. ...Also, Fox’s Empire very much remains in charge of the D-FW Nielsen ratings.
CNN lately is making significant headway in its ratings war with Fox News Channel and MSNBC. ... And the network therefore could care less whether some are watching because CNN regularly is ripe ...
Breaking Greenville, premiering Thursday, Jan. 29th on truTV, pits two small-town TV news operations against each other in a real-life battle for ratings supremacy. Or at least that’s how it’...
Season 3 of FX’s acclaimed The Americans launches on Wednesday, Jan. 28th. ... But not as good as previous starts in this view.
She wasn’t supposed to join Doug Dunbar until Monday, Jan. 26th as co-anchor of CBS11’s 5, 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts. ...Also, the weekend D-FW ratings “snapshot” spotlights some strong rat...
History channel’s latest scripted miniseries, Sons of Liberty, charts the run-up to the Revolutionary War. ...Also, Fox’s Empire stayed strong in the ratings with Wednesday’s Episode 3.
Fox has a very see-worthy new cop drama, even its head crime solver is thoroughly unsightly. Rainn Wilson plays the title role in Backstrom, and our review is here.
After three years in Chicago, Kris Gutierrez is returning to North Texas to co-anchor Fort Worth-based NBC5’s weekday 5 p.m. newscasts. ...Plus, Tuesday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” ...
But every once in a while, it’s cathartic to call out some of those quick-on-the-draw Twitter and Facebook posters whose complaints have no real basis in fact. Which is the point of this latest...
So what’s up with introducing news CBS11 news anchor Kaley O’Kelley via a TV promo driven by CBS Radio-owned Jack FM? The D-FW market’s never seen anything quite like it -- and we discuss a...
CBS11’s latter day whirl of anchor changes, with many vacancies still to be filled, is unprecedented in the D-FW TV market. ... And our extended report/commentary, complete with an update on th...
Visions of the future -- on both big screens and small -- are very seldom under the rainbow. Syfy’s 12 Monkeys series, loosely drawn from the 1995 movie, continues on that same path.
Based on the first two episode, I’m still not sure what to make of FXX’s Man Seeking Woman, which premieres on Wednesday, Jan. 14th. Our attempt at reviewing it is here.
D-FW’s Gannett8 has bolstered its newsroom staff with the addition of veteran reporter David Goins. ...Plus, Tuesday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings snapshot is in the house.
Veteran CBS11 sports anchor Babe Laufenberg tweeted Tuesday morning that he’s leaving the D-FW station after the two sides couldn’t agree on a new contract. ...Also, Monday’s D-FW Nielsen r...
Early risers can now see one familiar face in new surroundings, with a new face arriving soon on weekends. Karen Borta made her CBS11 waker-upper debut on Monday while Brian James will be rolling...
Sunday’s big Cowboys-Packers showdown now bathed in controversy, was the one-and-only game this season to top the 2 million viewers mark in D-FW. All the ratings details, plus turnouts for othe...
We occasionally like to show, and also tell about old and new promotions from Fox4, NBC5, Gannett8 and CBS11. The latest featured spot is Fox4’s touting of the 7 to 9 a.m. portion of Good Day a...
HBO’s Girls returns for Season 4 on Sunday, Jan. 11th. Don’t expect any tidings of comfort and joy from one of prime-time’s most polarizing series.
She’s the best thing about HBO’s new Togetherness, a series that excels in the early going and then not so much. ...Also, Fox’s Wednesday night premiere of Empire was everything it could ha...
The Big Four broadcast networks have never mounted a successful, long-running drama series with a predominantly black cast. ...The TV Bulletin Board page looks at the “4th quarter” (October-D...
ABC’s ongoing relationship with the Marvel empire is doubled with the Tuesday, Jan. 6th, two-hour premiere of Marvel’s Agent Carter. And our review is here.
Although falling a bit shy of the 2 million viewers mark in D-FW, Sunday’s pulsating Dallas Cowboys’ playoff win over the Detroit Lions still ranked as the most-watched game of this season. ....
PBS’ biggest long-running hit, Downton Abbey, returns in fine form on Sunday, Jan. 4th. ...Also, the latest Nielsen ratings “snapshot” highlights a trio of big New Year’s Day bowl games.
It’s been done before on the big screen, but now ABC is daring to venture forth with the eight-episode Galavant. ...Plus, Monday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” details the bowl game wo...
How did the Cowboys do ratings-wide in their season-ender at Washington? And how brightly did TXA21’s Christmas Eve/Christmas Day Yule Log burn in its second season holiday season?
ONE OF THESE SANTAS WILL COME TO LIFE AND MAKE A STOP TONIGHT AT UNCLEBARKY.COM WORLD HEADQUARTERS. ...AND A SPECIAL THANKS TO ALL WHO DID THEIR HOLIDAY SEASON BUYING ON AMAZON.COM AFTER FIRST CL...
It’s all all about Eve today (ancient movie reference). So Uncle Barky’s Countdown to Christmas makes way with this season-ending video montage of Darlene Love’s annual performance of “Ch...
It’s getting close to that time again. So Episode 7 of Uncle Barky’s Countdown to Christmas again makes room for a timeless classic on the Network News & Reviews page.
The Dallas Cowboys finally rocked Jerry’s Palace Sunday with a blowout of the Indianapolis Colts that clinched both the East Division title and a playoff spot. ...Plus, Episode 6 of Uncle Barky...
Kaley O’Kelley, who has co-anchored an early morning show in Phoenix for the past five years, will be Karen Borta’s successor as CBS11’s new 5,6 and 10 p.m. weekday news anchor. Lots of det...
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was among the mega-gaggle of celebrities serenading Stephen Colbert with “We’ll Meet Again” on The Colbert Report finale. ...Get the details and comments f...
Plus, Episode 4 of Uncle Barky’s Countdown to Christmas has a holiday howler in which Conan O’Brien has visual evidence of all the local TV stations that had stories beginning with, “It’s...
End of the year surprises usually come on Christmas Day. But CBS11 sprung a big one Thursday by confirming that veteran 5, 6 and 10 p.m. anchor Karen Borta indeed is moving to the early morning n...
Their departures this week can’t hope to generate the mega-publicity surrounding the late night exits of Johnny Carson and, on May 20th of next year, David Letterman. But both Craig Ferguson an...
Return with us now to a 1982 “We’re 4 You” Christmas spot for D-FW’s KDFW-TV (now known as Fox4). ...Plus, which attraction fared better in Tuesday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings -- NCIS or NBC...
Way back in 1949, Gene Autry sang “Here Comes Santa Claus” while riding a horse next to -- Santa Claus. ...Also, Monday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” is posted.
NBC’s latest prime-time songfest, Elf: Buddy’s Musical Christmas, premieres on Tuesday, Dec. 16th. It hums along fairly well, and our review is here.
The Dallas Cowboys’ big 38-27 win at Philadelphia on NBC’s Sunday Night Football set a new season ratings high as well. ...Plus, Uncle Barky’s annual “Countdown to Christmas” returns fo...
Ascension, described in publicity materials as a “thrilling and highly anticipated limited event series,” launches Monday, Dec. 15th on the Syfy network. ...Plus, the Wednesday-Thursday D-FW ...
Every programmer produces a bomb sooner or later. And after the acclaimed successes of House of Cards and Orange Is the New Black, here comes Netflix with the 10-hour Marco Polo.
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced its 72nd annual Golden Globes nominations Thursday morning. We analyze the wide array of television choices on the Network News & Reviews page.
The 90-minute documentary film, presented under the American Masters banner, gets a Dec. 12th berth in D-FW. ...Also, see how the 50th anniversary presentation of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer f...
Hitfix.com’s 3rd annual national survey of TV critics has ended with a list of the year’s Top 10 programs, Top 10 new programs and Top 10 performances. ... Contrast and compare our lists on t...
After a week off, unclebarky.com is back in the business of covering the wide world of TV. ...Or to put it another way, NBC’s Thursday night Peter Pan Live failed to achieve liftoff opposite th...
It’s been quite a while since your friendly content provider took a vacation -- or whatever it is they call it. ... We’ll be back before I know it.
For the complete results, as well as yearly ups and downs, go to the only place you’ll find them -- our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page. ...Plus, we have a review of How Murray Saved Christmas, an up...
NBC's The Philanthropist premieres Wednesday night. ... But former Cowboy Terrell Owens is probably happier that few in these parts watched his big flop Tuesday night on the first episode of ABC'...
You’ve heard the tired old disclaimer: “I can sleep when I’m dead.” ... National Geographic Channel’s two-hour Sleepless in America sounds the alarm.
Four of this season’s 11 Dallas Cowboys games have surpassed 1.5 million viewers in D-FW. Surprisingly, the 31-28 win at New York on NBC’s Sunday Night Football could not quite make it a fift...
Whatever their profession, people very often aren’t what they seem to be. ...Plus, there’s a nice new collection of tidbits on our TV Bulletin Board page.
Traveling the globe, getting smashed and being paid for it. Behold the Travel Channel’s new 15-episode Booze Traveler.
World News Tonight’s David Muir is not your grandfather’s -- or even your older brother’s -- anchor. ... We take an up-close look at ABC’s matinee idol flag-bearer on our Network News & R...
Unclebarky.com launched more than eight years ago as the D-FW market’s only independent local and national TV website. There have never been any of those irksome pop-up ads (not that I’d know...
The last new broadcast network series of the season, NBC’s super far-fetched State of Affairs, comes calling on Monday, Nov. 17th. Katherine Heigl is at the controls, and our review is here.
The Hallmark, Lifetime and ABC Family networks are all striving to corner the Christmas market with endless, early starting strings of movies and specials. But your friendly content provider agai...
D-FW’s CBS11 is re-stocking its news department with a pair of new reporters scheduled to start in December. ...Also, Tuesday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” is posted.
Complete details, plus numbers for all of Saturday’s big college football games, are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page. ...Also, thanks to one and all for your kind words and thoughts during las...
Unclebarky.com will be inactive for the next couple of days -- and hopefully no more than that -- while your friendly content provider has a procedure designed to restore a regular heartbeat and ...
About 350,000 fewer D-FW viewers watched backup quarterback Brandon Weeden’s unwatchable performance Sunday in a 28-17 loss to Arizona. The complete weekend ratings report is on our Dallas-Fort...
Sorry, but I just wanted to acclimate you to the latest four-week ratings “sweeps” period, which began Thursday. We’ve got all the D-FW local newscast results plus some intriguing prime-tim...
Clear out some more Emmy space for HBO, which likely has another big winner in Olive Kitteridge. ...Plus, Wednesday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” is highlighted by a classic Game 7 of t...
Tuesday, the Dallas Mavericks’ season opener and Game 6 of the World Series vied to be the night’s top D-FW sports attraction. ...See the complete ratings results on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV ...
Its four new fall drama series already have received full-season pickups. Now comes the last of CBS’ newcomers, The McCarthys.
The Washington Redskins’ drama-drenched 20-17 overtime upset of the Dallas Cowboys hit it big on Monday Night Football’s prime-time stage. ...TV agreements require Monday Night Football to be...
D-FW viewers again chose NFL football in overwhelming numbers over Sunday night’s competing Game 5 of the World Series. We’ve got all the weekend ratings details on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV p...
Brendan Higgins, dropped by D-FW’s CBS11 after an altercation with Aspen, Colo. authorities last August, says he has entered a “deferred prosecution agreement” in the matter. ... Further de...
Whitney Drolen, main traffic reporter for D-FW’s CBS11 since August 2012, confirms to unclebarky.com that she resigned from the station on Friday, Oct. 24th. Details and her comments are on our...
Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown, was made with the “unique cooperation” of his estate, which granted extensive use of previously unseen footage. The trade-off: Brown’s numerous latter day...
Network TV’s latest comic book adaptation, Constantine, premieres on Friday, Oct. 24th in tandem with the new season launch of Grimm. ...Ed Bark
But the San Francisco Giants’ 7-1 win over the Kansas City Royals still did appreciably better in the D-FW ratings than the network’s typically little seen regular Tuesday night lineup. Still...
TV westerns had been a man’s world until Annie Oakley came around in 1954. ... All 81 episodes are newly available in a DVD collection that’s also fully loaded with extras.
Sunday’s 31-21 victory over the New York Giants became the third of seven games to surpass the 1.5 million viewer mark in D-FW. ...Plus, Fox4 has the best of show among D-FW’s weekend morning...
Your friendly content provider has seen literally hundreds of D-FW anchor personalities come and go during nearly 35 years (the horror!) ...Meanwhile, we’ll begin with former KDFW-TV sports anc...
CBS11’s fledgling weekend morning newscasts will have a Latina anchor/meteorologist duo with the hiring Thursday of Gilma Avalos. More details on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Harry Shearer is best known for two major contributions to the pop culture firmament -- The Simpsons and This is Spinal Tap. But Dallas VideoFest’s latest Kovacs Award winner also has been arou...
HBO’s Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways intends to dig deep into the fabric of various cities’ defining music in an eight-part series premiering on Friday, Oct. 17th. ...Plus, NBC5’s “Texas Co...
Watch the opening minutes of NBC’s Marry Me for the best sitcom setup of the season. It premieres on Tuesday, Oct. 14th, and our review is here.
The Dallas Cowboys’ Sunday smackdown of the Seattle Seahawks also set a new season-to-date D-FW ratings high. Details are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page, along with local ratings results for ...
The CW’s Jane the Virgin is strong on implausibility but stronger in its casting of Gina Rodriguez as the title character. ... In four more words, our review is here.
Paired with the ongoing Season 4 of Homeland, Showtime’s The Affair premieres on Sunday, Oct. 12th. Just the first of 10 episodes was made available for review, making this series particularly ...
Filmed in Hollywood but set in Dallas, the ABC sitcom Cristela premieres on Friday, Oct. 10th. Star Cristela Alonzo is a real-life, lifelong Dallas Cowboys fan.
The fourth go-around for FX’s American Horror Story will begin giving viewers the creeps on Wednesday, Oct. 8th. ...Plus, the TV Bulletin Board page has new nuggets on FX’s American Crime Sto...
The CW has just two new series this fall. One of them, The Flash, will be running on Tuesday nights, beginning Oct. 7th.
The Dallas Cowboys’ overtime win over Houston Sunday afternoon built to a box office blockbluster by the time Dan Bailey kicked the winning field goal. ...Also, a look at the reasons behind TNT...
D-FW’s CBS11 has hired Lisa Villegas as its new weekend morning meteorologist. More details are on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Showtime’s most-honored series, Homeland, begins Season 4 with back-to-back hours on Sunday, Oct. 5th. ...Ed Bark
Former Saturday Night Live writer/performer John Mulaney severely struggles to play himself in Fox’s new Mulaney, which premieres on Sunday, Oct. 5th. ...Plus, Thursday Night Football continued...
Gracepoint, Fox’s version of the acclaimed British whodunit Broadchurch, keeps David Tennant in play while adding a rock-solid supporting cast. ...And Tuesday’s edition now has the numbers fo...
And the review of A to Z can be found here. Plus, Tuesday’s D-FW ratings “snapshot” has some bad signs for three new ABC series.
Kevin Williamson, architect of The Following, the Scream movies and The Vampire Diaries, strikes again with CBS’ Stalker. ...Also, Monday’s D-FW ratings “snapshot” details who’s up and ...
Amazon Prime challenges Neftlix’s streaming supremacy with the provocative 10-part Transparent. Jeffrey Tambor stars, and our review is here.
ABC’s latest Tuesday night lead-off hitters, Selfie and Manhattan Love Story, hope to somehow survive opposite NBC’s The Voice and CBS’ NCIS. ...And our review of Manhattan Love Story is he...
New and lower D-FW viewer population estimates didn’t stop the Dallas Cowboys from drawing 1.5 million-plus viewers for Sunday night’s 38-17 thumping of the visiting New Orleans Saints. All t...
CBS’ Thursday Night Football had a second straight blowout game while squaring off against ABC’s “Shondaland” trio of Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal and the new How to Get Away with Murder. So...
CBS has a new game plan involving The Big Bang Theory, Mom and The Millers. ...Our complete hour-by-hour breakdown for Night 3 of the new season is on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
The late Aaron Spelling used to get away with this, filling an entire night on ABC with TV series bearing his name. Now Shonda Rimes (Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal) repeats this history by adding How...
ABC’s most promising new comedy series, black-ish, stars Anthony Anderson as a suburban father and hubby in search of a blacker racial identity. ...Also, we have the complete D-FW ratings pictu...
Sports anchor/reporter Max Morgan, who joined Dallas-based Fox4 in 1993, died Monday night of congestive heart failure. Our coverage and Fox4’s extended video tribute to Morgan are on the Dalla...
The second spinoff of CBS’ NCIS lumbers into view on Tuesday, Sept. 23rd. Our review of NCIS: New Orleans is here.
The Dallas Cowboys’ Game 3 of last season was the first to drop below the one million viewer mark in D-FW. ...Plus, CBS11 sports reporter/anchor Jane Slater has left to join the ESPN-owned Long...
The prospect of eternal life on earth is hardly a novel premise for a TV series. But at least the main man of ABC’s Forever doesn’t appear to be a vampire.
Glowering Robert Patrick whips a band of “nerdy masterminds” into shape in CBS’ ridiculously conceived Scorpion. ...Ed Bark
White House intrigue rides again in CBS’ Madam Secretary, starring Tea Leoni as an idealistic, newly named Secretary of State. ...Not surprisingly, CBS’ godawful Thursday Night Football game ...
Fox’s heavily promoted Batman “origin” series, Gotham, premieres on Monday, Sept. 22nd in tandem with the returning Sleepy Hollow. ...Ed Bark
Dallas-based Gannett8 is adding Monica Hernandez to its reporting staff. She’ll arrive from WWL-TV in New Orleans, a CBS affiliate also owned by Gannett.
George Rodrigue, managing editor of The Dallas Morning News for the last decade, will be taking his talents across the driveway to Gannett8, where he’ll be the new assistant news director. Edit...
They include data on the season’s first new series premieres, NBC’s The Mysteries of Laura and Fox’s Red Band Society. ...We review a new book by journalist Ivor Davis, who was with them ev...
Wednesday is jumping the gun on the new fall season, which doesn’t “officially” start until Monday, Sept. 22nd. ...And NBC hopes to pave the way for The Mysteries of Laura, a cop drama star...
Game 2 of the Dallas Cowboys’ 2014 season, a running game-enriched 26-10 win against the Tennessee Titans, performed a bit better among D-FW viewers than last year’s second contest. A complet...
Ken Burns’ 14-hour The Roosevelts: An Intimate History is well worth every hour spent with it. It premieres on Sunday, Sept. 14th and runs on consecutive nights through Sept. 20th.
We have a complete breakdown of the numbers for a one-sided, but controversial game that also was simulcast on the NFL Network. ...Plus, our “Fall Promo Palooza” series wraps up with a tease ...
Fans of AMC’s The Walking Dead, which returns on Oct. 12, might find a suitable appetizer in Syfy’s Z Nation. ...Plus, a pair of new “Fall Promo Palooza” spots bring you the dawn of ABC�...
D-FW ratings for Sunday’s Game 1 Dallas Cowboys loss to San Francisco fell from last year’s, although there are extenuating circumstances. Still, most fans hung in there until the end of a ga...
Content-sharing partnerships between television stations and newspapers are generally not among my favorite things. ... NBC5 will be providing a little air time for Dave Lieber of The Dallas Morn...
I’ve had many first-hand experiences with her over the years. And so here’s an attempt at an uncommon remembrance.
The 1990-91 TV season turned out to be pretty lousy for CBS from a ratings standpoint. ...Plus, Wednesday’s D-FW ratings “snapshot” is now in the picture on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
As previously posted, CBS11 anchor Tracy Kornet has decided to leave the station after an eight-year stay in D-FW. Her parting words and reasons for leaving, sent Thursday morning, are now includ...
Plus, the Back Channels page revisits a spring 1995 article on the then unusual confluence of Emmy caliber TV series and high ratings. NBC led the way in times when the old-line broadcast network...
Unclebarky.com now gets back at it with the first in our “Fall Promo Series” tied to network TV’s impending re-start later this month. ...Plus, here’s another video of Fox4 anchor Clarice...
Another Dallas Cowboys pre-season is in the books, with the team’s first 0-4 pretend game record since 2000. ...Everyone likes to rubber-neck, it seems, even when the Cowboys lose 27-3 at home ...
Dallas-based WFAA8 premiered its new newscast graphics Wednesday. ... Which prompts unclebarky.com to re-christen WFAA8 as Gannett8 from here on out in these spaces Our story, with pictures and v...
Adrien Brody at least got into great shape to star in History Channel’s Houdini. But while his physique is rock solid, the material crumbles around him.
Fox4 finally climbed the highest mountain in D-FW’s newscast ratings wars, sweeping the 6 a.m. and 5, 6 and 10 p.m. competitions in both major Nielsen measurements. That hasn’t happened in qu...
The traditional broadcast networks again fell short of cable’s Emmy winners Monday night. But it was a much closer score than last year, even though host NBC and Fox were shut out.
Veteran CBS11 anchor/reporter Tracy Kornet will be leaving the station in early September. ...Also, Monday’s D-FW ratings “snapshot” highlights NBC’s Emmy telecast.
Local newscasts around the country increasingly are pocked with “social media” segments while anchors and reporters also are expected to Tweet on a regular basis. ... We take a look at the D-...
The Dallas Cowboys’ “dress rehearsal” 25-20 defeat in Miami Saturday night gave CBS11 its biggest ratings of the summer while also easily topping 2013’s Game 3 of the preseason. Our full ...
The 66th annual Emmy Awards are nigh, and odds are you’re not yet brimming with excitement. But here we go anyway, with both an overview and picks in the major categories.
Mira Sorvino fronts the cast of BBC America’s The Intruders. But she’s often missing in action while the series itself disappoints both with and without her.
WFAA8’s somewhat puzzling but also daring “Corporal Nick” experiment is underway on the station’s Daybreak. In words and pictures, we review his second day as the D-FW market’s first fu...
Brendan Higgins’ arrest after an alleged altercation with Aspen, Colo. police, first reported Friday, Aug. 15th by unclebarky.com, has led to his dismissal by the D-FW-based station. In tandem ...
Your friendly content provider felt naked and afraid Monday morning when a simultaneous cable and internet outage put unclebarky.com in a figurative, communications-deprived van down by the river...
Longtime and first-time unclebarky.com readers may have noticed that it’s been a very busy week on the D-FW television news front. ...So if you enjoy the content, much of which otherwise would ...
The Dallas Cowboys ramped up their ratings for Saturday’s second pre-season game, a 37-30 home loss to the Baltimore Ravens. ...Get the numbers you won’t find anywhere else on our Dallas-Fort...
Brendan Higgins, co-anchor of CBS11’s weekday early morning newscasts, has a Sept. 10th court date in Aspen, Colo. after being arrested earlier this month. ...The detailed reports also say that...
The public relations field continues to get a steady flow of newly converted D-FW television reporters. ... Details on where she’s going, including comments from Solis, are on our Dallas-Fort W...
One can make a case -- and HBO does -- that “reality TV” was birthed with the unprecedented gavel-to-gavel coverage of the 1991 Pamela Smart murder trial. The documentary film Captivated prob...
Rival broadcast networks lately are more inclined to “single-cams” -- but only ABC’s Modern Family has delivered big audiences out of this “live studio audience” realm. In one of our pe...
I’ve tried to look at him in a different way via excerpts from four previous pieces written from 1987 through 2009. They range from reviews of two very serious performances to a cheap, exploita...
Sources confirm that WFAA8 is going with DeSoto’s “Corporal Nick” Bristow as its new Daybreak traffic reporter. Succeeding Shane Allen, he’ll do his segments in his uniform, marking the f...
It stars Sean Bean, who played Eddard “Ned” Stark in Season 1 of Game of Thrones before his head wound up on a pike. ...Also, the weekend D-FW ratings “snapshot” includes details on Sunda...
A bald, chunky veteran DeSoto police officer is among those trying to fill a traffic reporter vacancy on WFAA8’s early morning Daybreak show. ...WFAA8 management won’t comment, but several so...
WFAA8, according to several sources, is planning a D-FW first in the early mornings. That would be a uniformed cop -- or cops -- to do its Daybreak traffic segments.
The Dallas Cowboys played their first pre-season game Thursday night, limping away with a 27-7 loss at San Diego. ... All the details, and a comparison to last year’s season-opener, are on our ...
HBO is showing its little brother, Cinemax, some love by letting it have The Knick. Set in 1900, it’s a New York City-set medical drama seies starring Clive Owen and directed by Steven Soderber...
The Starz network’s “much-anticipated” Outlander begins journeying back to 18th century Scotland on Saturday, Aug. 9th. Its time-traveling heroine is drawn from the string of romance-laced ...
Twice left for dead by AMC, The Killing is getting what presumably will be its final season on Netflix. It began streaming on August 1st, and our review -- after watching all six episodes -- is r...
HBO gets a head start with the Monday, Aug. 4th premiere of Nixon by Nixon: In His Own Words. ...The D-FW Nielsen ratings say that only a handful of viewers took a peek while that night’s Giant...
WFAA8 reporter Teresa Woodard has decided to leave the Dallas-based station in favor of a public relations position. That’s hardly a novel transition anymore, although WFAA8 has been hit partic...
Shane Allen’s brief tenure as WFAA8’s early morning traffic reporter ended on Friday, Aug. 1st when the Dallas-based station dropped him. ...More details are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page,...
The national Nielsen and social media numbers are in for Wednesday night’s Sharknado 2: The Second One on Syfy channel. ... Details are on the Network News & Reviews page.
And near its end, the FX network’s 12 onstage interview sessions came and went without any attention paid to Partners. ...Plus, the latest TV Bulletin Board collection highlights NBC’s announ...
After launching early this month on the BBC, The Honorable Woman gets its American TV premiere Thursday, July 31st on Sundance TV. The eight-part, Middle East-set drama series features a bravura ...
Penn & Teller promise a performance with them in Vegas (at the Rio hotel and casino) for magicians who can confound them with their illusions. ...The local ratings are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV...
SyFy’s Sharknado 2: The Second One premieres on Wednesday, July 30th after last summer’s original became a Tyrannosaurus Rex on Twitter. Stars Ian Ziering and Tara Reid return amid a big gagg...
WGN America’s second original scripted drama, Manhattan, blasts off on Sunday, July 27th. It’s far better than the network’s first -- Salem.
Your friendly content provider will be landing in Southern California on Tuesday, July 8th for the annual summer edition of the Television Critics Association “press tour,” which runs all the...
CBS11’s new news director, Mike Garber, will be making a significant jump in market size when he joins the D-FW-based station later this month. Details are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Veteran television/radio personality Suzie Humphreys has decided to leave KTXD-TV’s (Ch. 47) The Broadcast at the end of July. The program announced her departure on its Facebook page and now s...
Two new NBC comedies, both worth sampling, join the Peacock’s summertime lineup on Thursday, July 10th. Our review of Welcome to Sweden is here and our review of Working the Engels is here.
CBS hopes to replicate last summer’s big success story, Under the Dome, with another 13-episode “high-concept” drama. Extant, starring Halle Berry and backed by Steven Spielberg, premieres ...
The spine-tingling overtime match Tuesday between the U.S. and Belgium ended with Belgium advancing and the U.S. going home. ... But Mexico’s exit two days earlier easily took the gold among Wo...
Former prominent newscast personalities Gloria Campos and Rebecca Miller have new positions without TV station backdrops. ...Also, Alex Wehrley has made her first small ripple in L.A. after leavi...
Univision23 had mega-ratings in D-FW for Sunday’s Mexico-Netherlands World Cup match. Combined with a much smaller crowd for ESPN’s English language presentation, they were easily enough to o...
Thursday’s U.S.-Germany World Cup soccer match drew far fewer in-home TV viewers than Sunday’s 2-2 tie with Portugal. ... Details and a further explanation are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV pag...
HBO’s heavily promoted The Leftovers premieres on Sunday, June 29th as a weekly series that could go any number of seasons. ...Wednesday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings also are posted, with numbers o...
But she will be giving up the World News anchor desk to David Muir in early September. That again will mean men at all three network dinner hour newscasts after Brian Williams for a few years was...
Also, the Mexico-Croatia World Cup soccer match brought a very big audience Monday afternoon to D-FW’s Univision23. ...Plus, a new TV Bulletin Board highlights Fox’s somewhat surprising decis...
Viewers who were hooked on FX’s Fargo for the past 10 weeks are now being asked to buy into its Tuesday night replacement. But Tyrant, while not terrible, doesn’t seem likely to make the sale...
Sunday evening’s thrilling but deflating 2-2 World Cup soccer tie between the U.S. and Portugal dominated the weekend D-FW Nielsen ratings. We have the complete breakdown of the numbers on ESPN...
Aramis, Athos, Porthos and apprentice D’Artagnan join forces anew in BBC America’s The Musketeers. ...Also, the Wednesday-Thursday D-FW ratings highlights are posted, along with a closing not...
TNT’s The Last Ship, floating into view on Sunday, June 22nd, is determined to take itself very seriously. ... Eighty percent of the world has died at the hands of a pandemic.
One of last season’s joys of discovery, Rectify, will begin an expanded Season 2 on Thursday, June 19th. Sundance TV’s first originally produced series is still a drama with which to be recko...
The U.S. men’s soccer team beat Ghana in dramatic fashion early Monday evening in their 2014 World Cup debut. ESPN reaped big ratings in D-FW for the 2-1 win.
Bad angel Gabriel goes crazy after God “disappears” for 25 years in Syfy’s new Dominion, which premieres on Thursday, July 19th. The angel Michael intercedes, though, with remaining earthli...
Sunday night’s concluding Game 5 of the NBA Finals, another Spurs’ blowout of the Heat, easily had the best D-FW ratings of the series. We also have the local numbers for Friday night’s fin...
Better to go the distance with all 13 episodes of Neftlix’s Orange Is the New Black before posting a review. ...Plus, Wednesday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings highlights are posted.
ABC dominated Sunday’s prime-time D-FW ratings with Game 2 of the San Antonio Spurts-Miami Heat NBA Finals. ... Audiences for these and other weekend attractions are on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV...
The ouster of Shon Gables by WFAA8 has triggered a weekend anchor shift involving staffer Carla Wade. Another of the station’s rising stars, Marcus Moore, also got a further boost by replacing ...
In a rare excursion into present times, the Starz network’s latest original series is Power. ...Plus, Game 1 of the NBA Finals didn’t need no stinkin’ air-conditioning to dominate Thursday�...
Murder in the First joins TNT’s prime-time lineup on Monday, June 9th. ... But this one looks more than a little like his Murder One series for ABC.
WFAA8 management won’t comment, but anchor/reporter Shon Gables’ troubled tenure is over at the Dallas-based ABC affiliate. ...Plus, it was baseball’s Rangers vs. hockey’s Rangers -- with...
TXA21 is canceling The Fan after the locally produced sports hour failed to pack any ratings punch. ...Plus, Tuesday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings show a firm pulse for NBC’s new set-in-San Antonio ...
Jennifer Falls, TV Land’s first “single cam” sitcom without a laugh track, has a lot going for it with its cast. But you also have to have the writing.
From Game of Thrones to The Americans to Mad Men to Penny Dreadful, cable networks increasingly are finding success with dramas that fly in the face of the old axiom, “There’s no time like th...
After nearly six years with NBC5, anchor/reporter Lindsay Wilcox is leaving the Fort Worth-based station. She had been anchoring weekend morning newscasts and also reporting on weekdays.
Nerissa Knight, who spent nearly seven years in the D-FW market an anchor-reporter for CBS11 and CW33, has left the latter station’s early morning Eye Opener for a new position in Los Angeles. ...
CBS11 sports reporter Steve Dennis, who took an aggressive approach to covering the Dallas Cowboys, is hoping to land a new spot before the team’s training camp opens. After 16 years at CBS11 a...
Dallas, circa 1983, is the launch point for AMC’s Halt and Catch Fire, which replaces Mad Men on Sunday, June 1st. The 10-episode series, filmed in Atlanta, is about the rise of personal comput...
Crossbones is coming to NBC on Friday, May 30th after being held back throughout TV’s so-called “regular” season. John Malkovich stars as Blackbeard, and “Arrgh” doesn’t begin to get ...
WFAA8’s newest reporter hire is veteran Demond Fernandez, who will be joining the station in June from Houston’s KTRK-TV. More details are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page, including video of...
Barring any urgent updates on the missing Malaysian Flight 370 -- sorry, that joke hasn’t quite played out yet -- CNN will launch The Sixties on Thursday, May 29th. The 10-part docu-series, co-...
NBC’s new scripted sitcom, Undateable, premieres with back-to-back episodes Thursday night. ... But for me, one of them should not be “unwatchable.”
Mad Men shut down until next spring with the eventful Sunday, May 25th episode, subtitled “Waterloo.” Here are our weekly 10 takeaways, including a ranking of the seven episodes that aired th...
The network is offering numerous new scripted series as well as Season 9 of America’s Got Talent. It all begins Tuesday night (May 27th), when AGT leads into the premiere of a frenetically pace...
HBO’s The Normal Heart premieres during the Memorial Day weekend as a memorial to millions of casualties outside the theaters of war. ...Ed Bark
Our complete report on D-FW’s May “sweeps” ratings shows some big year-to-year changes in the newscast battles among Fox4, NBC5, WFAA8 and CBS11. That’s the case even though WFAA8 repeate...
Her character looked pretty dead near the end of Tuesday’s very eventful and suitably bizarre Fargo episode, subtitled “Buridan’s Ass.” But although she can’t say quite how yet, Allison...
Premiering on Thursday, May 22nd -- the day after the end of the so-called “regular season” -- Fox’s bloody Gang Related is no summertime breeze. But it does seem to find its legs during th...
Three North Texas gold diggers -- er, idealistic seekers of true love -- are in the mix for Fox’s I Wanna Marry “Harry.”. ...Plus, WFAA8 hires Jenny Doren as the latest addition to its repo...
Or maybe this time they should be called “takeouts,” in deference to a Mad Men episode that took its cue from a campaign to woo Burger Chef as a client. Our latest 10-pronged look at a very e...
Barbara Walters cut her last official ties with ABC Friday, ending her charter tenure on The View, which she launched in 1997. Here’s how it went, with some added thoughts on how she’ll be re...
Starring George Plimpton As Himself under its American Masters banner on Friday, May 16th. The pathfinder of “participatory journalism” is still not to be missed.
The CW announced its new season arrivals and returnees Thursday. ...Plus, Wednesday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” is freshly prepared -- and nutritious, too.
D-FW ratings for KTXD-TV’s The Broadcast continue to be virtually non-existent, according to Nielsen data. But the program lately has been getting some money-can’t-buy publicity after a co-ho...
Dallas-based KTXD-TV (Ch. 47) remains the property of London Broadcasting, but Gannett Co., Inc. otherwise has bought the company’s six remaining stations located in much smaller markets throug...
CBS again made bigger news with its shifts of long-running shows during Wednesday’s announcement of its fall lineup. ... All the details are on our Network News & Reviews page.
Fort Worth-based NBC5 is losing one of its most experienced and solid reporters in Randy McIlwain, who will soon be leaving to join the news team at NBC-owned KNBC-TV in Los Angeles. More details...
Fox’s new Riot banks on song, dance and sketch challenges while its title suggests otherwise. Executive produced by Steve Carell, it premieres on Tuesday, May 13th, with Carell guest-starring.
Struggling ABC will enter the fall season with six new series and a Thursday night lineup entirely produced by Shonda Rimes (Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal). All the details, as well as midseason anno...
Sorry for the delay, but Fox’s new fall season announcement took precedence (plus a trip to the dentist). Anyway, here are 10 takeaways from Sunday’s Mad Men episode, subtitled “The Runaway...
This season was mostly a bust for Fox, but hope springs eternal at all networks large and small. ...Plus, the weekend’s D-FW Nielsen ratings made a wastrel of NBC’s Rosemary’s Baby remake.
NBC picked Mother’s Day to announce its 2014-15 plans. The Peacock is birthing a half-dozen fall series while also making a daringly risky night-and-time switch.
NBC5’s latest hire is Ellen Bryan, who’s now working the early morning shift as a reporter for the Fort Worth-based station. ...More details on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Adrienne Roark, who became CBS11’s news director in March 2010, has resigned and will soon be heading to a new post at another CBS station. Details are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Its only speed bump in the D-FW Nielsens was a 7 to 7:30 p.m. win in total viewers by CBS’ The Big Bang Theory. ...They include draft ratings during the 15-minute increment in which the Dallas ...
Sunday night (May 11) gets the blood running with two macabre attractions. NBC offers a two-part re-do of Rosemary’s Baby, and our review is here.
Ron Jackson and Fiona Gorostiza, members of Fox4’s weather team until she switched to full-time feature reporting, have found new venues after leaving the Dallas-based station. Details are on o...
Enough time has passed to leave many viewers clueless regarding how Hill Street Blues undeniably changed the face of TV drama and ushered in a new era that’s really never stopped. Now, for the ...
Fox’s 24: Live Another Day, which marked the return of world-saver Jack Bauer after four seasons in exile, fought hard against NBC’s The Voice in Monday’s D-FW ratings. ... Details are on o...
Two weekend post-season games, one pulsating and the other a rout, closed out the Dallas Mavericks 2013-14 season. ...Plus, the weekly 10 takeaways from the latest Mad Men episode are on the Netw...
WFAA8 has laid off an undisclosed number of off-camera staffers while CW33 took some of the final steps toward its new anchor-less NewsFix program by dropping the remaining on-camera staffers for...
WFAA8 anchor-reporter Shon Gables, who has been with the Dallas-based station since January 2010, continues to be on the losing end of legal battles with her ex-husband. The latest warrant for he...
Episode 550 of The Simpsons (Sunday, May 5th) finds the show’s main and supporting characters throwing Springfield’s biggest block party. And they all look good as Legos.
FX’s acclaimed Louie revs up Season 4 on Monday, May 5th, with back-to-back episodes each week for seven weeks. ...And since it’s another new month, here’s a friendly reminder to help uncle...
But after plans for a feature film kept fizzling and Kiefer Sutherland’s followup Fox series failed, 24: Live Another Day launches on Monday, May 5th. ...Plus, Tuesday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings ...
Monday’s down-to-the-wire Game 4 of the Dallas Mavericks-San Antonio Spurs playoff series easily dominated the D-FW Nielsen ratings. We have the complete breakdown, with numbers for the TXA21 a...
Craig Ferguson announced Monday that he’ll be leaving his CBS’ Late Late Show after a 10-year stint. Details and a further look at the tumultuous late night picture are on our Network News & ...
HBO smartly gobbled up John Oliver shortly after he drew raves for last summer’s stint as Jon Stewart’s substitute host on The Daily Show. His new Last Week Tonight with John Oliver premiered...
Episode 3 of Mad Men’s two-tiered final season is now viewing history for many. Our weekly 10 takeaways are on the Network News & Reviews page.
The Dallas Mavericks’ instant classic buzzer-beating win over the Spurs Saturday contrasted with the Dallas Stars’ late-game meltdown on home ice versus the Ducks Sunday. The first-place Texa...
Two new prime-time series hoped to attract attention Thursday while D-FW’s local TV newscasts began playing for keeps again on Day One of the May ratings “sweeps.” Check out the numbers on ...
The HBO documentary film, All About Ann: Governor Richards of the Lone Star State, comes calling on Monday, April 28th. ... As for detractors, well, it absolutely wasn’t made for them.
D-FW sports fans hit the motherlode Wednesday night with key post-season games involving both the Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Stars. Both match-ups started at 7:10 p.m. -- and we have all the loc...
The 2011 Cameron Diaz movie arrives in sitcom form Thursday with CBS’ Bad Teacher. ...Ed Bark
Scandal’s latest season is over, and ABC’s replacement part is the out-of-body medical series Black Box. ...Also, Tuesday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” is posted.
The Dallas Stars broke through Monday night with the team’s first win against Anaheim in Game 3 of their Stanley Cup playoff series. ... But the pucksters muscled up where it counted, outdrawin...
Fox4 has filled its weekend meteorologist vacancy by hiring Ali Turiano from an Orlando, FL station. In recent years, women weathercasters have been in ascendance at three of D-FW’s four major ...
Mad Men offered another eventful hour Sunday night, with Kiernan Shipka’s Sally Draper making a bravura return while racial politics foamed over at Sterling, Cooper & Partners. ...Viewers could...
Its latest new series, Signed, Sealed, Delivered, is from producer Martha Williamson, who’s pretty much wandered in the TV wilderness since her Touched By An Angel left CBS in April, 2003. ...A...
WGN America, primarily known as the longtime home of the downtrodden Chicago Cubs, hopes to diversify with Salem. It’s the network’s first original scripted drama, and our review is here.
Season 2 of BBC America’s Orphan Black launches on Saturday, April 19th. ...Also, Wednesday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” highlights the Dallas Mavericks’ bullish numbers down the s...
Far, far less than four score and seven years ago, your friendly content provider wrote a review of Ken Burns’ The Address. ...Also, a look at WFAA8’s new, heavily inclusive “We Share” im...
AMC’s Mad Men has returned to the Sunday night TV conversation. ...Also, the weekend D-FW Nielsen ratings spotlight Sunday’s Justin Spieth-sparked final round of The Masters.
Billy Bob Thornton chose wisely in making his TV series debut in FX’s Fargo. But his isn’t the only bravura performance.
A newly rebranded HLN (formerly Headline News) took further steps Thursday toward being “the first TV home for the social media generation.” But yikes, the network’s new slate of programmin...
CBS acted fast in naming Stephen Colbert to replace David Letterman after he retires on a yet to be announced date next year. The host of Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report had been widely rum...
Mad Men, the bravura drama series that put AMC on the map, returns on Sunday, April 13th. A limited dose of seven episodes will be doled out before the series returns at roughly this time next ye...
D-FW’s latest incoming TV reporter is Zahid Arab, hired Wednesday by Fox4 from KING-TV in Seattle. ...Plus, Tuesday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” shows some eye-popping numbers for th...
Monday’s NCAA championship basketball game from Jerry’s Palace finally lit up the local ratings scoreboard after a month’s worth of indifference in these parts to the college game’s showc...
Sunday night’s Academy of Country Music awards telecast easily had more D-FW viewers than either of the NCAA’s Final Four games Saturday from Jerry’s Palace. But Jerry Jones can still thinl...
HBO’s 10-episode Season 4 of Game of Thrones launches on Sunday, April 6th. ...Also, Thursday’s D-FW ratings “snapshot” highlights the numbers for the night’s preemptive weather coverag...
Mike Judge seldom goes wrong when deciding to act upon something he thinks is funny. The creator of Beavis & Butt-head, King of the Hill and Office Space makes another strong move with HBO’s Si...
David Letterman surprised his audience and pretty much everyone else for that matter by announcing during a taping of Thursday’s show that he’ll be retiring sometime in 2015. Details and our ...
After its latest season finale of The Walking Dead, AMC hopes to keep at least a decent-sized chunk of that show’s viewers with the new Revolutionary War drama Turn. ...Also, Wednesday’s D-FW...
The Peabody Awards were announced Wednesday morning, with a record total of 46 handed out this year. ...Plus, Tuesday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” highlights the numbers for down-to-th...
The premiere of Osbournes Reloaded, billed as a one-hour trip on the "Crazy Train," is set for Tuesday, March 31st following that night's American Idol performance show. ...Such as this, says Fox...
The big-screen epic Noah, starring Russell Crowe, opens on Friday, March 28th at a popcorn emporium near you. Whatever liberties it takes surely can’t match those on display in NBC’s 1999 Noa...
But this time around there may well be as many or more new series premieres as there will be in the fall. NBC, for one, is launching six new scripted shows, the most in 21 years according to the ...
CBS has a way of making just about any of its Monday night comedies good to go for multiple seasons. Which is another way of saying that the network’s new Friends With Better Lives could be cri...
And Eva Marie Saint is one of the few actresses from that era who’s still around to talk about it. Our look at the very watchable Eva Marie Saint: Live from the TCM Classic Film Festival, is on...
Regular readers of unclebarky.com know that WFAA8 and The Fort Worth Star-Telegram have been romancing one another of late. ... Details and a commentary are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Fox’s Surviving Jack sitcom stars Christopher Meloni in the title role after he came to prominence on NBC’s Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. ... Not at all, considering how Meloni broke int...
Another “reality competition” series hits prime-time on Tuesday, March 25th. The Syfy network’s Jim Henson’s Creature Shop Challenge is both visually stimulating and groaningly same-old.
Both shows are supposed to be media watchdogs without any bias when it comes to evaluating how news stories are handled or over-handled. But Howard Kurtz and Brian Stelter, respective hosts of Fo...
Fox4 sweeps the early morning D-FW ratings like clockwork. But Thursday’s edition was unusually dominant, particularly in the most-watched 6 to 9 a.m. portion.
Netflix has signed Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin to star in Grace and Frankie, a 13-episode comedy series from the creator of Friends. Details are on the TV Bulletin Board page, along with news of a...
The March 31-April 3 Conan shows from Dallas now have a guest roster. Details are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Launched with a constellation of former D-FW television news stars, KTXD-TV’s The Texas Daily is riding into the sunset. ... All the details are on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Prime-time’s mid-season action resumes with two Wednesday newcomers. ... And the critique of HBO’s Doll & Em is here.
NBC5’s Kendra Lyn, who’s been a street reporter on the early morning shift, is heading back to Orlando, FL after two years with the Fort Worth-based station. ...Plus, we take a closer look at...
CBS’ Hostages failed to lift off in the ratings. Now NBC’s Crisis is offering five times the number of captives, including the teen son of the President.
If you don’t want to know how HBO’s True Detective ended Sunday night, then stay away from my critique on the Network News & Reviews page. But I figure that most true fans have seen it by now...
Here’s a first-hand look at some of what you didn’t see or hear on the air Monday night. Plus, the Saturday through Monday D-FW Nielsen ratings provided big opening bursts for new drama serie...
Anchor Gloria Campos’ final 10 p.m. newscast for WFAA8 not surprisingly outdrew the competing editions on Fox4, NBC5 and CBS11. But she also ranked as Friday’s top ratings attraction at all h...
NBC adds the drama Believe to its midseason mix of series built around precocious pre-teens. But unlike About a Boy and Growing Up Fisher, the network should have very serious doubts about this o...
WFAA8 anchor Gloria Campos will call it a night on Friday, March 7th with her last 10 p.m. newscast. We take a lengthy look at what she’s meant to the station and how she’s managed to leave i...
From the creator of Family Guy comes a new Fox version of Cosmos. Not it’s not a joke, with the modern-day Carl Sagan, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, hosting this ambitious 13-hour reboot.
Those who have seen The Returned on SundanceTV will recognize the pretty much identical premise of ABC’s Resurrection. ...Plus, Wednesday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” is on the page.
Denis Leary’s TV followup act to FX’s Rescue Me is a comedy about EMTs. It may be an odd fit for the USA network, but Sirens is at least worth a look.
Cable television’s growing group of made-in-a-hurry “10/90 model” sitcoms gets another player in George Lopez. ... Our review, and an explanation of the process, can be found right here.
ABC’s fading Dancing with the Stars, hoping to do more than limp through its 18th edition, announced 12 new contestants Tuesday on Good Morning America. ... Details are on the TV Bulletin Board...
So after John Travolta mangled singer Idina Menzel’s name at the Oscars, Uncle Barky performs similar chainsaw surgery on a big group of D-FW TV news personalities. You can find all the garble ...
Plus, with another month in the books, it’s time for a gentle reminder to do your amazon.com shopping by first clicking on any Amazon ad on any unclebarky.com page. ... So if you like this free...
Chloe Sevigny from HBO’s Big Love segues from polygamy to crime-solving in A&E’s Those Who Kill, which premieres on Monday, March 3rd. ...The latest D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” also i...
Vikings returns to the History channel on Thursday, Feb. 27th for a 10-episode Season 2. ...Ed Bark
The February “sweeps” ratings competitions have skated to a close, with NBC5 reigning in the late local news skirmishes, but with an asterisk. ... We’ll give you the real ratings picture, n...
Jason Momoa made quite a striking impression during his relatively short stint on Game of Thrones as Dothraki tribe chieftain Khal Drogo. He also cuts an imposing figure in civilian clothes as th...
I’d make the effort, although it might well take more than one episode to make the sale. Season 2 starts on Wednesday, Feb. 26th, segueing from FX to FXX.
Sochi was fun while it was lasted. But now it’s back to the Cold War in Season 2 of FX’s The Americans, which returns on Wed., Feb. 26th.
Guy walks into a bar . . . and ABC turns it into a comedy series. ...Monday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” also is in.
ABC rush-premieres Mind Games on Tuesday, Feb. 25th after pulling the rejected Killer Women earlier than planned. ...Also, the rain-delayed Daytona 500 found itself unexpectedly matched up with N...
Maybe TNT’s version of Dallas isn’t quite played out yet, despite the death of Larry Hagman. Season 3, premiering on Monday, Feb. 24th, is still showing some vital signs.
J.K. Simmons, currently known as the guy pitching Farmers Insurance, plays a sightless divorced dad in the new NBC comedy Growing Up Fisher.
NBC takes another crack at the comedy genre with About a Boy, adapted from the 2002 Hugh Grant movie and getting a commercial-free, post-Olympics preview on Saturday, Feb. 22nd before skating ove...
Cynthia Izaguirre talks about taking up residence on Dallas-based WFAA8’s 10 p.m. newscasts after mainstay anchor Gloria Campos leaves in early March. She also discloses how her family will be ...
WFAA8 anchor Gloria Campos, soon ending a 30-year tenure at the Dallas-based station, talked to unclebarky.com Wednesday night about a decision whose time had come for her. The interview is on ou...
Gloria Campos’ official 10 p.m. end date at Dallas-based WFAA8, announced Wednesday, preceded a flurry of in-house activity at the ABC affiliate. The big news: early morning co-anchor Cynthia I...
As previously reported on unclebarky.com, WFAA8 anchor Gloria Campos has been nearing the end of her 30-year tenure at the Dallas-based station. She now has an official last day -- and details ar...
Our extended take on how it all went down is on the Network News & Reviews page. Plus, the Friday through Monday D-FW Nielsen ratings include a breakdown of Fallon’ opening night numbers.
Following a weekend of power-watching, we have a review of Season 2 of Netflix’s House of Cards based on watching all 13 episodes. ...Also, both Conan O’Brien and Jimmy Kimmel are taking thei...
WFAA8 anchor Dale Hansen’s appearance on Ellen DeGeneres’ Valentine’s Day show just couldn’t have gone any better for him. ... Our commentary, following Tuesday’s previous commentary on...
The CW continues its otherworldly way with the Monday, Feb. 17th premiere of the drama series Star-Crossed. ...Also, CBS’ Late Show with David Letterman has announced its first week of guests o...
It's done OK in recent years with the supernatural, though. Ghost Whisperer ran for five seasons on Friday nights and then Medium hung in for a year-and-a-half after CBS rescued it from NBC's can...
Sharrie Williams, who’s been CBS11’s weekend co-anchor for the past three years, is leaving the station and heading to Philadelphia. ...Plus, NBC’s Tuesday night Olympics coverage rolls in ...
Dallas-based KTXD-TV’s (Ch. 47) The Broadcast was home to a classic gaffe Tuesday involving lead host Lisa Pineiro and two prominent Michaels -- Sam and Irvin. Details are on the Dallas-Fort Wo...
The station’s new ownership hasn’t changed that, as Monday 10 p.m. newscast “Unplugged” commentary clearly showed. ...Also, Monday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings put NBC’s prime-time Olympics...
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid are best known in the popular culture as Paul Newman and Robert Redford. PBS removes a good deal of the varnish in its new American Experience film on the Wild ...
Meteorologist Ron Jackson, a 32-year veteran at Dallas-based Fox4, announced his retirement on Sunday’s 9 p.m. newscast. ...Also, NBC’s weekend prime-time Olympics coverage met its match from...
For the second and almost assuredly last time, NBC evicted him while he was still No. 1 in every key audience measurement. ...Also, how did Leno and NBC’s opening night of Olympics coverage do ...
In what must be a D-FW television market first, not one, but two former weathercasters join forces to sell the merits of a home flooring company. Uncle Barky can’t resist having some fun with t...
Jay Leno’s second eviction notice as host of NBC’s Tonight Show comes due on Thursday, Feb. 6th. ...Your friendly content provider has a cnn.com commentary on Leno’s legacy, NBC’s treatme...
Grant Stinchfield, who spent seven years reporting for Fort Worth-based NBC5 before opening an auto lube shop and running for Congress, will soon be talking his way through a weekday program on K...
CBS and cable’s NFL Network are now partners in a new mix of Thursday night games, starting next season. ...And just scroll down on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page to see Monday’s numbers as we...
Our complete Super Bowl XLVIII ratings report is in the books. ...Also, the national Super Bowl XLVIII ratings are in, and are on the Network News & Reviews page.
Turner Classic Movies’ 19th annual “31 Days of Oscar” fires up on Saturday, Feb. 1st. ... Our review of And the Oscar Goes To . . . is right here.
BBC America’s four-part, four-hour miniseries Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond premieres this week and continues through Feb. 19th. Will you be shaken or stirred?
Fox4 and NBC5 each have added a news personality. Details are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Therefore there’s a big D-FW ratings catchup round on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page. Of particularly note: the Grammys on a single network had substantially more viewers Sunday night than Tuesd...
I’m heading to Rockledge, FL for the opening of my daughter, Liz’s, and her husband, Joseph’s, new community theater, miR (made in Rockledge). ...And as always, if you’re going to buy som...
Broad City has only half as many struggling twentysomething women as Girls. ... The half-hour Comedy Central sitcom, produced by Amy Poehler, premieres on Wed., Jan. 22nd after originating as a w...
American television’s latest “new” series will begin Season 3 in Australia later this year. Rake otherwise hits Fox on Thursday, Jan. 23rd, with Greg Kinnear starring in the reboot. ...Ed B...
The elongated “director’s cut” version of Salinger weighs in at two-and-a- half hours on Tuesday, Jan. 21st. ...Plus, we have the weekend and Monday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings, including the ...
Bumpkins are still cash cows in TV land. Reelz Channel hopes to milk ‘em with Hollywood Hillbillies, which premieres on Tuesday, Jan. 21st and may have a breakout attraction in a plus-size gran...
The Discovery Channel joins a growing number of cable entities mounting a maiden scripted production. In this case it’s the three-night, six-hour Klondike.
HBO’s Looking, the saga of three gay male friends living in receptive San Francisco, premieres on Sunday, Jan. 19th following Girls. Comparisons are inevitable, and our review is here.
Season 2 of Fox’s The Following re-starts in a prime perch following Sunday night’s NFC Champion Game between the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers. ...Ed Bark
Mad Men’s rapidly maturing Kiernan Shipka (who plays Don Draper’s daughter, Sally) joins veteran thespian Ellen Burstyn and former roller girl Heather Graham in Lifetime’s Flowers in the At...
Hoping to rebound from a fractious season and its least-watched finale ever, Fox’s American Idol returns for Season 13 on Wednesday, Jan. 15th. ...Also, Monday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings show a s...
NBC and ABC sent their usual Monday night big guns head to head while CBS opted for sitcom repeats and a Hurricane Sandy special and Fox threw in a two-hour reprise of The X Factor following a sh...
FX for some reason is pairing the new and awful animated series Chozen with the ribald but far more artful Archer. ...Plus, the D-FW weekend Nielsen ratings spotlight the numbers for NBC’s Gold...
HBO’s oft-polarizing Girls starts its third season with back-to-back episodes on Sunday, Jan. 12th. And one of the four principals is actually pretty content for now.
HBO’s True Detective, starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, begins its eight-episode run on Sunday, Jan. 12th. ...Also, Thursday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings are a big minus for ABC’s...
Military comedies have become few and far between on network TV. But Fox is taking a shot on Fridays with Enlisted.
Billy Campbell squares his jaw and affixes his usual looks of consternation in Syfy’s Helix, the 13-episode saga of a deadly outbreak of something or other within the walls of an Arctic researc...
The Independent Film Channel is the place to be on Thursday, Jan. 9th, when a delicious miniseries sendup, The Spoils of Babylon, begins its six-week run. Will Ferrell, Kristen Wiig, Tobey Maguir...
Fort-Worth-based NBC5 and weekday early morning co-anchor Mark Hayes have parted ways after less than two years. More details on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Producer Dick Wolf, orchestrator of the long-running Law & Order “brand,” is at it again with a spinoff of Chicago Fire. Our review of Chicago P.D., premiering on Wednesday, Jan. 8th, can be ...
FX’s Justified returns with a 13-episode Season 5 on Tuesday, Jan. 7th. ...Plus, check out the D-FW Nielsen ratings Monday night for college football’s last BCS championship game.
ABC’s Killer Women series premieres on Tuesday, Jan. 7th. ...But one attraction had more viewers than six of the Dallas Cowboys’ 16 regular season games.
CBS’ latest crime-buster with a quirk is ready to roll, with Josh Holloway starring as a man of action with a computer chip in his brain and a plain old chip on his shoulder. Our review of Inte...
Atter sticking it out through thin and thin, CW33 anchor Amanda Salinas is ending a five-year career at the ever turbulent Dallas-based station. Details are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Reporter Omar Villafranca, who’s spent the last five years at NBC5, is leaving the Fort Worth-based station but not the D-FW market. Details are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
One of PBS’ all-time crowd-pleasers, Downton Abbey, returns on Sunday, Jan. 5th with an eight-part Season 4 stretching to Feb. 23rd. ...The numbers are all here, with Thursday night’s Oklahom...
The first new network drama series of 2014 is a very curdled look at Cold War cloak and dagger. Our review of ABC’s The Assets is here.
All 16 Dallas Cowboys’ regular season games are in the books, and you know the drill. ...And our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page has a complete look at the D-FW viewer levels for all 16 games.
TXA21 offered the ultimate in low overhead programming -- a “roaring fire” and holiday music -- from 10 p.m. ... And it burned some rival broadcast stations in the D-FW Nielsen ratings.
Unclebarky.com will be taking a holiday break for the next several days. ...A special thanks to those who made their amazon.com purchases this month after first clicking on one of the Amazon ads ...
The Cowboys’ latest white-knuckler, a last-minute 24-23 win over the Redskins, as usual dominated Sunday’s D-FW Nielsen numbers. ...Plus, Episode 11 of Uncle Barky’s Countdown to Christmas ...
Our annual alphabetical list of goings -- from Fox4, NBC5, WFAA8, CBS11 and CW33 -- is on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page. ...Plus, Episode 10 of Uncle Barky’s Countdown to Christmas revisits som...
The Dallas Morning News and NBC5 announced a new “multi-platform” alliance Wednesday night, leaving the newspaper’s former synergistic pal, WFAA8, in considerable unrest. While still awaiti...
Dropped on Halloween by KTXD-TV (Ch. 47), the Me-TV oldies network on Wednesday announced its new D-FW carrier. ...Also, unclebarky.com posts its Top 10 TV series of 2013 list in addition to a To...
The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced six new TV Hall of Fame inductees Monday, bringing the total to 155. David Letterman is still a non-member while Jay Leno will be enshrined thi...
The Dallas Cowboys’ seemingly impossible loss Sunday to the Green Bay Packers built to a D-FW TV crowd of nearly 1.5 million by game’s end. ...Plus, Episode 6 of Uncle Barky’s Countdown to ...
USA network’s longest-running series, Psych, segues into a big two-hour song-and-dance episode Sunday night (Dec. ... The timing may be optimum, following NBC’s big ratings success earlier th...
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced its Golden Globe nominations Thursday, a day after the Screen Actors Guild released its finalists. ...Also, Episode 4 of Uncle Barky’s Countdow...
Now the networks are rediscovering the power of “Event” programming, with NBC’s Sound of Music Live lately leading the charge. ... But with “social media” an ever more important ingredi...
A&E’s new Rodeo Girls “reality” series stars barrel racers out to prove that life in the saddle is “more than just boots, chaps and spurs.” So its cover art is a hard-charging horse who...
Another Dallas Cowboys debacle on a national stage -- this time against the Bears in frigid Chicago on ESPN’s Monday Night Football -- left many D-FW viewers cold as well. ...Plus, Episode 2 of...
Presenting Episode 1 of Uncle Barky’s Countdown to Christmas, starring Mandy Patinkin in a 1989 video in which he tries his hand at “White Christmas” (nice job) and “Jingle Bells” (my e...
Who won and who didn’t in Friday’s all-out 4 to 10 a.m. ... We’ve got the hour by hour ratings breakdowns on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page, where you also can find Nielsen numbers for the w...
But try doing a 5 or 6 a.m. report in shirtsleeves in the ice-gripped, not-so-great outdoors. Unclebarky.com goes all out to recognize each and every one of these storm troopers in a special pict...
So Texas-bred Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow get another makeover in a Dec. 8-9 miniseries airing simultaneously on the Lifetime, A&E and History networks. ...Plus, Epix reprises the glory and go...
Mob City, TNT’s six-hour, three-week television “event,” has the added allure of former Walking Dead show-runner Frank Dalabont at its throttle. But Wednesday’s first two hours too often ...
Albuquerque’s KOAT-TV has been doubling in recent years as a talent pool for WFAA8. The Dallas-based station’s latest news room hire makes it a threesome from New Mexico’s ABC affiliate.
TV Land’s latest new series, Kirstie, follows the network’s familiar formula of recycling former sitcom stars in a broad comedy vehicle. ...Plus, Monday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings are a boon fo...
All four combatants -- Fox4, NBC5, WFAA8 and CBS11 -- pocketed at least one win in the November “sweeps” ratings for D-FW newscasts. ... Meanwhile, CBS11 can tout a 6 p.m. win plus other sign...
Our reviews of Silver Bells and Guess Who’s Coming to Christmas are right here. ...And if you’re cyber-shopping this weekend, please remember to first click on any amazon.com ad on any uncleb...
Three falls ago, producer Jerry Bruckheimer spotlighted the exploits of Houston-based U.S. ... Our review of TNT’s Marshal Law: Texas is right here.
Sunday’s down-to-the-last-second Dallas Cowboy win against the New York Giants ventured where no previous non-NBC game has gone before in this season’s D-FW Nielsens. Get the details here, pl...
Dallas-based CW33, ever in turmoil, will be ushering in yet another new form of local prime-time newscast sometime early next year. Details are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
The hospital series Getting On so far is the ongoing TV season’s most pleasant surprise. ...On the other hand there’s the ugh-inducing Ja’mie: Private School Girl, which is reviewed here.
The CBS11 news room is adding Ken Molestina, currently with WUSA-TV in Washington, D.C. He also previously worked for an El Paso TV station.
Five new series and a trio of returnees will be coming at ABC viewers from early January through early March. They include a modern day Texas Rangers drama titled Killer Women.
Our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page takes a close look at how did what -- and how well they did it. Plus, an update on recent host changes at CW33’s early morning Eye Opener program.
Steve Stoler, a reporter at WFAA8 since 2002 (after spending 17 years with Fox4), is leaving next month to take a public relations post with the city he’s been covering for the past decade as p...
But man, David Blaine also is a master of amazing up-close card tricks and other how’d-he-do-that trickery. Our review of ABC’s 90-minute David Blaine: Real or Magic is right here.
Dan Rather now is among the few surviving members of the national media to have covered the Kennedy assassination first-hand from Dallas. ... But he has a new one-hour retrospective -- My Days In...
Fox’s Almost Human, getting a two-pronged premiere on Sunday and Monday, pairs humans and androids in a very grim 2048. ...Also, CBS11 has added sports anchor/reporter Guy Rawlings to its staff...
Veteran street reporter Monika Diaz, a staple on WFAA8’s latenight newscasts, has decided to leave the station after six years. She explains why on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Smithsonian Channel’s The Day Kennedy Died is well-suited to both classrooms and living rooms. ...Ed Bark
Fiona Gorostiza, a prominent member of Fox4’s No. 1-rated Good Day team, has declined a new contract offer and will be leaving the station next month. Fox4 hasn’t officially told staffers yet...
Our “Back Channels” page revisits your friendly content provider’s November, 1983 piece on television’s “coming of age” with live, continuous coverage of the assassination and its aft...
This month’s parade of Kennedy assassination attractions includes City of Hate, Dallas and the Assassination, directed, written and edited by former D-FW television anchor Quin Mathews. ...Plus...
The Dallas Cowboys’ big flop on NBC’s national stage Sunday ranked third highest ratings-wise among this season’s 10 regular season games. But the Saints’ 49-17 win prompted many D-FW vie...
On Monday, Nov. 11th, WFAA8 will dedicate its newsroom in the name of Marty Haag, who led the station to greatness during his long tenure as news director. ... But prominent hires of Haag from th...
But it’s scheduled opposite NBC’s Sunday Night Football clash between the Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints. ...On an entirely different note, we also have a review of the Epix network’...
National Geographic Channel’s upcoming Killing Kennedy movie is the network’s prime promotional objective this month. Don’t miss the rest of the Texas story, though, in National Geo’s JFK...
Forty-three years after his death at age 27, guitar hero Jimi Hendrix gets a two-hour American Masters documentary on Tuesday, Nov. 5th. ...Delayed by the daylight savings time switchover, Sunday...
If you first click on any amazon ad on any unclebarky.com page, a small percentage of your total purchase will find its way to your friendly content provider. ... So as the holiday season gears u...
Dallas-based KTXD-TV (Ch. 47) has ended its affiliation with ME-TV, opting for more local programming and a new menu of reruns. For instance, out is The Rifleman, in are Barney Miller and All in ...
Those looking for breezy escapist entertainment after a long work week won’t find it in the Showtime documentary series Time of Death, which premieres on Friday, Nov. 1st. ...Also, Fox’s conc...
Leave it to a former Australian detective, pawing over an old 1992 book, to deduce that President Kennedy died at the hands of an ally on Nov. ... Our look atJFK: The Smoking Gun, premiering on S...
Even a pivotal Game 5, with the Cards and Red Sox tied at two games apiece, couldn’t stop D-FW viewers from making Fox’s World Series third best from 7 to 9 p.m. ... We break down the local n...
It was a mega-sports weekend, with most of the action on Fox4 locally. ... Plus, a top-to-bottom list of the most- and least-watched Cowboys games through the first half of the regular season.
Alec Baldwin and director/writer James Toback journey to the Cannes Film Festival in search of money for the latter’s “work of art” in HBO’s illuminating, entertaining Seduced and Abandon...
Howard with the marriage of 86-year-old former governor Edwin Edwards and 35-year-old Trina Grimes Scott, whom he met in prison while serving time on a racketeering conviction. The guv has two se...
The vampire franchise hasn’t yet bled out, with The CW doing OK so far with its spinoff of The Vampire Diaries. ...Plus, Tuesday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings show more slippage for ABC’s much-hyp...
As it did during National Geographic Channel’s first screening of Killing Kennedy at the Texas Theatre. ... And on Friday, Oct. 18th. the actor playing Oswald in the film was on hand to watch h...
But Sunday’s wipeout of the Philadelphia Eagles at least managed to get past the one million D-FW viewer mark. Our complete report is on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page, along with local numbers ...
Their holiday season new movie rollouts begin in early November, with ABC Family also chipping in later with a “Countdown to 25 Days of Christmas” preceding its actual “25 Days of Christmas...
Period dramas without swordplay, bloodletting and graphic sex haven’t been the Starz network’s style so far. So you might be surprised to find the tuxedoed, BBC-produced Dancing on the Edge m...
The CW’s version of Mary, Queen of Scots enters the network’s prime-time picture Thursday. The men in her teenage life are twofold -- Prince Francis and his half-brother, “Bash.”
Last fall’s Lindsay Lohan-spiced Liz & Dick movie for Lifetime was howlingly bad. This fall’s entry, BBC America’s Burton and Taylor, is bracingly good.
Sunday night’s Dallas Cowboys win over the arch rival Washington Redskins ranked way up there in the D-FW ratings for the six regular season games to date. ... Local ratings for Saturday’s Te...
NBC5 staffers are less than a month away from vacating their ramshackle homestead on Barnett Street in Fort Worth and moving to a state-of-the-art facility that also will house sister station Tel...
Laugh-In will always be his signature TV achievement. ... We take a closer look at his incredible career before he’s honored with the Dallas VideoFest’s Kovacs Award on Friday, Oct. 11th.
ABC’s last of eight new fall series arrives after one of them, Lucky 7, has already been canceled. Premiering on Thursday, Oct. 10th, Once Upon A Time In Wonderland is a spin-off of the network...
Equipped with your basic paranormal powers -- telepathy, telekinesis, teleporting -- here come The Tomorrow People. ...Plus, another eventful Monday in the D-FW Nielsen ratings is chronicled on o...
Sunday’s Wild West show at Jerry’s Palace ended all too typically with a Tony Romo interception at crunch time. ...Also, the TV Bulletin Board page has a nice selection of munchies, including...
So what’s the very accomplished Julia Ormond doing in Lifetime’s Witches of East End? Did someone cast a spell on her?
NBC’s revamped Thursday night sitcom lineup makes a home for Welcome to the Family. ...Ed Bark
The vampire genre hasn’t bled out yet. So The CW network is going ahead with The Originals, a spinoff of The Vampire Diaries set in modern-day New Orleans.
Fox in a return to his old network and night. The vehicle is Sean Saves the World, which premieres on Thursday, Oct. 3rd with an old school approach fit for the ‘70s or ‘80s.
And it’s also getting a very cozy Thursday night slot between The Big Bang Theory and Robin Williams’ new The Crazy Ones. ...Also, the Tuesday D-FW Nielsen ratings show a sizable audience fal...
ABC and the producers of the new sitcom Super Fun Night made a late decision to junk its pilot episode and instead try to put a surer foot forward Wednesday night. ...Also, Blair Underwood return...
Gina Miller, a prominent member of the CBS11/TXA21 sports staff for the last eight years, is leaving to pursue undisclosed “new entrepreneurial projects.” ...Plus, what turned out to be the T...
CBS’ latest new comedy series clunks into view Monday night. Our review of We Are Men is here.
The weekend D-FW Nielsen ratings were eventful, with the Cowboys and Rangers in the afternoon/early evening mix before AMC’s finale of Breaking Bad came calling. We’ve got all the numbers on ...
If you haven’t yet seen it and still plan to, don’t read unclebarky.com’s detailed review of Sunday night’s Breaking Bad finale. But if you have . . . then you might want to go here for o...
Plus, since I’m pretty gassed at this point, I’m going to link you to a Homeland piece I wrote on the summer TV “press tour” for tvworthwatching.com. ... And as previously noted on the Ne...
Showtime couples the Season 3 return of Homeland with the premiere of Masters of Sex on Sunday, Sept. 29th. ...The hour-by-hour results on Night 4 of the new season are on the Dallas-Fort Worth T...
Michael J. Fox returns to NBC, which launched him in Family Ties, as the star of a new sitcom that starts solidly and then hits some ruts in Thursday’s second episode.
Robin Williams returns to series TV on Thursday, Sept. 26th, reigning over the CBS sitcom The Crazy Ones. ...Plus, we have the D-FW Nielsen ratings for Night Two of the new TV season.
Those looking for a guilty TV pleasure could do far worse than ABC’’s Back in the Game, in which James Caan comes to play as another of TV’s growing crop of Neanderthal dads. ...Ed Bark
ABC is banking most heavily on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D among its eight new fall series. ...Also, we have the first night of the new season D-FW Nielsen numbers, including a 9 p.m. showdo...
Its group of lottery winners are all up-against-it employees of a Queens, NY gas station/convenience store. The series premieres at the end of the network’s all-new Tuesday lineup, which launch...
ABC’s new Trophy Wife, premiering Tuesday, Sept. 24th, is watchable because of its winning title character. ...Also, the Dallas Cowboys soared on the field of play Sunday, but unaccountably dro...
The Emmy Awards had lots of surprise winners Sunday night. It would have been nice to hear everything they had to say, but producer Ken Ehrlich too often had other ideas -- including two producti...
The broadcast networks’ new fall series are coming fast and furious at this point -- as are the reviews on unclebarky.com. So in case you’d like to catch up, here are the links to what’s be...
Calling all eardrums. You need to get in shape for the very loud Tuesday, Sept. 24th premiere of ABC’s The Goldbergs.
The Hallmark Channel seldom spares the syrup with its assembly line of made-for-TV movies. The Watson Go to Birmingham likewise is life-affirming but less cloying and certainly more substantive. ...
CBS’ Monday night replacement for Hawaii Five-0 (which is moving to Fridays) is the decidedly less picturesque Hostages. ...Also, Wednesday night’s D-FW Nielsen ratings are dominated by CBS w...
James Spader quickly returns to prime-time Monday in a new NBC action puzzler called The Blacklist. ...Ed Bark
It’s an egregious oversight not to include Larry Hagman among Emmy night’s five special “In Memoriam” tributes. In a teleconference Wednesday, the show’s executive producer, Ken Ehrlich...
Immeasurably better than Fox’s Dads, here comes CBS’ Mom to the network’s comedy-centric Monday night lineup. ...Plus, how did Fox’s rebuilt Tuesday night comedy lineup do in its season d...
KTXD-TV’s The Texas Daily will be without its most prominent “pundit” when the program goes into syndication on other Texas stations early next month. ...Also, Monday’s D-FW Nielsen ratin...
Comedy Central’s Season 3 of Key & Peele launches on Wednesday, Sept. 18th with more episodes than ever before. ...Ed Bark
Our weekend Nielsen ratings snapshot also has the D-FW numbers for Saturday’s big Alabama-Texas A&M showdown on CBS. Plus, a reminder that our previously posted review of Fox’s new Sleep Holl...
Fox continues its early start to the latest fall season with a pair of new Tuesday comedy entries. ...Plus, Wednesday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings highlight a battle between Fox’s Season 3 premiere...
Just three episodes remain in Breaking Bad’s two-part 5th and final season. But the acclaimed AMC drama will live on via the previous life of Bob Odenkirk’s oily attorney character, Saul “B...
TV’s latest fall season won’t officially start until the week of Sept. 23rd. ... First out of the chute is Monday’s Sleepy Hollow, and our review is here.
Arsenio Hall returned to late night TV Monday, and didn’t have much to show for it in terms of high wattage guests. ...Plus, Monday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings provide opening scorecards for Monda...
WFAA8 birthed its 4 p.m. local newscast Monday, joining rivals NBC5 and CBS11 in that genre after many years of relying on high-priced syndicated programming. Jason Wheeler and Collen Coyle are t...
The Dallas Cowboys’ raggedy 36-31 win Sunday night over the fumbling, stumbling New York Giants ranked higher on the D-FW ratings meter than last year’s. ... All three games benefited from NB...
Veteran Fox4 reporter Emily Lopez is leaving the Dallas-based station, with her last day on Sunday, Sept. 8th. More details on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
A 33-minute lightning delay messed with the scheduled starting time of NBC’s Thursday night NFL kickoff game. ...We look at then and now on the Network News & Reviews page, which also includes ...
CBS’ Labor Day edition of Under the Dome aired just a few hours after the Time Warner blackout went away. ...Plus, the TV Bulletin Board page has a wealth of new tidbits, with Valerie Harper’...
Not one, not two, but all five female stars of The Mary Tyler Moore Show are together again on the Wednesday, Sept. 4th episode of TV Land’s Hot In Cleveland Our review is here. ...Also, as a n...
The month-long blackout of CBS programming came to an end on Labor Day, restoring CBS11, TXA21 and Showtime to Time Warner Cable subscribers in D-FW. New York and Los Angeles were the other major...
And with a contract extension through November 2015, he can afford to be without the Big Buzz that accompanied his every move in 2010. In the latest of our “Press Tour Tales,” O’Brien talks...
Thursday night’s final Cowboys pre-season game, dominated from start to stop by reserve players, had surprisingly decent ratings on CBS11 despite the 24-6 outcome in favor of Houston. Playing a...
The indispensable desktop computer at unclebarky.com central now has a new interior fan after a trip to the shop for repairs. So it’s time to fire up again, beginning with a lengthy look at how...
Just in time for the cooler weather, the cast of TNT’s Dallas returns to the city early this fall for a planned six-month shoot on a 15-episode Season 3. ... Our story, with interviews and pict...
The station will only be allowed to air this Saturday’s “dress rehearsal” matchup with Cincinnati on a tape-delayed basis, beginning at 10 p.m. in D-FW. That again leaves CBS11 as the only ...
The Syfy network smells blood in the water after the Twitter-crazed success of last month’s Sharknado. ...Also, the Monday/Tuesday D-FW Nielsens are paced by Under the Dome and Rangers-Astros.
Mark Cuban, entrenched Shark Tank judge, strode the red carpet at a recent ABC “All-Star Party” promoting the network’s new fall lineup. The first in our “Press Tour Tales” series looks...
Featuring a father whose biggest pleasure in life is taking a dump, A&E’s Modern Dads focuses on four child-rearers living in Austin. It premieres on Wednesday, Aug. 21st after ratings juggerna...
Saturday’s sloppy Dallas Cowboys pre-season defeat at Arizona drew a little better crowd than the previous loss to Oakland. Still, the TV turnouts remain significantly down from last year.
D-FW’s Telemundo 39 (KXTX-TV) has received belated permission to carry Saturday afternoon’s Dallas Cowboys-Arizona Cardinals game live. ... It provides a viable remedy for D-FW fans afflicted...
His enthusiastic, knowledgeable presentations attracted a considerable fan base over those years, even though McCauley was never the station’s leading man. ...A brief salute is on the Dallas-Fo...
CBS controlled the prime-time ratings from start to finish Thursday despite being blacked out in roughly 400,000 D-FW homes with Time Warner cable. Details are on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Ratings weren’t available in D-FW, but our TV Bulletin Board page has the complete national breakdown plus a nice assortment of other tidbits. Also, the Texas Rangers ran strong in the Tuesday/...
Both have become major buzz shows for their respective networks. And a special one-hour Season 4 launch of DD almost assuredly won’t disappoint the 9.6 million fans who watched April’s Season...
The Dec. 9th game against the Chicago Bears could be a big one in terms of the Dallas Cowboys’ playoff hopes. ... And in D-FW, the first-time player will be the still little-known but growing K...
Perhaps it might surprise you, for instance, to read that the Dallas-based station says it paid all of the expenses and also collected any and all revenues from D: The Broadcast. ...Plus, the ong...
Friday night’s D-FW sports menu was bounteous, with the Dallas Cowboys playing their second pre-season game on CBS11 while the first-place Texas Rangers faced the Astros in Houston on TXA21. .....
Also, Big Brother was Thursday’s top prime-time draw in D-FW despite the blackout. And see the just-released trailer for Season 3 of Homeland on the Network News & Reviews page.
It’s nearly here -- the start of the final eight-episode arc of AMC’s Breaking Bad. Our look at Sunday’s last re-start is on the Network News & Reviews page.
AMC’s followup act to Breaking Bad Sunday night is the corrupt cop drama Low Winter Sun, set in Detroit. ...Plus, the Texas Rangers drew the biggest peak audience in Wednesday’s D-FW Nielsen ...
Larry David supposedly still hasn’t decided whether to do another season of Curb Your Enthusiasm. In that context, his new HBO movie, Clear History, doubles as a place-holder.
A big sports weekend is coming soon, with CBS11 carrying both Friday’s Dallas Cowboys pre-season game against Oakland and the final two rounds of the PGA championship. The D-FW viewing area’s...
There were numerous arrivals and departures in D-FW during my time out West at the annual Television Critics Association summer “press tour.” All were tweeted from afar, but now the collected...
Murder in a small town is hardly a novel TV or movie proposition. Broadchurch is a spellbinder, nonetheless. Its eight episodes begin unwinding on Wednesday, Aug. 7th, when BBC America launches t...
So your friendly content provider again will make the trek West, beginning on Tuesday, July 23rd and continuing all the way through August 8th. ...And while in L.A., I’ll be tweeting via @uncle...
It didn’t take long for the dust to settle on weathercaster Garry Seith’s abrupt departure from CBS11. The station on Monday announced that his early morning replacement will be Scott Padgett...
WFAA8’s first-ever 4 p.m. weekday newscast is taking further shape. And the details are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
The 2013 Emmy nominations are out, with FX’s high-quality dramas again on the outside looking in while Netflix breaks through and HBO again dominates. Details and analysis are on our Network Ne...
CBS11’s early morning newscast is now without meteorologist Garry Seith. The veteran weathercaster is “no longer with the station,” CBS11 confirmed Wednesday evening.
Tuesday night’s annual All-Star game on Fox easily beat everything in its path, including a two-hour dose of NBC’s America’s Got Talent. ...Plus, a Fox4 photographer finds himself in the li...
Many of those watching Jesuit High School grad Jordan Spieth battle two seasoned pros in overtime of the John Deere PGA tournament were left hanging when CBS bailed out Sunday evening in deferenc...
Dallas-based AMS Pictures’ latest production, True Tales, had its world premiere at the Texas Theatre Thursday night. It returned Jack Ruby’s headline stripper, Tammi True, to the spotlight a...
HBO’s The Newsroom begins Season 2 on Sunday, July 14th. The Aaron Sorkin drama may be polarizing, but it still punches hard and often effectively.
NBC continues to load up on new summertime series with the Thursday, July 11th premiere of Hollywood Game Night. Jane Lynch hosts, and one of the guest contestants is Martin Short.
Netflix’s fourth original series, Orange is the New Black, will have all 13 episodes ready to watch on Thursday, July 11th. Based on screening the first six hours, you’ll want to be a captive...
The new NBC summer dramedy Camp has Rachel Griffiths heading the cast. ...Plus, Under the Dome remains strong in the D-FW ratings despite an increasing creative sag.
Distinctive in just about everything except its serial slaughtering of women, FX’s The Bridge premieres on Wednesday, July 10th. ...Ed Bark.
Jason Wheeler, who’s been anchoring on weekends at WFAA8, will be assuming that position on the station’s new 4 p.m. weekday newscasts, numerous sources confirm. More details are on the Dalla...
Your friendly content provider once owned an official button-down, three-quarter length sleeve Dobie Gillis shirt from the clothing line of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. ...Dawning in 1959 as t...
NBC will be home to A.D.: Beyond the Bible, sequel to History network’s blockbuster The Bible. ...Also, Laura Thomas, former meteorologist for Dallas-based CW33’s Eye Opener, has newly begun ...
Dallas-based WFAA8 has hired Marie Saavedra from Phoenix’s KTVK-TV to replace Jonathan Betz, who recently left to join Al Jazeera America. Details are on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Adrian Arambulo, weekend anchor and weekday reporter for Fox4’s Good Day, is leaving for the Dallas-based station for an on-air position with KNBC-TV in Los Angeles. ...Plus, as June moves to t...
WFAA8 has hired Brian Glenn from Beaumont’s KBTV-TV as its latest reporter. Judging from his duties and bio pic on that station’s website, he won’t be taking himself too seriously.
Liev Schreiber plays the title role, but Jon Voight’s the guy who really crackles in Showtime’s new Ray Donovan. It premieres on Sunday, June 30th following the start-up of Dexter’s eighth ...
CNN will be reviving Crossfire this fall, with Newt Gingrich as one of the show’s four regular combatants. All the details are on our TV Bulletin Board page.
Oscar-winner Martin Landau and Oscar nominee Virginia Madsen are among the participants in Lifetime’s Anna Nicole, a movie with a good deal of Mommie Dearest “No wire hangers!” ... And this...
The idea of summertime “Big Event” programming got a big boost Monday night when the premiere of CBS’ 13-part Under the Dome dominated the D-FW Nielsens. Details are on our Dallas-Fort Wort...
Under the Dome, adapted from the Stephen King novel, premieres Monday, June 24th on CBS. It’s scheduled for a 13-week run, and our review is here.
Thursday’s closely contested Game 7 of the NBA Finals came up far bigger in the D-FW Nielsens than the Spurs’ Danny Green did on the court. ... All the details are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV...
From the creator of Desperate Housewives, it’s the very like-minded Devious Maids. ...Plus, the TV Bulletin Board page has a new collection of tasty tidbits, including the pairing of Kelsey Gra...
I was fortunate enough to have a number of first-hand encounters with James Gandolfini, the reticent star who made Tony Soprano and The Sopranos all-time TV touchstones. An extended up-close reme...
blends the board game Clue with a little Downton Abbey ambience. The “reality competition” series premieres on Sunday, June 23rd.
Another new police drama, Crossing Lines, fires up Sunday, June 23rd on NBC. ...Also Tuesday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings highlight the numbers for Game 6 of the NBA Finals, a nail-biter after four s...
But now it’s full speed ahead for the Dallas-based station’s inaugural 4 p.m. local newscast. Sources say it’s earmarked for this September in place of the syndicated Katie.
Perhaps you were wondering how WFAA8 would handle the big news of the station’s sale Thursday. ...And we also have a tease and video for WFAA8 sports anchor Dale Hansen’s “Backyard Party,�...
We take a close look at Belo Corp.’s stunning sale Thursday of WFAA8 to Gannett. It’s on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page, with more coming after your friendly content provider finishes a series...
San Antonio’s destruction of Miami Tuesday night didn’t keep Game 3 from dominating D-FW’s prime-time ratings. ...Would like to have your participation as No. 2 seed Burnett (a winner over ...
ABC Family continues to churn out success stories while parent ABC keeps fumbling. The new Twisted, premiering on Tuesday, June 11th, looks like another long-distance runner aimed at teens and tw...
A spirited Twitter debate followed your friendly content provider’s suggestion Sunday that the Texas Rangers put Jim “Knoxie” Knox on the disabled list after all those CN Tower hijinks duri...
TNT is rolling out new seasons of its summer dramas at a brisk pace, with Falling Skies, Rizzoli & Isles, Franklin & Bash, Major Crimes and Perception all coming this month. ...Plus, Thursday’s...
The USA network’s new Graceland premiering Thursday, June 6th, might prompt some viewers to see Elvis in their dreams. ...Also, Wednesday’s D-FW Nielsen “snapshot” shows that the Rangers ...
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is looking for a hero -- on TNT’s The Hero. ...And Tuesday turned out to be an uncommonly big night for NBC, which you’ll see in the latest “Local Nielsen Rati...
Netflix doesn’t make it easy -- from a reviewer’s standpoint at least -- with these Big Gulp presentations of its new series. ...Also, Monday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings show that ABC’s new Mi...
The new Mistresses tops off ABC’s much-teased “Man Candy Monday.” ... Meanwhile, our review of Mistresses is here.
AMC declared The Killing dead and then undead. ... And one’s no longer enough when it comes to body counts.
Just a brief note to readers, because we like to keep you informed. A little eye surgery Wednesday means that unclebarky.com will be seeing you again on Friday (May 31st) -- at the earliest -- wi...
Liberace’s stop in Dallas, to promote a new book, was one of his last public appearances before he died early the following year. He still clung to the fiction of losing his virginity as a teen...
Jonathan Betz, a five-year veteran at WFAA8, is leaving the Dallas-based station to take a news job in New York City. More details are on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Another ratings “sweeps” is in the books. And our complete look at the ups and downs of D-FW’s local stations can be found on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Touted last May as a midseason arrival, NBC’s Save Me instead finally comes up for air time on the night after the season officially ends. The Peacock is burning off Anne Heche’s spiritual si...
It’s been a very busy week here at unclebarky.com, with new season announcements by the five broadcast networks, Wednesday night’s emergency weather coverage, two end-of-the season series pre...
Barely after announcing their new season schedules, ABC and Fox close out the old season with series premieres on Monday, May 20th. ... And a look at The Goodwin Games is here.
Network entertainment schedules went out the window Wednesday night, with Fox4, NBC5, WFAA8 and CBS11 all offering continuous emergency weather coverage from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. We’ve got the hour...
Basic everyday humans are in increasingly short supply on the CW network, which on Thursday became the last to announce its new season lineup. All the details are on our Network News & Reviews pa...
1 CBS hopes to make Thursdays a bigger comedy destination next fall, adding two new ones to a night that already gets off to a blockbuster start with The Big Bang Theory. The network’s five new...
Coming off another less than stellar season, ABC is loading up in the fall with eight new series, half of them on an all-new Tuesday night. It’s also downsizing Dancing with the Stars to a sing...
Fox’s announcement of its new fall and midseason shows Monday morning ended up taking second billing to its disclosure that a new 12-episode return of onetime juggernaut 24 is coming during the...
NBC’s new fall lineup includes new comedy vehicles for Michael J. Fox and Sean Hayes as well as dramas for James Spader and Jonathan Rhys Meyers.
Jay Leno, still slated for eviction after next year’s Winter Olympics, lately has been winning across the board by increasing margins. ...Plus, another little collection of D-FW news notes, thi...
Pant-pant, here we go with another compendium, featuring NBC5 reporter Omar Villafranca in “Mesh Mask Bandit” mode. It’s all on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Christopher Guest, maestro of the feature film “mockumentary,” tackles his first TV series as the creator, writer and director of HBO’s Family Tree It premieres on Sunday, May 12th, and our...
Here’s our latest compendium of what came and went during Tuesday’s featured late night newscasts on D-FW’s Fox4, NBC5, WFAA8 and CBS11. ... Check out the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page, where y...
We’re at it again, this time for a limited one-week engagement before the broadcast networks begin announcing their new fall lineups next Monday. Here’s a look at the May 6th late night D-FW ...
Conservative radio personality Mark Davis now has a D-FW TV outlet for his views while former WFAA8 anchor Debbie Denmon accepted on-air marriage proposal during Friday’s edition of KTXD-TV’s...
The CBS prime-time schedule still isn’t about to lure Timmy Texter away from his smart phone. Still, the network will accomplish something this season that has eluded it for 21 years.
IFC, the network of Portlandia, hopes to further brighten its prime-time picture with the Friday, May 3rd premiere of Maron. Even though its namesake, real-life character hardly looks on the sunn...
Lifetime’s enjoyable, evocative documentary film, Dear Mom, Love Cher, premieres on Monday, May 6th after the two of them make the publicity rounds. ...Plus, Tuesday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings sp...
But TNT announced Tuesday that it’s pulling the trigger on a 15-episode Season 3 of Dallas. ...Also, Good Day co-anchor Lauren Przybyl of Fox4 had her first baby Tuesday.
Family Tools, the last new Big Four broadcast network sitcom of the season, premieres on Wednesday, May 1st. ...Plus, Monday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings again are an aria for The Voice and some low-...
Readers had pointed reactions, and not all of them negative, to WFAA8’s decision to largely ignore Thursday afternoon’s West, TX memorial service while rivals Fox4, NBC5 and CBS11 covered it ...
Day One of the TV season’s climactic May “sweeps” ratings period was much bigger than unusual Thursday. We break down all of the numbers on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page, including the prim...
WFAA8 very surprisingly mostly took a pass on live coverage of Thursday afternoon’s West, TX memorial service while rivals Fox4, NBC5 and CBS11 covered it from start to stop. We take an in-dept...
Fox4, NBC5, WFAA8 and CBS11 all preempted their regular entertainment programming Thursday morning for continuous, commercial-free live coverage of the George W. ...Plus, Wednesday’s D-FW Niels...
Netflix’s second original 13 episode series, following the very well-received House of Cards, went up last Friday. Our review of Hemlock Grove, after watching its entire Season One, can be foun...
But its followup act, the serial drama Revolution, may have been irreparably damaged by the Peacock’s decision to give it a more than four-month rest. ...Plus, my New York Times review of Top o...
Rectify, billed as Sundance Channel’s “first wholly owned original scripted series,” makes a smashing two-hour debut on Monday, April 22nd. That’s already enough to take viewers one-third...
D-FW’s four major TV news providers, Fox4, NBC5, WFAA8 and CBS11, all offered continuous, sustained coverage of Wednesday night’s devastating fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas. ...The...
Pat Summerall, who both played in the NFL’s signature “Greatest Game Ever Played” while announcing dozens of other classics, has died at the age of 82. A remembrance and illustrative video ...
Hilary Swank and Brenda Blethyn star in HBO’s cause-driven Mary and Martha, which premieres on Saturday, April 20th. ...Also, Monday’s’s D-FW Nielsen ratings are posted, with an emphasis on...
Unclebarky.com and Robert Redford recently ran a five-minute drill in connection with the upcoming Discovery Channel film All the President’s Men Revisited. ...Also, the weekend D-FW Nielsen ra...
Louis C.K. is taking an extended hiatus from the pressures of producing, directing, writing and starring in FX’s Louie. But he’s still got time for standup, and no one’s doing it better at ...
Syfy channel hopes to make a big splash on Monday, April 15th with the simultaneous release of Defiance as both a futuristic TV show and compatible video game. ...Also, NBC’s second episode of ...
Any resemblances to the heavily bearded “Renaissance Man” of later years are very intentionally missing in action. ...Also, Tuesday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings highlight a clash of prime-time ti...
Twenty spring seasons ago, local and national media swarmed Waco to document the 51-day standoff between federal law enforcement officials and Branch Davidian cult followers of David Koresh. ...T...
Annette Funicello, most famous of the original Mouseketeers, has died of complications from Multiple Sclerosis. ...Also, the weekend D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” spotlights some big sports...
AMC’s Mad Men begins its second-to-last season on Sunday, April 7th. ...And go here if you’d like to see my cnn.com commentary on the role “social media” skills are playing in the Tonight...
We assess the move while also wondering whether conventional TV ratings are now bowing to social media prowess. ...Also, how did Yu do in the D-FW ratings during the climactic stages of his achin...
Serial killing series seem to be in vogue right now. And NBC soon will have Hannibal on its plate, staring with its Thursday, April 4th premiere.
ABC’s new How to Live With Your Parents (For the Rest of Your Life) premieres on Wednesday, April 3rd with an accomplished cast and a laborious feel. ...But if you like what you see -- or at le...
Selfridge, the latest miniseries flying under PBS’ Masterpiece Classic banner, stars Jeremy Piven as the American who put the oomph in British shopping, circa the early 1900s. Sounds like that ...
Hoping to capitalize on a good thing -- the FX network -- its owners plan to launch FXX this summer. Further details and programing announcements are on our Network News & Reviews page.
It’s gonna be a hectic, hair-pulling Easter Sunday night in fanboy/fangirl land, with the Season 3 premiere of HBO’s Game of Thrones squaring off against the Season 3 finale of AMC’s The Wa...
A new Uncle Barky’s Mailbag has been emptied on -- where else? -- the Uncle Barky’s Mailbag page. Also, NBC’s The Voice duels CBS’ NCIS in Tuesday’s D-FW ratings “snapshot.”
Dogged nightside reporter Ellen Goldberg has decided to try something new. After six years with Fort Worth-based NBC5, she’s left the building.
Acclaimed and prolific novelist Philip Roth willingly speaks at length in PBS’ new Philip Roth: Unmasked. ...Plus, Monday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings “snapshot” stars a group of prime-time hea...
Daybreak co-anchor Ron Corning has been the heavily promoted face of the WFAA8 program for the past year and a half. But his latest spot, a sex talk featuring Corning, two kids and a pair of Barb...
Syfy network’s Saturday night cheese-fest goes above and beyond with Chupacabra vs The Alamo. Erik Estrada stars, and he’s already cashed the check.
Jay Leno has never been a critical darling, but he’s still the overall people’s choice in late night. ...Plus, Wednesday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings yield the usual spoils for Fox and CBS.
Al Pacino plays the manic title character, but Helen Mirren is the glue in HBO’s Phil Spector, premiering Sunday, March 24th. ...Ed Bark
My 2006 iMac, the one I used to launch unclebarky.com, had been perilously running on a backup hard drive for the past nine months or so. ...Brad Watson surprised his WFAA8 colleagues and station...
A&E's Bates Motel, a "contemporary prequel" co-produced by former Lost maestro Carlton Cuse, opens its creaky doors on Monday, March 18th. ...Tuesday's D-FW Nielsen numbers also are posted.
"Darth" Cheney reveals that his favorite food is spaghetti in Showtime's trumpeted 1 hour, 45 minute documentary about his life and times. ...Ewing on Monday's Dallas made no big impression in th...
But harken back to a more majestic time, when TV brought U.S. viewers live, very early morning coverage of Pope John Paul II's funeral. ...Plus, "Come Home to Channel 5" for this hokey, homey 198...
Song By Song, a new series spotlighting the music of Dolly Parton for starters, premieres Sunday, March 10th on the Ovation network. ... But unclebarky.com likes to help the little folks out, and...
Pounding the D-FW TV beat today with stories on: ...***Suzie Humphreys' dagnabbit persnickety fit on KTXD's D: The Broadcast (and they still love it for now).
Ewing again was on the receiving end more than three decades after the series' famous "Who Shot J.R." cliffhanger. It was Hagman's final go-around as J.R., with a funeral set for the March 11th e...
The History network landed another uppercut on ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox Sunday night with big ratings for both The Bible and Vikings. AMC's The Walking Dead already has been hammering away on a nigh...
Pat Doney from Louisville's Fox affiliate has been named to succeed Matt Barrie as NBC5's weekend sports anchor. Details on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
But NBC's upcoming Ready For Love has to be a record-setter in terms of Lone Star infiltration. ...Also, veteran D-FW traffic reporter Tammy Dombeck is back in play, and we have a picture and a f...
Wick Allison, Colossus of the D magazine empire, bragged in a FrontBurner post Friday that "D TV Strikes Ratings Gold After Only Eight Days." ...And especially to those who shop on Amazon by firs...
D-FW's February "sweeps" are in the books, and we've got all the details, plus commentary, on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page. Some races again were air-tight, requiring three decimal point breakdo...
ABC's most popular scripted series is Castle, a close-ended "procedural" crime drama that's not dependent on weekly viewing. ...Also, Tuesday's local Nielsen ratings "snapshot" charts the perform...
Final Nielsen numbers show that Sunday night's Oscar ceremony drew more viewers nationally than last year's. And it also upped its percentage of advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds, which is exa...
HBO's five-part Parade's End, premiering on Tuesday, Feb. 26th, is also available instantly in one big gulp on HBO GO. Its setting, time period and storyline otherwise smacks of Downton Abbey.
Sunday night's Oscar ceremony went even longer than usual, thanks to host Seth MacFarlane's seemingly endless opening shtick. ...Also, see how the Oscars did in D-FW in our latest Nielsen ratings...
Crime scenes are CBS' specialty, and the network strikes again next week with Golden Boy. ...Also, Thursday's D-FW Nielsen ratings have prizes for CBS, Fox and ABC while NBC again comes up empty.
Jim Cavaziel, beaten to death in The Passion of the Christ, gets a chance to mete out punishment as a presumed dead former government operative who feels betrayed and looks like hell until Michae...
In a tale of two stories --- about the same 911-calling, cigarette-demanding Hood County grandma -- he showed a side of her that was entirely missing from Fox4's account. And it might have made q...
Our look at the Monday, Feb. 18th late nighters focuses on WFAA8 sports anchor Dale Hansen's latest "Unplugged" commentary, this one delivered right in the middle of the newscast. ...Also, the Fe...
The drama series Cult, premiering Tuesday, Feb. 19th on The CW, appears to be making a case that TV shows in fact do influence behavior. ... Even though programming executives and producers keep ...
Viewers primed for their daily 9 a.m. Perry Mason dose on D-FW's KTXD-TV instead got a polar opposite Monday in D: The Broadcast. It was saved, but only in part, by the lone female gabber old eno...
Here's the latest compendium of activities on Friday's showcase D-FW newscasts. Ed Bark
So let's dive in with new editions of the above feature for as long as my brain pan stays in place. ...And they weren't plusses for either ABC's new Zero Hour or CNN's out-of-control Carnival cru...
Although Killing Lincoln is still on bestseller lists, the timing is pretty bad for a TV adaptation. That's because Lincoln the movie towers over it, as does Daniel Day Lewis over Billy Campbell.
Mark Cuban's AXS TV (formerly HDNet) and CBS struck a programming partnership on Valentine's Day. ...Plus, Wednesday's D-FW Nielsen ratings show a continuing slide by American Idol, but not enoug...
Beyonce takes the throttle Saturday in Life Is But A Dream. ...Also, Tuesday's D-FW Nielsen ratings show which networks had the most and fewest viewers for President Obama's State of the Union ad...
Fair warning: ABC's new Thursday night lead-off hitter will be Zero Hour. ...Plus, Monday's D-FW Nielsen ratings are on the page.
Presenting the first edition of "Uncle Barky's Mailbag," intended to be a forum for your emailed comments. ...Also, Sunday's Grammy Awards dominated prime-time but not surprisingly fell sharply f...
touched down in Dallas Thursday night for a two-hour show that will be pared to an hour by the time it airs Saturday. ...Plus, Thursday's D-FW Nielsen ratings are in the house.
The title still kinda cracks me up, at least when I'm in Uncle Barky mode. And now -- drumroll -- 50 years after its one and only season, you can see I'm Dickens . . .
The national audience for Sunday's Super Bowl XLVII fell a bit from the previous two, but remained mammoth. And CBS isn't complaining in terms of what Supie did for its season-to-date prime-time ...
Prior to resuming the up-close "sweeps" looks at D-FW's latenight newscasts next week, here's a sampler of two oddities from Tuesday night. Ed Bark
Netflix's revolutionary Season 1 of House of Cards -- all 13 episodes are up at once -- was made available to subscribers on Friday, Feb. 1st. ...Also, Season 2 of NBC's Smash premiered Tuesday t...
Jennifer Love Hewitt still prefers to be smokin' hot, and works at it anew in new music video tied to March's Season 2 premiere of Lifetime's The Client List. ...Also, Monday's D-FW Nielsens are ...
Sunday's Super Bowl XLVII on CBS ended an eight-year audience growth spurt for the game. ... Details are on our Network News & Reviews page, along with some downcast numbers for the network's lat...
Sunday's Super Bowl XLVII turned out to be a high-scoring, down-to-the-wire thriller, power outage and all. Still, its D-FW ratings didn't measure up to recent Supies.
Our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page has all the numbers for the opening match-ups of local newscasts on Fox4, NBC5, WFAA8 and CBS11. Plus, the DOA ratings for NBC's new medical drama, Do No Harm.
Kelley (Picket Fences, Ally McBeal, Boston Legal, etc.) hadn't created/produced a medical series since Chicago Hope. Now he provides some needed new blood with TNT's Monday Mornings.
A young doc with a crazed alter ego is the premise of NBC's Do No Harm, premiering Thursday, Jan. 31st. ...Plus, the TV Bulletin Board page catches you up on all the season's latest series renewa...
Monday night's D-FW Nielsen ratings were very, very good for the future prospects of Fox's The Following -- and a punch below the belt buckle for TNT's Dallas. The Ewings' two-pronged Season 2 pr...
FX lately has been hitting on all cylinders with both its new and returning series. The Americans, premiering on Wed., Jan. 30th, keeps this momentum rolling. ...Also, the weekend D-FW Nielsen ra...
WFAA8 continues to bolster its newsroom staff with the hiring of Carla Wade from Oklahoma City's KOCO-TV. ...Also, Thursday's D-FW ratings "snapshot" charts the numbers for Jane McGarry's maiden ...
TNT starts its 15-episode Season 2 of Dallas with back-to-back hours on Monday, Jan. 28th. All Larry Hagman sightings are precious at this point -- and he especially delivers in Episode 2.
A deal isn't completely done yet, but it very much looks like former NBC5 traffic reporter Tammy Dombeck's next D-FW television destination will be a fill-in role at CBS11. ...Plus, Wednesday's D...
Off the air since early May, former NBC5 anchor Jane McGarry returned to the tube Thursday with the first of five scheduled weekly appearances on rival WFAA8's Good Morning Texas. Here's how it w...
Spartacus: War of the Damned launches Friday, Jan. 25th on Starz for what will be its last blood baths. ...Plus, the premiere of ABC's The Taste had unappetizing ratings in D-FW Tuesday night.
Ratings were sturdy in both D-FW and nationally, with next Monday's Episode 2 a pivotal indicator of whether audiences will stay around or turn away. ...Also, PBS has an eye-opening new episode o...
CBS now has its Super Bowl finalists -- the 49ers and the Ravens -- after Sunday's pair of entertaining games. ...Also, former Lost star Dominic Monaghan branches out in a big way on BBC America'...
Jane McGarry, a 30-year veteran at NBC5 until pleading "No Contest" to a driving while intoxicated charge, will be back on the air next week after a more than eight-month absence. Reached by phon...
Potential viewers should know that Ripper Street, premiering Saturday, Jan. 19th on BBC America, is about a post-Jack East London, circa 1889. ...Plus, Thursday's Part 1 of Oprah Winfrey's sit-do...
Carnage is commonplace on broadcast television, although seldom if ever to this degree. Fox's The Following, with Kevin Bacon starring in his first weekly TV series, barges into view Monday night...
Two original cast members from the Revenge of the Nerds movie series hit the small screen as co-hosts of TBS' King of the Nerds. ...Plus, Wednesday's D-FW Nielsen ratings show that American Idol ...
FX now has more than twice as many comedies as dramas in its roster of original series. Legit, premiering Thursday, Jan. 17th, looks like another keeper. ...Also, CBS had a very good night indeed...
Comedy Central's Kroll Show, starring man of many faces Nick Kroll, launches on Wed., Jan. 16th following young male fave rave Workaholics. ...Also, Monday's D-FW Nielsen ratings are in the house...
Danielle Vollmar's last day at CW33's Nightcap was Friday. ... Details on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page as well as a catchup round on D-FW news anchor pregnancies.
Premiering on Monday, Jan. 14th, CW's The Carrie Diaries depicts a wide-eyed Carrie Bradshaw in her formative teen years. ...Also, how did the Golden Globes and those four NFL playoff games do in...
font size="2">Still barred from the Hall of Fame, Pete Rose goes to bat in a "reality" series pegged to his engagement to a former Playboy babe. Our review of TLC's Pete Rose: Hits & Mrs is right...
The television industry, news or entertainment, has long been cosmetically driven. But longtime Fox4 meteorologist Ron Jackson lately has had the temerity to pretty much let his hair have its own...
One of the more provocative series of last season, Lena Dunham's Girls, returns to HBO on Sunday, Jan. 13th. ...Also, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings "snapshot" indicates that viewers very much a...
One of the brightest young sports talents in D-FW, NBC5's Matt Barrie, has been recruited by ESPN. Details on the Dallas-Fort-Worth TV page.
It was the funniest part of last night's Kimmel, and it's on our Network News & Reviews page. We also have a review of the new Cinemax drama series Banshee, which premieres on Friday, Jan. 11th.
Cougar Town begins its run on TBS after a fitful three seasons on ABC. The first of a scheduled 15 new episodes airs on Tuesday, Jan. 8th at 9 p.m. central.
Alabama's pounding of Notre Dame in Monday night's national championship game wasn't the hit ESPN had hoped for. ...Also, CBS11/TXA21 meteorologist Jeff Jamison. encountered a couple of comely an...
Starting on Tuesday, Jan. 8th, ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! will supplant Nightline as a "lead-out" for local newscasts, including WFAA8's.
FX's Justified fires up Season 4 on Tuesday, Jan. 8th. Fans should be justifiably excited.
Fox corralled the weekend's two big football attractions -- Friday night's Cotton Bowl and Sunday's Washington Redskins-Seattle Seahawks playoff game. The headliners were Texas A&M's Johnny Footb...
With Revolution still on a very extended break, NBC is plugging a new whodunit into its Monday 9 p.m. (central) slot. ...Plus, the latest local Nielsen ratings "snapshot" is posing on the Dallas-...
PBS' most popular series of this century, Downton Abbey, returns for Season 3 on Sunday, Jan. 6th. ...And we take a closer look at Al Gore's decision to sell his Current TV network to Al Jazeera ...
Fresh off his most embarrassing New Year's Eve stint yet with Kathy Griffin, "Face of CNN" Anderson Cooper seems oblivious to the hits his credibility is taking. ...So much so that it had a bigge...
Unclebarky.com's holiday hiatus is history, and we begin anew with an up-close look at a season's worth of Dallas Cowboys' ratings in D-FW. ...If you're making Amazon.com purchases, click first o...
A GLORIOUS SIGHT AT UNCLEBARKY.COM WORLD HQ IN GARLAND, TX ...We'll be taking some time off during the holidays before returning when the spirit moves.
2012 was an uncommonly eventful year in D-FW's television news rooms, with a long list of on-camera personnel going, going, gone. Our annual alphabetical list is on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Former NBC5 "Gridlock Buster" Tammy Dombeck, who left the Fort Worth-based station last summer over a contract issue, has a new hubby to keep her warm. ...Plus, see how your friendly content prov...
Larissa Hall, who became Tribune-owned, Dallas-based CW33's "director of content" in mid-August, will be splitting her time and taking on other responsibilities in order to be with her new husban...
Dabbling in other pursuits before Veep returns early next year, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and her husband, Brad Hall, have collaborated on the decidedly different short film Picture Paris. ...Also, Epi...
Two teams with everything on the line clashed at Cowboys Stadium Sunday. But Dallas' eventual win in OT wasn't enough to move the game from the middle of the pack in the overall D-FW Nielsens for...
And now the special sneak preview of 1600 Penn is ready to lurch at you Monday. ...Plus, be sure to visit Uncle Barky's Countdown to Christmas for Episode 4.
And we're here to tell you that the late Larry Hagman very much lives on in them. ...Plus, we've got a riff on Thursday's Golden Globes TV nominations and a link to the complete list.
NBC5's latest case of the notably shortened surname finds new weekend meteorologist Lindsay Riley subtracting lotsa letters. ...And you can check out the Comedy Central shop's Christmas season la...
CBS11's early morning replacement for Melissa Newton is already on the job. ...Also, we begin the annual Uncle Barky's Countdown to Christmas with an anchor music video from San Antonio.
We're catching up on the TV Bulletin Board page with outlines of the new midseason plans announced by ABC and CBS. Another tidbit: Poor Terrell Owens hopes to make another splash -- but not in th...
Former NBC5 reporter Grant Stinchfield, who ran unsuccessfully for Congress earlier this year, is replacing Janine Turner as the conservative host of KLIF radio's (570 AM) 9 p.m. ... Details and ...
Have you grown a bit weary of all that cloying good cheer in lookalike made-for-TV Christmas movies? Then perhaps we have a winner for you in Syfy's 12 Disasters of Christmas, which premieres on ...
Meanwhile, ex-CW33 reporter Charles Bassett has become the sixth D-FW television reporter since December to segue from a news room to a public relations position. ...Plus, we look at the fallacy ...
You can help unclebarky.com live longer -- if not prosper -- by first clicking on one of our Amazon ads before you make the purchases you were going to make anyway. ...Unclebarky.com also is the ...
Jeff Zucker, who spent an up-and-down quarter century at NBC, is back in a high-profile position as head of CNN Worldwide. ...Plus, Wednesday's D-FW Nielsen ratings "snapshot" highlights a Christ...
WFAA8 thanked viewers for making it the D-FW market's No. 1 news station in a promo that ran during Tuesday's Dancing with the Stars fall season finale. ... Get the real story on our Dallas-Fort ...
CBS11 has made a second new hire in as many days -- and his name is Brian New. The D-FW station again targeted a San Antonio newsroom -- and this one has ties to Dallas and WFAA8.
DFW-based CBS11 has bolstered its investigative unit with a new hire from San Antonio's WOAI-TV. Details are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Larry Hagman did lots more in his long life than play J.R. ... At look at TV's everlasting impact is on our Network News & Reviews page.
Dallas-based WFAA8 has hired another new reporter, Todd Unger, from Albuquerque's KOAT-TV. More details and a sample of his work are on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Dallas' Thanksgiving Day loss to the RGIII-led Redskins had a big tune-in locally. In fact, it was this season's second most-watched among 11 Cowboys games.
Larry Hagman was a character through and through -- and not just as J. ... Our appreciation is on the Network News & Reviews page.
Fox4 had the most overall wins while CBS11 topped both the 6 and 10 p.m. competitions in total viewers during the November "sweeps" ratings period. Our complete report is on the Dallas-Fort Worth...
Wondering how your favorite new TV series are doing now that they're poised on the precipice of holiday season repeats? ...Also, TCM makes a big investment in Johnny Carson's Tonight Show intervi...
Perhaps there are bigger icks than Lifetime's Liz & Dick. ... Lindsay Lohan stars as Elizabeth Taylor in this Sunday, Nov. 25th hoot.
Ken Burns' latest film, The Dust Bowl, unfolds Sunday and Monday on PBS. Seeing is believing, even if some of its images are almost unbelievable.
So HBO's Crossfire Hurricane is in part a merchandising tool timed to both the anniversary and an impending tour. ...Also, WFAA8 anchor John McCaa expresses his displeasure on-air with a tabloid-...
Trumped-up "sweeps" stories remain all too commonplace in this market and others. We offer two Exhibit A's in Night 2 of our up-close look at D-FW's late nighters.
For a limited time, and down the homestretch of the November "sweeps" ratings period, we resume our longstanding "Night in the Lives" look at D-FW's late night newscasts. ... But there's also muc...
History network's "epic" six-night, 12-hour Mankind: The Story of All of Us, make an aggressively loud and visually rich debut on Tuesday, Nov. 13th. ...Ed Bark
The Dallas Cowboys, paced by their defense and special teams, remained in the post-season hunt with Sunday's do or die win at Philadelphia. ... See the weekend D-FW ratings "snapshot" for details...
Another brain-draining "reality" series set in Texas? But of course, Still, the pound-foolish cops of CMT's Big Texas Heat not only take the cake, but could eat it in one gulp.
TBS has reserved a latter day TV graveyard, Saturday night, for its new one-hour comedy Wedding Band. ...Also, the ratings problems deepen for two critically praised new ABC series, Nashville and...
President Obama's re-election is in the books after an oft-wacky night of national TV coverage. ... Our up-close look, complete with a collection of pictures, is on the Network News & Reviews pag...
Fox News Channel reigned supreme in prime-time before its ratings fell off a cliff in late night. ...Plus, Baylor's cancer hospitals get a PR boost in the three-part, locally produced Dallas Hope...
But the Dallas Cowboys’ stunningly low turnout for Friday night’s second pre-season game may have had quite a bit to do with the red-hot, first-place Texas Rangers playing meaningful baseball...
NBC's prime-time Sunday Night Football showcase helped push the Dallas Cowboys up the ratings ladder, luring a bigger crowd than the previous week's marrow-draining loss to the Giants. This time ...
Dallas-based CW33's newest news concoction, Nightcap, entered this earthly realm Thursday night. ...Also, Thursday's D-FW Nielsen ratings find ABC's CMA awards battling CBS' regular lineup.
A mini-furor is in play as National Geographic Channel prepares to air SEAL Team Six: The Raid on Osama bin Laden just two days before the presidential election. Financed by a prominent backer of...
ABC tries to re-start a semblance of its old TGIF comedy franchise with the Friday night premiere of Reba McEntire's Malibu Country and the Season 2 return of Tim Allen's Last Man Standing. ...It...
NBC's announced mid-season programming changes include a prolonged absence for fall's No. 1 new show in the advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-old demographic. ... We look at all the angles and tell...
NBC5 has hired Lindsay Schwarzwaelder as a weekend meteorologist. She broke the news on her Facebook page before any official announcement from the Fort Worth-based station.
A bout with "Super Storm" Sandy floored our Manhattan-based server for part of Monday and most of today. ... Celebrate (or not) by reading the account of Monday's unprecedented gathering of D-FW'...
Dallas-based CW33's new look, retitled 9 p.m. news presentation will not be needing the services of veteran meteorologist Rebecca Miller. ...Also, Game 2 of the World Series hit for a significant...
TV Land's latest effort to turn old sitcom stars into new sitcom stars will team Cheers alums Kirstie Alley and Rhea Perlman in Giant Baby. Details, along with other new 'n' tasty TV tidbits, are...
Tracy Rowlett, Iola Johnson and Troy Dungan were the star TV news personalities that sparked WFAA8's emergence as a ratings giant in the mid-1970s. They'll be back in play for at least one day on...
Game 1 of the San Francisco Giants-Detroit Tigers World Series had a rough ratings night in D-FW. The score sheet is on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Dallas-based WFAA8 continues to re-stock its reporting staff with the hiring of Jobin Panicker from Fresno's KSEE-TV. ...Also, NBC is the surprise leader among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-old...
A pair of newsroom hires emerged Tuesday at D-FW's Fox4 and WFAA8. Details on the arrivals of Latoya Silmon and Jason Wheeler are on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page, which also has two other local ...
Foreign policy can be an icky topic for many. Add competition from pro baseball and football, and you have a recipe for diminished debate returns in D-FW.
Hmm, I thought the Republicans won the first two debates -- presidential and veep. ... But now I'm a biased lefty for daring to judge President Obama as the clear winner in his final debate with ...
WFAA8 management can be long on sanctimony when it comes to the "serious" business of news. ... Monday's Exhibit A was weathercaster Pete Delkus returning from Montana with a beard in play.
The Cowboys' 19-14 road win at Carolina Sunday evened their record at 3-3 but also dropped the team to fewer than one million viewers for the first time in almost two years. Details are on the Da...
At least one D-FW television station is encouraging people to watch its "start-to-finish, smoke to ashes" video of Big Tex's demise as though it were a public execution. Others are showing a bit ...
The Girl, premiering Saturday, Oct. 20th on HBO, trains on Alfred Hitchcock's alleged sexual blackmail of actress Tippi Hedren. ...And there are some numbers that jump out, including the really p...
Produced by Dallas-based AMS Pictures and originally a one-hour special, Home Strange Home returns to HGTV as a full-fledged weekly series on Friday, Oct. 19th. ...Ed Bark
Cinemax, longtime junior partner of HBO, takes another dip into original series programming with the Friday debut of Hunted. It's Nikita-esque in a way, but some of the plotting also can get in t...
Ethel, featuring an extended interview with Ethel Kennedy by her youngest child, Rory, premieres Thursday, Oct. 18th on HBO. Great footage at times, but its subject remains reticent and some subj...
Tuesday's action-packed face-off between President Obama and challenger Mitt Romney drew a very big D-FW crowd, but not actual blood. The complete 10-network ratings breakdown is on our Dallas-Fo...
Dallas-based, Tribune-owned CW33's new 9 p.m. (news?) ... See the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page for a lot more details.
Our TV Bulletin Board page is catching up with a slew of tidbits, several involving NBC's rises, falls and announcements. The Monday D-FW Nielsen ratings also are in.
Season 2 of FX's American Horror Story (with Asylum added to the title) returns Jessica Lange in a new role as a demonic Catholic nun. Surrounded by other new characters -- and a mostly new cast ...
The resemblance is unmistakable. Still, Mamie Gummer shines through her resemblance to Meryl Streep in the new Emily Owens, M.D..
A new season of the most violent series in the history of advertiser-supported TV will be back among the living on Sunday, Oct. 14th. ...Plus, the veep debate ratings for D-FW show that two Foxes...
ABC's heavily acclaimed Nashville premiered Wednesday night. ... So-so, but all in all not too bad.
Domino effect: A recent chain of events, including her marriage last month, has prompted CBS11 reporter Melissa Newton to leave DFW's CBS11. ...Also, CBS' Made in Jersey "wins" the race to be fal...
The CW continues to belatedly roll out its trio of new fall series with yet another "re-imagining" of Beauty and the Beast. ...Also, Tuesday's D-FW Nielsen ratings show that crime again pays for ...
Another group of heroic flame-fighters and paramedics roll into view via NBC's Chicago Fire. Your friendly content provider does not have a hunka hunka burning love for it, but there's some poten...
ABC's Nashville debuts on Wed., Oct. 10th, with Connie Britton and Hayden Panettiere playing warring country singers of different styles and generations. They do all of their own songs, too, and ...
This week brings the last big wave of new fall series, and Arrow is one of them. The CW action yarn premieres Wednesday, Oct. 10th.
It's not the most artful local news spot in recent memory. But at least CBS11 is trying to heat up its very slowly improving early morning ratings.
The Texas Rangers' Friday night stinker ended up being their most-watched game of the season. ...Plus, ABC makes a unique engagement announcement for one of its GMA stars while NBC signs survival...
One of the best Lifetime movies in years is coming Sunday, Oct. 7th. ... Our review of Steel Magnolias, with an all-black cast this time out, is on the Network News & Reviews page.
The first of three debates between President Obama and Mitt Romney is in the books. ... Our take, after a 90-minute round of live tweeting, is on the Network News & Reviews page.
The "transitioning" at Dallas-based CW33 -- or bloodletting in the eyes of those directly affected -- is pretty much over after two days of sobering meetings with staffers. The biggest news from ...
Regular readers of this site likely have noticed the absence of a "Comments" mechanism since Monday. You're owed an explanation of why we've decided to forge ahead without that apparatus.
Dallas-based CW33's gutting of its news room staff began in earnest Monday, with more to come during Tuesday's second round. ...Also, the Dallas Cowboys' mauling at the hand of the visiting Bears...
KTXD-TV's The Texas Daily launched Monday morning, with Tracy Rowlett and Troy Dungan its first pair of "pundits." ...Plus, the weekend D-FW Nielsen ratings are in as we begin a new month of publ...
Come one, come all (I used to be a carny) to the 25th annual Dallas VideoFest, which really gets rolling this weekend at the Dallas Museum of Art. Your friendly content provider will be presentin...
ABC again indulges its penchant for creep shows with the Sunday, Sept. 30th launch of 666 Park Avenue. Terry O'Quinn of Lost is the series' duplicitous leading man, a role to which he's accustome...
Aimed at older viewers and stocked with a who's who of onetime prominent D-FW anchors and reporters, The Texas Daily launches Monday, Oct. 1st on Dallas-based KTXD-TV. We take an extended up-clos...
The new CBS legal drama Made In Jersey begins its Friday night run on Sept. 28th. Perhaps a better title would be Jersey Snore.
Crooner Andy Williams, who prospered in prime-time when variety hours were still ratings giants, has died at the age of 84. ...Plus, CBS ruled Tuesday's D-FW ratings -- in total viewers at least ...
Nielsen Media Research has just released its new ratings point values for D-FW. ...So how did all the broadcast networks' heavy hitters -- plus the Rangers and Monday Night Football -- do in good...
ABC's new Last Resort launches Thursday, Sept. 27th. Basically put, a U.S. submarine is sandwiched.
Plus, the Dallas Cowboys' butt ugly win Sunday had something in common with their butt ugly loss a week ago. Check out the weekend D-FW ratings "snapshot" for all the details, plus a look at the ...
Showtime's Homeland gave that network its first best series win Sunday night while ABC's Modern Family made it a three-peat. Our report and commentary is on the Network News & Reviews page.
Fort Worth-based NBC5 has named meteorologist Samantha Davies to be its full-time early morning traffic anchor, replacing Tammy Dombeck. Details are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
ABC's first new fall series, The Neighbors, premieres on Wednesday, Sept. 26th. Enter aliens from planet Zabvron in what's supposed to be a riotous comedy.
ABC's Dancing with the Stars launches its 15th edition on Monday, Sept. 24th with an "All-Star" competition involving six past champs and another seven "fan favorites." Soap opera star Kelly Mona...
CBS' new Vegas hits home screens on Tuesday, Sept. 25th. But does it hit the jackpot with a cast fronted by Dennis Quaid and Michael Chiklis?
Mindy Kaling, namesake of Fox's new The Mindy Project, has worked her way up from eight years as Kelly Kapoor on The Office. ...Also, Fox's The X Factor took on another big gun, the season premie...
Another new autobiographical comedy series, Ben and Kate, sets sail Tuesday, Sept. 25th on Fox. Ben is firmly in league with a long line of moronic sitcom men.
And although it faces brutal competition on Monday nights, Partners should further the career of Plano Senior High grad Michael Urie. The former Ugly Betty co-star is terrific in his first full-b...
But Tulsa early morning anchor Laura Moss interviewed for a position at Dallas-based Fox4 on Monday of this week. Also, ex-WFAA8 anchor/reporter Debbie Denmon plans to be the full-time spokespers...
American Idol has just named two more new judges while The Voice will have two midseason reinforcements for two of theirs. We take a look at what's happening in the world of TV's prominent "reali...
Jury duty Monday bisected unclebarky.com's 6th birthday announcement and a full report on Sunday's Dallas Cowboys ratings in D-FW. But now I'm back after attorneys decided it would be foolhardy t...
Plus, Thursday's D-FW Nielsen ratings say that the fourth episode of Katie -- well, you'll have to read it to believe it. And Bob Costas ridicules his NBC network's handling of the Olympic closin...
Deanna Dewberry, a three-time cancer survivor with a recent history in D-FW, is returning to the market from WISH-TV, the CBS affiliate in Indianapolis. The University of Texas at Austin grad pre...
Led Zeppelin, David Letterman and Dustin Hoffman are among the quintet of Kennedy Center honorees announced Wednesday. ... We debate the omissions while also laying out the ground rules on the TV...
NBC's big-ticket series of the fall season, Revolution, begins seeking a large, faithful following on Monday, Sept. 17th. ...Plus, judging from Tuesday's Nielsens, The Voice looks more than ready...
Shivs and syringes battle for supremacy in Fox's The Mob Doctor, which checks in on Monday, Sept. 17th. ...Ed Bark
Hoping to allay at least some viewer confusion -- as well as reduce complaints -- CBS will be moving its Sunday prime-time start to 6:30 p.m. (central) when its has the doubleheader games. More d...
Monday's premiere of Katie Couric's mega-hyped Katie had only marginal ratings in a key 4 p.m. slot on WFAA8. The complete "local ratings snapshot" is on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
WFAA8, which has experienced an anchor-reporter exodus this summer, is using former Houston reporter Wendy Corona as a weekend freelancer under the current plan. This is particularly interesting ...
NBC sneak-previews the last of its four new sitcoms Wednesday night (Sept. 12) with Guys with Kids. It's Jimmy Fallon's first outing as executive producer of a prime-time series.
The new WWII drama series Bomb Girls premieres Tuesday, Sept. 11th on Reelz after a previous run on Canadian television. ... But it does count as another baby step in putting the little known, le...
Less than a month after tiring of the early morning grind at WFAA8, Cynthia Vega has a new position at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. ...Plus, NFL football flexed its might Sunday, with...
NBC's The Voice has decided to make it a blood feud with Fox's The X Factor this Wednesday? ...We've got all the details on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page, including how well the Texas Rangers hit...
Two male gay partners are having a baby via a surrogate mother with a right-wing nut of a "Nana" in NBC's The New Normal. ...And former CW33 anchor Walt Maciborski, who fled the topsy turvy newsr...
The Dallas Cowboys returned to New York for Wednesday night's regular season opener. ... Our complete report, including ratings for Night 2 of the Democratic National convention, is on the Dallas...
But it also has a growing jones for comedy news, underscored by Tuesday night's Cowboys Kickoff Special starring sports anchor Dale Hansen and "Ticket" cut-up Gordon Keith. ...Plus, Fox News Chan...
In a very busy summer of forced and unforced departures, CBS11 reporter Jay Gormley has decided to chart a new course for himself after 15 years as a nightsider. The details and an interview with...
The Tribune-owned station's 5 and 9 p.m. newscasts are being drastically revamped in the image of the early morning Eye Opener, which emphasizes comedy. ...And the weekend D-FW Nielsen ratings ar...
Earlier this summer, Casey Norton and Debbie Denmon were WFAA8's weekend anchor duo. Now he's leaving, too, while Denmon shifts careers but stays in D-FW.
Fox News Channel again called the ratings tune in D-FW on closing night of the Republican National Convention. For our climactic breakdown -- until the Democrats come calling next week -- take a ...
I've thoroughly digested Clint Eastwood's performance on closing night of the Republican National Convention. And rather than speak my mind to an empty chair, I've written at length about it on t...
Oscar-winners Ellen Burstyn, Richard Dreyfuss and Geena Davis are in it, as is veteran scenery-chewer James Woods. But Woods understandably doesn't have the energy here, leaving poor Lauren Ambro...
The Dallas Cowboys played their last pre-season game Wednesday night opposite the 9 p.m. hours of Republican convention coverage on ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, Fox News Channel, CNN and MSNBC. ...Also on...
But now Charlie Sheen is swimming anew in cash, provided he can stay on track for at least two more years. Get the details of his Anger Management deal on our Network News & Reviews page.
Fox News Channel did something quite extraordinary in D-FW Tuesday during the 9 to 10 p.m. convention coverage window in which it faced off against cable rivals CNN and MSNBC plus big broadcast n...
Not on behalf of poor blacks, but to further serve the greater glory of himself. Let's play hardball with this guy while also emphasizing that this isn't political.
NBC5's David Finfrock, dean of D-FW's weathercasters, made his first joint appearance with his 10 p.m. successor Monday. ...And early morning local newscasts love this time of year after a dose o...
Your marginal enjoyment of Saturday night's pre-season Cowboys game may have been waylaid by owner Jerry Jones' latest Papa John's pizza commercial. ...That one wasn't exactly a chart-topper, but...
Both stations' wikipedia pages said that was the case, but your friendly content provider has prompted some quick edits. ...Also, get the ratings for the weekend's Cowboys game -- and the Rangers...
GSN (formerly Game Show Network) put itself on the national ratings map Thursday night with the largest viewership in the network's 17-year history. Drawing 'em in was the first episode of The Am...
Running from 5 to 6:56 p.m. on ESPN, the match averaged 213,039 D-FW viewers, with 123,755 of them in the advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-old demographic. ...Fox4 nipped CBS11 for the most total ...
Robert De Niro and Al Pacino haven't yet succumbed to Lifetime movies. ... The man who once knew the glory of Mean Streets and Reservoir Dogs is aboard Fatal Honeymoon Saturday night (Aug.
Former WFAA8 anchor Debbie Denmon, whose contract wasn't renewed last month, belatedly has discovered that her last deal with the Dallas-based station didn't have a standard issue non-compete cla...
Cynthia Vega, best known for her live street reporting on WFAA8's Daybreak, has left the Dallas-based ABC affiliate after a 12-year stretch. ...Plus, CBS11 anchor-reporter Keith Garvin, whose las...
Under a new deal he'll continue to anchor the ABC affiliate's 5, 6 and 10 p.m. weekday newscasts. More details and a refresher course on what's been happening lately are on the Dallas-Fort Worth ...
GSN's The American Bible Challenge premieres Thursday (Aug. 23) with Jeff Foxworthy hosting and Plano's appealing Team Minnie's Food Pantry spotlighted. ... But it's instead the best new game sho...
NBC5 meteorologist David Finfrock, who joined the Fort Worth-based station in 1975, is beginning to phase out his iconic career. ... All the details, plus another significant weathercaster change...
The upcoming 2012-'13 TV season will be the last for The Office, executive producer Greg Daniels said in a teleconference Tuesday. Here's Variety's detailed blow-by-blow report of what else was s...
After nearly 33 years in the same time slot, Nightline will be pushed back an hour early next year to make room for ABC's Jimmy Kimmel to go head-to-head with Jay Leno and David Letterman. But th...
Jay Gormley, veteran nightside reporter for CBS11, continues to write scripts and make movies in hopes of someday hitting it big. ... An update on what's happened and what's happening is on our D...
Now Gordon's got another biggie -- video confiscated by Watauga police of two-and-five-year-old pot smokers being taught to inhale by their laughing 17-year-old uncle and an 18-year-old friend. ....
Phyllis Diller, whose merciless jabs at herself were often punctuated with a trademark cackle, died Monday at age 95. Her standup act was a staple of an earlier generation cavalcade of variety ho...
Adapted from a same-named hit British series, MTV's The Inbetweeners premieres on Monday, Aug. 20th. As a high school comedy, it's par for the coarse -- and then some.
Walt Maciborski, who has co-anchored Dallas-based CW33's 9 p.m. weeknight newscasts since February of 2009, will be leaving to anchor at another Tribune-owned TV outlet. ...That's because of a Fo...
The Friday, August 17th 6 p.m. newscast on WFAA8 will be Gloria Campos' last as a regular co-anchor at that hour. ...An interview with Campos, who was D-FW's first Hispanic anchor of weekday even...
Larissa Hall, who has been senior producer of Tribune Company's comedy-infused Eye Opener, will now be heading the entire newsroom. ...Plus, a trio of D-FW television news briefs are posted in a ...
Season 2 -- and quite possibly the last -- of Starz's Boss begins on Friday, Aug. 17th. We review it here while also taking an unbiased look at star Kelsey Grammer's claim that he was snubbed by ...
Also, we review the latest in a long line of star-seeking but seldom star-making singing competitions. A closer look at The CW's The Next is on the Network News & Reviews page.
The free-falling CW network has a new obstacle course game show with a "Sit List" included. ...Plus, the Dallas Cowboys opened their 2012 pre-season on a soccer score note with Monday night's 3-0...
Syfy's new Collection Intervention is another variation on Hoarders, but with neater stuff. ...Ed Bark
NBC made another inexplicable programming judgement Sunday, buzz-killing a joyous Olympics Closing Ceremony by relegating The Who's closing performance to late night in favor of a monkey show. .....
Another news staffer has left the CW33 building. ... Details are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
NBC's Stars Earn Stripes fires up Monday after an all-out promotional assault during the network's Summer Olympics coverage. The two-hour premiere was belatedly made available for review Friday.
Monday brings tempestuous Gordon Ramsay's fourth series for Fox. The network's biggest overall star this time ventures into different territory with Hotel Hell.
Former Felicity star Keri Russell, who once upon a time sent a tremor through prime-time by cutting her curly hair, will return to series TV for the first time since then as a KGB spy. ...Plus, T...
Kyra Sedgwick and The Closer bow out Monday after seven seasons on TNT. No worries, though, Most of the supporting cast returns in the Mary McDonnell-powered Major Crimes.
NBC's second sneak preview of a new fall comedy comes Sunday after the Olympic closing ceremonies, when Animal Practice arrives early with a full episode. Crystal the Capuchin monkey steals the s...
Season One of TNT's Dallas wraps with a cliffhanger Wednesday night while the city's even longer-running serial drama, the Dallas Cowboys, get ready for their exhibition season kickoff Monday. .....
But I've seen this season's final episode of Dallas, whose cliffhanger "will leave everyone shocked and on the edge of their seats," says a network publicity release. ... We take a closer look on...
NBC promos within the Olympics keep saying that the new Matthew Perry comedy, Go On, is coming on Sept. 11th. Which might leave most viewers surprised to learn that the network is sneak-previewin...
For many years the only gumshoes at Fort Worth-based NBC5 were shoes -- that stepped in gum. But a showy new promo airing during the summer Olympics hails a new bloodhound unit headed by reporter...
NBC5 sports anchor Newy Scruggs popped up Thursday night during The Daily Show's climactic "Moment of Zen." Get the details and the video on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page, where you'll also find ...
We recount his small-screen teleplays while also revisiting an old interview tied to the 1988 miniseries Lincoln, adapted from Vidal's bestselling book. ...Also, Wednesday's D-FW Nielsen ratings ...
Plus, please remember to make the amazon.com buys you were going to make anyway by first clicking through an Amazon ad on any unclebarky.com page. Pennies from heaven ensue, helping this site in ...
Dallas-based CW33 is losing a pair of full-timers from its newsroom. Plus, the station went anchor-less with Monday's 9 p.m. newscast.
There's little if any upside to defending NBC's tape-delayed prime-time coverage of the 2012 Olympics, which as of now are on track to become the most-watched Summer Games ever among U.S. audienc...
Friday's prime-time Olympic opening ceremonies crushed all competing programming (including the Texas Rangers) in D-FW. ... But only one Texas city ranks in Nielsen's national top 20 in terms of ...
Expected to come up short of 2008's awe-some Beijing spectacular, Friday night's Olympic opening ceremonies accomplished that task -- and then some. ... Our full review is here after a long night...
HBO's 85-minute documentary film, "About Face: Supermodels Then and Now, has lots to say from the likes of Jerry Hall, Paulina Porizkova and 81-year-old Carmen Dell'Orefice, who's still putting h...
Emmitt Smith will try to re-win the Mirror Ball Trophy he took home back in 2006 when Dancing with the Stars presents its first "All-Star" competition this fall. ... See the rest of the roster an...
Tammy Dombeck, Fort Worth-based NBC5's early morning traffic reporter for the past dozen years, had her last day Friday. A picture and more details are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page, where the...
The networks of NBC Universal, NBCOlympics.com, a variety of "social networks" and a boy named Sue will be presenting the Olympics from London, beginning with Friday night's opening ceremonies ex...
But the CBS Morning News has replicated NBC's sinking Today by naming its White House correspondent as Charlie Rose's new deskmate. It happened on the same day that ABC's Good Morning America whi...
And this time around, longtime Fox4 sports anchor Mike Doocy will be behind a wheel for the nearly 1,500 mile trip instead of crammed in coach for the far briefer flight. ... Get the story for pu...
CBS launches its newest summertime series Thursdays before shifting it to regular Sunday slot. ...Also, Tuesday's D-FW Nielsen ratings give the Texas Rangers all they can handle -- from a local n...
Sherman Hemsley, the actor who ignited The Jeffersons, died Tuesday at age 74. We take a look back on the Network News & Reviews page.
Dallas-based KTXD-TV goes back to the future (sorry, but the cliche really fits here) with retro Texas Daily news hour stocked with the likes of Tracy Rowlett, Troy Dungan, Midge Hill, Gary Cogil...
Fox officially named singer Mariah Carey an American Idol judge Monday after rumors swirled -- or whatever they do -- in recent weeks. ...Also, the Texas Rangers keep winning in the ratings, even...
Eddie Barker, the first reporter to break the news of John F. ... Our appreciation of him is on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
CBS11 continued its early morning news revamp Thursday by naming Whitney Drolen as the new traffic reporter, with incumbent Teresa Frosini shifting to the D-FW station's reporting staff. All the ...
The latest prime-time Emmy nominations were announced Thursday, with both the usual suspects and a tasty batch of newcomers invited to the party. But ugh, Emmy also plays very fast and loose with...
Veteran WFAA8 anchor Debbie Denmon has left the station after a nearly 12-year tenure. The Dallas-based station quickly removed her bio from its website Wednesday.
TBS, the "Very Funny" network (hah!), has a sorry excuse for a sitcom in Sullivan & Son. It's set in a Pittsburgh bar, and you'd really be better off drinking alone.
Her First Amendment free speech more or less restored, former NBC5 anchor Jane McGarry hot dogs it -- literally -- on her Facebook and Twitter pages. Our commentary, including a riff on basic med...
D-FW viewers expecting to see A Charlie Brown Christmas and a new holiday-themed Disney special (Prep & Landing) instead were subjected to a live edition of the station's Good Morning Texas After...
The Tuesday, July 17th Season 10 premiere of PBS' History Detectives includes a fascinating segment on authentication of the guitar Bob Dylan supposedly used to electrify himself at the 1965 Newp...
Based on a potboiling book, ABC's Good Christian Bitches is scheduled to begin filming its pilot episode in Dallas next week. ... Or is it just enjoying all the free pub?
A second American Idol judged called it quits Friday, when Jennifer Lopez told host Ryan Seacrest on his radio show that she'll be following Steven Tyler out the door. ...Also, Thursday's D-FW ra...
Steven Tyler made a surprise exit as an American Idol judge Thursday, upstaging any similar impulses by Jennifer Lopez. He let go in a typically colorful way, with chapter and verse on the TV Bul...
Sigourney Weaver makes her TV series debut on Sunday, July 15th in the USA network's Political Animals, billed as a six-part "limited series event." She plays a secretary of state and defeated pr...
WFAA8 Daybreak personality Alexa Conomos has added a daughter to her brood, which also includes two sons. Details and a picture on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
But now we're all caught up on some intriguing developments involving D-FW television news people. ...We have the numbers and also a wrapup of local news Nielsens from July 2nd to the present.
Halperin, author of the best-selling 2008 presidential campaign chronicle Game Change, quickly apologized both on the air and in a subsequent MSNBC news release announcing his indefinite suspensi...
So unclebarky.com will be off from July 3-10th, with posting scheduled to resume on Wednesday of next week. Meanwhile, we've left a review of TNT's new Perception series behind.
TNT's decision to renew Dallas for a second season makes the Fourth of July seem like an early Christmas for Dallas Film Commission director Janis Burklund. ...Plus, as June begins receding into ...
Ground got officially broken Friday -- it probably was already cracked by the broiling sun -- on NBC5's future new home at the CentrePort Business Park in Fort Worth. We've got a pic and more spe...
TNT green-lighted a Season 2 of Dallas Friday, with five more episodes to boot. Plus, a network spokeswoman confirms to unclebarky.com that the series again will be shot on location in Dallas.
As anticipated, NBC officially has named former White House correspondent and current third-hour-of-Today co-host Savannah Guthrie to succeed Ann Curry. ... More details are on the TV Bulletin Bo...
Charlie Sheen's prime-time return Thursday, via FX's Anger Management, made a substantial impression in the D-FW Nielsen ratings. So much so that the first two episodes of his sitcom beat all pri...
Matt LeBlanc continues to excel as a heightened version of himself in Showtime's Episodes, which returns on Sunday, July 1st with a nine-episode Season 2. He's also surrounded by one of TV's best...
Ann Curry tearfully walked the Today show plank Thursday while her closing body language dissed co-host Matt Lauer. ...Also, CNN messes up Supreme Court ruling on "Obamacare," with Fox News Chann...
And FX looks to have its first really miserable failure in Brand X with Russell Brand. It's hard to see how it can be salvaged.
His best is yet to come -- and it's arriving Thursday night (June 28th) in Season 3 of Louie. ...Ed Bark
The 2008 Caffey family murders near little Emory, TX are exhumed in network TV's latest true crime series, Final Witness. ...Plus, Tuesday's D-FW Nielsen ratings are another Yu hoo for the Texas ...
Veteran early morning traffic reporter Tammy Dombeck on Wednesday confirmed an earlier unclebarky.com report that she'll be leaving Fort Worth-based NBC5 after a twelve-and-a-half-year stay. Our ...
Charlie Sheen segues from his Violent Torpedo of Truth tour to a new FX sitcom Thursday night. Our review of Anger Management is here.
Dallas-based Fox4 announced Tuesday that it's adding a fourth meteorologist. ...Also, Monday's D-FW Nielsen ratings show a slight bump up for the debut of CBS11's new early morning anchor team.
Tammy Dombeck, NBC5's time-tested "Gridlock Buster" on early morning newscasts, is likely to be leaving the Fort Worth-based station -- perhaps this week -- after more than 12 years of traffic re...
CBS11 unveiled its new early morning anchor team Monday in hopes of someday digging out of the ratings basement it's occupied forever it seems. So how well did Brendan Higgins and Adrienne Banker...
TNT takes its first plunge into the "reality" genre with the Sunday, June 24th premiere of The Great Escape. Our not nearly so enthusiastic review is here.
Anchor-reporter Shon Gables of Dallas-based WFAA8 now has two outstanding warrants for her arrest after a second Michigan judge cited her for contempt of court earlier this week. The latest detai...
Watch Lifetime's Tall Hot Blonde for the articles -- which in this case is an interesting lead performance by Garret Dillahunt of Raising Hope and Deadwood fame. ...Plus, get the complete D-FW ra...
TV/movie auteur Aaron Sorkin, whose writings range from The West Wing to The Social Network, creates his own fictional cable news network in HBO's The Newsroom. ...Ed Bark
The last half-hour of the Texas Rangers game collided head-on with the first half-hour of Dallas Wednesday night. See who won on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Cedric the Entertainer and Niecy Nash star in TV Land's latest broadly executed sitcom. That makes five of them, beginning with the network's signature Hot In Cleveland.
WFAA8 reporter Craig Civale, who joined the ABC affiliate in January 2007, confirmed Tuesday that he is leaving to take a corporate position in Dallas with Baylor Health Care System. Further deta...
It's been seven springs since your friendly content provider trudged on four sequential mornings to the dawn-breaking news programs on D-FW's Fox4, NBC5, WFAA8 and CBS11. ... We take a closer loo...
Lifetime's Bristol Palin: Life's a Tripp is the latest wretched excess. ...Plus, live sports rule the Thursday-Sunday D-FW Nielsen ratings.
TNT's big summer rollout continues with the Sunday, July 17th return of Falling Skies. ...Plus, see the first joy-to-the-world promo for Katie Couric's new Katie talk show, which in D-FW will be ...
The broadcast arena still did some good business Tuesday night, with CBS' NCIS getting its episode safely out of the way before the Mavericks tipped off at 8:09 p.m. NCIS drew Tuesday's biggest n...
TNT's two-pronged Southfork re-launch Wednesday night did big business as expected in the D-FW viewing area. ...Plus, catch a glimpse of WFAA8 anchor Shelly Slater in her winning performance over...
HBO's latest "In Their Own Words" documentary gives voice to George H.W. Bush in Hallmark card fashion.
Our third act is a look at the inaugural gathering of the old/new cast during a mid-January interview session at the Television Critics Association semi-annual "press tour." ... The TNT re-start ...
In connection with TNT's Wednesday, June 13th re-launch of Dallas, we offer a Top 10 list of intrigues and oddities from the original. It's all on our "Making A List" page, including a video clip...
TNT's big, bold re-launch of Dallas, with charter cast members Larry Hagman, Linda Gray and Patrick Duffy reporting for duty with their new offspring, gets going with back-to-back episodes Wednes...
Official announcements are coming, but unclebarky.com has confirmed that MundoFox will have KFWD-TV as its D-FW affiliate when the new Spanish language network launches on Aug. 13th. Dealt out: B...
Now CBS11 will try anew with Brendan Higgins, who last worked in D-FW television more than two years ago as NBC5's early morning male anchor. The details and incumbent Keith Garvin's fate are on ...
After lengthy negotiations, Fort Worth-based NBC5/KXAS has reached an agreement to leave the only home it's ever known in favor of a new "state-of-the-art media facility in the CentrePort Busines...
Dallas-based Fox4 has hired reporter Calvert Collins to join its news department, beginning on June 18th. ...Plus, Jane Slater looks considerably happier at The FAN (105.3 FM) than she was as a b...
A new summertime series on a Big Four broadcast network that has a script and actors? The made-in-Canada medical drama Saving Hope premieres Thursday, June 7th on NBC.
Casey Stegall, formerly with Dallas-based Fox4's Good Day, is returning to the city to be a correspondent for Fox News Channel. He had been in L.A. for the past five years, also with FNC.
Rascally Fox is a bit too canny to simply rip off a rival network, as ABC hopes to do with Glass House in answer to a suing CBS's Big Brother. Instead Fox plays a rhyming dating game while using ...
This has never been done before by a cable network. Check out our TV Bulletin Board page for details on the major achievement of the History network's Hatfields & McCoys.
Yemassee, S.C. is the guinea pig for a "daring social experiment" that cluelessly (presumably) conjures up images of the Holocaust while also busily portraying the small town's real-life resident...
Discovery's latest reality series gambit originates from the Gas Monkey Garage in Dallas, where junked classic cars are rehabbed and resold. ...Also, the Oklahoma City Thunder's pivotal Game 5 wi...
TNT has rearranged Tuesday nights so that its only two ampersand-titled dramas can complement one another. We take a closer look at the new seasons of Rizzoli & Isles and Franklin & Bash.
The official June 13th TV premiere of TNT's Dallas reboot is looming larger as the month begins. ...Plus, since it's the start of a new month, here's another gentle reminder to support your frien...
Every once in a while, A&E throws a new scripted series on the fire instead of yet another so-called "Real Life" reality series. And Longmire is a pretty good one.
You're cordially invited to read the Jane McGarry tea leaves in connection with the change of scenery on her Facebook page. ...Also, the Texas Rangers remain a prime-time hit, even during the cou...
It's not your usual reality series fare. But CW's Breaking Pointe unfortunately is a flat-footed, up-close look at a real-life Salt Lake City ballet company.
Viewers were durned tootin' Memorial Day night, sitting down in big numbers to watch Part 1 of History's Hatfields & McCoys. ... Check out the TV Bulletin Board page for all the details plus a co...
It can't get any better than this for the Texas Rangers: four sellouts, four wins and dominance of the holiday weekend D-FW Nielsens. ...Also, CBS launches the new summertime reality series Dogs ...
Nicole Kidman and Clive Owen front HBO's Hemingway & Gellhorn, a sometimes plodding affair bolstered by her bravura performance. ...And Thursday's D-FW Nielsen ratings chart the fortunes of ABC's...
The best TV western since AMC's Broken Trail breaks ground on the History channel Memorial Day night. Our review of the six-hour, three-part Hatfields & McCoys, starring Kevin Costner and Bill Pa...
All four major combatants scored at least one win in the just-concluded May "sweeps" ratings. ...Plus, part-time WFAA8 traffic reporter Jane Slater has put a stop to that and segued over to "THE ...
Here comes another entry on the often (Not So) "Very Funny" network. ...Plus, House goes out with a nice little bang in Monday's D-FW Nielsen ratings.
CBS11 will replace Lisa Pineiro on June 25th with Adrienne Bankert from NBC affiliate KCRA-TV of Sacramento, the D-FW station announced Monday. Details are on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Highlights of its location filming include a serial killer preacher episode shot in Dallas and formative performances by the likes of Robert Duvall as a heroin junkie and Robert Redford as an uni...
So in the interest of melding the old and the new, we have info. on how to download the new free Color for Facebook app being used by NBC during Mick Jagger's first-ever hosting stint on the May ...
NBC passed on a second coming of Roseanne Barr and John Goodman while ABC said no to Ellen DeGeneres. We've rounded up a select list of star-driven pilots that didn't make the cuts for next seaso...
CBS, a runaway first in total viewers, is adding four new series to its fall arsenal, including an eye-catcher co-starring Dennis Quaid and Michael Chiklis. But the bigger news for many may be it...
But a lot of viewers, most of them older, watched NBC's Harry's Law to the point of where it will end up being NBC's third most popular series of this season. Yet it was canceled, once again dise...
ABC unveiled its new fall and midseason series Tuesday, with GCB among the axed. ...Plus, how did a very mild Howard Stern do ratings-wise with his America's Got Talent debut Monday night?
Fox unveiled its notably trim list of new fall and midseason series Monday morning. It was a breeze compared to all the stuff NBC threw out there on Mothers' Day.
Veteran anchor Gloria Campos has inked a new deal with WFAA8. ... Also, the weekend Rangers-Angels series dominates the D-FW Nielsens, with nothing else really even close.
NBC chose to get a Mothers' Day jump on its competitors by announcing a new fall season that will have 10 new comedies on an expanded four different nights. ... Drawing an older audience continue...
PBS and filmmaker Peter Jones long wanted to do a Johnny Carson film under the American Masters banner. ... So he-r-r-r-re we go with "King of Late Night," premiering Monday, May 14th.
NBC's biggest summer season splash, America's Got Talent, hopes to make an even bigger one with the arrival of Howard Stern as a judge. Season 7 launches on Monday, May 14th, and Stern promises t...
Former KXAS-TV (Ch. 5) anchor Dave Layman has been out of the D-FW market for 30 years. But the news of Jane McGarry's DWI arrest reached him in Rhode Island and prompted him to express his thoug...
USA brings its patented soft-serve approach to Common Law, even though its a police "procedural" with gun fights and homicides. ...Plus, the latest "Local Nielsen Ratings Snapshot" also brings yo...
Try telling her she isn't. We touch a lot of bases on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
But judging from the D-FW Nielsen ratings, word of mouth must have spread slowly on a night when other powerful hitters flexed on broadcast networks. ...Also, BBC America's new six-episode White ...
Bill Ratliff, who three decades ago hosted WFAA8's version of PM Magazine with Leeza Gibbons, has died at age 63. He went on to become a household name in Tampa, Florida, where he anchored for 27...
Fox's breakout Season 1 hit, New Girl, has its season finale Tuesday (May 8th). Co-star Jake Johnson recently did Dallas while on hiatus.
NBC5 finally "confirmed" longtime anchor Jane McGarry's arrest Monday afternoon and said she'll be off the air while the wheels of owned-and-operated corporate justice turn. Details are on the Da...
Saturday night's eviction notice of the defending NBA champion Dallas Mavericks fared poorly in the D-FW Nielsen ratings as well. But at least TXA21 is a just a bit upbeat after the homegrown tel...
NBC5's latest early morning news addition, new co-anchor Mark Hayes, dawned bright and chuckly on Monday's waker-upper. For a closer look, see the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Veteran NBC5 anchor Jane McGarry is free on bail after being arrested early Sunday morning on a DWI charge. Her station is still "looking into the matter" while rival WFAA8 publicizes her mugshot...
Plus, the TV Bulletin Board page has a wealth of new developments, including Fox's summertime effort to twit NBC's The Voice with a swivel-chaired blind dating game called The Choice. Also, the l...
But you can still access a story of interest by going to google or yahoo and typing in the subject matter and my name -- either Ed Bark or Uncle Barky. ...And you can continue to support unclebar...
The snake-bitten Dallas Mavericks' last-second loss to Oklahoma City Saturday night had more viewers than any other weekend program. ...Also, the White House Correspondents Association again make...
WFAA8 reporter David Schechter has a nice combination going for him: whimsical, insightful, forthcoming. Not only that, he doesn't know this post is coming -- on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Fox had all but sounded the death knell for Fringe before giving it a reprieve Thursday evening. ...Also, erstwhile Texas oilman Russell Hantz, the arch villain on three Survivors, has a new line...
Ever hopeful of re-establishing contact with his hard-to-find feminine side, Uncle Barky reviews "the universal language of women" supposedly on display in Lifetime's new The Conversation with Am...
Fox Sports Southwest reaped more Yu Darvish dividends Tuesday night during his home field mastery of the New York Yankees. ...Also, we take a cursory look at Tuesday's Deion and Pilar Sanders cov...
When the one great scorer comes to mark against your name . . . well, you'd best hope He didn't see you in Total Blackout. ...And Monday's D-FW Nielsen ratings "snapshot" shows how the Rangers fa...
Complex premieres Tuesday (April 24) in the stretch run of a barely visible season for the pint-sized network. ...Also, the Texas Rangers remained on a ratings roll over the weekend, even with tw...
Once derided as the "coat hanger network," Fox sports an overall better wardrobe than its rivals after 25 years on the air. ... And on Back Channels, we recycle a story published near the eve of ...
Washington is full of nothing but conniving, conscience-less, callow pols and their aides. But is that a downer in a down economy or a good reason to watch HBO's new core-value-less comedy Veep?
April has brought the deaths of two towering TV icons, Mike Wallace and now Dick Clark. The farewell to Clark is on our Network News & Reviews page.
Viewers of Wednesday's 4 p.m. newscast on NBC5 might have been surprised to see one of the station's former veteran reporters in a campaign ad aimed at his old employer. ...Get the complete story...
The 2012 Dallas Cowboys TV schedule, released Tuesday, is getting much better reviews at Fox4 than the last two did. ...Plus, Thursday's return of NBC's Parks and Recreation offers a welcome brea...
Nerissa Knight is back -- at least in a small way -- 16 months after leaving CBS11/TXA21. ...Plus, ABC's Good Morning America ends a more than 16-year winning streak by NBC's Today while rivals a...
Cynthia Izaguirre, co-anchor of WFAA8's Daybreak, delivered her twins a month ahead of schedule Thursday night. ... The names, weights and WFAA8's announcement are on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV pag...
Mark Hayes, a decade-long veteran of the early shift at Atlanta's WAGA-TV, will be joining Fort Worth-based NBC5 in May as the station's new co-anchor. Details are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV pag...
Women made an event out of the Sex and the City movie (well, the first one at least), trooping en masse in gal pal solidarity. Now it's time for us male knuckleheads to unite. The Three Stooges m...
HBO has another series about four single women living in Manhattan. But Girls, premiering Sunday, April 15th, is shorn of any glamour and far more "real" as a result.
And with its wealth of successful whodunits, it's premiering just two new mid-to-late-season series. ... And it's probably best not to bet the house -- or a pup tent for that matter -- on the sta...
Dallas-based WFAA8 has made some interesting changes to its Daybreak lineup while co-anchor Cynthia Izaguirre is on maternity leave (and on full bed rest at the moment, expecting twins). Get the ...
ABC's last new scripted sitcom of the season, Don't Trust the B ---- In Apartment 23, just might end up being a keeper. It's also the network's second late season arrival in which "Bitch" is kept...
Was Yu Darvish's major league debut Monday night really that big a deal? ... Get the complete breakdown of how the Texas Rangers and their star attraction did against a murderer's row of competin...
The Texas Rangers' Yu Darvish makes his major league debut Monday night against visiting Seattle. ... Can he prevail and give Fox Sports Southwest one of its biggest regular season audiences ever...
D-FW segued from golf to baseball Sunday, with nice-sized audiences for each. But did the Rangers" 5-0 win on ESPN's showcase Sunday night game have enough pulling power to outdraw a Masters that...
Mike Wallace, who died Saturday at age 93, is renowned for his "pit-bull" interviewing style, as even CBS put it in the opening sentence of its tribute. I'm remembering him a little differently, ...
However you celebrate Easter, have a great one! Ed Bark
WFAA8 anchor Dale Hansen and former Dallas Cowboys special teams coach Joe Avezzano were longtime buddies with big yaps. ... Hansen's brief but emotional goodbye to his friend aired on Thursday's...
One of Lifetime's most popular movies, The Client List, returns to the network in series form Sunday night. Waco's own Jennifer Love Hewitt again is front and center.
The play''s the thing at Miami Beach's posh Miramar Playa hotel, fictional setting for Starz's richly appointed Mad Men era drama series. It bursts into view on Friday, April 6th, and our review ...
As a young actress, Dolores Hart sustained Elvis Presley's first on-screen kiss in 1957's Loving You. ... It's quite a story, and HBO has it with the Oscar-nominated God is the Bigger Elvis, maki...
Washington's gone way over the top anyway. ... It's the latest overwrought, over-cooked melodrama from Shonda Rhimes of Grey's Anatomy/Private Practice fame.
Nielsen Media Research says that WFAA8 had the most D-FW viewers during Tuesday afternoon's breaking coverage of dangerous weather throughout the area. ...Also, David Letterman sucks up to Keith ...
Plus, David Letterman and Craig Ferguson both are good to go through 2014 under their new deals with CBS. And we look at Monday's biggest programming faceoff of this season in the latest Nielsen ...
Tuesday afternoon's weather was uncommonly fierce throughout the D-FW viewing area. And TV stations responded by scrapping their entertainment lineups and providing a genuine public service.
WFAA8's Gloria Campos, who became the Dallas station's first Hispanic anchor in 1984, is ready to sign a new deal that will cut both her hours and her pay. ...Plus, Monday morning was unusually a...
Since this is a new month, here's another reminder to make the amazon.com purchases you were going to make anyway by first clicking on any of the Amazon ads on unclebarky.com. ... Every little bi...
In the latest instance, Fox4's exclusive footage of a Dallas firefighter's arrest Thursday had WFAA8 questioning whether it had been "staged for a local TV station." ...And Thursday's D-FW Nielse...
HBO abruptly has ceased all production on Luck, which had been shooting its second season. Get the details, and a wealth of other network television tidbits, on the TV Bulletin Board page.
Ashley Judd stars as a two-fisted but frequently weepy mom in search of her abducted teenage son in the overseas ABC drama Missing. ...Plus, find our back-from-NYC local ratings catchup round on ...
NBC hopes that its new Fashion Star can chart new vistas in both product placement and virtually instant sales of same. ...NOTE TO READERS: UNCLEBARKY.COM WILL BE TAKING A SHORT BREAK WHILE YOUR ...
Inaugural American Idol champ Kelly Clarkson of Burleson has signed on full-time on ABC's new summer singing competition, Duets. ...Also, Wednesday's D-FW Nielsen ratings show a resurge for the F...
In all fairness, HBO really should do a Game Change sequel on the book's depiction of the Barack Obama/Hillary Clinton bare-knuckled brawl. But for now we have the story of John McCain and Sarah ...
A physically fit Peyton Manning entertaining the masses as Cowboy Stadium's resident quarterback? ... So let's look at some pros/cons on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Plus, Tuesday's D-FW ratings "snapshot" weighs the audience appeal of attractions ranging from "Super Tuesday" election coverage to Fox's newly launched comedy night. You also can watch Daybreak ...
They've got more new faces lately -- and all full-timers -- than a baseball spring training camp. And they're all additions to the staff, not just vacancy-fillers.
Unclebarky.com has been around long enough to offer some five-year Big Pictures, with the just-concluded February "sweeps" serving as the first launch pad. Which D-FW news operation has been best...
ABC's Dallas-set GCB enjoyed a halo effect in the D-FW Nielsen ratings. ...We focus on the back-from-the-dead Breaking In while also noting the night's other changes.
Napoleon Dynamite himself, John Heder, recently stopped in Dallas to speak for Fox's cartoon version of the still resonant movie. Hear him out on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
"The soap returns to Dallas in this deliciously fun, wicked new drama." ... Our review of GCB (Good Christian Bitches) is tempered by Annie Potts in scrumptious form as a moneyed "Hillside Park" ...
Fort Worth-based NBC5 is making some major changes in its early morning newscasts. Out is meteorologist Jennifer Lopez while co-anchor Scott Friedman will be heading up the station's new investig...
As another month moves into the unclebarky.com archives, you'll find D-FW's complete Feb. sweeps results on our March Dallas-Fort Worth TV page. ...This affords your friendly content provider a c...
Davy Jones, heartthrob lead singer of The Monkees, died Wednesday of a heart attack. He was 66, and we remember him via two up-close encounters from the 1970s and last year.
Once upon a time, NBC had solid gold mainstays on Thursdays at 9 p.m. (central). ... Premiering this week, Awake is the Peacock's third new drama series in that slot.
He's apparently still not considered a big enough star for Dancing with the Stars, which announced its most underwhelming cast ever Tuesday morning. ...Plus, see how the long-delayed and elongate...
Unclebarky.com cuts through the chaff of a highly subjective ABC publicity release to bring you the straight scoop on the ratings plusses and minuses for Sunday's Oscars. Get the full-picture nat...
National ratings aren't yet final for Sunday night's Oscars, but we've got the D-FW numbers right here. ... Our take and a link to last night's live tweets are on the Network News & Reviews page.
Only once before have the Grammys drawn a bigger audience than the Oscars in the same calendar year. But it could happen again this month, even with Billy Crystal back for his ninth time as host.
TBS is giving some long-term job security to Conan O'Brien. And in a teleconference with TV writers Wednesday, Simon
We wrap up our seven-night sojourn -- and boy, is my head tired -- with a look at highs and lows on Tuesday's late-night D-FW newscasts. It's all weather-free, though, and available on our Dallas...
Not all bad, not all good, and perhaps most of it better than sending WFAA8 anchor John McCaa outdoors for the sole purpose of introducing a story on drug battles along the Texas border. ... And ...
And Whedon said it this way during ABC’s press tour interview session: “I got the best writers I know to do this and actors who can do pretty much anything so that I could do less. ...She has...
Big Rich Texas and Jerseylicious begin new seasons Sunday night on The Style Network. We pick up the pieces on the Network News & Reviews page.
Fox4 and Clarice Tinsley used one of her "Your Turn" segments to inquire whether a Fort Worth mechanic was really seeing Jesus in a space heater. ...Also, our review of HBO's latest Ricky Gervais...
The TCU student drug-dealing scandal predictably and understandably dominated Wednesday's D-FW late nighters. ...Also, Fox4 Good Day contributor Krystle Gutierrez makes her departure official aft...
A surprise live wedding proposal and far superior use of live in-studio interviews marked the Valentine's Day late nighters. ...Also, Tuesday's D-FW Nielsen ratings serve to all but cancel ABC's ...
We're open for another limited run, with the late night newscasts on Fox4, NBC5, WFAA8 and CBS11 again under the microscope during these ongoing February "sweeps." ...Our compendium is on the Dal...
WFAA8's Good Morning Texas snaked, rattled and rolled recently, with contributor Paige McCoy Smith on the receiving end. ... We supply the video, you make the call on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV pag...
Hulu.com, owned by a consortium of networks, is trying to make its stamp with a rollout of new weekly series available only on the web. Battleground, its first scripted effort, charts a fictional...
WFAA8, which positions itself as the holy temple of local TV news, put Texas Rangers pitcher Derek Holland in charge of Friday's 10 p.m. weather. The station that says it never does ratings "swee...
And his unscripted Comic Book Men will get a prime Sunday night time slot following the return of The Walking Dead. ...Also, in case you missed it, Daybreak co-anchor Ron Corning shared a frame w...
The inevitable and the expected came to pass early Wednesday evening when Fox and the producers of House announced that this will be the landmark medical drama's last season. ...Plus, we look at ...
Teresa Woodard, a native Dallasite, is WFAA8's latest edition. while Plano West High grad David Watkins has headed to NBC5. Plus, ABC's new drama series, The River, already has that sinking feeli...
Carolyn Mungo, previously a star reporter for Belo-owned KHOU-TV in Houston, will be the new news director for Belo-owned WFAA8 in Dallas. An email to that effect was sent out to Belo higher-ups ...
Struggling NBC at last can breathe easy -- at least for one workday. Its Monday night lineup of The Voice and Smash won big in the D-FW ratings and also triumphed nationally.
Final national Nielsen ratings gave Sunday's Super Bowl XLVI a paper-thin edge over last year's big game from Cowboys Stadium. Which makes the Giants' 21-17 win over the Patriots the new most-wat...
Local Nielsens for Sunday's Super Bowl XLVI weren't quite up to those for last year's ice sculpture edition in North Texas. ...Plus, Cougar Town producer Bill Lawrence, the guy who used to make S...
Super Bowl XLVI provided another thrillingly close outcome and a lot of attendant side shows. Our words, frame grabs and videos are on the Network News & Reviews page.
ABC's latest otherworldly serial drama, The River, is supposed to make your skin crawl more than Lost did. ...Plus, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings "snapshot" takes a close look at opening night ...
"I was looking for something to do that was not based on a life-or-death true story, which we've been inundated with in the past couple of years," Fawcett said in a second interview with this wri...
A new "Coming In February" promo, replete with drum beats, sets the stage for what's likely to be another down-to-the-wire battle between the two stations. ...If you're shopping on Amazon anyway,...
Just two days after Sunday's premiere, HBO has renewed its horse race drama Luck for a second season. ...And now, since they say it's my birthday -- and it is -- I'm going to take the rest of Tue...
Dallas-based WFAA8 has three featured anchors who each have been with the station for more than a quarter-century. ... Now news anchors Gloria Campos and John McCaa hope to do the same, even thou...
Phil Ochs met a tragic end of his own making after years of playing Avis to Bob Dylan's Hertz. ...Plus, Thursday's D-FW Nielsen ratings are a bit of a blow to American Idol.
After three years as a reporter and fill-in anchor at Dallas-based Fox4, Peter Daut is leaving to become a full-time anchor. Details are on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
But starting Sunday, HBO's saddles up with Luck and a group of thoroughbreds on-camera and off-. ...Plus, Wednesday's D-FW Nielsen ratings are at best so-so for Fox's new Kiefer Sutherland drama ...
WFAA8 anchor/reporter Shon Gables, still a wanted woman in Michigan, is on the receiving end of another judgment against her by a circuit court judge. ...Also, we have a collection of other local...
He's still highly dependent on cell phones, but Kiefer Sutherland otherwise makes a pretty clean break from 24 to Touch. ...Plus, a 1999 series of WFAA8 promos stir up a witches brew of a rat sca...
Sources say that veteran Kurt Davis, currently executive news director at San Antonio's KENS-TV, has become a leading candidate for the vacant position at Dallas-based WFAA8. If he's hired, he'd ...
And Wednesday's D-FW "ratings snapshot" shows that American Idol is still a very heavy hitter. Furthermore, thrill to a 1992 KXAS-TV news promo in which the yet to be birthed DART is presented as...
Fox's animated version of Napoleon Dynamite and FX's Unsupervised, which premieres on Thurs., Jan. 19th, put hand-drawn teens in hardscrabble situations without any semblance of parental guidance...
It's great to be back after another full immersion in the Television Critics Association winter "press tour," which ran for nearly two weeks until Sunday's last gasp. ...Topics range from the fir...
The annual Television Critics Association winter "press tour" begins on the night of Jan. 3 and runs through Jan. 15th. ...But not really, because our Network News & Reviews page takes the measur...
Your friendly content provider again will be flying this coop early next month to attend the annual winter edition of the Television Critics Association "press tour," which runs from Jan. ...But ...
So take a look at our annual alphabetical rundown of 2011's departing flights from various D-FW television news departments. Plus, the holiday D-FW Nielsen ratings show a downturn in audiences fo...
Merry Christmas to all from unclebarky.com world headquarters, where the miniature Santa population resides in ever cramped quarters on a homey mantle. ...Plus, we have a stocking stuffer in the ...
WFAA8 news director Michael Valentine has a new position with the station's owner, Dallas-based Belo Corp. ...And on an entirely different note, bask in the warm glow of Episode 15 of Uncle Barky...
Fox4 news anchor Clarice Tinsley and WFAA8 sports anchor Dale Hansen each have spent 30+ years at their respective stations. ...And a new episode of Uncle Barky's Countdown to Christmas manages t...
TNT's re-do of Dallas as a weekly series won't fire up until sometime next summer. ... For our first take on the pivotal first hour, go to the Network News & Reviews page.
WFAA8 sports anchor Dale Hansen used his annual "Thank God For Kids" Christmas segment as a forum to reveal he was sexually assaulted as a 10-year-old. Video of Sunday night's segment and a link ...
A vintage commercial for the thing kicks off the final week of Uncle Barky's Countdown to Christmas. Plus, the weekend D-FW Nielsen ratings not surprisingly show a relatively small crowd for Satu...
It worked for Deal or No Deal, which caught fire during its inaugural multi-night run as a holiday week "event." Now NBC is jingling Who's Still Standing?
The new Encore network documentary, Method to the Madness of Jerry Lewis, accentuates his positives and eliminates all negatives with help from the likes of Jerry Seinfeld, Carol Burnett and Stev...
Old/new versions of "O Holy Night" are a staple of Christmases past and present. In Episode 12 of Uncle Barky's Countdown to Christmas, let's hear it for Perry Como and the indie band Mother Moth...
Dallas-based Fox4 staffers learned Thursday afternoon that they have a news director scheduled to start shortly after the holidays. Robin Whitmeyer replaces Maria Barrs, who left the station in m...
Further words elude me. So let's just throw it to our Network News & Reviews page.
Which body of voters is more enlightened when you compare and contrast the TV nominations for the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award ceremonies? Score one for the ever mysterious Hollywoo...
In the annals of acerbic talent show judges, Simon Cowell may have to give way to Howard Stern, who on Thursday morning was named to replace Piers Morgan on NBC's America's Got Talent. Then again...
Readers have asked about the remodeled NBC5 news set -- and if it's the real deal yet. ...Plus, the NFL cuts some massive new deals, including an annual Thanksgiving night game for NBC, beginning...
Christiane Amanpour is ending her problematic stint as host of ABC's This Week. Her fallback positions are dual roles on ABC and CNN as a foreign affairs anchor/reporter.
A "very special" episode of Uncle Barky's Countdown to Christmas is now available for viewing. ...It bludgeoned a pair of ABC Christmas specials while also winning both of its hours among adverti...
The industry website Bottom Line Communications reports that WFAA8 has hired a reporter from Kansas City's KMBC-TV to replace the newly departed Chris Hawes. Or to look at it another way, to fill...
WFAA8 has lost a significant presence on its late night newscasts with the departure of reporter Chris Hawes. ...Plus, Episode 8 of Uncle Barky's Countdown to Christmas is ready for viewing.
The latest adaptation of a Stephen King novel arrives on A&E Sunday, with Pierce Brosnan returning to TV to carry Bag of Bones. ...And Wednesday's D-FW Nielsen ratings are a big plus for Fox/Fox4...
New holiday-themed episodes of NBC's Community, Parks and Recreation, The Office and Whitney are coming your way on Thursday, Dec. 8th. And since the Peacock cared enough to send 'em, we've taken...
Dallas Cowboys coach Jason Garrett is nothing if not colorless. ...And yet another country music special lights up Monday's D-FW Nielsen ratings, this time on Fox.
Instead of a playoff system, we get 35 post-season bowl games this month and next. ...Also, the weekend D-FW Nielsen ratings show the Cowboys climbing higher and higher -- in victory and in Sunda...
Uncle Barky's eclectic, epic "Countdown to Christmas" resumes with an old Dick Van Dyke commercial for a camera that might now be in the Smithsonian alongside Edison's first light bulb. Plus, NBC...
George Strait lip syncs a happy holiday tune on Perry Como's last ABC Christmas special -- from San Antonio. But he does so with less dexterity than a dog gummin' peanut butter.
Fox waited until last to announced its midseason revamps. Three new dramas and a comedy are planned, plus a new start date for American Idol; its Season 11 premiere originally was supposed to fol...
It's a new month, a crisp, bright day and an apt time to fire up Uncle Barky's eclectic video-fueled "Countdown to Christmas." ...And a special thanks to those who first clicked on one of this we...
A half-dozen or so new fall series already have been canceled before the arrival of Fox's I Hate My Teenage Daughter. Was it in any way worth waiting for?
Its latest broadly drawn sitcom, The Exes, keeps the faith with that format and, well, it's not half bad. ...Plus, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings say that a lot of you enjoyed watching the Saint...
The Tuesday, Nov. 29th edition of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire will find NBC5 newsters Samantha Davies and Matt Barrie playing for charity. ...Plus, WFAA8 and The Dallas Morning News have decide...
The four-week November "sweeps," which ended on Thanksgiving eve, gave Fox4 the most wins and the best overall showings in the key 25-to-54-year-old demographic. WFAA8 remained the 10 p.m. champ ...
Many thanks to all of this site's partakers on the eve of the big Packers-Lions game and -- Thanksgiving. We'll be taking a four-day respite, and hope that you will, too.
Mitch Albom keeps churning out bestsellers and ABC keeps turning them into movies. ...Plus, ABC's latest Dancing with the Stars finale again gives WFAA8's 10 p.m. newscast a big-footed lead-in on...
Ubiquitous Chris Harrison has another prime-time job as host of ABC's You Deserve It. ...Also, the weekend D-FW Nielsen ratings show the Cowboys slowly climbing upward again, in both the NFC East...
ABC's midseason programming plans are in place -- most of them anyway. See where the network's prime-time schedule is heading -- and where the Dallas-set soap GCB will fall.
Woody Allen plays a big part, by actually talking about himself, in PBS' three-and-a-half hour American Masters documentary, which premieres Sunday. ...Ed Bark
Some races have been decided while others remain tight with just five weekdays remaining in D-FW's November "sweeps" battles among the four major TV news providers. ...Plus, Wednesday's D-FW Niel...
WFAA8's comedy spots on behalf of Daybreak's Ron Corning so far have been well-produced and generally amusing. ...Plus, meet the guy who played Shooter McGavin and is now a featured player in NBC...
An arbitrator has ruled against anchor/reporter Debbie Denmon in her weight and race discrimination suit against Dallas-based WFAA8. Exclusive details are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
WFAA8 clearly outclassed the field in this latest compendium while NBC5 led its 10 p.m. news with a snow job in the form of a Southlake rain shower. ...Plus, Tuesday's D-FW Nielsen ratings are in...
Or at least that was CBS11's unholy faith-based initiative in pursuit of "sweeps" ratings gold Monday night. Our latest roundup of late night activities on D-FW's four major TV news providers is ...
NBC will enter 2012 with programming changes on every night of the week. ... Get all the details, plus a couple of CBS course corrections, on our Network News & Reviews page.
Fridays tend to be slow on the late night local news front. But Veterans Day still brought a few things to write about, with ever-dogged WFAA8 gumshoe Byron Harris leading the parade.
Without further ado -- boy, are my eyes tired -- we present Thursday's close looks at what Fox4, NBC5, WFAA8 and CBS11 have been up to. Ed Bark
Plus, WFAA8's latest installment in the Ron Corning comedy campaign dares to show him crowing about his new "More Ron!" ... And Wednesday's D-FW Nielsen ratings show who won the big music battle ...
Rick Perry, already a laugh a minute, will double down on the Thursday, Nov. 10th edition of Late Show with David Letterman. A "Stupid Human Tricks" segment also is scheduled, but that won't be P...
Eddie Murphy won't be hosting February's Oscars after all. ... Details are on the Network News & Reviews page.
Collectively they just have to be capable of doing better than this. Our latest content analysis is on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Why would WFAA8 travel to L.A. to do a lengthy story on the Dancing with the Stars diet in light of anchor/reporter Debbie Denmon's ongoing charge that the station is holding her weight against h...
There have been quite number of new series with one-word titles this fall, with more coming in mid-season. ...Plus, former CBS11/TXA21 entertainment reporter Christina McLarty is workin' it in L....
History's 3-night, 6-hour Vietnam In HD premieres Tuesday. ...Plus, the D-FW Nielsen ratings for Wednesday and Thursday share the stage in our latest "Snapshot."
After seeing the Rick Perry and Herman Cain graphics used on Wednesday's editions of Late Show with David Letterman and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, I re-ask myself why anyone in their right ...
Hell On Wheels steams into view on AMC Sunday night as the network's first weekly Western. ...Ed Bark
Former NBC5 reporter Grant Stinchfield, now running for Congress as a Republican, has a new campaign video tied to the "Occupy Dallas" contingent. He waded into their midst, told them what he tho...
Furthermore, a new month prompts your friendly content provider to remind you to minimally support this site by making your amazon.com purchases after first clicking on one of the ads on all of o...
Ratings are in for D-FW's twin weekend sports debacles, the Cardinals' World Series win over the Texas Rangers and the Eagles' pulverizing of the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football. ...Ed Ba...
Charlie Sheen's will return to the sitcom living next year when FX begins airing his TV version of the 2003 feature film Anger Management. Details are on the TV Bulletin Board page, along with a ...
NBC5 has hired Ben Russell from WHP-TV in Harrisburg, PA as a general assignment reporter slated to start on Halloween. Get the details and a look at his resume tape on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV p...
Game 6 of the Rangers-Cards World Series set two new D-FW ratings records for the North Texas 9. ... All the numbers are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Cheerleading Fox4, home of the Texas Rangers' World Series telecasts, made a world chump of itself by tweeting victory for the North Texas 9 before the St. Louis Cardinals rallied not once, but t...
Another new Fox cartoon is coming Sunday night. Allen Gregory's pretentious seven-year-old protagonist begins by soiling himself in connection with a crush he has on his crusty 68-year-old elemen...
Ratings-impaired NBC trots out the last of its six new fall series Friday night, hoping to somehow light a fire with Grimm. ...Ed Bark
Quite a few of you watched the Texas Rangers' dramatic 4-2 World Series win over St. ... Enough to set a peak audience record during Game 5's closing minutes.
Former WFAA8 anchor Macie Jepson, laid off by the Dallas-based station in August 2008, has found a new home in the city she used to call home. Details are on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Freshly returned from a Navy boot camp graduation followed by a side trip to the Racine, Wis. homeland, your friendly content provider presents a brief excursion in words and pictures. ... Plus a...
Sunday's must-win Game 4 of the World Series turned out to be must-see TV, too. The Rangers 4-0 victory, with Derek Holland pitching the game of his young life, capped a heaven-sent ratings day f...
Keith Garvin, initially hired to co-anchor TXA21's "First In Prime" newscasts, is the new early morning guy at big sis CBS11. ... The details are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Stepson Carl Morgan, who set up this website a little over five years ago, is graduating from Navy boot camp on Friday morning. ... Let's hope there's better news by then for the Texas Rangers af...
ABC's last scheduled new fall series of the season is populated with the likes of Snow White, Rumplestiltskin, Jiminy Cricket and their modern-day alter egos. Out review of the ambitious, adventu...
After two decades of making viewers laugh as Frasier Crane, it's deemed time to change Kelsey Grammer's image in the new Starz drama series Boss. ...Ed Bark
The Texas Rangers resume their quest for a first-ever MLB championship in Game 1 of the World Series Wednesday night in St. ... Play ball with our talking points -- and contribute some of your ow...
Louis Cardinals World Series, let's count down the top 10 all-time show-stoppers. My personal list -- anyone ever hear of Lew Burdette? -- is located at my home away from home, locatetv.com.
Outraged -- but not really -- at Dallas-based WFAA8's alleged refusal to air his latest "Super PAC" ad, Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert came out firing during Monday's The Colbert Report. The co...
Men resume their appointed tasks as the fall season's designated buffoons in the new ABC comedy Man Up!... Click here if you've got the balls to read our review.
Gray, who as Sue Ellen Ewing endured numerous indignities from J.R. before divorcing him, got a chance to slap him in the chops in a scene filmed the day before the cast headed West for this inte...
So did the Texas Rangers second straight ALCS championship Saturday night manage to outdraw the Cowboys' second straight late game loss Sunday? Get all the numbers on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV pag...
HBO gives activist/singer/actor Harry Belafonte a podium in a documentary produced by his youngest daughter. It touches all of his keys without always being lyrical.
ABC logged its first cancellation of the fall season by confirming the demise of its Charlie's Angels re-do. ...Plus, Thursday's D-FW Nielsen ratings show a big audience drop-off for Game 5 of th...
AMC's most-watched series returns Sunday night with 13 flesh 'n' blood episodes. The Walking Dead gets a second look on the Network News & Reviews page. Ed Bark
A straight-ahead Fox4 promo touts the station's newscasts as the "most-watched" in North Texas from morning to night. ...Plus, the Texas Rangers lost the game but came close to the one million ma...
Dallas-based WFAA8 continues to sell anchor Ron Corning as the saviour of its early morning Daybreak program. ...Plus, in an unrelated but head-turning pairing, Michael Douglas and Matt Damon wil...
Monday's Game 2 of the Rangers-Tigers ALCS, relegated to a mid-afternoon start after Sunday's prime-time washout, extended itself and reaped a ratings whirlwind for Fox4. Get all the info on the ...
Former WFAA8 reporter Bert Lozano, who died on Aug. 30th at age 42, had the full attention of friends and family Sunday at a celebration of his too short life. Our coverage is on the Dallas-Fort ...
Saturday's rain-drenched Game 1 of the Ranger-Tigers ALCS championship series took a hit in the local ratings, too. ... Get the details on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
ABC has a very well-known TV commodity in Tim Allen, who returns to the network Tuesday night for the first time since Home Improvement departed 11 years ago. Any resemblances between the old sho...
But we didn't know that until late Thursday night, when the Motowners eliminated the New York Yankees in a tense game on TBS. ...Plus, enjoy a way-back-when ABC promo in which Anne Francis of Hon...
Not to get all Pete Hammond-y on ya, but your friendly content provider really loves Enlightened. HBO's most grown-up half-hour series ever, starring a letter-perfect Laura Dern, premieres Monday...
ABC's Modern Family has emerged as a certified ratings giant after recently winning its second Emmy as prime-time's best comedy series. ...Plus, the TV Bulletin Board page has a catchup round on ...
Although not consistently great, HBO's George Harrison: Living in the Material World fleshes out the life and times of a Beatle who seemingly saw the light as an ex-Beatle. Or at least he tried m...
FX and the co-creators of Glee and Nip/Tuck are daring to do a lot with American Horror Story. Scare up our review by going here.
And Debbie Denmon has returned to anchor weekend newscasts on WFAA8 while in the midst of her discrimination suit against the Dallas-based ABC affiliate. ...Please remember to support your friend...
Oh wait, we live in times when the Kardashians are all TV stars and Jersey Shore remains a runaway hit for MTV. OK, it's perfectly plausible that the U.S. once had a nearly 14-year ban on alcohol...
Television's acquired taste serial killer -- but only of bad guys -- returns for Season 6 Sunday night, this time with an overriding religious motif. ...Plus, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings are ...
It's been very much a so-so fall for new TV dramas. ... Now come Showtime's Homeland, easily the best of show and virtually guaranteed to be an Emmy contender the next time around.
Rentrak's ongoing effort to dethrone Nielsen Media Research as the longtime measurer of TV ratings has both an ally and a significant investor in Dallas Mavericks/HDNet owner Mark Cuban. Which gi...
This time it’s a thin, plain-faced, bespectacled, soft-spoken nebbish with the full name of Gus Cruikshank (Paul Rust) who eventually becomes alluring to a messed-up beauty named Mickey (Gillia...
The address is CBS for odd couple comedies. Our review of How to Be a Gentleman is right here.
Ninety-two-year-old Andy Rooney, a commentator on 60 Minutes since 1978, will make his last regular appearance on the program this Sunday. Details of the CBS announcement are on our Network News ...
Jeremy Sisto plays a put-upon dad in the new Suburgatory. It's on a night when ABC already has kindred pops on Modern Family and The Middle.
Yet another down to the wire Cowboys game --this one a win -- crushed everything in its path Monday night. The two-hour premiere of Fox's cost-a-plenty Terra Nova drew a small fraction of the Cow...
Chris Flanagan will be taking his talents to Cleveland after an abbreviated run at WFAA8. And TXA21's recently downsized "First In Prime" newscast is going to disappear all together.
The closing hour of the Cowboys' final pre-season game, against Minnesota, went head-to-head Thursday night against Barack Obama's acceptance speech, also originating from a football stadium. ......
Television's portrayals of the Deep South have not been known as towering intellectual exercises. The CW's new Hart of Dixie, set in Alabama, is down-home without unduly deep-frying its denizens.
The most expensive, ambitious series of the new season, Terra Nova, premieres Monday night on Fox. ...Ed Bark
Set in 1963, ABC's Pan Am looks good for starters. But compelling storylines look as though they're going to be much harder to come by.
CBS hasn't had a successful medical drama since Dr. ... Now the crime-infested network is trying again with A Gifted Man.
Wednesday's opening night returns in D-FW for Fox's mega-promoted X Factor were only fair to middling, particularly for its second hour. See how it did -- and how other new and returning series f...
Contending that her weight is being held against her by station management, WFAA8 anchor-reporter Debbie Denmon has filed a discrimination suit against the Dallas-based station. ... The story is ...
Yet another version of Charlie's Angels is probably not what the world needs now -- let alone the continental U.S. But here it comes -- and our review is here.
A new American TV version of Prime Suspect might seem like a capital crime to some. But it's all in the execution.
Women are the drive shafts in this fall's crop of new broadcast network dramas. ... But CBS still has a place for a hard-charging action male in Person of Interest, which premieres Thursday.
It had an appreciably bigger overall audience than its Glee lead-in and also prospered with advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds. CBS' double dose of NCIS and its spin-off also did quite well, l...
4 NBC badly needs something to work this fall -- besides Sunday Night Football. And whatever its ratings, it at least has a winning new comedy in Whitney.
Dallas-based WFAA8's early morning Daybreak program still runs third on most days. ... And now, for the first time, full attention is paid to co-anchor Ron Corning.
Madeleine Stowe makes for a pretty delish villainess in ABC's latest woman-powered serial drama. ... Our closer look at Revenge is on the Network News & Reviews page.
CBS couldn't have scripted this any better -- the ratings at least. The network's Charlie Sheen-less Two and a Half Men was a colossus Monday night in the D-FW Nielsen ratings while the premiere ...
Two and a Half Men rid itself of Charlie Sheen in no uncertain terms Monday night. ...Ed Bark
CBS doesn't go in for capes or physical super powers in its "procedural" crime series. ... Our review of Unforgettable is right here.
Zooey Deschanel, kid sis of Bones star Emily Deschanel, is still looking for a post-Almost Famous breakout hit. ...Plus, the weekend D-FW Nielsen ratings "snapshot" has all the details on how the...
Sunday night's 63rd annual Primetime Emmy Awards put the made-in-Austin Friday Night Lights onstage for the first and last time while also providing a big booster shot to over-the-air broadcast T...
Sunday night brings the 63rd annual Primetime Emmy Awards, which of course will be trounced by Sunday Night Football. But I've gone ahead and tacked down some picks anyway, which you can slice 'n...
D-FW television stations always could count on a little ratings inflation whenever Nielsen Media Research's yearly data was revised. ... And this time around, the nation's fifth largest TV market...
One of the showier new series for this fall, NBC's The Playboy Club, premieres Monday. Set in the early 1960s, it mixes gangland retribution with all those bosomed bunny buddies.
Launched on Sept. 17, 2006, unclebarky.com turns five Saturday on the eve of the Emmys and just two days before the official start of the 2011-'12 TV season. ...Thanks again, and we'll try to kee...
Plus, Wednesday's D-FW Nielsen ratings show how three freshman series and a pair of "reality competition" finales fared in these parts. And on my home away from home, locatetv.com, there's a look...
The network of Supernatural, The Vampire Diaries and those scary creatures on America's Next Top Model adds witches to its otherworldly mix in The Secret Circle. ...Plus, Tuesday's D-FW Nielsen r...
Hank Azaria and Kathryn Hahn make a winning duo in NBC's new Free Agents. It even compares favorably with the same-named British original, which BBC America will make available to U.S. audiences ...
It's all mostly contrived and not really believable for more than a second or two. Still, The CW's new H8R (short for "Hater") puts celebs and their detractors together in a way that's indescriba...
ESPN's opening Monday Night Football doubleheader kicked all competition to the curb in the D-FW Nielsen ratings. ...But she's no longer under contract and could leave the Dallas-based station an...
NBC and kids -- let alone newborn babes -- have very seldom mixed in prime-time sitcoms since The Cosby Show's glory seasons. That makes the new Up All Night an extreme rarity, even if a workplac...
Sarah Michelle Gellar, who came to international fame as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, plays two hands in her prime-time series return. The CW's Ringer finds her as a recovering addict and former str...
The Dallas Cowboys cratered down the stretch against the Jets, but at least beat last season's ratings for their giveaway loss to Washington on NBC's Sunday Night Football. Our ratings breakdowns...
Andy Whitfield, who played the title role in the Starz network's Spartacus: Blood and Sand, has died of cancer at age 39. Also, the Emmy Awards' annual "creative arts" prelude to the Sept. 18th m...
All four of the major broadcast networks carried President Obama's early evening jobs speech Thursday. ... It doesn't take an unemployed rocket scientist to deduce who won.
The Paul McCartney-led Concert for New York City is brilliantly seen from behind-the-scenes in The Love We Make, premiering Sept. 10th on Showtime. ...Ed Bark
MSNBC's two-hour Republican debate Wednesday night, featuring the debut of Texas Gov. Rick Perry, won its time slot in competition with both broadcast and cable alternatives.
Rick Perry strode into his first nationally televised presidential candidate debate Wednesday night. He emerged with a Social Security "Ponzi scheme" target affixed to his back while former front...
Television's latest big outpouring of new product is coming soon, with the broadcast networks again struggling to stand out while cable excels with both new and returning dramas. ...And D-FW had ...
The final episode of FX's Rescue Me is on Wednesday night, just four days before the 10th anniversary of 9/11. ...Plus, Eddie Murphy gets the Oscar host gig, and Regis Philbin announces his goodb...
Syfy's Wednesday night "paranormal block" now includes the new Paranormal Witness. The first episode made me shake -- with laughter.
The holiday weekend's D-FW Nielsen ratings had some surprises -- such as Baylor-TCU not being the most-watched college football game. Also, the debut of the Jerry Lewis-less MDA telethon Sunday n...
Low and continued stagnant ratings have prompted the halving of TXA21's First in Prime local newscast, which soon will air only from 7 to 8 p.m. ...The onset of September also prompts a friendly ...
After suffering a heart attack Sunday, former WFAA8 reporter Bert Lozano died Wednesday afternoon at Methodist Medical Center. The sad details, and some goodbye messages from his friends are on o...
CW33's Dallas studios will be the hub of a new Tribune-produced early morning show that's relocating entirely from Chicago. Plus, the station has added a new meteorologist who will be working the...
Scott Pelley is nearing the end of his first three eventful months as anchor of the CBS Evening News. ... Texas was very much a topic, as were his down-the-middle approach to delivering the news ...
The 13th edition of ABC's Dancing with the Stars includes Nancy Grace, HLN's resident judge, juror and executioner. ...Plus, the family of former WFAA8 reporter Bert Lozano has a further update o...
Bert Lozano, who left WFAA8 early in 2007 after three years on the Dallas-based station's reporting staff, has been hospitalized after suffering a reportedly major heart attack over the weekend. ...
I've seen all of this fall's new sitcoms and heard the hundreds of jokes within. ... So I asked about them during the recent TV Critics Association "press tour."
Kim Fischer is departing Fort Worth-based NBC5 after two years as a reporter, lately on the early shift. ... Plus, CNN is showcasing former Fox4 reporter Sara Sidner as a bullet-dodger in still p...
Harrowing and sometimes tragic adventures in flying are relived in Flightmares, the latest network special from Dallas' own AMS Pictures. Our review, and where it's landing Sunday night, can be f...
Your friendly content provider recently engaged Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth on the topic of how bad the Dallas Cowboys would have to get before NBC's Sunday Night Football deep-sixed or dow...
Included are the highs for Sunday night's Cowboys pre-season game and the very lows for the first two episodes of Bravo's Most Eligible Dallas. And on the Network News & Reviews page, we have a c...
Your friendly content provider just got back from the two-week Television Critics Association "press tour," during which unclebarky.com gave way to dispatches for locatetv.com. ...Darlin' daughte...
So if you'd like to dine on something satisfying rather than all that abundant summertime mush, give the above six-part series a chance to rope you in. Our review of The Hour is right here.
Grant Stinchfield surprised many last spring by quitting the NBC5 news team after seven years to open an auto lube business. Now he's oiling up for a congressional campaign as a Republican.
The Bravo network's Most Eligible Dallas premieres Monday night. And it's one big hoot if you want to see the city again portrayed as richly appointed in addition to being "self-centered and shal...
Matt Nordgren, former Bishop Lynch star QB -- and Vince Young's backup at UT -- made the Beverly Hills scene recently on behalf of Bravo's upcoming Most Eligible Dallas. Your friendly content pro...
You can still read all about the just-concluded Television Critics Association "press tour" by going to the special section on locatetv.com. And/or take a look at some of the sights via unclebark...
Wednesday's incident between Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price and WFAA8 investigator Brett Shipp continues to create a big buzz in D-FW. In an interview with unclebarky.com, Shipp says...
It's great to be back in the blast furnace after two weeks out West on the Television Critics Association "press tour." ...They range from a crazed interview session with Jerry Lewis to a visit t...
Forgive your friendly content provider, but it's time to head West again for the annual Television Critics Association summer "press tour," in which networks high and low trot out their new fall ...
The business of measuring local and national TV audiences has long been the stock in trade of Nielsen Media Research. ... They've been going steady for the past 10 months or so, with WFAA8 ever m...
Matt Grubs, a heavily used general assignment reporter at Dallas-based Fox4, has decided to leave after a three-year tenure. Get the details on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
The eighth and final season season of Entourage -- with a nicely symmetrical eight episodes -- begins on Sunday, July 24th. The first three episodes were sent for review, and they're evidence tha...
David Hasselhoff and David Hasselhoff criss-cross between Hollywood and Lake Jackson, Texas in a new and surprisingly agreeable CBS summertime "reality" series. ...Plus, Tuesday's D-FW Nielsen ra...
An array of cable news networks went continuously live Tuesday morning to the Murdochs' joint appearance before a British parliamentary committee. Rupert regularly seemed lost for words while dut...
But Fox News Channel's handling of Rupert Murdoch's mushrooming phone-hacking scandal should be an embarrassment to all concerned. ...Plus, the weekend D-FW Nielsen ratings show a huge audience f...
Gary Reaves, who returned to Dallas-based WFAA8 20 years ago after a stint with CBS News, has decided to retire from the station. More details are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Shaquille O'Neal made his first big post-playing days move Thursday by signing a multi-year deal with TNT. His primary duties will be on a studio show already famously populated with Charles Bark...
Stereotyping Texas is gaining steam again, which probably makes New Jersey jealous. The latest tall tale of a "reality" series, Texas Women, comes to CMT Thursday night.
The annual Primetime Emmy nominations, announced Thursday morning, at last put NBC's Austin-made Friday Night Lights in a ring of honor for its fifth and final season. Meanwhile, HBO remained lor...
Ted Danson of Cheers fame will be bellying up to CBS' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation this season as the long-running dramas latest lead actor. The details are on our TV Bulletin Board page, along...
Personally speaking, HBO's excellent The Curious Case of Curt Flood rekindles lots of memories -- of Chicago Cubs' players robbed by his spectacular centerfield play and of a first-hand meeting w...
Batty Roseanne Barr works for peanuts -- actually, Macadamias -- in the new Lifetime series Roseanne's Nuts. ... Plus Monday's D-FW Nielsen ratings are in the house.
TNT's new one-minute tease for Dallas aired Monday night during the network's two most popular drama series. See what it looks like on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
The City of Dallas came out with a press release Monday that says the new Dallas series on TNT will be filmed in Dallas. Unclebarky.com reported this at noontime on Friday after checking with the...
Fox4's Adrian Arambulo gets a show to anchor, but his straight-ahead approach is overshadowed in part by Larry the floor director's loud countdowns of recurring "4 Minutes" opinion segments. ... ...
TNT's pathfinding drama is followed by its latter day most popular one with the Monday night returns of The Closer and Rizzoli & Isles. ...Ed Bark
CBS News veteran Harry Smith, perhaps weary of being bounced and then passed over, is leaving after a quarter-century to join rival NBC. He had been with CBS since 1986, initially operating out o...
Another batch of made-for-TV super powers emerge in Syfy's Alphas, which premieres Monday. But despite the presence of accomplished David Strathairn, it's all pretty sub-par.
And although the network's publicity release makes no mention of where it will be filmed, network spokeswoman Jennifer Greene has just confirmed via email that "Yes, we will be shooting in Dallas...
The continuation of the Torchwood franchise moves from the U.K. to the U.S. with Friday's premiere of a 10-episode arc in which people suddenly stop dying no matter how grievous their injuries or...
Wednesday's edition of Primetime Nightline featured an "exclusive" interview with Casey Anthony trial juror Jennifer Ford. ... Not that I'd fully believe ABC News -- or its competitors for that m...
A WFAA8 photographer found himself in a fireworks fire zone during the Fourth of July holiday period. ... The 39 seconds of video are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
On paper this sounds like a pretty good idea -- replacing Steve Carell with James Spader, who's no slouch as a smarmy manipulator. ...Plus, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings highlight/lowlight the ...
We'll start with a few appetizers, including a look at what Mark Cuban hasn't been up to lately and three glimpses at Fourth of July night's dueling fireworks spectaculars on CBS, NBC and PBS. Pl...
It's time for unclebarky.com to take an extended Fourth of July weekend. ...There are plenty of new posts inside, though.
When is the last time a scripted drama or comedy series ranked No. 1 in prime-time for a full TV season? ... Our look at the boom broadcast network market for "reality competition" shows is on th...
KAREN BORTA WITH SHARON OSBOURNE ON THE TALK. Photo: Ed Bark ...She survived quite nicely, even while amid talking points ranging from "going commando" to former congressman Anthony Weiner of "s...
NBC's sister cable network, USA, has a mostly successful track record with its "Characters Welcome" roster of breezy dramas. The new Necessary Roughness needs a sander, though.
D-FW's four major TV news providers swarmed Monday's John Wiley Price-connected FBI raids like ants on a dripping Popsicle. But the Nielsen ratings remained in their summer hammocks, and at 10 p....
Another gaggle of lovelorn beautiful people gathers to pin down true love in NBC's new summertime jungle caper. Our review of Love in the Wild is here.
The actor who gave life to one of TV's all-time classic crimesolvers has died at age 83. Our tribute and a short video are on the Network News & Reviews page.
Laura Linney's Cathy Jamison resumes her battle with Stage 4 melanoma on a new season of Showtime's The Big C. Show time is Monday, and our review is here.
In the latest round of national exposure for D-FW news personalities, CBS11 anchor Karen Borta will be a guest host on The Talk next week. ... Plus, Thursday's D-FW Nielsen ratings show a big ope...
Gotta stand up for my alma mater, but this is a no-brainer. I can't believe that Wisconsin Badgers forward Jon Leuer is barely a part of the Round 1 NBA draft conversation.
But at least they're still hiring, with the latest addition a "Tech Zen" named Shama Kabani. ...And on my home away from home, locatetv.com, your friendly content provider talks about the furor o...
Season 4 of HBO's latter day most popular series, True Blood, begins sucking the life out of summer this Sunday. The first three episodes are just enough to make it worth your while anew.
NBC continues to be a stumblebum, at least in terms of turning out new scripted hits that have nothing to do with singing competitions or sword-swallowing. But its corporate cousin, the USA netwo...
Man's best friend -- and they like women, too -- gets a thorough makeover Thursday night in the new FX comedy Wilfred. ...Ed Bark
The new and significantly shortened Muscular Dystrophy Telethon will be doing business with a new, still-to-be-named D-FW television partner this September. ... Get the details on our Dallas-Fort...
ABC and dumb summertime game shows just can't seem to get enough of each other. Our review of the network's latest, 101 Ways to Leave a Game Show, is here.
It's a Canadian production imported by ABC. So maybe that's the overriding reason why the new and heavily promoted Combat Hospital series takes a refreshing chill pill approach rather than going ...
Oprah Winfrey's ratings-challenged OWN sure could use an audience-grabber. It might have one, at least on a small scale, with Ryan & Tatum: The O'Neals.
TNT's most ambitious series to date, the Steven Spielberg-produced Falling Skies, drops on Sunday night. ...Ed Bark
All of D-FW's major TV news providers turned out in force for Thursday's big Dallas Mavericks victory parade. Unclebarky.com now sweeps up after the elephants -- even though there weren't any -- ...
Amid the many spoils of victory coming their way was a chance for the Dallas Mavericks to do a Top 10 List on Wednesday's Late Show with David Letterman. ... The video is on our Dallas-Fort Worth...
And the contrast between finalists Mike Rawlings and David Kunkle couldn't be greater from a TV media standpoint. Our final look at Rawlings' commercial appeal -- and Kunkle's ad-free approach --...
Fran Drescher's latest TV outing, on TV Land, is called Happily Divorced. ... Because -- wah, wah, wah -- her husband turns out to be gay -- just like in Fran's real-life.
Longtime WFAA8 sports anchor Dale Hansen doesn't feel too good about unclebarky.com saying that the Mavericks' first NBA title is D-FW's all-time "feel good" sports story. ... Also, the latest D-...
A championship season that still seems like a fairytale. A Dallas Morning News sports columnist who still can't handle the truth.
In the parallel universe of the Miami Herald and Macy's, the Heat actually beat the Mavericks Sunday night. Not only that, but they miraculously must have won again on the same night to claim the...
The Dallas Mavericks' first NBA title, a pasting of the Miami Viceroys, paid big dividends at the D-FW ratings box office Sunday night. But how big in comparison to Texas Rangers and Dallas Cowbo...
But how close are the Mavs to topping the most-watched Texas Rangers World Series games or the top draw during the Dallas Cowboys march through a losing season? You've come to the right spot for ...
Fox's summertime hit, So You Think You Can Dance, has its top 20 finalists assembled. Only one of them is a Texan, but Chris Koehl hits very close to home.
Lifetime gets into the corpse-of-the-week game with a scripted procedural crime series fronted by former Profiler star Ally Walker. ...Ed Bark
Your friendly TV content provider loves sports, too. So as the Mavs and Heat prepare to clash anew Thursday night, let's dive into some talking points on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart rolled to wins in May among all key audience demographics. And that's in both the cable and broadcast universes.
Mark Cuban's Dallas Mavericks are giving him a wild ride this month, with one gritty showing after another. But during a break from Games 4 and 5 of the NBA Finals, Cuban's HDNet finds itself mid...
Game 4 of Mavs-Heat, another gut-grinding, nail-biting, up/down, saddle up, Super Glue of a gripper, edged Game 1 as the most-watched so far in D-FW. Get all of the details you won't find elsewhe...
Bidding for a future quartet of Olympics games is completed, and NBC is still the ring-bearer after out-manuvering Fox and ESPN. ... Plus, Monday's D-FW Nielsen ratings show how Scott Pelley's fi...
PBS' venerable Great Performances is the somewhat unlikely venue for Eric Clapton's third Crossroads guitar event. It's been a bit delayed in Dallas, but will air Wednesday night on KERA-TV (Ch.
Former D-FW reporter Scott Pelley made his debut Monday as anchor of the CBS Evening News. It made for a sober half-hour, adorned with the usual array of ads aimed at senior citizens and their ra...
Katie Couric made another multi-million dollar deal for herself Monday by moving to ABC. The network will give her both a syndicated daytime talk show, starting in September 2012, and a presence ...
Sunday night's Game 3 of the Mavericks-Heat NBA Finals fell in the middle, ratings-wise, between the opener and Game 2. The complete ratings are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
James Arness, who played Marshal Dillon for two decades on CBS' Gunsmoke, has died at the age of 88. We have an appreciation here.
HBO's superb Bobby Fischer Against the World tells a full and riveting story of a boy-to-man chess champ who never mastered the game of life. So far it's the best documentary film of the year.
Game 2 of the NBA Finals replicated Game 2 of the Western Conference championship. ... The comparative D-FW numbers are right here.
But all is forgiven, I'm sure, after the Dallas Mavericks' super-stirring comeback win Thursday night against the imperious Miami Viceroys. Our commentary is on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Fox has the prime-time Emmys this year, and has named one of its own as host for the 36rd annual ceremony. Details are on the TV Bulletin Board page.
But she's already in big-time company this week as Good Morning America's ad hoc weathercaster. Get more details on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page, where Wednesday's D-FW Nielsen ratings also are ...
Former CBS11 early morning anchor Scott Sams and his old colleagues shared a screen Wednesday morning in the interests of corporate cluster synergy. See the video on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page...
The Dallas Mavericks fell short in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. ...Plus, for a two-part summation of all the notable new and returning stuff coming your way this June, click here and here on my home...
ABC'S INVENTIVE ARTIST'S RENDERING OF THE FINALS WAS EASIER ON THE EYES THAN THE GAME 1 OUTCOME TUESDAY NIGHT. Photo: Ed Bark We begin the new month with a look at Game 1 of the Heat-Mavs Finals...
The Dallas Mavericks begin fighting for truth, justice and the American way Tuesday night in Game 1 of the NBA Finals against Miami. Get in the mood with a pair of creative strokes on our Dallas-...
Their collaboration on Gettysburg gives the History cable network a first-rate attraction on Memorial Day night. ... Also, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings are in, with only Fox offering something...
But one could easily call a technical foul and say that CBS11 actually won in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds. ... The complete results, including an up-close look at WFAA8's chicanery,...
Rhadigan, who had never done play-by-play before, was tabbed by the Rangers in January to replace Josh Lewin, who was deemed to no longer be a good fit. ..."We feel that this restructuring will p...
NBC-owned NBC5 has received permission to re-air the two-hour Biggest Loser: Couples finale after most of it got rubbed out by Tuesday night's storm coverage. Fox-owned Fox4 can't do the same for...
The seemingly never-ending story of Oprah Winfrey's goodbye at last is past tense. She preached alone to her choir Wednesday after a two-day, star-choked Oprah's Farewell Surprise Spectacular, wh...
Did WFAA8 pay a ratings penalty for mixing Dancing with the Stars and weathercaster Pete Delkus' frequent live updates during commercial breaks and the show itself? ...Plus, Sarah Blaskovich of c...
Your friendly content provider occasionally branches out when asked. This latest opinion piece for cnn.com reflects on the impact of Oprah Winfrey.
Some readers may not buy this, but there was a good reason why CBS11 ended up being the only D-FW television station to wipe out all of its Tuesday night network programming in favor of severe we...
Former CBS11 early morning anchor Scott Sams has bounced back again. The details on his latest new news job are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Reality maestro Mark Burnett has signed to produce an extended series on the Bible for the History cable network. It will have scripts and actors, so the Survivor/Apprentice producer isn't likely...
Everyone loves a winner, and nowhere more so than in D-FW. So when the Dallas Mavericks rose from the dead late Monday night, viewers responded accordingly by flocking to their home screens.
I didn't think they had a chance. But the most amazing win in Dallas Mavericks history proved otherwise.
All it took was an old crackpot preacher putting up a bunch of billboards to make the alleged end of the world a prominently played story on media outlets big and small. ... And MSNBC goes agains...
Latest sound investment: Too Big to Fail, adapted from the same-name bestseller by Andrew Ross Sorkin. ...Plus, Thursday's D-FW Nielsen ratings show the Mavericks were a bit short on viewers as w...
Katie Couric ended her chores at the CBS Evening News Thursday, opting for a three-day weekend. As farewells go, it was barely a blip on the national consciousness.
The made-for-TV movie, once part of the DNA of ABC, CBS and NBC, has gone the way of variety hours and one-hour documentaries. ... And Tom Selleck's seventh Jesse Stone movie, premiering on Sunda...
That'll change in the fall, when Gellar plays twins on the lam in a new fall series for The CW. ... While hanging out there, you also can find a few show-and-tell pics from rival networks' "upfro...
But that'll be it for ABC's Good Christian Belles, which will shoot the rest of its episodes in L.A. in preparation for a likely spring 2012 premiere. Dallas Film Commission head Janis Burklund d...
The Dallas Mavericks ruled Tuesday's prime-time roost once the game began shortly after 8 p.m. We've again got the details you'll find nowhere else -- on our ever-eventful Dallas-Fort Worth TV pa...
The new CBS fall schedule is in place, with the network's execs touting the "dynamic stability" at hand. There are five new series and two notable series shifts to new nights and times.
ABC's new fall lineup is out, and the Dallas-set Good Christian Belles isn't on it. ... All the details about the third place network's new season are on our Network News & Reviews page.
The Western Conference final between the Dallas Mavericks and Oklahoma Thunder is a battle of the ages above all. ... We play around with it all on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
ABC's adaptation of the novel Good Christian Bitches, with the B-word now Belles, will be part of the network's new fall lineup when its officially announced Tuesday morning. But according to co-...
The charade known as Donald Trump's possible presidential candidacy officially ended in New York Monday before a group of Madison Avenue advertisers on hand for NBC's presentation of its 2011-12 ...
Fox unveiled its 2011-'12 season plans Monday morning, with two previously announced Big Tunas occupying three different nights this fall. Get all of the details on our Network News & Reviews pag...
Buoyed by the late season success of The Voice, NBC announced its plans for fall and beyond Sunday. Our complete look at the Peacock's new playlist is on the Network News & Reviews page.
James and David Schechter hit the road -- but stayed within the state of Texas -- for standout feature stories that both aired on the station's Thursday 10 p.m. newscast. ... So the videos and a ...
Ashton Kutcher has won the Charlie Sheen sweepstakes -- perhaps by default -- and will join the cast of Two and a Half Men next season. Tune to our Network News & Reviews page for all the details...
Thursday night's out-of-nowhere vote-off of electric James Durbin ruined what could have been a grand finale for Fox's otherwise rejuvenated American Idol. ...Ed Bark
The Peacock has big summer plans for The Voice and its already established hot weather hit, America's Got Talent. See what 's up on our TV Bulletin Board page, where other tasty tidbits also awai...
NBC5, at last getting some lead-in help from its network -- The Voice -- is the surprise clubhouse leader at the mid-point of the May "sweeps" in the 10 p.m. news battle for advertiser-favored 25...
Jim Lehrer already had made a big name for himself in Dallas -- primarily as anchor of KERA-TV's landmark Newsroom program -- before leaving for PBS in the mid-1970s. ... Details and quotes from ...
They continue at Dallas-based CW33, which last month reduced its sports department to zero but will be back up to one when Chase Williams reports for work this summer from Lubbock. ...Plus, NBC's...
Fox's Dallas-made The Good Guys is gone, but co-star Colin Hanks will be movin' on up. And WE TV will be the latest cable network to likely make Texas look bad in the "reality" series realm.
But whether you've ever seen it or not, his weekly Dan Rather Reports on Mark Cuban's HDNet is some of the best television journalism around. And his latest effort, a superb two-hour documentary ...
Its two newcomers, both due in June, both have Dallas ties but currently are working out of state. ... The station has been tucked away on Barnett Street in Fort Worth since its late 1940s sign-o...
In a "very special" edition of our Local Nielsen Ratings Snapshot feature, we tally up the D-FW numbers for the Dallas Mavericks' concluding two kill shots against the Los Angeles Lakers. Also lo...
Fox slipped in a little announcement late Sunday afternoon -- directly opposite the Dallas Mavericks' ongoing playoff series sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers. Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell will be ...
CBS11's Friday, 10 p.m. newscast will include a profile on former WFAA8 mainstay Jerry "Mr. ... Or that CBS11 did quite all right in the February "sweeps" with a two-part reunion and revisit star...
ABC's Shark Tank has its final Mark Cuban-infused episode on Friday, May 6th. He talks about it on our Network News & Reviews page while resisting any impulse to mix it up with Lakers coach Phil ...
Former Dallas police chief David Kunkle plans to go the distance to the May 14th mayoral election without airing any TV ads while his main opponent, Mike Rawlings, continues to load up. ... We ta...
Misery loves company, but it's lots more fun when you're winning -- particularly against the vaunted Lakers. Wednesday's late night Dallas Mavericks spanking of the defending NBA champs blew past...
DFW Nonstop quietly started Wednesday, with NBC5 spilling some specifics Thursday on its digital channel 5.2 news/lifestyle onslaught. Key development: Longtime anchor Jane McGarry will preside o...
Again choosing reporter Steve Kroft for a "one and only" exclusive interview, Obama said that the White House will not release any photo or photos to prove that Osama bin Laden is dead. CBS news ...
Factory, prime curator of TV's lost and found, has another worthy endeavor in The Ernie Kovacs Collection. Its a six-disc salute to the crazed small-screen pathfinder, who died long before the Da...
All of them have suddenly popped up on Dallas-based CW33's "News Team" page, with details otherwise very sketchy on all but one of the five on-air additions. But yes, unclebarky.com gets back to ...
The Dallas Mavericks dominated Monday's late night ratings and were the day's most popular attraction in D-FW among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds, ahead of even Dancing with the Stars. ......
After a CBS News career that dates to 1989, former KXAS/WFAA reporter Scott Pelley is finally getting "The Chair." He'll be replacing Katie Couric, whose five-year tenure could not lift the netwo...
The tail ends of Sunday night's 9 p.m. entertainment series gave way to the welcome news that Osama bin Laden at last had been found and killed by U.S. forces. Our detailed look at how the local ...
Also, on my home away from home, locatetv.com, your friendly content provider takes a look at what series will stay in place and which ones are either officially dead or endangered as the network...
The Dallas Mavericks' close-out of Portland and opening night of the NFL draft were among the many high-wattage attractions on Day 1 of the May "sweeps" ratings competition. Get all of the major ...
Did the Dallas Mavericks deserve to be branded "gutless" after that Game 4 debacle? ... But the Dallas Morning News sports columnist who swung the meat ax hasn't had a word to say about the team ...
Our "Ask Uncle Barky" feature makes a triumphant return -- hey, we're getting into self-congratulatory May ratings "sweeps" mode -- with a nice selection of your questions about national and loca...
The Voice has NBC programmers making some joyful noises after Tuesday's two-hour premiere drew strong ratings. Three of the first 12 contestants selected by the show's four celebrity judges are f...
WFAA8's Daybreak set sail with its fifth male anchor in less than three years Wednesday. ...Plus, how did NBC's big two-hour premiere of The Voice do Tuesday night?
After Tuesday's post on weathercaster attire, we revisit all of the program pre-emptions and viewer disgruntlement in a Wednesday missive that also notes Fox4's continuing inability to air HD pic...
Severe weather in parts of the North Texas viewing area again brought all of the main weathercasters into constant view Tuesday afternoon and evening. NBC5's David Finfrock, as you'll see on our ...
As long rumored, Katie Couric will be leaving the CBS Evening News anchor chair when he contract with the network expires on June 4th. But the way in which she announced the news has not charmed ...
Saturday's fourth quarter catastrophe has made the Dallas Mavericks easy targets again. ... Your friendly content provider disagrees while also having the temerity to question three key officiati...
WFAA8 anchor Gloria Campos had back surgery on Good Friday and will be off the air for at least this week and perhaps longer. And CW33 sports anchor-reporter Dave Crome is the latest to leave the...
Reporter Sophia Reza has resigned from Dallas-based Fox4 to join her husband in Seattle after he took a new job. Further details are on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
A fire of still undetermined origin has gutted the Cedar Hill home of longtime Fox4 meteorologist Ron Jackson. He provided more details, including the sad loss of some pets, on our Dallas-Fort Wo...
Fox4's Dan Godwin is one of the D-FW television market's consummate utility men. This week he sucked it up and took two live rides in the front seat of the newly refurbished Texas Giant rollercoa...
But fans of HBO Treme again will be getting their subscription money's worth, so why not join the party? ...Plus, the Dallas Mavericks' Game 3 playoff loss at Portland threw its overall audience ...
PBS' 1973 An American Family, a 12-hour fly-on-the-wall look at the fractious Louds of Santa Barbara, can be (dis)credited with birthing the still exploding "reality" TV movement. The new HBO mov...
WFAA8's posting of the raw footage definitely merits a second look, which we do here while Watson and station management decline to explain further. Plus, Tuesday's D-FW Nielsen ratings are anoth...
The Peacock's 2011 Sunday Night Football scheduled is newly announced, and the Dallas Cowboys are the only losing team from last season with the maximum three games. In fact, just one other losin...
Monday's concluding hour of the Texas Rangers' home win over the Angels beat both a new episode of Hawaii Five-0 and a Babs Walters royal wedding special. ...Plus, we have a link to a Denver TV r...
Dallas-based WFAA8 was one of them, and reporter Brad Watson wasn't about to ride off into namby pamby land. Our review of their at times clenched encounter is here, where you also can have a loo...
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, whose mega-stardom in Seinfeld led to the less fertile New Adventures of Old Christine, will move to HBO for her latest comedy series. The details are on our TV Bulletin Boar...
The Dallas Mavericks' gut check Game 1 playoff win over Portland (all the more impressive after both the Spurs and Lakers lost their home openers) amassed the team's biggest audience this season ...
Reporter Jane Slater, who's been freelancing for CBS11, is joining forces with rival WFAA8 -- beginning Monday. More details are on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Here's another one that made the cut: Celeb meets same-named commoner and walks a mile in his/her shoes. Which means that there's more than one David Hasselhoff out there -- and he lives in Texas...
The D-FW Nielsen ratings for Wednesday and Thursday show minimal returns for NBC's The Paul Reiser Show, ABC's Happy Endings and Fox's Breaking In. ... Wednesday's numbers are here, and Thursday'...
Expectations remain low, at least among most prognosticators, as the Dallas Mavericks prepare to take their season-long reality show to a much more cutthroat playoff proving ground Saturday night...
Austin's finest -- and the only long-running TV series without abundant Texas stereotypes -- begins its final 13-episode run on NBC Friday night. That would be Friday Night Lights.
ABC brought the hammer down on All My Children and One Life to Live Thursday, and will be supplanting them with two new food and lifestyle hours. All the details are on our TV Bulletin Board page...
HBO's first entry into the fantasy realm launches Sunday with Game of Thrones. ... Martin series of books, it's looking like a slog instead of a splash.
On-air promos for The Paul Reiser Show cast him as a true believer that you've probably forgotten all about him. ... So is the former Mad About You star's new sitcom forgettable -- or maybe a kee...
WFAA8's Good Morning Texas recently aired a pre-paid, in-studio segment about a line of products that can have butts bubbling up in no time. ... See exactly what we're talking about on the ever-e...
Former KXAS/WFAA reporter Scott Pelley is widely perceived as the frontrunner to replace Katie Couric as anchor of the CBS Evening News. On our Back Channels page, we revisit the way he was in in...
We're in the final month before the broadcast networks officially announce what they'll be adding, subtracting and keeping for next fall. ABC's new Happy Endings is a sitcom-come-lately, but none...
As NBC's on-air promos show, a re-tooled Law & Order: L.A. (LOLA) does not bode well for Skeet Ulrich's detective character. But will Monday's two-hour makeover be a gainful proposition on a netw...
The stars of Spike TV's Auction Hunters hit the skids, er, the sheds, in Garland, TX Thursday morning. They didn't end up buying anything, but talked a good game.
Veteran NBC5 reporter Grant Stinchfield is making a big U-turn in careers after deciding that the local TV news business has gotten too chancy. Get his candid assessment -- and what he'll be doin...
Laughable, pathetic but certainly not inhibited, the new "reality" series Gigolos shows the members of its members' only club during the course of one sexual assignment after another. Our review ...
It got a little dicey Monday during the CBS11 early morning news, with radio personality Jody Dean using the term "hoochie" to describe the attire of one of the show's frisky co-anchors. ... See ...
In what amounts to a seismic shift, NBC now is the first Big Four broadcast network to trail Univision nationally in the key target audience of 18-to-49-year-old viewers. ... Unclebarky.com takes...
Monday night's D-FW Nielsens were a battle for bragging rights between CBS' mis-firing NCAA hoops championship game and the usual histrionics on ABC's Dancing with the Stars. We've got the final ...
Dutiful Harry Smith has done everything that's been asked of him during his long career at CBS News. Now they should ask him to succeed Katie Couric as anchor of the Evening News.
Belo-owned Dallas Morning News hit the jackpot again last year while their employees have been without raises for several years and counting. Get the details and our take here in a story that was...
Fox wastes a coveted post-American Idol slot on a big dud Wednesday night. Our review of Breaking In, which at least was fun to write, is here.
WFAA8's seventh prestigious Peabody award win last week has spurred a quick promo in which the Dallas-based station finds its rivals wanting. You can see it on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page, wher...
Thursday's D-FW Nielsen ratings are here, with all of our previous coverage of early morning local TV intrigues now in the March 2011 archives on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page. ...But if you want...
From the network that really knows drama, here's another compelling one. The Killing premieres Sunday night on AMC, with developments and arrests down the line. ...Ed Bark
But ReelzChannel is the venue for The Kennedys, which begins unfolding on Sunday, April 3rd after executives for the History Channel decided they didn't want it after all. From the vantage point ...
It's pretty safe to assume that Dallas-based WFAA8 has more prestigious broadcast awards than any other other local TV station in the nation. It added to its cache Thursday, with investigator Byr...
CBS occasionally tries something other than procedural crime/legal dramas in prime-time, but hasn't had any luck with them in recent seasons. Chaos marks another effort to live by something other...
Pip, pip, Starz offers yet another take on "Arthurian legend" in its 10-episode Camelot, which premieres Friday with Joseph Fiennes as Merlin. ...Plus, Tuesday's D-FW Nielsen ratings spotlight a ...
Lack of air time at Dallas-based WFAA8 has prompted helicopter pilot/reporter Troy Bush to opt for alternative flights. ...Plus, Monday's D-FW Nielsen ratings are a night-long victory march for A...
Producer Thom Beers, architect of gritty workplace reality series such as Deadliest Catch and Ice Road Truckers, gives miners their day in the sun by going underground with them in Coal. ...Ed Ba...
He's planning a 10-12 hour documentary on America's second most divisive war. Get the details, and some other small-screen tidbits, on our TV Bulletin Board page.
Announced for last fall, but delayed in transit, ABC's Body of Proof finally checks in on Tuesday night with Dana Delany as a tart-tongued corpse examiner. ...Plus, we have the D-FW Nielsen ratin...
Scott Sams' four-year tenure as CBS11's early morning co-anchor is over. ... (Hey, we gotta blow the "exclusive" horn once in a great while -- just like the TV stations do.)
Unlike the 1945 Joan Crawford starrer, HBO's Mildred Pierce stays very true to the 1941 novel. In other words, there's no dead body, but still lots of life.
Screen great Elizabeth Taylor, who died on Wednesday at age 79, will be remembered via many of her signature films in an April 10th Turner Classic Movies marathon. Get more details -- plus a look...
Dallas-based WFAA8 hopes to brighten its morning ratings pictures with a new male co-anchor on Daybreak and the transfer of incumbent Chris Flanagan to Good Morning Texas. ... The Monday and Tues...
Both sides again played hardball in Friday's last regular season encounter between the Dallas Mavericks and the arch rival, championship-laden San Antonio Spurs. Still, the game pretty much clank...
Although published in 2008, The Chris Farley Show harkens to a certain "warlock's" current addictions. For me, the book also resonates personally.
But let me be among the last to tell you -- by design -- that evicted Two and a Half Men star Charlie Sheen will be bringing his "Violent Torpedo of Truth" show to Dallas on April 27th. More deta...
The Pee-wee Herman Show on Broadway, set entirely in his Playhouse, ended its limited run in early January. ... Plus, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings aren't all that rim-friendly to opening day o...
We're getting close to the time when networks decide what to add and subtract for next fall. NBC tends to tip its hand in advance, and did so again on Thursday by announcing the returns of a trio...
Dallas-based WFAA8 says it would "strongly protest" any attempt by ABC to air the prospective prime-time series Good Christian Bitches with that title intact. The station's response to complainan...
TNT's previously announced pilot for a Dallas re-do at last officially has a home in Dallas. The Dallas Film Commission has happily put the word out, with production set to start in late April.
But at last we've unearthed a 1978 promo for Milwaukee's WITI-TV that has glimpses of Fox4's Clarice Tinsley in her last year at the station before heading here. ... See the video here, complete ...
First-year series getting sophomore seasons are Fresh Off the Boat, black-ish, Beyond the Tank, Marvel’s Agent Carter, How to Get Away with Murder, American Crime, Secrets and Lies and the surp...
Hey, we all live by traffic, whether driving in it or in the media's case, trying to increase it. So it's a big kick and a punch to the lower regions if you're Tuesday's 9 p.m. newscast on Dallas...
Based on a potboiling book, ABC's Good Christian Bitches is scheduled to begin filming its pilot episode in Dallas next week. ... Or is it just enjoying all the free pub?
Rosy ratings for all three hours of ABC's The Bachelor gave WFAA8's 10 p.m. newscast a more than even playing field Monday night. But NBC5 instead is serving the jumbo shrimp after its late night...
Businessman Mike Rawlings, who's running for mayor against former Dallas police chief David Kunkle, has a top cop look about him in his inaugural TV ad. ...Ed Bark
Shon Gables, who both anchors and reports for Dallas-based WFAA8, has a judge-ordered bench warrant out for her arrest after losing a slander suit filed against her and allegedly twice failing to...
See what you think of them now, along with two other eye-catching NBC5 ads that are also included on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page. ...And the weekend D-FW Nielsen ratings again show relative ind...
Dallas-based Fox4 launched its experimental Next program at lunch time Friday. ... Also, Thursday's D-FW Nielsen ratings provide more windfalls for two of network TV's biggest shows.
Nightline's lead story Wednesday updated viewers about goings-on at Arizona's Heart Attack Grill, which so far has just one eatery but previously announced the June opening of a second one in Dal...
Simon Cowell's The X Factor, set to premiere next fall on Fox, now has both a site and a date (which was previously announced) for its Dallas auditions. Five other U.S. cities also are in the mix...
And now, for a change of pace, let's look at another network's problems. ... NBC's predicaments run far deeper than that.
Sorry about that, but the media marketplace is still buying, and it gave me a chance to drive all the way downtown amid typically snarled traffic on I-30 while listening to "The Ticket." ...And o...
Fox4, rolling in the D-FW ratings and in an experimental mood of late, will test-run Next this week. ... And Monday's D-FW Nielsen ratings highlight the two-hour return of NBC's The Event.
What you see if what you get get on D-FW's late night local newscasts. ...Plus, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings spotlight the performances of new and returning Sunday night "reality" series.
Having once given a weekly TV series to Dennis Rodman, Dallas Mavericks and HDNet owner Mark Cuban hopes to walk on the wild side anew by doing a deal with Charlie Sheen. Get the details on our D...
A pair of competing reality hours and a new A&E scripted series about cons chasing escaped cons are arriving in prime-time Sunday. ... Namely, ABC's Secret Millionaire, NBC's America's Next Great...
The four-week February "sweeps" ratings are history, with CBS11 and Fox4 the only stations entitled to wear party hats while WFAA8 tries on a dunce cap and NBC5 again comes away with nothing. ......
PBS hits a number of high notes Wednesday night with two 90-minute specials -- Troubadours: Carole King/James Taylor & the Rise of the Singer-Songwriter and Harry Connick, Jr. in Concert on Broad...
Obituaries for Jane Russell and Suze Rotolo ran side-by-side in Tuesday's edition of The New York Times. ...Plus, Monday's D-FW Nielsen ratings chart the void left by another Two and a Half Men r...
Fort Worth-based NBC5, still a solid if unspectacular No. 2 in the early mornings behind Fox4, has launched a series of new 30-second spots on behalf of its four waker-uppers. ...Also, as a new m...
ABC says Sunday night's 83rd annual Oscar ceremony drew the 2nd biggest audience since 2007. ... Get the complete local and national Nielsen numbers on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Sunday night's Oscar ceremony on ABC was designed to attract more younger viewers via hosts Anne Hathaway and James Franco. Still, a visitor from Old Hollywood managed to pretty much steal the sh...
Pant-pant, our concluding February "sweeps" compendium is in the books. See what Friday wrought.
All four major TV news providers again led with the same story on Thursday's late nighters. Not surprisingly it was news of the arrest of an alleged would-be terrorist who had been enrolled at Te...
A Thursday radio in which Charlie Sheen repeatedly insulted the executive producer of Two and a Half Men has finally provoked CBS and the show's production company, Warner Bros. Television, to en...
Truth in packaging: Wednesday's collection of D-FW late nighters wasn't exactly spine-tingling. But at least one newscast had enough ups and downs to flesh out our latest compendium.
Anne Hathaway and James Franco, the surprise picks to host this year's Oscars, seem ready to go, judging from their amusing final short film from "boot camp." You can see it here.
The adventures continue, with Tuesday night bringing a staged pilfering of Fox4 anchor Heather Hays' purse on the big 9 p.m. show. ...Also, ABC's Tuesday prime-time lineup achieves cult status in...
Resemblances to The Biggest Loser are utterly intentional on The CW's new Shedding for the Wedding. Could that be because they share the same creator/executive producer?
Plus there's much more in our latest in-depth look at D-FW's late night news coverage during the ongoing February "sweeps" ratings period. Plus, see which of Sunday's big sporting events had more...
Lots went on Friday -- at least on two of the four major TV news providers' late night editions. Our latest ratings "sweeps"-tied play-by-play can be found right here.
There's lots of new stuff to hash over on Day 4 of our two-week February "sweeps" content analysis-palooza. Including of course that Band of Brothers reunion -- on CBS11 -- of former WFAA8 stalwa...
Front-running CBS11 routed the onetime ratings juggernaut with help from live appearances by two former WFAA8 stars, news anchor Tracy Rowlett and weathercaster Troy Dungan. ...It should be noted...
Plus we also scour the late nighters on Fox4, NBC5 and WFAA8 on Day 3 of our two-week look at February "sweeps" news content. ...And on my home away from home, locatetv.com, take a look at the Os...
Overall local newscast audiences are up compared to a year ago, thanks in no small part to the heavy barrage of winter weather at the outset of the February "sweeps" ratings period. At the halfwa...
Fox4's extended live interview with again embattled Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price led the night's coverage of the big public hearing blowup. ... Plus, Tuesday's D-FW Nielsen ratings...
CBS has tried other drama genres, but viewers keep cringing at pretty much everything except crime 'n' punishment. So here we go again with the Wednesday night launch of Criminal Minds: Suspect B...
We're in the midst of the four-week February ratings "sweeps," and unclebarky.com again hears that familiar old siren song. So for the next two weeks, we'll again be putting a microscope on the l...
While TNT mulls whether to shoot the pilot of its Dallas remake in Dallas, we revisit the shock waves felt at Fox when its modern day Dallas, a k a the critically praised Lone Star, premiered wit...
CBS' still potent Monday night comedy lineup again shuffles the deck, with Jason Biggs' Mad Love arriving while Rules of Engagement moves on down the road to Wednesdays. ... Also, Thursday's D-FW...
Here's the faux promo, with Lee joined by Elton John, Ethel Merman and an ultimately fed-up Orson Welles, played by the late great John Candy. ...version=3&hl=en_US">
Al Gore's Current TV is making as big a splash as it can this week, following its surprise hiring of Keith Olbermann with an announcement of other new programming and the Friday night premiere of...
But the Dallas Mavericks' Dirk Nowitzki is voicing his cartoon self on this Sunday's NBA All-Star episode of Fox's The Cleveland Show. ... Also, Fox4's 9 p.m. local newscast cleaned up in Tuesday...
Former Friends star Matthew Perry's Mr. ... Plus, the network morning shows on ABC, CBS and NBC again get iced in D-FW by extended winter weather coverage.
Keith Olbermann has joined forces with the currently almost invisible Current TV network, which was co-founded by Al Gore. ... Plus, Fox's The Chicago Code falters on opening night, both national...
Prime-time's latest relationship comedy, Fox's Traffic Light, is well worth a stop Tuesday night. ... We also critique Larry the Cable Guy's new series, History's Only in America.
SUPER BOWL MVP AARON RODGERS WITH TERRY BRADSHAW. Photo: Ed Bark Now that I'm reasonably recovered from celebrating the Packers' victory in Super Bowl XLV, here are XX random observations about ...
The latest drama series from Shawn Ryan, creator of The Shield, will get a super-big buildup during Super Bowl XLV before premiering on Monday. See our review of The Chicago Code.
D-FW's morning TV news programs again went into overtime Friday when the snow accumulation dwarfed the previous day's predictions. We take a closer look here, with our usual array of pictures.
Frigid weather and an audition show from Austin ballooned American Idol to its biggest D-FW ratings of the season Wednesday while Fox4 also celebrated a landmark January in late night news. Plus,...
Not to snow or sleet on Jerry's rose-colored glasses outlook, but your friendly content provider is certain this will be the first and last Super Bowl in North Texas -- unless they put a plexigla...
Tuesday's extended storm coverage on D-FW's major TV news providers led to super-sized ratings for all. ... And The Kennedys miniseries, dumped by History Channel and rejected by other networks, ...
TNT officially has greenlighted a pilot for its possible second generation Dallas series, with Larry Hagman, Linda Gray and Patrick Duffy reprising their roles from the CBS original. ... Get the ...
D-FW's two 10 p.m. ratings kingpins, WFAA8 and CBS11, had dueling stories Monday on the possibilities that prostitutes will be pouring into North Texas for Super Bowl week. ... Plus, your latest ...
Tuesday morning dawned as a bonafide bad weather day, just like D-FW's TV weathercasters said it would be. Our picture page and accompanying text shows what it was like out in the field for the m...
The February ratings "sweeps" start Thursday, with WFAA8 and CBS11 expected to wage another pitched battle for 10 p.m supremacy. Two former WFAA8 biggies, anchor Tracy Rowlett and weathercaster T...
That crock pot Super Bowl XLV party dip from Glee star Matthew Morrison actually sounds awfully good. ... Our latest little Packer backer entry clotheslines Jerry Jones while extolling Green Bay'...
Fort Worth-based NBC5 has hired Rontina McCann from a Cincinnati TV station to bolster its two-man sports staff. ... Also, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings show that even the NFL's lamest showcase...
Also, our series of odes to your friendly content provider's native Green Bay Packers continues with the origin of the "Lambeau Leap." And the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings show significant Idol sl...
The latest basic cable network to take the plunge is countrified CMT, where former Reba co-star Melissa Peterman takes the wheel of Working Class with Ed Asner dispensing his usual guff. ...And a...
But few are likely to raise hell about FX's animated Archer, which returns in fine provocative form with a Season 2 opener that depicts a topless 16-year-old temptress. ... Plus, the second in a ...
Syfy's Face Off, premiering Wednesday, instead is a fairly fascinating competition among makeup artists who hope to transform themselves into behind-the-scenes movie or TV stars. ... And our firs...
Judy Woodruff made a big, big point during the recent TV Critics Association "press tour" about how she never shares her views on the news in a public fashion. ... Plus, we break down the D-FW Ni...
Keith Olbermann and his MSNBC Countdown program hit the streets Friday night after the network sacked the volatile commentator. ... We slice and dice here.
Get up-close with Oprah, Conan, Paris, Joan (yipes) and assorted other stars via your friendly content provider's latest TV "press tour" photo album. ...Ed Bark
Plus, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings show Idol still flexing on Night 2 of its retooled Season 10. And at my home away from home, locatetv.com, creator/producer JJ Abrams frets about Fringe's ne...
Starz launches Spartacus: Gods of the Arena Friday night. Fans of the original's heavy-duty violence, language and nudity won't be at all disappointed.
Affixed with new judges and a more congenial 'tude, American Idol launched Season 10 Wednesday night. ... Plus, USA has another new series, this one called Fairly Legal with former Dallas Cowboys...
TV Land's new companion piece for Hot in Cleveland is similarly old-school and elderly while NBC again goes the twentysomething route with Perfect Couples, an abysmal addition to its all-night Th...
Your FCP (Friendly Content Provider) has returned from the annual winter network TV "press tour" with visions of the Green Bay Packers participating in the first Super Bowl held within the Wiscon...
Meanwhile, I'll be heading to presumably sunny Southern California again for the annual January network TV "press tour," which runs from Jan. ...Unclebarky.com otherwise is well-stocked with earl...
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As the year winds down, unclebarky.com looks back at 2010's top national headliners. You'll find our annual countdown on the "Making a List" page.
1 CBS will be ringing in the New Year with a handful of significant changes, including the eventual banishment of William Shatner's pain-in-the-ass-to-type sitcom. Also, the red-hot Dallas Maveri...
Click here for our 2010 list of on-camera news personalities who now are no longer with Fox4, NBC5, WFAA8, CBS11/TXA21 or CW33. Plus, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings show the Mavs are still havin...
CW33 is really downplaying (hah!) the engagement of its own beauteous Candice Crawford to the Dallas Cowboys' resident gentleman who prefers blondes.
More than a quarter-century after its inception, Larry King let go of Larry King Live Thursday night. ...Plus, we remember late, great pitcher Bob Feller via a vintage "Back Channels" story that ...
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's conservative American Solutions organization is hitting up The Lodge for money again. The Dallas-based gentlemen's club has responded by gifting him with a li...
I've put together some closing thoughts on what it was like to cover the Rebecca Aguilar vs. ... And at my home away from home, locatetv.com, I've got a little discourse on Larry King's impending...
The latest Golden Globe nominations are a huge boost for Showtime, which for the first time bested HBO in the weekly series TV categories. Also, former CW33 anchor Tom Crespo has a new TV desk jo...
A 12-member jury ruled unanimously and quickly Monday in favor of Fox's defense against former reporter Rebecca Aguilar's civil suit charging wrongful termination based on racial discrimination a...
As a native Wisconsinite who grew up during the Green Bay Packers' glory years, I eagerly anticipated HBO's Lombardi documentary. ... And at least two key players are largely missing in action.
Fox wrongful termination trial got some last-minute star power Friday when the dean of D-FW news anchors, Clarice Tinsley, became the last witness to testify. ...Also, the jointly operated CBS11/...
Former Fox4 reporter Rebecca Aguilar testified on her behalf for much of Thursday's Day 4 of her wrongful termination suit against Fox4. ... Our detailed "exclusive" coverage -- there, I said it ...
Instead, attorneys for Dallas-based Fox4 guided news director Maria Barrs through her series of decidedly mixed performance evaluations of former reporter Rebecca Aguilar. ... Aguilar, who is sui...
Tuesday brought another full day of testimony in the wrongful termination civil suit filed by former Fox4 reporter Rebecca Aguilar against her previous employers. ... Because it affords a prime o...
Former Fox4 reporter Rebecca Aguilar's wrongful termination suit against her previous employers began Monday in Dallas with jury selection and some barbed opening statements by opposing attorneys...
Imagine a prime-time TV drama series in which no one gets arrested, solves a crime, prosecutes a case, fires a gun or wields a scalpel. That would be TNT's still finely rendered Men of a Certain ...
Bing Crosby, the "White Christmas" dude, stars in a newly released two-disc DVD collection of several Christmas specials. It includes the last one, which had that against-all-odds "Little Drummer...
We begin December with a look back at a still fairly stylish 1988 "Night Team" promo for Fort Worth-based KXAS-TV before it became NBC5 under the thumb of network ownership. ...You can send a few...
Ex-CW33 news director Anthony Maisel, who launched prime-time local newscasts on the station when it was still a WB affiliate, is returning to the TV news biz at KXII-TV in the Texoma area. ... P...
CBS is parting ways with its entire early morning roster of personalities in hopes of somehow making its long-struggling waker-upper competitive with NBC's Today and ABC's Good Morning America. ....
Oscar's new hosting duo was announced Monday. You could take a thousand guesses -- and never come up with these two.
We're back from a Thanksgiving week sojourn and returning to business with a painstaking breakdown of how WFAA8 nipped CBS11 at the November "sweeps" tape to win D-FW's marquee 10 p.m. local news...
Thanksgiving Day is nearing, and unclebarky.com will be out and about and off for this week. ...And many thanks for your continued readership.
Fort Worth-based NBC5 has hired a new meteorologist who's making a big jump in market size and has a weather-ready surname. ...Ed Bark
John Lennon returns up close and personal in Lennon Naked and LENNONYC. ...Ed Bark
Fox announced its new midseason lineup early Friday evening. The many changes include a new night for American Idol's results show and a goodbye to The Good Guys, which was nice having in Dallas ...
Our concluding November "sweeps" compendium looks at a rare species lately making a comeback -- anchors who actually get out and report. ... And their identities "may shock you," as they used to ...
Our latest compendium spotlights a gem of a human interest story by WFAA8 reporter Gary Reaves and an oversell by one of his colleagues. ... And lo and behold, a new "Ask Uncle Barky" entertains ...
Which D-FW news anchor got some "exclusive" backstage time with George W. ... And why should it come as no surprise?
Former Cowboys backup QB Babe Laufenberg, now the veteran CBS11 sports anchor, scored very high on a new deadspin.com list. ... Also, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings show CBS11 punching back at 1...
Or to put it another way, Hansen and weathercaster Pete Delkus played in the sand again, but to a degree not seen before. Also, Monday's D-FW Nielsen ratings show that WFAA8 may have profited at ...
The promos have been incessant. Now it's time for TV critics to take aim at TBS' Glory Daze.
You really will need a scorecard to divine all the midseason changes NBC is making. Consider it done on our TV Bulletin Board page.
A Braum's ice cream shop in Greenville partly blew its top Friday, sending D-FW newscasts scurrying to cover another weather "event." ... Plus, the Dallas Cowboys' big win Sunday at New York unde...
Here we go again, with lots to say about Thursday's late night newsers on Fox4, NBC5, WFAA8 and CBS11. ...We extoll his virtues while also providing a look at a recent instant classic about a dec...
WFAA8 and CBS11 again are in a too-close-to-call heavyweight fight at 10 p.m. while CBS11 is trying to win the 6 p.m. newscast ratings competition for the first time in its history. For a closer ...
We accentuate the positive -- with some snide helpings of snide -- in unclebarky.com's lingering looks at Wednesday's flagship newscasts on Fox4, NBC5, WFAA8 and CBS11. It's all right here.
Plus, CNN names names for the first time in a "Keep 'em Honest" promo aimed at its two partisan cable news rivals, Fox News Channel and MSNBC. And on my home away from home, locatetv.com, see wha...
WFAA8 investigator Byron Harris struck again Tuesday night while Fox4 took reporter "involvement" into the station's lunch room. ... Also, Tuesday's D-FW Nielsen ratings are in the books.
Bush appeared in disparate venues Tuesday as his book tour gained steam. How was he received on The Oprah Winfrey Show?
Oh no you didn't. ... Our ratings "sweeps" scrutiny of D-FW's four principal late night newscasts returns for a limited engagement.
Conan O'Brien returned to the late night battlefield Monday night after TBS floated an incessant blimp-centric promotional campaign. ... Also, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings show how well he did...
Wow, Keith Olbermann contributed money to Democratic candidates!!! And MSNBC cites NBC News "policy and standards" in suspending him!!!
Rick Perry, triumphant anew after his rout of opponent Bill White, showed up on MSNBC's Morning Joe Friday to push his new book, Fed Up!... He also let it be known that he prays daily for Preside...
The anchors of CBS11's early morning show paid up their World Series bet with a San Francisco station Friday morning. ... Also, rescued Chilean miner Edison Pena made a very memorable appearance ...
David Letterman is late night's new king for a week -- at least among the broadcast network /jokers/talkers/greeters. But someone else has spanked both of them for the first time among advertiser...
Dallas-based CW33 has a sparkling new set for its 9 p.m. local newscasts. And with a purge at the top of its owner, the Tribune Co., maybe the content will get a chance to shine a bit, too.
And you can pretty much find it in each and every episode of HBO's The Larry Sanders Show, which made 89 of them before bowing out in 1998. ...Factory revisits the treacherous, behind-the-scenes ...
But we're back in play now, giving you the complete local ratings for the last three World Series games plus the Cowboys' Sunday afternoon debacle against Jacksonville. ...It's also time for anot...
AMC's fourth original series, The Walking Dead, takes advertiser-supported TV to new levels of violence. ... Plus, Game 2 of the Texas Rangers-infused World Series takes a bit of a ratings dive t...
Well, that was certainly embarrassing. ... Our take on the Rangers' 9-0 Game 2 World Series loss to the Giants is here.
CBS11's ratings-challenged early morning program added newcomer Lisa Pineiro to the mix Thursday on the first day of the November "sweeps" ratings period. ...And KETK-TV, the NBC affiliate statio...
But the 'Pokes disastrous Monday Night Football outing against New York could still claim dubious bragging rights over the North Texas Nine's Friday night ALCS triumph over some other New Yorkers...
WFAA8 sports anchor Dale Hansen rolls with your brushback pitches -- and throws some, too -- during a relentlessly candid interview with unclebarky.com before leaving on a jet plane for the first...
Monday Night Football commentators justifiably wondered what happened to the "juice" in the Cowboys defense after the Giants fell behind 20-7. That's also a key ingredient in the game that iced Q...
Taking out the Yanks to make your first-ever appearance in the World Series? ... And we've got lotsa pictures to prove it.
The sleuth that stirs the drink has his own website now in another "re-imagining" of case-cracking Sherlock Holmes and his partner, Dr. ... The address is PBS, but also still 221 B Baker Street, ...
NPR has a lot of great programming, but a really stupid leader who has now put the taxpayer-funded network in the cross-hairs after her knee-jerk firing of Juan Williams. Get our opinion -- oh no...
In a rare instance of actually hiring someone in local TV news, CBS11/TXA21 have named a replacement for retired meteorologist Mike Burger. ... Plus, we have D-FW "Nielsen ratings snapshots" of b...
NBC News doesn't come right out and say this in its announcement of "unprecedented" Nov. 2 election night coverage that will preempt both Jay Leno and Jimmy Fallon. But your friendly content prov...
Wednesday afternoon's Game 5 of the ALCS featured a largely inept outing by Rangers starter C.J. ... For our take on the game and the TBS coverage, please click here.
Perhaps you've noticed something about those live 10 p.m. reports from outside Yankee Stadium by a squadron of D-FW sports reporters. Basically they've been worthless due to the lengths of the ga...
Check out the kind of information you won't find anywhere else by clicking here. Also, your friendly content provider offers another dispatch on the latest post-season Rangers adventure, complete...
Cameron Todd Willingham of Corsicana was executed more than six years ago after being convicted of setting his home on fire and letting his three young children die in the blaze. Frontline is the...
NBC has announced a full-season pickup for Chase, which has been limping along in the local and national Nielsen ratings but is showing growth potential, according to the Peacock. ...You really s...
The Rangers big win over the Yankees Monday night, with pitcher Cliff Lee in sensational form, reigned supreme in the D-FW Nielsen ratings. Get our complete report here, plus your friendly conten...
On our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page, you'll find items on Dale Hansen and Josh Lewin plus a very daring video sendup of Dallas-based Fox4 as "The Social Media Station." On the same page is a full-bl...
Back from a road trip just in time to see the Cowboys lose on the road to run their record to 1-4. ... Go here to get our reasoning behind why the Cowboys' very own mad man should run his asylum.
Your friendly content provider and his lovely wife will be packing the motor vehicle and hitting the road for the next week or so. That should be enough to re-charge the batteries before unclebar...
The address was TBS for a second Texas Rangers cruise control win at Tampa Thursday afternoon. ... We celebrate here while hoping the Minnesota Twins -- home team for three Barky siblings -- can ...
Well-hidden in early-to-mid-afternoon hours on TBS cable, the Texas Rangers managed to draw a decent crowd Wednesday while being no match for some of that night's prime-time attractions. ...Also,...
Unearthed footage of the making of 1978's Darkness on the Edge of Town captures Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at a pivotal time in their still nascent musical careers. HBO premieres the...
The Texas Rangers finally are on the playoff map in a big way -- at least in the box score -- after Wednesday's key opening win at Tampa Bay. TBS made the Rangers and Rays their early afternoon l...
PBS will sing along for the next three Wednesdays with Michael Feinstein's American Songbook. ... Also, Tuesday's D-FW Nielsen ratings chart the continuing down-up-down fortunes of ABC.
Nice work if you can get it, but a little too much of the premiere is best watched while being passed out. ... And on my home away from home, locatetv.com, see why today's savvy programming execu...
Warring Democrats and Republicans have come together on the irksome issue of commercials that are louder than the programs they pay for. Meanwhile, warring Democrats and Republicans may well get ...
The number of made-in-Texas network TV series now is down from four to two after ABC axed Austin's My Generation after two episodes. ...And the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings show that a football ga...
Fox4 is livening up its 9 p.m. newscasts with more live interviews and -- on Thursday -- a marathon appearance by Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. ...And let's remember the late Tony Curtis wit...
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...
CBS scored the biggest in the first week of the new TV season while ABC and Fox both struggled. Get our complete scorecard here.
NBC again extends the Law & Order brand Wednesday with an offshoot set in L.A. ... Plus, check out Tuesday's D-FW Nielsen ratings for the numbers on newcomer No Ordinary Family, returnee The Good...
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 evenin...
D-FW-based CBS11 has tabbed Lisa Pineiro to join Scott Sams on the station's weekday early morning news program. ... Also, ABC's super-powered No Ordinary Family debuts Tuesday.
Ken Burns' classic 1994 Baseball film goes into overtime Tuesday and Wednesday night with his four-hour The Tenth Inning. ... Also, see our complete wrapup of the Dallas Cowboys-infused D-FW week...
The last weeknight of the new fall season ends with the premiere of Tom Selleck's Blue Bloods series on CBS. ...Ed Bark
WFAA8 sports anchor Dale Hansen's latest jab at weathercaster Pete Delkus proves him to be a master-baiter. ... And the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings chart the performance of Thursday's new and ret...
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. ...Ed Bark
The new fall season continues apace with a pair of freshman comedies. ...Plus, the Wednesday D-FW Nielsen ratings chart the ups and downs of that night's new and returning series.
A new ABC legal drama, The Whole Truth, goes against two other legal hours in Wednesday's closing hour of prime-time. ... Plus, ABC sandwiches the freshman comedy series Better With You between t...
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. ...Also, those in search of a new gui...
Did anyone catch that new black-and-white ""On the Road" image campaign for WFAA8 Monday night? ... And you can get our take on it -- as well as see it for yourself -- by going right here.
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.
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 ap...
Tuesday rings in three more broadcast TV newcomers, with a fourth (No Ordinary Family) coming next week on that night. ... The weekend D-FW ratings also are in, with the Cowboys drawing more than...
Amid the rush and crush of the new fall season, I almost forgot to note another milestone in the life of unclebarky.com. ...We'll continue striving to write about local and national TV as we see ...
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...
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.
Jody Dean's morning show on Dallas-based KLUV radio will be simulcast on TXA21, staring in late October. ... Also, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings are in.
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 s...
The CBS sitcom Mike & Molly, premiering Monday, lards its two plus-sized title characters with way too many fat jokes. ... Also, we have the D-FW ratings returns for Wednesday's big night of real...
WFAA8 investigator Brett Shipp's investigations into the Southlake Carroll and Euless Trinity football programs have left him with a 1-1 record. ...And on our home away from home, locatetv.com, c...
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. ... Plus, NBC's Sunday Night F...
The Dallas Cowboys opened their latest regular season on NBC's national stage Sunday night. ... And on our home away from home, locatetv.com, we assess the possibilities of Larry King's CNN repla...
"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 o...
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. ... And for more on the actress, check out your friendly conte...
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. ...Plus, TNT has green-lig...
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 whil...
The CW network jump-starts its new season this week with Wednesday night's unveiling of the new cheerleader series Hellcats. ... And a new edition of TV Bulletin Board catches up on some signific...
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 blo...
Closing in on two months before its premiere, Conan O'Brien's late night TBS show at last has a name. ... Also, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings pit the first-place Texas Rangers against NBC's pot...
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. ...That means that the Dallas-Fort Wo...
While American Idol continues to vacillate over judges, Dancing With the Stars kicked up its heels anew with another dozen celebrity hoofers. ... And the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings again provide...
And this was the first one to offer both a conventional TV presentation and a "Backstage" webcast. We look at the ABCs of NBC's two-tiered coverage while also rating Jimmy Fallon's hosting skills...
Record ratings for Fox Sports Southwest telecasts of Texas Rangers games have put announcers Josh Lewin and Tom Grieve in front of more eyeballs than ever before. ... Plus, the latest D-FW Nielse...
We've got video proof here while also raising the question of whether any of D-FW's major TV news providers might want to consider a "Throwback Week" in which other antiques return. ... And Episo...
Another high school athletic program is in the cross-hairs of veteran WFAA8 gumshoe Brett Shipp, who painted a convincing picture of wrongdoing with Tuesday night's lengthy look at a star Southla...
Celebrities sometimes say the damndest things to unclebarky.com. Survivor host Jeff Probst is the latest to make a promise he likely won't keep after former Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson officially...
News as we used to know it took another knee to the groin Monday night when NBC5 tried to transform a self-described "Twitteratzi" into a newsmaker. ... Plus, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings retu...
The three principal stars of HBO's True Blood are naked, intertwined and quite bloody on the new cover of Rolling Stone. Our thoughts -- and a trio of other famous nude magazine cover "statements...
Brushed off as far as major television exposure goes, the so-called "Creative Arts" Emmys were handed out Saturday night. ...And we take a third trip to TV THEME SONG-ville as an appetizer for th...
HBO and Spike Lee re-team for a second post-Katrina -- and now post-BP spill -- look at New Orleans in Monday and Tuesday's If God Is Willing and Da Creek Don't Rise. ... Also, as a continuing ap...
Thursday's announced retirement of weathercaster Mike Burger finds him leaving CBS11/TXA21 despite 19 months remaining on a two-year contract. ... Also, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings reflect th...
Weathercaster Mike Burger, who's spent the last decade at CBS11/TXA21, says he's retiring after 40 years in broadcasting. ...Ed Bark
As appetizers, unclebarky.com is serving up a collection of memorable TV theme songs, accompanied by their opening videos. For your first trip to TV Theme Song-ville, go here.
Chris Harrison, one of the hottest TV hosts in the land, has matriculated from Lake Highlands High School to host of The Bachelor/Bachelorette/Bachelor Pad. ... Plus, the latest D-FW Nielsen rati...
They join fellow North Texans Alex Lambert and Tim Urban among the final eight males on Fox's American Idol, which in Season 9 is still prime-time's most-watched weekly series. ...It's also a loc...
Which of course meant that local news stations brought you more breathless dispatches from Cowboys' training camp in Oxnard, CA before getting around to baseball. ...Also, it's a pitched battle o...
Showtime dares to treat cancer lightly -- and seriously -- in its superb new series The Big C. ... Plus, Thursday night's Cowboys pre-season game effortlessly paces the latest D-FW Nielsen rating...
Wolper, architect of TV miniseries ranging from Roots to The Thorn Birds, has died at age 82. ... Also, an all-time record crowd for any attraction on Fox Sports Southwest watched in agony Wednes...
The Texas Rangers' pulsating win over the Yankees Tuesday night broke a nearly 12-year-old ratings record on Fox Sports Southwest. ... And on locatetv.com, there's another TV "press tour" dispatc...
But your friendly content provider is back with his first love, unclebarky.com, after two weeks of exclusive blogging for locatetv.com. ...Plus, check out the latest developments in D-FW televisi...
Here I go again, journeying to sunny Southern Cal for another bout with umpteen TV networks presenting their new fall fare. ... So I won't be back until Aug. 9th, meaning there'll be no filing fo...
AMC's Rubicon, premiering Sunday, Aug. 1st, is definitely not a light-hearted spy caper series. But its intelligence analysts will keep your brain teased.
OK, but while you're doing jumping jacks of joy :), don't expect it to happen anytime soon at D-FW's Tribune-owned CW33. ... And for a review of The CW's upcoming Plain Jane makeover series, go t...
Mad Men returns with new episodes this Sunday, and the first one is another reason to get re-hooked or join the party. ... Also, Fox4 lately has an added attraction on its 9 p.m. newscasts.
Friend and colleague Robert Wilonsky of The Dallas Observer's "Unfair Park" blog has a very interesting interview with the woman who steered ESPN to Fort Worth instead of Dallas for its big Super...
Fox News Channel's Shepard Smith doesn't have to wash his hands of the bogus Shirley Sherrod "scandal." ... We weigh in while also showing you video of Smith's criticisms of both his employer and...
Get the details here, plus unclebarky.com's look at three Tuesday night CW33 stories that likely won't be replicated elsewhere. ... Also, there's a report that former Cowboys Coach Jimmy Johnson ...
Merle Haggard, deftly described by a reviewer as "country music's Frank Sinatra," is shown doing it his way in the latest new and memorable American Masters film. ... And the latest D-FW Nielsen ...
Your friendly content provider is freshly returned from a Bark family reunion in Minnesota, where his diving catch in a climactic wiffle ball game preserved a 12-0 victory. ...And the first-place...
Those of a mind to listen can hear your friendly content provider discourse on local and national TV during the Thursday, July 15th edition of BaD Radio on "The Ticket." ...Meanwhile, another CBS...
WFAA8 soon will be re-juggling anchor slots when Shelly Slater and Shon Gables deliver their babies and take their maternity leaves. Gables in particular hasn't been shy about detailing the ups a...
Some readers have wondered about the propriety of CBS11 revealing the name of a seriously injured Fort Worth police officer last week while other stations continued to cite the family's request f...
The death of George Steinbrenner evokes memories of ESPN's terrific eight-hour The Bronx Is Burning miniseries, with Oliver Platt as "The Boss." It premiered in the summer of 2007 and be found re...
Ginger Allen, who's co-anchored CBS11's early morning news program for the past three years with Scott Sams, will be going back to her old digs. ... And on our TV Bulletin Board page, there's new...
Dallas native Angie Harmon heads the cast of TNT's latest drama series, Rizzoli & Isles. ... Also, the weekend D-FW Nielsen ratings show that Spain's lone g-o-o-o-al attracted plenty of World Cup...
Only this time it's on A&E, where scripted hours are few and far between. For a suitably fun departure from the network's Billy the Exterminator, check out Sunday night's premiere of The Glades.
It may have been repulsive, this whole idea of ESPN genuflecting to "King" LeBron James in a Thursday night special grandly titled The Decision. But in the end, how good of a face did he put on h...
Syfy's new Haven, being paired on Friday nights with its quirky Eureka, is the latest saga of a burg gone wild. ... Plus, Dallas-based WFAA8 has hired a new weekend Daybreak weathercaster who's m...
Nominations for the 62nd annual Emmy Awards were announced Thursday, with a batch of newcomers joining the usual suspects. ... And our TV Bulletin Board page notes TV Land's renewal of Hot In Cle...
WFAA8 gumshoe Brett Shipp reported Tuesday that state officials finally are doing "what appears to be a huge about-face" on the issue of faulty and sometimes lethal natural gas couplings. ... We ...
Dallas flyboy Jake Pavelka and Vienna Girardi took their post-Bachelor issues to ABC's The Bachelorette Monday night for a rock 'em, sock 'em verbal brawl that's virtually certain to be the most-...
We'll be taking a few days off here at unclebarky.com central before resuming publication on Tuesday. ...Also, The Huckabee Show will be test-marketed on a limited number of Fox-owned stations (i...
NBC5 news anchor Mike Snyder bowed out gracefully and poignantly Thursday, ending a 30-year run at the Fort Worth-based station. Our complete coverage, with pictures and video, is here.
Maybe it was a mirage, but Wednesday's 9 p.m. newscast had some plusses, including the usual strong work by meteorologist Rebecca Miller and her greatly enhanced weather graphics. We also have no...
Perhaps heeding unclebarky.com's recent admonition that he not stay too long at the party -- yeah, right -- Larry King announced Tuesday on CNN that he'll be quitting his interview show sometime ...
Back in play with his second comedy series after a disastrous one on HBO, Louis C.K. gets it a lot more right this time around. ... And on my home away from home, locatetv.com, see how CBS has de...
ABC Family's Huge, co-created by the mind behind My So-Called Life, launches Monday night in tandem with the channel's already hot Secret Life of the American Teenager. ... Plus, CBS is giving Al...
WFAA8's homegrown Good Morning Texas on the face of it had quite a coup Friday when local boy Jake Pavelka co-hosted. ... Nothing came of it because the reliably buttery show agreeably avoided an...
The Dallas district attorney's office has declined to prosecute a police charge of public lewdness against Brad Hawkins, a former WFAA8 anchor/reporter who left the station in December 2008 to ta...
Also, we reprise video of Tracy Rowlett's sermonette on CBS11 during his first newscast for the station. It happened more than a decade ago and he's now been off the air nearly two years.
Wednesday morning perked up considerably in the U.S. when Landon Donovan scored a spine-tingling goal near the very end of a matchup with Algeria that otherwise would have ended in a 0-0 tie. ......
Also, CNN hires defrocked former NY governor Eliot Spitzer without ever mentioning his past in the all-news network's official announcement. ... Plus, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings show a retur...
Gosh, it's splitsville for D-FW's very own Jake Pavelka and the woman he loved like no other -- for a few months. ... Plus, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings show a few encouraging signs -- locally...
Jason Lee's followup to My Name Is Earl is TNT's new Memphis Beat, in which his name is Dwight Hendricks. But can we buy him as a hard-charging detective this soon?
Cynthia Izaguirre, co-anchor of Dallas-based WFAA8's Daybreak, is on the mend from a garage door that got the best of her nose early Friday morning. ... Also, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings incl...
And although I haven't had enough time to review it, National Geographic Channel's five-hour How The Earth Changed History will be running Sunday through Tuesday. ...And nationally, TV Land is ba...
CBS11 found itself reporting on one of its own when a poker game shootout involved one of its staff photographers. ... Also, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings show NBC's America's Got Talent and CW...
Showtime's sequel to The L Word, an unscripted soap/saga of six real-life lesbians, arrives Sunday night without any real sex. ... Also, the brand new and heavily financed Cambio website celebrat...
Still a new player amid a bumper crop of cable networks, Planet Green hopes to attract attention with a new down-on-the-farm reality series titled The Fabulous Beekman Boys. ... Also, Fox's Dalla...
Four sitcom pros, most notably Betty White, are the marquee players in TV Land's new Hot In Cleveland, premiering Wednesday. ... Also, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings show big weekend returns for...
HBO launches the third season of True Blood Sunday. And its many-splendored vampires aren't the only ones with bite.
CW33 news director David Duitch continues to treat his 9 p.m. edition as a sex toy in a growingly desperate effort to get noticed. Unfortunately his beaten-down staff has to play along because jo...
Sean Hayes came out as a gay man several months ago, just in time for a Newsweek columnist to question his suitability for playing a straight lead in Broadway's revival of Promises, Promises. ......
The trick is to know your own expiration date, and some still haven't mastered that knack. ... We name other names here while also putting your friendly content provider to the test of life beyon...
NBC5 anchor Mike Snyder will be leaving the Fort Worth-based station on July 1st after a 30-year-career. ... Also, the latest D-FW ratings highlight Tuesday night's 8 p.m. battle between the seas...
Fox's Dallas-made The Good Guys had its time slot premiere Monday. ... Also, at my home away from home, locatetv.com, we look at the good, bad and ugly of the many TV series made into feature fil...
Ron Galella's point-and-shoot brand of celebrity photography often had his subjects raising their hands in defense -- when they weren't suing or punching him. A fascinating new HBO documentary, S...
Sneak-previewed last month, Fox's made-in-Dallas The Good Guys returns Monday night in its regular romping grounds. ... Also, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings are in the house.
David Dillon, a former Dallas Morning News colleague and an architecture critic of national stature, has died of a heart attack at age 68. ...David was a kind and serious-minded man, but with a t...
Thursday's two-hour edition of Fox's So You Think You Can Dance will include the mid-March auditions held at SMU's McFarlin Auditorium. ...Plus, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings show a tepid respo...
As the summer season starts in earnest, we look back on the official 2009-'10 festivities to see which networks and shows were tops in Nielsen's two major ratings food groups. Plus, Tuesday's D-F...
Just one network is investing today in predominantly black, so-called "urban" comedies. ... Also, the holiday weekend D-FW Nielsen ratings are in.
Have a safe, happy and restful Memorial Day weekend, everybody. ... And we also weigh in on Dallas-based WFAA8's Daybreak promotional campaign, starring co-anchor Cynthia Izaguirre and weathercas...
CBS11 made station history Thursday by sweeping a 10 p.m. "sweeps" ratings race for the first time since it launched late night newscasts 15 years ago in D-FW. ...Also, the Wednesday Nielsen rati...
Did WFAA8 get the big win it needed coming off ABC's Dancing with the Stars finale? ...Also, the documentary film Saving Africa's Witch Children has its U.S. premiere Wednesday night on HBO2.
Rick Perry and Dallas mayor Tom Leppert, yearning to get in on the action, will be on hand Wednesday afternoon in DT Dallas to tell commoners that a fourth TV series will be shot in North Texas d...
Monday's first weeknight 9 p.m. edition in HD was heavily stocked with the station's newest stock in trade -- sex. ... Also, we chart the numbers for Monday's big series and season finales in the...
On the heels of Lost's finale, which is still kicking up all kinds of commentary, here come the Monday night farewells for NBC's Law & Order and Fox's 24. ... Also, the national Nielsens for Lost...
Ex-American Idol judge Paula Abdul won't be re-teaming with Simon Cowell after all. ... Also, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings snapshot charts Sunday night's local numbers for ABC's big Lost final...
ABC's Lost let Jesus take the wheel at the close of its two-and-a-half hour finale Sunday. We take a knee here.
WFAA8 anchor Gloria Campos has some candid thoughts on what she'd like her TV news life to be like a few years down the road. In the immediate future, she's giving up "Wednesday's Child" after mo...
Viewers took over a good part of Thursday's late night D-FW newscasts with their video and pictures of that afternoon's tornado activity. ... See our latest compendium on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV...
This'll be a multi-task edition that also takes note of all those Thursday afternoon programming preemptions tied to tornado warnings in Ellis and Navarro County. Weather I'm right or weather I'm...
Fox's Wednesday night preview of The Good Guys had a good go in the D-FW Nielsen ratings but kinda flamed out in the country at large. ... Also, The CW announces its fall schedule, and it's all r...
Our latest D-FW late night newscast compendium is in the books. It's been a long day.
An influx of old-timers in new shows and the shifting of four high-profile series to new nights and times are the big news coming out of CBS' latest fall schedule. ...And after a couple of hours ...
Remember to synchronize your watches for the Wednesday, May 19th sneak preview of Fox's The Good Guys at 7 p.m. (central). The made-in-Dallas odd-couple cop series then begins its scheduled summe...
Our latest compendium takes note of the fact that only one major TV news provider's featured anchors are actually getting out and reporting on a regular basis. ...NOTE TO READERS: I'll be doing a...
ABC announced Tuesday that one of its seven new fall series will be the made-in-Austin My Generation. ...As previously reported, there'll be a trio of made-in-Dallas series in prime-time next fal...
Were D-FW's major TV news providers in large part all wet with their endless hyperbole about weekend rain? ... So we revisit this topic for hopefully the last time in our latest compendium.
A Dallas-esque new serial soap and a fall berth for The Good Guys should keep local production crews super-busy this summer. Get all the details here on Fox's just-announced fall schedule plus th...
Question answered. Chase, from hitmaker Jerry Bruckheimer (the CSI franchise), will premiere this fall on Mondays at 9 p.m. and get a big promotional push on Sunday Night Football, Peacock execs ...
Our latest late night compendium praises three extended enterprise stories offered by three different D-FW television news providers. Plus, TXA21 is ending its weekend prime-time newscasts while ...
DFW-based CBS11 will be replicating Fox4 in starting its early morning newscast a half-hour earlier. ... Plus, the May "sweeps" local news ratings races are still way too close to call at the hal...
Or you can just let a smile be your umbrella and grin along with unclebarky.com's look at all the up-top histrionics during Wednesday's D-FW late night TV newscasts. ... Plus, the latest D-FW Nie...
After some pretty lean production years -- can you say Shreveport? -- Dallas and the North Texas area are on a big rebound. ... Get the details here while veteran Dallas Film Commission head Jani...
The Oklahoma tornadoes and their aftermath were still news on Tuesday's D-FW late night TV newscasts. ... Also, Fox4 continues to make ratings noise in the early mornings while defending champ NB...
Using footage from their times -- and no additional additives -- PBS' When You're Strange: A Film About the Doors recaptures the traumatic, dramatic times of a signature group and their volatile,...
Three of D-FW's major TV news providers led their late editions with extensive coverage of the lethal twisters that hit Oklahoma. ... Plus, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings are in for what turned ...
Fox's The Good Guys continues to film all 13 of its episodes in this area, with a sneak preview slated for May 19th. As previously posted, NBC also has announced four other new scripted series fo...
Plus you can see an NBC5 reporter in a funny hat and video of Fox4 weathercaster Ron Jackson's butt-forward, off-camera dance. ... And on our home away from home, locatetv.com, we pose some of "T...
TV station managers and sales departments have little or no use for older viewers when it comes to setting advertising rates. But plucky, purse snatcher-defying oldsters like Linda Self are godse...
Our latest compendium questions whether WFAA8 needs a jolt of Red Bull. Also, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings are in and Friday Night Lights is ready to return to NBC while Dallas Cowboys QB Tony...
Filmed entirely in the Dallas area, Fox's The Good Guys won't be launching until May 19th. ... And due to considerable local interest, there's no time like the present to review it.
Our latest look at D-FW's late night newscasts re-investigates two dubious CBS11 investigations, one of them latching onto a previous effort by the tabloid magazine Inside Edition. ... Also, the ...
Presenting more praise and punches for D-FW's late night newscasts on what turned out to be a very eventful Monday. ... Also, the Emmys have a new host and NBC has picked up a promising new serie...
Contractually freed to appear on TV for the first time since leaving The Tonight Show, Conan O'Brien chose Sunday's 60 Minutes and correspondent Steve Kroft. ...A 4 percent commission is paid for...
For as long as stamina and sanity hold out, we'll take a detailed look at what they're offering on the 20 weeknights that comprise the sweeps. And for starters, here's a possibly shocking develop...
The Dallas Mavericks made another inglorious exit from the NBA playoffs Thursday night, losing in San Antonio to take a first round knockout punch. We assess the damage and duly rip coach Rick Ca...
A number of CBS stations, including D-FW's CBS11, bit on a story about an alleged gray hair remover in pill form. ... And at my home away from home, locatetv.com, get the latest news and views on...
Starting her second month on the job and girding for Thursday's start of the May "sweeps" ratings period, CBS11's latest news director explains herself in an interview with unclebarky.com. ...Plu...
ABC's latest answer to Twin Peaks -- this one dubbed Happy Town -- takes viewers to the fictional burg of Haplin, Minnesota. ... And judging from the above headline, we didn't like this one all t...
We're back in business here at unclebarky.com after your friendly content provider's whirlwind trip to Chicago to see daughter Liz in The House of Yes. ...But daddy's little girl in real life is ...
Former Dallas Maverick Ray Johnston was felled by leukemia, got up and reinvented himself. His amazing recoveries from adversity, and his improbably brief stint as a Mav, are recounted in the HDN...
As he proves anew Saturday in HBO's You Don't Know Jack. ... Also, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings are mostly a cakewalk for CBS, with frosting for CBS11's late night newser.
The 20-year-old mop top from Duncanville, added to American Idol's final 24 only after a previous qualifier was declared ineligible, made it all the way to the Fox hit's final seven before judges...
That's life in a TV world where NBC's Sunday Night Football cherry picks while ESPN and NFL Network also get their licks in. ...Also, we conduct another little seminar on how size still matters w...
Larry David has agreed to curmudgeon his way through an eighth season of Curb Your Enthusiasm while NBC says it's a go for Parenthood next fall. ...Ed Bark
No longer dominant at 9 p.m., CBS' CSI: Miami lately has lost its D-FW crown to ABC's competing Castle. ...Also, there's a bit of a bone to pick with PBS' Milk Bone-sponsored Through A Dog's Eyes...
The Dallas Mavericks' hard-fought win over San Antonio lit up Sunday night's ratings on two channels, making a funeral dirge of CBS' competing country music awards. ...Plus, there'll be no review...
Fox4's Good Daze band, partially composed of Good Day staffers, returned to the show's stage Friday for a performance of "Everywhere." Which led us to remember that this used to be the theme song...
Explorer, which first broke ground in 1985, commemorates a quarter-century of singular adventures in a really-should-see Monday night special. ... Also, contrarian-by-trade Skip Bayless, formerly...
Entertaining but lacking the nutrients of the first three two-hour films, NBC's Saturday Night Live in the 2000s: Time and Again premieres Thursday, April 15th. ... Also, the latest D-FW Nielsen ...
WFAA8 sports anchor Dale Hansen is still sorting through email responses to his unbridled, "Unplugged" commentary Tuesday night. We interview him on how it all came about, with additional comment...
Fox's Glee returned triumphantly from a long recess to roll up big Nielsen numbers in D-FW. But contrary to what some apparently think, WFAA8's decision to let sports anchor Dale Hansen shred sta...
He'll now be the regular weathercaster on the station's afternoon and evening weekend newscasts while also continuing to pursue a master's degree at Dallas Theological Seminary. Johnston left Okl...
An "Unplugged" Dale Hansen almost put his WFAA8 bosses in an electric chair during a searing commentary on Tuesday's 10 p.m. newscast. At issue was his strong opposition to WFAA8's airing of a cl...
George Lopez officially embraced Conan O'Brien on Monday's Lopez Tonight, and later interviewed him. ... See the video on our Network News & Reviews page while also reading a racially motivated r...
After a long recess, new episodes of Fox's Glee resume Tuesday. ... But quality-wise, this is now America's No. 1 music performance show.
In a surprise announcement Monday, TBS cable said it has landed Conan O'Brien for a new late night comedy show. All the details, as well as the promo airing tonight on TBS, are on our Network New...
OK, we're kinda kiddin' with the pretentious colon-in-the-title tease from above. But unclebarky.com did look at the live Texas Stadium implosion specials early Sunday morning on Fox4, NBC5, WFAA...
As recently noted anew, Fox has begun unveiling promos for its action-comedy cop series The Good Guys, which premieres May 19th and is being filmed entirely in the Dallas area. Return with us now...
HBO's latest, and quite possibly one of its greatest series premieres Sunday. Set three months after Katrina hit, Treme makes New Orleans come alive in both chapters and song verses.
Also, ABC unfurls a big collection of summertime series, all of which are detailed on our TV Bulletin Board page. Plus, a brief look at who Megan Henderson's been hanging out with in Hollywood a ...
But it's never too early to get a taste, which viewers of American Idol did last night if they were paying any attention to the commercial breaks. We'll take our own closer look here, and also pr...
It may not help him during Wednesday night's vote-off, but Duncanville's Tim Urban got an unaccustomed heap of praise on Tuesday's American Idol. ... Plus, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings show mo...
Texas Stadium's last rites, in the early morning this Sunday, will be gang-covered live by all four major D-FW television news providers. ... Also, there's a new weekly national ratings champ, an...
Can Fox4 shake up its flat ratings by starting a half-hour earlier than its three competitors? ... Plus, NBC renews three reality hours for next season, all of them attached to stars much better ...
The Texas Rangers and Tiger Woods opened their new seasons simultaneously Monday afternoon, with the hometown nine finally prevailing over Toronto while Woods held his first post-scandal press co...
It's of Good Day co-anchor Lauren Przybyl and traffic reporter Todd Carruth, who had a "Peep-Off" during Friday's edition of the Fox4 waker upper. ...That would be Peeps, and I've got a 10-pack o...
A blessed and bountiful Easter to all from unclebarky.com's ramshackle corporate headquarters. Meanwhile, there's some fresh stuff inside, including the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings and a tale of ...
Are all of D-FW's weathercasts pretty much one and the same? ... Also, CBS crime maestro Jerry Bruckheimer checks into a hospital Friday night with Miami Medical.
If you're buying something on amazon and you'd like to put a few pennies in unclebarky.com's pockets, then please click to amazon via any of the ads on this web site. ...Our chronological compend...
Duncanville's Tim Urban -- now officially "Teflon Tim" -- smiled and laughed through another beatdown from Idol judges Tuesday. ... Also, ABC's much-hyped return of V had less than stellar rating...
A puzzling technical problem kept your friendly content provider from publishing anything in the last half day or so. ... So look inside, if you would, for a new local Nielsen ratings snapshot th...
Erykah Badu's nude music video in Dealey Plaza surroundings got plenty of play on early evening newscasts Monday. Let's look 'em over.
24's ongoing Season 8 will be its last, Fox and the groundbreaking show's producers announced Friday night. See our complete story on the Network News & Reviews page.
ABC's Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution tackles the problem in an eye-opening, six-episode series set in flabby Huntington, W. ... Also, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings show little love for Thursday...
Plus, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings are in, and three of the four reigning First Ladies of D-FW television news will share the same stage Friday. Also, Sarah Palin gets a new TV series on TLC a...
NOTE TO READERS -- We earlier publicized the America's Got Talent event at Fair Park, which will be held on Thursday and Friday of this week. If you still want to attend a taping, go here for mor...
Another new CW reality series, Fly Girls, joins the CW lineup Wednesday. ... And the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings are very good news for ABC and D-FW affiliate WFAA8.
Edie Falco continues to have a bravura encore for The Sopranos when she returns Monday to play the title role in Showtime's Nurse Jackie. ... Also, the weekend D-FW Nielsen ratings are in.
"First field goal by Wisconsin in 6 hours, 45 minutes," CBS play-by-play man Jim Nantz said with 5:09 left in the second half. ...My corkscrewed heart now is with the remaining two Texas teams --...
Your friendly content provider's alma mater, the University of Wisconsin, squeaked into the second round of the NCAA basketball tournament Friday afternoon with a 53-49 win against the smallest s...
It was first published just over five years ago, with a robust 80-year-old Parker playing the most gracious host imaginable. ...And the TV Bulletin Board page has info. on Christiane Amanpour's n...
Star Bryan Cranston resumes his Emmy-winning ways when AMC's Breaking Bad launches Season 3 Sunday night. ... Also, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings have the Peacock people strutting at NBC5.
Part 1 of the new Discovery Channel series Life is screening for free on Thursday, March 18th at The Magnolia in Dallas. ...The 11-part sequel to the acclaimed Planet Earth premieres on Sunday, M...
Plus, CBS11/TXA21 weatherman Mike Burger marks a milestone, the American Idol finalists turn Stones' music into mush and the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings put some pop into the premiere of FX's Jus...
Tacked on to Dallas-based CW33's new 5 p.m. local newscasts, The RC Project tests a viewer's will to live. ... Also, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings are uncommonly served sunny side up for Fox4's...
FX's latest new drama, the law 'n' order-themed Justified, premieres Tuesday night. The network should be justifiably proud.
Nigel Lythgoe, who spent seven seasons as co-producer of American Idol before jumping to So You Think You Can Dance, has some pointed opinions about Idol's ongoing Season 9. ... Plus, a new TV Bu...
HBO's long-awaited sequel to 2001's Band of Brothers begins its 10-week run on Sunday night. Our salute to it is here.
Good Day adventurist Fiona Gorostiza shook her assets Thursday during Dallas auditions for Fox's So You Think You Can Dance. ... Also, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings are a li'l booster shot for ...
Responding to reader inquiries, we've confirmed the pregnancy of a prominent D-FW television news anchor. ...Also, two North Texans make American Idol's Top 12 while voters also deal a bland blow...
The above is coming to Dallas -- SMU's McFarlin Auditorium -- on May 13th. ...It all begins in Eugene, Oregon on April 12th, with a scheduled final stop in Atlanta on June 14th.
Your friendly content provider is under assault from Glenn Beck, who's brandishing formative Barky's Facebook baby picture to underscore his contention that unclebarky.com's Garland corporate hea...
CBS11 has named Adrienne Roark as the D-FW station's new news director. Get all the details here.
Fort Worth-based NBC5 as expected has tabbed news staffer Scott Friedman to be its new early morning co-anchor. He'll team with incumbent Deborah Ferguson.
Wow, The CW strikes again with a new "docu-series" about New York's rich 'n' vacant socialite crowd. Our review of the thoroughly loathsome High Society -- but maybe that's the intent -- can be f...
And that's a lot for Bill White -- or any candidate -- to overcome in times when looks tend to call the tune. We examine the sometimes cold realities of a plain-faced bald man vs. studly Texas Go...
ABC's three-hour Elvis movie remains historically important and damned good, too. ... And the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings show a burgeoning kingmaker in ABC's Castle.
Sunday night's Oscar-cast on ABC had a markedly bigger audience than last year's, according to the D-FW Nielsens. ...Plus, NBC and ABC both renew some ratings-challenged series while NBC also ann...
American Idol's amazing but true North Texas tint remained intact after the latest viewer vote-off Thursday. ... Plus, we warm up for the Oscars with a host of host trivia on our home away from h...
NBC's The Office sinks further into traditional sitcom contrivance with Jim and Pam's special delivery Thursday night. ... But yes, The Office definitely has seen better days.
NBC's heavily-watched Olympics telecasts stamped a big asterisk on the showcase 10 p.m. results while also having at least an indirect impact on the early evening news ratings. ...Also, Wednesday...
WFAA8 weekend meteorologist Jennifer Schack will be leaving the building after her March 7th duties. See where she's going here.
So that seems worth another recap, in which Uncle Barky's homegrown comments are paired with the so-called experts. ...Plus, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings give you Tuesday's numbers on the elec...
NBC5's website, nbcdfw.com, has posted a two-and-a-half-minute video of the tragedy without any breathless reporter interjections. You can find it embedded on our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page as an ...
Hyped with a "Get Back" campaign during the Winter Olympics, Jay Leno re-emerged for his first Tonight Show do-over Monday. ... And our TV Bulletin Board page looks at the latest Dancing with the...
NBC is filling one of Jay Leno's vacated prime-time holes with a new version of Parenthood from Ron Howard's production company. We explore its family dynamics here.
Plus, now comes the new NBC, with Jay Leno reclaiming The Tonight Show while leaving five big holes to fill in the Peacock's prime-time schedule. Meanwhile, stations such as Fort Worth-based NBC5...
ABC News president David Westin sent tremors through his industry earlier this week with his announcement of a major digital age-driven makeover of his division. ...Also, NBC5 anchor Deborah Ferg...
"Gotcha" journalism has its perils. But Dallas-based Fox4 was on solid ground Wednesday night in putting a guy on camera who strongly objected.
After Wednesday night's live sing-off, it's clear that the Fox colossus would just as soon be rid of three of them. ...Also, my home away from home, locatetv.com, tells you about Friday night's t...
Two late-breaking network developments Tuesday shook the foundations of ABC News and put prime-time's most popular sitcom temporarily on hold. Your two unclebarky.com reports are here (for ABC) a...
And in the end, it just doesn't matter all that much whether you're right or wrong. ...Plus, D-FW's "The 33" will be adding another half-hour of local news.
The Olympics roll along on NBC, with the ratings up, the U.S. stockpiling medals and host Bob Costas bringin' it all home. Which brings us to his hair in this penetrating unclebarky.com commentar...
TV networks had blanket coverage of Tiger Woods' live statement Friday. ... And on my home away from home, locatetv, check out what Simon Cowell had to say Thursday during a teleconference with T...
The Olympics had considerable star power Wednesday night while American Idol sent two more North Texans to its Top 24, increasing the total to four. ...Also, HBO's Reporter documentary asks viewe...
Perhaps you only counted 23 identified and announced Top 24 semi-finalists on American Idol Wednesday night. ... A late-night Fox news release, included at the end of our story, clarifies to a la...
And furthermore, unfairpark.com's Robert Wilonsky has been doing his usual first-rate job of keeping up with current and possible TV and film productions in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. ... Also, ...
Broadcast TV veteran Gary Schneider, named Tuesday as president and general manager of DFW-based CBS11/TXA21, does his first one-on-one interview with unclebarky.com. ... Also, the latest local N...
Brian Curtis and Meredith Land debuted Friday night as custodians of NBC5's 10 p.m. newscasts, replacing the deposed team of Jane McGarry and Mike Snyder. ... Also, Cowboys Stadium immediately re...
NBC5 anchor Jane McGarry, whose portfolio suddenly no longer includes the station's 10 p.m. newscasts, talked at length with unclebarky.com in a telephone interview Friday. You can find it right ...
Jane McGarry's nearly 20-year reign as co-anchor of NBC5's 10 p.m. newscasts ended abruptly Friday with the Fort Worth-based station's announcement that incumbent anchor/reporter Meredith Land wi...
Unclebarky.com productions presents a second look at the day in snow, as portrayed on D-FW television screens. Ed Bark
Also, take a look at D-FW's snow 'n' tell street reporters who braved the elements on Thursday's early morning newsers. And the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings show NBC5 with a bit of a skip in its s...
American Idol's Hollywood rounds kicked in Tuesday night, with 17 North Texans among the nearly 200 hopefuls. ... See what new shows the Peacock will be promoting while also trumpeting Jay Leno's...
Fox blesses another new series with a post-Idol launch Tuesday night. ... Also, Fox4 has added a bit of bell/whistle to its 9 p.m. newscasts.
But the last episode of CBS' M*A*S*H stood for nearly 27 years as the show with the largest audience in TV history. ... Plus, truTV lamely tries to capitalize on pro football's massive popularity...
Super Bowl XLIV's best spot was a surprise, one-time-only 15-second promo for Late Show with David Letterman that also made room for Jay Leno and Oprah Winfrey. ... Also, the big game blew past l...
I wanted to believe in this year's Dallas Mavericks, but what's the point after Friday's desultory 9-point home loss to the toothless Minnesota Timberwolves. Time to vent while hoping that Dirk g...
Houston-based Waste Management, Inc. and its well-disposed COO are on display in CBS' Undercover Boss, this year's Super Bowl followup act. ...Ed Bark
But in its infancy, you won't see a better performance on any sized screen than Claire Danes as the autistic title character in HBO's Temple Grandin. ... Also, WFAA8 gets off to a fast start in t...
But after due diligence, we've got the complete list of North Texans plus the contingent from other parts of the state. ...In that context, we bring you video of a still smokin' hot one from 1969...
Lost continued to throw curves Tuesday night, giving its principal characters parallel lives. ... Also, Lost finds a nice-sized audience in the D-FW Nielsen ratings.
ABC's Lost starts its sixth and final season Tuesday with a two-hour episode. ...Plus, what was up with NBC5 anchor Jane McGarry and that "Sickening Smell" graphic Monday night?
WFAA8 had an eventful weekend, with a finely tuned Republican gubernatorial faceoff on Friday night and Sunday morning's debut of the Dallas-based station's weekend morning anchor. ...Also, Conan...
Jimmy Kimmel's takes on NBC's late night pratfalls are pungent and now very personal. On Thursday's Jimmy Kimmel Live, he socked it to Jay Leno after Leno claimed that Kimmel had "sucker punched"...
But our latest "Making a List" is for real, counting down the Top 10 head-scratching TV portrayals of real-life people by big-name stars. Also, Dallas-based WFAA8 finds itself near the top of the...
Wednesday's American Idol auditions from Dallas had more D-FW viewers on a single network -- Fox -- than President Obama's State of the Union Address had on the Big Four broadcast networks -- Fox...
Back in spring 1995, Jay Leno was still the relatively new host of The Tonight Show and hadn't yet taken the ratings measure of arch rival David Letterman. Your friendly content provider intervie...
And local TV stations, with the possible exception of one, will devote plenty of air time to the Feb. 14th NBA All-Star game in Dallas at Jerry's Palace. ... Which puts the All-Stars on likely th...
Your friendly content provider has another commentary on cnn.com, this one on the future talking points in late night TV now that the Conan O'Brien/NBC soap opera has ceased. ... Also, the latest...
The new summertime Fox series Code 58 (working title), starring Bradley Whitford and Colin Hanks, plans to spend the next six months filming 13 episodes in D-FW. ... Also, the D-FW weekend Nielse...
Plus, be sure to spend four minutes with The Late Night War, a Ken Burns mockumentary from Thursday's Jimmy Kimmel Live. The latest D-FW Nielsen ratings are in, too, and they're a boon for the ne...
The gladiator goings-on are unflinchingly graphic in the new Starz series Spartacus: Blood and Sand. ... Also, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings are another big flex for American Idol.
NBC made it official Thursday, freeing Conan O'Brien from his contract with the network while re-deploying Jay Leno as Tonight Show host. We give you all the details -- and then analyze -- on our...
Filmed mostly in Dallas but set in L.A., ABC's The Deep End dog-paddles into view Thursday night as a legal drama with a Grey's Anatomy over-coat. ... We also have the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings...
WFAA8 is adjusting its weekend newscast picture by adding a pair of anchors from the East and West coasts. ... And we catch you up on all the big developments from the TV critics "press tour" wit...
Rife with false moments and falser mood music, The CW's Life Unexpected premieres Monday. ... Also, we catch up on all those D-FW ratings reports we missed while away, with the exception of Sunda...
We've resumed posting on unclebarky.com after a highly eventful week of Conan/Leno/Simon intrigue at the Television Critics Association "press tour" in Pasadena. ...Plus, a brief look at Sunday n...
Your friendly content provider will leaving Friday morning to spend a week at the mid-season television critics "press tour" in Pasadena, CA. where various networks gather to sell themselves. ......
Former Dallas car customizer Colby Donaldson, heroic figure of 2001's Survivor: The Australian Outback, returns to play again in CBS' upcoming 10th anniversary edition, Survivor: Heroes vs. ... A...
Dismayed by somewhat slumbering ratings for its early morning Good Day program, Dallas-based Fox4 is giving former substitute anchor Krystle Gutierrez a more prominent role. ... And the latest D-...
Fox news commentator and former anchor Brit Hume calls Tiger Woods home to Christ during a controversial riff on Fox News Sunday. And WFAA anchor/reporter Shelly Slater shows off her big ol' high...
And on unclebarky.com, we've got the top-to-bottom D-FW Nielsen ratings for all 16 games. Which was the biggest draw -- and the biggest "loser" -- in a season where every Cowboys contest topped t...
Who benefited the most from the recently settled transmission dispute between Fox Networks Group and Time Warner Cable? Read all about it here, and get a few other D-FW news scoops as well.
The TV schedule for this weekend's four opening playoff games was set Sunday night, with NBC announcing that it will have Saturday night's rematch between Dallas and Philadelphia at Cowboys Stadi...
So with kids comin' in and lots still left to do, we bid all of you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Unclebarky.com will take a bit of a break and resume posting early in 2010, which wi...
It's a cuddler from WFAA8's Joe Trahan on the Dallas Cowboys' Monday visits to area children's hospitals. Plus, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings show a big crowd for the Giants' pasting of Washing...
Some left voluntarily, others were pushed out. Unclebarky.com lists them one and all in our annual year-end compendium of D-FW television personalities who are now out of our pictures.
The Dallas Cowboys' big upset win over previously unbeaten New Orleans played on two channels Saturday night. ... Also, the 10th "Countdown to Christmas" video is WFAA8 sports anchor Dale Hansen'...
Fox4 anchor Baron James said goodbye to viewers Friday night, leaving a month earlier than the station initially planned. ... And acerbic Randy Galloway's prediction of a 100-3 Cowboys loss to Ne...
Charles "Charlie" Gibson signed off Friday from ABC's World News, leaving "The Chair" to Diane Sawyer. We've got details and a picture here.
She'll be signing and reading copies of her latest Katie and the Magic Umbrella kids book on Friday evening, Dec. 18th. ... And the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings show WFAA8's 10 p.m. newscast almos...
The towering, budget-busting epic, epitomized by Gone with the Wind and Ben-Hur, will be revisited Sunday night in a nifty TCM special that itself will be surrounded by some classics of the genre...
Unclebarky.com again ventures into sports opinion territory with this helpful suggestion. If you're going to fire Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips right now, then do likewise to his chief antagon...
The national TV landscape shook, got rattled and tried to roll with the punches in 2009. ... And the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings show that viewers like their holiday viewing wrapped in body bags.
Golden Globes nominations, announced Tuesday, make ample room at the TV table for broadcast network comedies. ... Also, the sixth in our series of "Countdown to Christmas" videos features Jennife...
NBC has announced its post-Winter Olympics schedule, which makes room for former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich on a third edition of Donald Trump's alleged Celebrity Apprentice. Also, we have...
Our daily "Countdown to Christmas" video harkens back to Mad Men times with this time capsule pitch for cigarettes under the tree. Also, check out a new NBC5 promo that has all the trappings of a...
ABC News officially announced what had been widely reported -- George Stephanopoulos and Juju Chang respectively are replacing Diane Sawyer and Chris Cuomo on Good Morning America. ... Also, ABC ...
CBS11 president and general manager Steve Mauldin is heading West to take charge of the network's biggest duopoly -- KCBS/KCAL-TV. He spent nearly seven years in D-FW, and finally reached the pro...
ABC's latest looking-for-true-love gambit makes Flava of Love seem like Washington Week In Review. ... And the third video entry in our "Countdown to Christmas" collection looks like an instant c...
WFAA8's prime-time edition of Good Morning Texas After Dark offered a blizzard of pre-paid promotions in place of Charlie Brown Tuesday night. ... Also, thrill to the sight of Milky the Marvelous...
Fox Sports Southwest's latest In My Own Words special finds Mavs star Dirk Nowitzki in an unusually talkative mood. ... Also, Fox's Glee will be taking the winter off after Wednesday's "fall fina...
CBS11 will be expanding its 4 p.m. newscast to a full hour, starting early next year. ... Also, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings are a nice present for Carrie Underwood's Fox holiday special.
Ray Romano, Andre Braugher and Scott Bakula are ripe for TNT's very promising new Men of a Certain Age, which premieres Monday. ... Also, the Cowboys' loss to the Giants of course has Giant-sized...
Veteran CBS11 investigator Bennett Cunningham called it a day at the D-FW station Friday rather than take a proposed pay cut. ... Also, cable's syfy network very much "re-imagines" Alice In Wonde...
The "high-stakes world of competitive barbecue" comes into view on TLC's eight-episode BBQ Pitmasters, co-starring three grillers from Texas. We hold it to the fire here.
That much is clear from Thursday's long-anticipated announcement that Comcast will be taking over NBC Universal. ... Also, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings show Rudolph winning by much more than a...
Wrestler turned governor turned "detective" Jesse Ventura finds sinister forces at work in truTV's Conspiracy Theory. ... Also, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings show that a one night respite from ...
Pleading their innocence all the way to the bank -- or to possible prosecution -- Michaele and Tareq Salahi made their case exclusively to Today's Matt Lauer Tuesday. ...So unclebarky.com steps i...
NBC's Today announced Monday night that it's nabbed the first interview with State Dinner-crashers Michaele and Tareq Salahi. ...Our exhaustive report on the November "sweeps" local newscast rati...
Your friendly content provider, upon request, has entered the realm of cnn.com with a commentary on the State Dinner-crashing Salahis and their thirst to be reality TV stars. If you'd like, you c...
Uncle Barky's corner men are toweling him off after WFAA8 honcho Mike Devlin heatedly declared it a tie while CBS11's Steve Mauldin basically said that excuses are for losers. Get all the details...
We'll be taking a few days off to celebrate the holiday. But not before thanking all of unclebarky.com's readers for their continued support and interest.
Veteran Fox4 anchor Baron James won't be part of the Dallas-based station's news team for much longer. ... Also, CBS11 still clings to a first-place ratings ledge with one night to go in its 10 p...
Fox announced its midseason lineup early Tuesday evening, and unclebarky.com has all the details here. Notable omission: Glee will be going away for a while after its "fall finale."
The white-hot war for 10 p.m. ratings supremacy is in its closing stages, with both WFAA8 and CBS11 throwing a little fear factor into the top of their newscasts. ... Also, see just how close it ...
Oprah Winfrey's decision to leave her daytime talk show -- nearly two years from now -- prompts a return to a 1986 interview in Dallas just a month before the launch of her long-running syndicate...
We're training our sights on just the two Titans -- WFAA8 and CBS11 -- as the November "sweeps" ratings period hits the homestretch. They're locked in a virtual dead heat for the 10 p.m. lead in ...
The "Queen of Talk's" decision to leave broadcast TV -- effective with the Sept. 9, 2011 finale of The Oprah Winfrey Show -- likely won't leave Dallas-based WFAA8 in tears. In fact there may be s...
James Rose, whose "Street Squad" reports appear weekly on Fox4's 9 p.m. newscast, is a generally solid veteran with an aggressive bent. Should he have yielded, though, when a motorist kept tellin...
ABC has announced a launch date for the sixth and final season of Lost. ... Also, we go "Up-Close and Objective" with an emphasis on CBS11's gamesmanship during the backstretch of the hotly conte...
D-FW newscasts show CBS11 stopping a 5-night losing skid to remain precariously atop the late night news race with just five weeknights remaining in the November "sweeps." CBS11 is trying to win ...
Battered Reunion Arena finally came tumbling down Tuesday afternoon, providing a picture-perfect TV story that all but one station capitalized on. ... Also, a rallying WFAA8 continues to hit rati...
Meteorologist Steve MacLaughlin, nearly a six-year veteran of Fort Worth-based NBC5's weather team, has decided to leave the station at the end of his contract, which expires in January. "Steve's...
Our latest critical assessment is in place, with WFAA8 under the most scrutiny after first deploying scare tactics and then reverting to anchor hijinks while weatherman Pete Delkus tried to get h...
Sarah Palin launched the TV portion of her book tour Monday with a much-publicized appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show. ... Also, check out an evocative collection of D-FW newscast openings, cir...
Here's the come-on: "For anyone who is ready to make a change and bust a move while doing it, this is the chance of a lifetime to turn flab into fab while America cheers on!" Your chance of a lif...
The D-FW television market's two most prominent cop shop reporters battled it out with their stations' lead stories Friday night while rival stations had nothing to report on the calculated slow-...
Former WFAA8 weatherman Troy Dungan, synonymous with Dallas-based WFAA8's Santa's Helpers toy drive since its inception in the 1970s, says the station hasn't invited him this time around. ... And...
AMC's six-hour "reinterpretation" of the cult classic The Prisoner fires up on Sunday night. And complex though it may be, at least you'll get a resolution this time.
CBS11 chief meteorologist Larry Mowry and his wife, Lisa, are new parents of a second daughter. ...Mowry joined CBS11 in January 2008 from the CBS affiliate in Orlando, FL.
D-FW's 10 p.m. newscasts get another content inspection in our latest ratings sweeps compendium. Take a look at the good/bad/laughable right here.
Our latest Nielsen ratings "snapshot" shows WFAA8 getting a nice boost at 10 p.m. from ABC's dominant Country Music Association Awards. ... We've got the results from Wednesday night plus the 10-...
Self-promoting, hackles-raising Lou Dobbs has left CNN. He announced his departure on Wednesday's edition of Lou Dobbs Tonight.
The reaper's blade is sharpening as the holiday season nears. Prime-time's latest cuts are ABC's Hank and Fox's Dollhouse.
Tuesday afternoon's Fort Hood memorial ceremony was still very much in evidence on that night's 10 p.m. newscasts. ... Check out our latest summations, including WFAA8 sports anchor Dale Hansen's...
The November "sweeps" are in full bloom as we launch two weeks of watching the 10 p.m. newscasts on Fox4, NBC5, WFAA8 and CBS11. ... And Smithsonian Channel's six-hour documentary Apocalypse, pre...
Dallas-based KXT-FM (91.7) launched Monday morning as the music arm of long-running 90.1 FM. Give a listen if you'd like.
The Cowboys notched their most impressive win of the season Sunday night. Lucky for us we had Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth to bring it on home.
Also, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings show which stations drew the most viewers for their breaking news coverage of the Fort Hood shootings. ... For those who are interested, the first commentary...
When tragedy struck at Fort Hood, Fox4 proved highly adept at covering itself. Its three principal D-FW rivals otherwise set the pace with live reports and interviews.
Touting her latest book, The Power of Respect, Deborah Norville also remembers the heavy-duty dissing she took as a Today show co-anchor. ... Also, check out the Tonight Show's dramatic readings ...
Barbara Walters will notch another "Big Get" when she quizzes Sarah Palin in a series of interviews during the November "sweeps" ratings period. ... Also, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings chart V'...
Tuesday night's best TV drama had nothing to do with actors and their roles. How many viewers saw what Dirk did to the Jazz after all seemed hopeless?
Nielsen Media Research says, and The New York Times is reporting, that almost half of TV viewers in the motherlode 18-to-49 age group actually watch the commercials during DVR playbacks. ... Also...
After a super-spashy promotional campaign, the sci-fi series V finally visits Earth and ABC Tuesday night. ... And we also look at the Barry Levinson documentary Poliwood, in which the acclaimed ...
The syndicated tabloid show (4:30 p.m. locally on CBS11) will report on Tuesday's edition that Cheaters "has hired people to pretend they have been caught in the act of cheating on their spouses ...
We're back from Chicago, where daughter Liz Ladach-Bark directed the original play 1512 West Studebaker Place at Prop Theater. ...You can catch up with last week's Tuesday-Thursday D-FW Nielsen r...
Darlin' daughter Liz is directing an original play, 1512 West Studebaker Place, which has its world premiere in Chicago on Friday, Oct. 30th. So your friendly content provider will be taking a re...
Also, the FX cable network premieres the new comedy series The League on Thursday, Oct. 29th. It's about a Fantasy Football League run by -- what else -- hopelessly infantile men with R-rated sex...
NBC's made-in-Austin Friday Night Lights kicks off Season 4 Wednesday night -- on DirecTV. As before, the Peacock will wait until later -- this time all the way to summer -- to air prime-time's m...
Stop the Presses: The American Newspaper in Peril, from Dallas filmmakers Mark Birnbaum and Manny Mendoza, has its long overdue TV premiere tonight (Oct. 26th) on Dallas-based KERA13. ... Plus, r...
But why be a whiner when you have your own house organs on a rival cable news network? ... Plus, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings are in and we have another local news video from the vault.
Taped earlier this month, Oprah Winfrey's exhaustively chronicled day at the Texas State Fair will consume the Monday, Oct. 26th edition of her syndicated show. ...Included is a guest performance...
Cable USA network launches another breezy new drama series Friday night while corporate sibling NBC idles in place at the same hour with The Jay Leno Show. ... Also, Dallas-born ventriloquist Jef...
Complications from a cold and the flu have sidelined Fox4 sports anchor Mike Doocy for the past month. ... Also, check out our review of CNN's two-part Latino In America documentary, which launch...
Uncle Barky straps on his helmet to make a case for the Cowboys while also playing smash mouth with ESPN radio's Randy Galloway among others. ... And the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings again show ba...
Plus, we show you why there's only one network that really cares about the care and feeding of its affiliates' late night newscasts. ... And Uncle Barky puts his manhood in a blind trust to revie...
NBC Universal's broadcast and cable networks will flog Jon Bon Jovi's upcoming new CD in return for an exclusive arrangement that keeps him off all rival networks. The deal includes an appearance...
And you can see it here in case you didn't see Oprah Winfrey's close encounter with WFAA8 sports anchor Dale Hansen. ... Plus, another North Texan will be setting sail on The Bachelor when its 14...
Oprah Winfrey anchored a newscast for the first time since December 1983 by her recollection. ... Also, get the scoop on TXA21's new anchor hire.
Fox execs can't admit anything publicly, but you can bet they'll rooting for two teams this weekend as the American and National League Championship Series get underway. ... And before Dallas-bas...
Yet another assassination special, History Channel's four-hour JFK: 3 Shots That Changed America, nonetheless is instructive and engrossing for young and old alike. ... Also, another car chase br...
Fans and students of TV can unite around the Archive of American Television and its fully loaded website. ... And the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings again show CBS11's 10 p.m. newscast successfully ...
Film at 11 (10 central): Gregg Primus has worked as a photographer at Fox4, NBC5 and WFAA8. Now he's lately reinvented himself as master of his own DVD domain.
Also, we rewind to a rare vintage interview with David Letterman, who first talked to your friendly content provider in 1983. He had a lot to say back then, and it's all on our Back Channels page...
Cable has a new all-time national viewing record, with 21.8 million watching ESPN's Monday Night Football showdown between the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers. The larger-than-life encoun...
We riff on the continued adventures of David Letterman, Brett Favre and Tom DeLay while also picturing all of them in action on the Network News & Reviews page. Also, the latest D-FW Nielsen rati...
Also, check out our reviews of the new CBS medical series Three Rivers and of a Dallas-based gentlemen's club's showing on Thursday night's Rachel Maddow Show. ...Furthermore, Curb Your Enthusias...
In one of the more bizarre 10 minutes of television in the medium's history, David Letterman outlined a $2 million extortion attempt on Thursday's CBS Late Show before finally telling viewers, "T...
Newt Gingrich's dalliance with a Dallas-based gentlemen's club continues to be the gift that keeps on giving. ... Also, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings are in, and we have a nicely stocked TV Bul...
We begin with the first October post on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page, where you'll find news about former WFAA8 anchor Jeff Brady and current Fox4 sports anchor Mike Doocy. ...Also, thanks again...
Dallas-based WFAA8 is losing a full-time reporter and occasional substitute anchor to ABC's flagship station in New York. ... Also, we scrutinize Tuesday night's battle for post-terrorist arrest ...
After working together in Fox's failed Back To You, Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton are back-to-back Wednesday nights in ABC's Hank and The Middle. ... Also, Monday's D-FW Nielsen ratings brea...
FORMER ANCHOR TRACY ROWLETT AFTER TEACHING AT SMU. Photo: Ed Bark Tracy Rowlett, who spent 35 years in front of a camera at WFAA8 and then CBS11, seems more content in semi-retirement.
The last of NBC's new fall series, Trauma, premieres Monday. It looks like they may have spent some of that money they're saving on The Jay Leno Show.
Seth MacFarlane, Fox's King of Cartoons, adds another notch Sunday night with the premiere of The Cleveland Show. Our review is here, where we also note the arrival of Ken Burns' latest PBS opus ...
A would-be bomber's thwarted attempt to level downtown Dallas's Fountain Place building topped the 10 p.m. newscasts of all four major TV news providers. ...It stars former New York Giants mainst...
Preceded by the fall season's biggest promotional campaign, ABC's FlashForward at last is nearly here. ... And for grins, take a look at a quick but classic Daybreak blooper.
Click here for our combined reviews of ABC's Modern Family, Cougar Town and Eastwick. ... And the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings are largely a big plus for CBS -- and a nice little plus for The 33's...
ABC's first series from CBS hitmaker Jerry Bruckheimer -- a crime drama, of course -- joins Tuesday night's roster of premieres. Our review of The Forgotten is here.
The season opener in Jerry's Palace supplants last season's Dec. 14th Cowboys-Giants game, which had 23.1 million viewers on Sunday Night Football. The Cowboys also were involved in the fourth mo...
Also, we chart the Dancing with the Stars debuts of Tom DeLay and Michael Irvin on the TV Bulletin Board page. And we have a complete look at how an array of heavy-hitting prime-time attractions ...
Check out our new unclebarky.com posts on Lauren Przybyl's Good Day debut and the blockbuster D-FW ratings for Sunday night's Cowboys-Giants game. Also, we review CBS' latest Monday night sitcom ...
CBS threw on the annual prime-time Emmy Awards against the Cowboys game Sunday night. ... Also, former Good Day anchor Megan Henderson can be seen on a rival D-FW station's newscasts this week.
NBC's Today show touched down at Jerry's palace in Arlington Friday for two-hours of adulation. ...And check out the review of HBO's new Bored to Death comedy series, which will follow the Season...
A CONTEMPLATIVE LITTLE UNCA BARKY ENVISIONS RUNNING HIS OWN WEBSITE SOMEDAY WHILE PERCHED COMFORTABLY ON A PATCH OF RACINE, WIS. SLUSH. Established on Sept. 17, 2006, unclebarky.com turned three ...
The Jay Leno Show is off to a big ratings start for NBC, which seems perfectly willing to let him line up the big-name guests while Conan O'Brien's Tonight Show is left with scraps or seconds. .....
Tweet 1: "Old age is catching up to me, may have a stress fracture in my foot. no worries, it'll take more than that to keep me off the dance floor!" ...
Also, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings show a sizable dropoff for The Jay Leno Show, which nonetheless still won its time period Tuesday. And we review HDNet Movies' latest "Sneak Preview" film, T...
The 91.7 FM call letters currently are KKXT, but KERA has decided to subtract one of the Ks after initially trying to re-scramble them into a TX of some sort. "We tried to secure call letters tha...
D-FW viewers went for the premiere of The Jay Leno Show in a big way Monday night, particularly during Kanye West's one-night act of contrition. ... Also, we review The CW's new The Beautiful Lif...
So did a new brand of teases for Fort Worth-based NBC5's 10 p.m. newscasts. ... We look at Jay's opening night here, and NBC5's paper sack wearing flasher gambit here.
Many D-FW viewers likely had better things to see -- including the Season 2 finale of HBO's True Blood, another new episode of AMC's Mad Men or the Packers battling and finally beating the Bears ...
He also wrote for Sid Caesar's legendary Your Show of Shows during a 65-year career in TV/film/radio. ...Gelbart's TV credits also include Sid Caesar's renowned Your Show of Shows and two acclaim...
Drawing from a teleconference earlier this week, we take a long look at Jay Leno and the risk he's taking with his new five-nights-a-week, prime-time comedy hour. ...Plus we'd like to remind you ...
NBC's Today will touch down at Jerry's Palace on Friday, Sept. 18th to trumpet the Dallas Cowboys' home opener against the Giants on Sunday Night Football. Co-hosts Matt Lauer and Al Roker will d...
Faithful unclebarky.com readers already know the answer to the above, but Dallas-based Fox4 is still playing name games in a new promotional spot. ... Also, Wednesday's D-FW Nielsen ratings pitte...
Fox's American Idol struck faster than expected Wednesday night, naming Ellen DeGeneres to replace Paul Abdul and become the show's fourth judge. ...Ed Bark
WFAA8 sports anchor Dale Hansen says his Dallas-based station doesn't have enough money budgeted to send him to the ballpark for a live sportscast during the upcoming 9-game Texas Rangers homesta...
After another big buildup, Fox's Glee returns Wednesday, Sept. 9th, for its first full-fledged fall season. ... And the 15th edition of CBS' The Amazing Race has an unusual brother duo, with one ...
The CW begins its fall season festivities Tuesday night with a compatible pairing of the returning 90210 and the network's new version of Melrose Place, last seen 10 seasons ago on Fox. ... Also,...
History Channel's two-hour Manson, premiering Labor Day night, combines actor re-enactments and interviews with the likes of former "Family" member Linda Kasabian. ... And CBS11 is losing a membe...
Network television's latest fall season kicks off unofficially next Tuesday with the premiere of The CW's Melrose Place and the return of 90210. We've got all of the network-by-network dates for ...
Charles Gibson's decision to depart ABC's World News gives Diane Sawyer the job she'd wanted before rival Katie Couric made history. ...Plus, Dallas-based CW33's news director comments for the fi...
Television's annual pre-Labor Day lull will soon give way to a flood of fall season premieres, beginning with the return of Fox's Glee on Wednesday, Sept. 9th. ...We begin with the Dallas-Fort Wo...
NBC's Today show has hired a former First Daughter to be a "contributing correspondent." ... Also, the weekend D-FW Nielsen ratings show the Cowboys are strong as ever, despite their late-game bu...
Fresh from ABC publicity, here are the official costumed shots of the two Texas connections on ABC's Dancing with the Stars. The network also has provided rehearsal pictures (BELOW) of former Hou...
As an appetizer, we'll be rolling out fresh clips of selected favorites, beginning with a look at the Sept. 21st, two-hour Season 6 premiere of House, which finds its cranky doc in a psychiatric ...
Also, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings show small appetites for Wednesday's pair of prime-time Ted Kennedy specials. And on the TV Bulletin Board page, check out the latest Texas braggart joining ...
A nationally hatched promo for the web sites run by NBC's owned-and-operated stations didn't sit well with viewers of Fort Worth-based KXAS-TV (NBC5). ...Plus, the Sept. 20th regular season debut...
GLEE STARS KEVIN MCHALE OF PLANO AND MARK SALLING OF DALLAS. ...Eight young stars from the Fox series Glee, including two from North Texas, will touch down in Dallas on Wednesday, Aug. 26th for a...
The ABC series thirtysomething, which premiered in fall 1987, at last is available for re-appreciation -- or denigration -- via a 3-disc, Season 1 set from Shout! ... Also, Monday's D-FW ratings ...
Sunday's 60 Minutes salute to its creator, the late Don Hewitt, came and went without any new contributions from the program's longtime signature pit bull, Mike Wallace. ... Plus, Tom DeLay gets ...
CO-FOUNDERS MICHAEL FUCHS (LEFT) AND SAM LADACH-BARK INVITE YOU TO ENJOY THE VIBE AND CREATIONS AT THEIR BRAND NEW UNDER PRESSURE SCREEN PRINTING STORE IN AUSTIN. ...BUT YOU HAVE TO MAKE YOUR OWN...
Discarded TV anchor/reporter clothing resurfaces for sale on a new North Texas-based website. ... Check out all the deals on duds via our Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Fort Worth-based NBC5 is adding a new full-time reporter who's arriving from San Antonio's Peacock affiliate and is a former Scrappy the Eagle mascot at the University of North Texas. ...Plus, th...
Don Hewitt, creator of 60 Minutes and architect of the first televised presidential debate in 1960, died of pancreatic cancer Wednesday. ... Our tribute to him revisits his last visit to Dallas, ...
Fox4 reporter Matt Grubs has something new under the sun -- and it's adorning his face. ... And the latest D-FW ratings show that NBC is still getting mileage out of a pretty raggedy news magazin...
For a change of pace, we focus on the way in which The Dallas Morning News camouflages its "special contributors." Also, the newest and largest cast for ABC's Dancing with the Stars includes two ...
The Cowboys pre-season opener against Oakland predictably piled up big ratings Thursday night despite the team's overall inept play. ... Also, Michael Vick lines up his first national TV intervie...
Flush with 16 Emmy nominations for its second season, AMC's Mad Men reloads for Season 3 Sunday night. Do its ad men still add up to TV's best drama series?
Bravo's got a meal-ticket with its Real Housewives franchise. ... Also, check out some fun pictures of Julia Child, who seemed to be having a great time during her visit to Dallas a decade or so ...
In the past several years, my wife, Madeline, and I were lucky enough to see him on two occasions at the Iridium Jazz Club in Manhattan, where he regularly performed two shows on Monday nights wi...
And while on this subject, we revisit KXAS's controversial hidden camera "Tarnished Star" investigation of Dallas Cowboys star Michael Irvin. ... Back then -- in 1996 -- local news station execs ...
Replete with Seinfeld stars, Larry David's seventh season of Curb Your Enthusiasm comes to HBO on Sept. 20th. ... Also, Monday's D-FW Nielsen ratings give Who Wants To Be A Millionaire a bit of a...
Furthermore, Conan O'Brien's Tonight Show recently gave viewers a taste of the Discovery Channel's followup to its longstanding "Shark Week." ...
HBO's The Nine Lives of Marion Barry, premiering Aug. 10th, documents the strange-but-true career of a man who just can't seem to lose an election -- no matter what. ...Ed Bark
Check out our Texas-sized battle of Good Day "music"-makers. Also, how'd Who Wants To Be A MiIlionaire do in D-FW with its 10th anniversary return Sunday night?
Your friendly content provider will be joining the always combustible Jack E. Jett for two hours of co-hosting Saturday on the conveniently titled Jack E.
Budget cutbacks and downsizing haven't stopped D-FW's four major TV news providers from trekking off to Cowboys training camp. ... And unclebarky.com has updated the exclusive story on NBC-owned ...
We try to pretty much stay away from radio on this site because, frankly, covering local and national television is already way more than enough for one person's plate. ...Speaking of KLUV, the s...
Fort Worth-based KXAS-TV's marketing and promotions department soon won't exist. They've been strong-armed out of existence by NBC corporate in New York.
Look for a cavalcade of TV tidbits on the Bulletin Board page, including who'll be Jay Leno's first musical guest on his upcoming Mon.-Fri. prime-time show. ... The latest D-FW Nielsen ratings sh...
Fox apparently is going along with Paula Abdul's decision to leave American Idol after the two sides reached a money impasse. Here's why that looks like a big mistake.
The latest D-FW Nielsen ratings show how good life could be for NBC5's 10 p.m. newscasts if they had America's Got Talent as a lead-in every night. Also, Joan Rivers poses a new question in a TV ...
Unclebarky.com has returned to the living in D-FW after a few days in Pasadena tied to the 25th anniversary of the Television Critics Association awards. ...On the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page, we d...
THERE AT THE CREATION: FORMER NBC CHAIRMAN GRANT TINKER, WINNER OF THE FIRST TELEVISION CRITICS ASSOCIATION CAREER ACHIEVEMENT AWARD IN JUNE 1985, STANDS AMID FIVE PAST TCA PRESIDENTS, INCLUDING ...
After a five-month gap, Dallas-based Fox4 (KDFW) has picked a new Good Day co-anchor to succeed Megan Henderson, informed sources tell unclebarky.com. Get the name and the details here.
Twenty "plus-sized" women, including North Texan Natalia Jackson, vie for bulky bachelor Luke Conley in the new Fox dating competition, More to Love. ... Also, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings wei...
Ben Silverman's problematic two-year reign as co-chairman of NBC Entertainment came to an abrupt end Monday. ... Also, WFAA8's Good Morning Texas has a new male co-host and CBS11 will be getting ...
Morning weathercaster Don Harman, of Kansas City Fox affiliate WDAF-TV, set a modern-day record for over-laughing when a live shot from Pooches Paradise got a little out of hand. ...
As though nothing had happened, CBS11 reporter Bud Gillett dropped in as the lead-off hitter on Thursday's 5 p.m. newscast after management earlier in the day pledged to vigorously fight his laws...
Veteran CBS11 reporter Bud Gillett claims the D-FW station is discriminating against him because he's an older white male. ... Plus, David Letterman's Late Show has socked it to Conan O'Brien's T...
Unfair Park's ever-prolific and resourceful Robert Wilonsky reports that a previously announced midseason ABC legal drama, The Deep End, will be filmed in Dallas. ...Dallas Film Commission presid...
Rivals networks offer heaping helpings of new reality and scripted series, but CBS keeps shooting them down with its repeating rifle of crime and comedy reruns. It's the only network to show a ye...
D-FW's CBS11 has the FCC's number, but wants a new one after "several thousand" viewers complain they can't get the station's signal anymore. ... And NBC will carry President Obama's prime-time n...
Western civilization reels anew with ABC's Monday night premiere of Dating in the Dark. ... And Shaquille O'Neal will go the wide world of sports route by taking on star athletes from other field...
Walter Cronkite's death on Friday, at age 92, takes many of us back to the way it was. My own first-hand experiences, with an emphasis on his stops in North Texas, are rekindled in this time-trav...
Walter Cronkite, the legendary CBS anchor/reporter dubbed "the most trusted man in America" at the height of his powers, died on Friday, July 17th, at the age of 92. He last anchored the CBS Even...
There are several reasons -- mostly voyeuristic -- to watch multi-troubled Lindsay Lohan carry the load in the new ABC Family channel movie Labor Pains. ... Plus, lo and behold, a new set of ques...
The 2009 Emmy nominations are in. And even with expanded fields in the drama and comedy series categories, there's still no room at the inn for Austin-made Friday Night Lights.
CNBC gets up-close with the ever-profitable porn industry in its latest prime-time documentary. ... And the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings show how Tuesday night's baseball All-Star game fared again...
Funeral services for NBC5 reporter Brett Johnson, who passed away Sunday at the age of 48, will be streamed live on nbcdfw.com. The service is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, July 15th...
TNT's latest new drama series, Dark Blue with Dylan McDermott, launches on Wednesday night. ... And the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings make a hit of ESPN's elongated long ball competition on the eve...
As relayed by NBC5, these are the official arrangements for reporter Brett Johnson, who passed away Sunday at the age of 48. ...A celebration of Brett Johnson's life will follow Wednesday at Bill...
And the "Built for Fun" Rangers' weekend fall from first place is still a ratings go-getter in D-FW. Also, the prime-time Emmys have a first-time host for this September.
Former NBC5 meteorologist James Aydelott, who left the market earlier this year to do weathercasts for a Tulsa station, said he "could always count on Brett to make me laugh with his wicked, sarc...
A lengthy disruption in service by our cable/Internet provider knocked unclebarky.com to the canvas for much of Friday. But now we're back in there punching with three better-late-than-never post...
In one of her several videos on Lifetime's Web site, Black greets "my lifetime.com people" and tells them she loves "anything with a decadent, decaying sort of feel to it." ...They'll be competin...
MAN OF THE HOUSE: BUT SPORTS GUY MATT BARRIE LOOKED JUST A LITTLE BIT OUT OF IT ON TUESDAY'S LATE NIGHT NBC5 NEWSCAST. Photo: Ed Bark Fort Worth-based NBC5 set sail without longtime 10 p.m. co-a...
The news just never stops here at unclebarky.com, where sources say that Dallas-based KDAF-TV ("The 33") has hired a young blonde beauty to rev up the station's sports department. ... All you've ...
SMOKEY ROBINSON SPEAKS AT TUESDAY'S MEMORIAL. Photo from msn.com Michael Jackson's memorial dominated the broadcast and cable universe Tuesday.
As previously reported on unclebarky.com, NBC5 anchor Mike Snyder has chosen one of the options available to him, ending a 19-year-run on the Fort Worth-based station's 10 p.m. newscasts while re...
We speculate on which cable news network might benefit the most from making a play for her as host of a new talk show. Also, the D-FW Nielsen ratings for Thursday and Friday show a striking comeb...
Another Independence Day is nigh, so we'll be taking advantage of the extended weekend before resuming festivities here on Monday. Have a safe and happy holiday, everybody.
D-FW's longest-standing minority-targeted program, Insights, and its executive producer and first host, Rochelle Brown, are out of the picture at Fox4. Brown had been at the station longer than e...
Season 7 of HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm is scheduled to premiere on Sept. 20th. As previously reported, star Larry David's guest list includes the entire principal cast of Seinfeld -- namely Jerry...
Also, the Texas Rangers crucial Tuesday night win over the Angels is a player opposite 10 p.m. local newscasts. And BET's Sunday night awards show, which doubled as a tribute to Michael Jackson, ...
On the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page, you'll find a response from NBC5 management to recent criticism of the station's week-long series on homes for sale. ... Furthermore, Sunday's premiere of HBO's ...
Fort Worth-based NBC5 has just concluded a week-long 10 p.m. "news" series that played the same as those Sunday morning Hot On Homes infomercials. There goes the neighborhood -- as you'll see her...
After appearing in a long string of B-movies, Storm finally made a name for herself in the vintage TV sitcom My Little Margie, which ran from 1952-'55 on CBS and NBC. ...Storm made just three gue...
Premiering Sunday, the new HBO comedy/drama Hung has a title that pretty much spells out its premise. The lead character indeed has a big unit in a series that amounts to much more than that.
American Idol staged its North Texas auditions Friday. ... Also, Thursday's D-FW Nielsen ratings "snapshot" looks at where audiences went for coverage of the late Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawce...
***FAWCETT WAS THE PRE-EMINENT SEX SYMBOL OF THE MID-1970S, STARRING IN A SHOW (CHARLIE'S ANGELS) AND SMILING FROM A POSTER THAT REMAIN ENTRENCHED IN THE POP CULTURE FIRMAMENT. ***Jackson, the se...
Texas-born TV beauty Farrah Fawcett, best known as bouncy gumshoe Jill Munroe in Charlie's Angels, is dead at age 62 of cancer. ... And ABC's health-conscious Q&A with President Obama did scant r...
NBC's The Philanthropist premieres Wednesday night. ... But former Cowboy Terrell Owens is probably happier that few in these parts watched his big flop Tuesday night on the first episode of ABC'...
The kayak catastrophe put T.O. and Joanna among the bottom four teams, forcing them to compete in a do-or-die obstacle course race in which one pair would be sent home. Owens responded like the c...
He's fondly remembered in two up-close-and-personal articles written in the '80s and '90s by your friendly content provider. We also rewind back to the '60s, where a teenager from that time -- no...
So for the record -- and apparently to no one's surprise -- Jon & Kate Gosselin are separating while still supposedly putting their kids first. ...Overall impression: the eight Gosselin children ...
D-FW's television ratings, slowed by the transition from analog to digital, are finally up to date. Nielsen Media Research provided local stations with the July 18-21 results Monday.
The first three full weekdays -- June 15-17 -- of digital era Nielsen ratings are in. ... There are some eye-popping numbers to behold, but it's still very early in this game.
Dallas native Melissa Rycroft's meteoric rise from relative nobody to world famous reality show star continued Monday when ABC named her a "special contributor" to Good Morning America. ...The fo...
For now, here's a video of Cronkite's sign-off, on March 6, 1981, as anchor of the CBS Evening News. ...id=4155583n&tag=contentMain;contentBody&releaseURL=http://cnettv.cnet.com/av/video/cbsnews/...
She joined the station in October 2002 after a stint at TXCN, also owned by Dallas-based Belo Corp. ...And NBC5 anchor-reporter Meredith Land and her husband, Xan, had a baby girl, McCall, on May...
The national Nielsen results are in for Week 2 of David Letterman vs. ... Also, NBC premieres its new Merlin series this Sunday.
And here's a copy of the three-page release form, which includes the provision, "I further understand that my appearance, depiction and/or portrayal in the Program may be disparaging, defamatory,...
What's former WFAA8 Daybreak co-anchor Justin Farmer up to at his new TV home in Atlanta? ... Also, one of unclebarky.com's occasionally twitted -- but never tweeted -- fallen TV stars celebrates...
Still grappling with last Friday's digital transition, the nation's audience counter has released the following schedule to local stations across the land. ...So there you have it, with station m...
David Letterman has re-apologized, sincerely this time, for the ill-considered jokes he made about Alaska governor Sarah Palin's daughter. ...
The Republican National Committee is taking sharp issue with ABC over its upcoming prime-time special Questions for the President: Prescriptions for America. ... Also, 30 Rock star Alec Baldwin h...
Jada Pinkett Smith is on pins and needles as the nurse in charge of TNT's new HawthoRNe. ...Also, Friday's digital conversion will mean a delay in local Nielsen ratings, which possibly won't star...
We scour the history of his CBS Late Show to give you a Top 10 list of Dave Dramatics. Also, the digital age is officially upon us, but WFAA8's sentimental sendoff of analog still bears watching.
Also, Game 4 of the NBA Finals raised the ratings roof in D-FW, particularly during its late night OT. Additionally, we look at GSN's new "Big Saturday Night" game show extravaganza and provide s...
Alhadeff, who joined KERA in 2005, says that "right away I heard from long-time listeners who said that they appreciated the expanded public radio news schedule but missed the music programs." KE...
Vacation time's over, complete with a bumpy return to D-FW during assorted cloudbursts. We wade back in with a special, elongated edition of "Local Nielsen Ratings Snapshot."
Check out our reviews of three upcoming new series -- NBC's The Listener, USA's Royal Pains and Showtime's Nurse Jackie, starring Edie Falco in her first big post-Sopranos role. We also have vide...
Amy Vanderoef, co-host of WFAA8's Good Morning Texas, and her husband, NBC5 reporter Grant Stinchfield, became first-time parents early Wednesday morning. ..."Baby, mommy and daddy are doing well...
Jay Leno's new prime-time show -- imaginatively titled The Jay Leno Show -- has an official air date. ...Leno's new comedy/variety/talk show will air Mondays through Fridays at 9 p.m. (central) f...
Still a redheaded stranger to some, Conan O'Brien officially became only the fifth permanent host of NBC's Tonight Show Monday. Our report/review is here.
Another month begins on unclebarky.com, relegating May to the archives on the lower right column as various pages are refreshed with June posts. ...Our first June entry on the always active Dalla...
Jay Leno ended his 17-year Tonight Show reign Friday with a nice touch at the end. Our full report/review is here.
"We're proud to be the new over-the-air home of the Texas Rangers," CBS11/TXA21 president and general manager Steve Mauldin said in a statement. ...Rangers team president Nolan Ryan said it's "im...
Our inside pages include reviews of Lifetime's Maneater miniseries and HBO's Into the Storm dramatization of Winston Churchill's World War II grit. Also, see NBC5 reporter Omar Villafranca being ...
My mother-in-law, Janice Roden, who's also an ace genealogist, has uncovered a common grandfather for American Idol host Ryan Seacrest and Dallas nurse Madeline Bark, who's also the wife of commo...
As Conan O'Brien prepares to assume the Tonight Show position, we rerun your friendly content provider's review of his 1993 Late Night debut in place of David Letterman. Also, the latest D-FW Nie...
Austinite Mike Judge's animated followup to King of the Hill is ABC's The Good Family, which premieres Wednesday night. ... And your friendly content provider will be waxing ineloquently on Wedne...
Less than a week before his Tonight Show debut, Conan O'Brien gabbed with TV critics Tuesday. ... Also, the new Fox hospital drama Mental is at home with many of House's touches.
"The 33's" remodeled news Web site is being awfully generous to rival TV news operations. ... And the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings show whether Fox's So You Think You Can Dance has picked up where...
How did American Idol's Season finale do nationally compared to its other closers. ... Also, the first episode of Michael Irvin's 4th and Long hit a ratings bullseye with the network's young male...
NBC5 trounced its early morning rivals in the just-concluded May "sweeps" while Fox4 made a first-time breakthrough and CBS11 took more baby steps in its battle to be first at 10 p.m. and escape ...
American Idol again will dominate the airwaves tonight with its eighth season finale. We pick a winner and offer a season-long critique of prime-time's runaway top moneymaker.
Two notable old faves will be missing in action on CBS next season, but the network also saved a rival network's canceled series from the reaper. ... Also, Dallas-based WFAA8 deployed a little ra...
Note to readers: Because of the heavy load of new network season announcements and other programming premieres/finales, we're going to end our "Up-close and objective" feature a bit before the Ma...
NBC unveiled Part 2 of its fall and midseason plans Tuesday. ... Also, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings are ready to reveal themselves.
ABC's new fall lineup, announced Tuesday, will try to make comedy king again with four newcomers starring the likes of . . . Get our complete details here.
Glee makes a one-night stand -- until the fall -- with Tuesday night's post-American Idol "Special Preview" on Fox. Gotta sing, gotta dance, gotta review -- right here.
With just three weekdays remaining in the May sweeps, here's a look at how D-FW's late night newscasts behaved on Friday, May 15th. Can your friendly content provider stagger to the finish line?
The new Fox fall sitcom Brothers isn't a huge stretch for former New York Giants defender Michael Strahan, who's co-starring as a recently retired NFL star. ...
Fox's new fall schedule, announced Monday, brings African-American personalities to the forefront. ... Also, the weekend D-FW Nielsen ratings are up and running.
Reliable sources say that veteran NBC5 anchor Mike Snyder has been given two options, neither of which would keep him on the Fort Worth-based station's 10 p.m. newscasts. Also, Michael Irvin's ne...
Two D-FW television newsrooms hope to make ratings history for themselves as the May sweeps near the finish lines. Get the information you won't find anywhere else right here.
Management is not giving out any names or numbers, although early information indicates that at least nine people have been affected, the majority of them photographers. ...As previously reported...
All four major local TV news providers, plus Uncle Barky himself, partook of Thursday night's Michael Irvin party/fundraiser. ... All this and much more in our daily compendium of D-FW's late nig...
It would compete against the three network evening newscasts and Fox4's local edition, which in the March "sweeps" ratings period ran third at 5:30 behind ABC's World News and the NBC Nightly New...
We've got another one in the books, this time with a special emphasis on Fox4 reporter Lari Barager's ability to strike first on a human interest story that had rival stations tardily following i...
Kristin Mitchell, who joined Dallas-based WFAA8's Good Morning Texas in early March as a replacement for Brenda Teele, is no longer in the picture. "She decided to leave the show, and her last da...
Jay Leno, who's bequeathing the Tonight Show to Conan O'Brien after the May 29th telecast, had lots to say Thursday during a teleconference with TV critics. ... Also, The Dallas Mavericks died wi...
The Mark Cuban-Kenyon Martin feud made the cut on all four D-FW late night newscasts. ... And no, this time it wasn't Dale Hansen.
Bounced by The Dallas Morning News during April's layoffs, two seasoned metro reporters are joining "The 33" news team as "backpack journalists" at Dallas-based KDAF-TV. ... Also, it's a runaway ...
Included on Monday's late night local newscast menu -- "Beer babes" and WFAA8 sports anchor Dale Hansen's latest rip of Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. Also, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings show how ...
A super-pulsating Game 4, in which Dallas staved off a sweep with a 119-117 win, doesn't come close to achieving the seemingly impossible dream of coming back from a 3-0 hole. ...And now he'll li...
NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams tries to keep his cool with indie artists in the new Web-only briTunes. The first one features Deer Tick, a major player at Austin's latest South By Southwe...
Friday wasn't much of a news night on D-FW's four major TV providers. ... We also have the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings, including Saturday's Mavs-Nuggets horror show.
High-larity reigns, whether it's Leonard Nimoy's Star Trek-themed Top 10 list or Dan Rather sporting a 'fro on The Daily Show. ... Also, CBS11 yearns to have you for breakfast in a new spot touti...
Dirk Nowitzki's off-court tribulations continued to get heavy play on Thursday's late night D-FW newscasts. ... Check out our latest roundup, and also see how Thursday's local Nielsen ratings sta...
Our latest late night newscast roundups are in. Believe it or not, so are the D-FW Nielsen ratings for Monday-Wednesday after a technical meltdown delayed results and frayed the nerves of network...
On its Web site, The Dallas Morning News initially credited CBS11 with breaking the story of Taylor's reported pregnancy. ... The newspaper instead credited CBS11 as the first to report that Nowi...
Also, the Nielsen ratings are trickling in after a major technical meltdown deprived local stations and networks of their daily fixes. Sunday's D-FW numbers have just been released, allowing a be...
NBC5 doesn't much let content get in the way of commercials down the homestretches of its 10 p.m. newscasts. ...Note to readers: Continuing problems at Nielsen Media Research mean further delays ...
ABC's upcoming fifth edition of The Bachelorette will be lousy with Texans, including two now living in the D-FW area. ...ABC press materials say that he's "secretly obsessed" with the feet of Ca...
Michael Irvin's new reality competition series for Spike TV now has a name, a premiere date and an array of announced guest stars. They'll be presiding over 12 contestants, with the winner gettin...
The collapse of the Dallas Cowboys' practice facility continued to be a major player on Monday's late night D-FW newscasts. ... Meanwhile, Saturday's local Nielsen ratings show a big bump for CBS...
Complete local weekend ratings from Nielsen Media Research -- which include both Sunday's Dallas Mavericks game and coverage of Saturday's disaster at Cowboys training camp -- have been delayed a...
Fox made it official Monday, giving Fringe a Season 2. Its first-season finale is on Tuesday, May 12th, with guest star Leonard Nimoy dropping in as a "pivotal person of interest," says Fox.
Our serrated summation of Friday's late night D-FW newscast activities is ready to share. Also, NBC half-announces its 2009-10 prime-time schedule, promising Part 2 on May 19th.
CBS11 cut away from its network's coverage of the PGA's Quail Hollow Championship to bring North Texas viewers the first news of the tragedy, in which several people reportedly were seriously inj...
CBS11 meteorologist Kristine Kahanek officially signed off at the end of Friday's 4 p.m. newscast, ending a seven-year career with the station. ...Kahanek was the only on-air personality to depar...
One of D-FW's four major TV news providers is notably downplaying the swine flu situation. ... Also, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings are in the house.
Sources confirm that CBS11 meteorologist Kristine Kahanek, who joined the station in 2002 as the station's chief temperature taker, has been dropped as part of Friday's layoffs at the D-FW-based ...
Coming soon to a home screen near you -- Dallas-based WFAA8's Rumble in the Plaza starring Dale Hansen and Pete Delkus. ...Also, you may have noticed it's a new month, which means that April post...
The Fort Worth school district's surprise swine flu shutdown not surprisingly topped Wednesday's late night D-FW newscasts. ... Also, how did President Obama's prime-time news conference do again...
NBC5 anchor/reporter Meredith Land and her husband are expecting their first child, the station confirms. ...In other local TV baby news, CBS11 weathercaster Jeff Jamison posted a video blog on A...
A weekly TV presence is in the works for Jerome Weeks, former book critic at The Dallas Morning News and now a member of Dallas-based KERA's Art&Seek staff. ...KERA says he'll interview guests fr...
OK, you, me and a lot of other people were watching the Mavericks punch out the Spurs during Tuesday's under-watched late night D-FW newscasts. ... Also, check out those whopping big ratings for ...
Monday's late night D-FW newscasts proved to be quite a vision. Our latest four-ring roundup is here.
Jay Leno put NBC at ease Monday with his return to the Tonight Show after a health scare last week. ... And CBS sentences Harper's Island to hard labor while also changing a few of its series fin...
Fox has decided not to carry President Obama's Wednesday, April 29th prime-time news conference, which also marks his 100th day in office. ...Fox had carried the previous three appearances, inclu...
Which D-FW news anchor has resorted to tweeting during newscasts? ... Also, catch up on the ratings for the Dallas Mavericks' big win Saturday in our latest look at the D-FW Nielsen numbers.
So for each and every weeknight of the May "sweeps," we're going to watch the featured nighttime newscasts on Fox4, NBC5, WFAA8 and CBS11. ... Also, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings show big retur...
The May "sweeps" have officially started (never mind that it's only April 23rd), which means that the official May 20th end of the 2008-09 TV season is coming up fast. ... Also, the eve-of-the-sw...
Fox4's roving Good Day reporter, Fiona Gorostiza, suffered a second degree burn while hot-coal walking on Tuesday's edition. But the Dallas-based station's web site is treating the mishap as a se...
Dallas-based WFAA8 is addressing its 5 p.m. newscast ratings dip with a lighter, hands-on approach. That included a live appearance Tuesday by three rescued baby hawks.
CNBC has a fun time with infomercials -- and who wouldn't? -- in Wednesday night's As Seen on TV. ... And the Dallas Mavericks score big in the D-FW Nielsen ratings Monday despite laying an egg i...
Caught on video Monday: Reporter Darren Hunt and photographer Ric Dupont of KVIA-TV in El Paso were handcuffed and taken to police headquarters for interviewing witnesses near the scene of a seri...
Our Making A List page begins a periodic new feature by starting with A and eventually covering the whole alphabet. ... And the latest D-FW ratings show a nice bump for the suddenly very watchabl...
Bill Ratliff, former co-host of Dallas-based WFAA8's PM Magazine with Leeza Gibbons, is calling it quits at Tampa, Florida's WFLA-TV after 27 years as an anchor. In short, the station made him an...
Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange excel in HBO's Grey Gardens. But Fox falls flat with the animated comedy Sit Down, Shut Up, despite a wealth of behind-the-scenes talent.
You won't need cable or a dish to watch the Dallas Mavericks and the San Antonio Spurs hoop it up in first round NBA playoff action. ...The Mavs also will get cable exposure, with TNT showing the...
John Madden's surprise retirement from broadcasting Thursday leaves NBC with a big Sunday Night Football vacancy. ... Plus, a Dallas woman will strut her 41-year-old stuff in the second season of...
NBC's Sunday Night Football will have the first regular season game from the so-called "Eighth Wonder of the World," with the New York Giants in town as the loyal opposition on Sept. 20th. ...Spl...
TV Land's The Cougar isn't a nature show, although its 40-year-old star enjoys preying on tender young meat. ... Also, the Back Channels page revisits a time when D-FW reporters regularly moved o...
Also, her former 5 p.m. newscast running mate, Jeff Brady, is aggressively selling himself and his new company. Check out his pitch -- but beware of curveballs -- on our Web Browser page.
What could have been a crushing home loss to Minnesota's woeful Timberwolves became a tingling two-point win Monday night when guard Jason "Jet" Terry canned a clutch jumper. ...A final regular s...
Six weeks after Megan Henderson's departure and nearing the start of the May "sweeps," Fox4's Good Day continues to rotate co-anchors. ... Also, PBS looks deep into Native American history Monday...
Former WFAA8 and ABC News reporter Matt Quinn and his wife, Cathy, were killed when wildfires decimated their home in rural Montague County. We look back at what Quinn meant to the station in tim...
Friday's third season finale of NBC's Friday Night Lights is full of senior moments, plus an unexpected challenge for Coach Taylor that sets up what should be a game-changing fourth season. ...Ed...
CBS already has plenty of whodunits, but its new Harper's Island will keep doing it for 13 weeks before fingering the killer. ... Also, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings are in their usual spot.
NBC ventures into an ER-less Thursday with two new series -- a comedy starring SNL alum Amy Poehler and a cop drama from ER's former maestro. ... Also, the TV Bulletin Board page has a new slew o...
Should Shelly Slater be filling one of those 5 p.m. newscast anchor vacancies on WFAA8? ... Also, Eminem's first new video in ages finds him in uniform as Tony Romo throwing a hamburger to a mock...
Harris' reports were valuable, but I wondered at the time whether WFAA8 would have proceeded with the same zeal had Dateline been an ABC news magazine. ..."And now, all of us 'Stepford' worker be...
FX's Rescue Me was hit harder than most by last year's writers' strike. ... And if you want the latest information about the ongoing layoffs at The Dallas Morning News, here's the best source.
NBC5's new Geico-derivative spot makes the most of the budding partnership between old hand Newy Scruggs and newcomer Matt Barrie. ... Also, ABC re-embraces Bob Saget -- again -- in the new sitco...
LOOKS GOOD SO FAR ON FOX4: RANGERS LEAD 4-0 AFTER 2. Photo: Ed Bark
A self-described "Rangers fan of epic proportions" made this 30-second video a few months ago. ...
D-FW's NBC5 lately has stretched its out-of-studio pictures to full screen size on its HD newscasts. ... Also, Showtime's The Tudors and HBO's In Treatment are back in view Sunday night.
And MSNBC has hired another left-of-center personality who otherwise doesn't look like your typical TV type. Get the details here, and also see how ER did in the D-FW ratings with Thursday night'...
Dallas-based KDAF-TV's 9 p.m. local newscast is looking to hire a few good "backpack journalists." We look at the implications as TV newsrooms of all sizes and quality strive to go cheaper.
Already flush with Hannah Montana and the High School Musical movies, Disney Channel will add the Jonas brothers to its kid-powered arsenal with a new comedy series set to premiere on Saturday, M...
Also, Wednesday's D-FW Nielsens are in the house, and we say goodbye to ER and an era on our Network News & Reviews page. And if you haven't already, check out our all-time top 10 TV docs list to...
The Peabodys have announced their latest batch of winners. ... Also, look who's adding Wanda Sykes to the late night mix, check out the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings and get more of your questions ...
Recent material on unclebarky.com gradually will relocate to the March 2009 archives (scroll down along right-hand border and then click) as April postings magically appear. We begin with new ent...
NBC's ER will end its record 15-season run -- the most ever for a medical series -- with Thursday's two-hour finale. ... Plus, your friendly content provider adds his voice to cnn.com's story on ...
Miles put Dallas police officer Robert Powell on the receiving end during an exclusive interview on Monday's 10 p.m. newscast. ... Also, we look at ABC's re-do of its 1998 series, Cupid, which pr...
Powell is on administrative leave after his controversial conduct outside Baylor Regional Medical Center of Plano, where he issued a traffic ticket to Ryan Moats and detained him at length while ...
Live from New York, WFAA8 reporter Rebecca Lopez talks to unclebarky.com about the biggest story of her career. Also, Fox will premiere Osbournes: Reloaded following Tuesday's latest American Ido...
ROBIN ROBERTS WITH RYAN, TAMISHIA MOATS ON ABC'S GMA. Photo: Ed Bark Ryan and Tamishia Moats were interviewed exclusively on Monday's Good Morning America while the reporter who broke the story,...
Pro football running back Ryan Moats and his wife Tamishia (also spelled Tamisha in some accounts) have changed morning partners and now will appear exclusively on Monday's Good Morning America t...
Also, Rebecca Lopez's scoop on the much talked-about Ryan Moats/traffic cop incident re-proves the value of experienced beat reporting in times when many local TV stations are giving it up. Also,...
ABC's new In the Motherhood premieres Thursday. Not to be too judgmental, but if you're in the womb, stay there.
SPORTSCASTER GINA MILLER IN THE CBS11/TXA21 NEWSROOM. Photo: Ed Bark Dallas-Fort Worth, the country's fifth-largest TV market, now has just one woman sportscaster on the six stations with nightl...
Which D-FW weatherman showed up in a tuxedo to do Monday's 10 p.m. forecast? ... Also, TBS enters the late night talk show ring with a surprise newcomer of color.
It's turned out to be an optimum marriage for the former CBS News heavyweight and Dallas-based owner Mark Cuban. ... Also, we get an update from former Fox4 Good Day anchor Megan Henderson, who's...
Throwing your voice can be a very good gig, especially if you're originally from D-FW. ... Also, the weekend Nielsen ratings were bullish for both Obama and basketball.
But it turns out that our local Peacock, owned-and-operated by NBC Universal, isn't the only O&O to deploy this advertising device. In fact, nine of NBC's 10 O&O stations have a Golden Local in p...
Uncle Barky's alma mater, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will take on the heavily favored Florida State Seminoles in one of the NCAA basketball tournament's late games Friday. ...
The new web-only series Rockville CA is another instance of a prominent TV producer bypassing the conventional networks to play what for now is still small ball. ... Get our take on what he's don...
Former CBS11 news director Regent Ducas, quite the notorious figure during his brief tenure, has landed a coaching job in North Texas. ... Also, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings are in, as is news...
"In a message to the station's staff, Vice President and General Manager Susan Adams Lloyd said economic realities during the recession required that she make a very difficult decision. ...Lloyd ...
Also, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings mark the first time a competing show has beaten American Idol. ... And unclebarky.com picks a Final Four for American Idol in hopes that at least one of 'em ...
JAY HARRINGTON HAS THE TITLE ROLE IN ABC'S NEW BETTER OFF TED. The new ABC workplace comedy Better Off Ted launches Wednesday night.
OK, maybe we should be glad that traffic reporter Bob Herzog's not plyin' his trade in D-FW. ...
The early morning ratings are getting very grim for WFAA8's Daybreak, which hasn't clicked at all lately in the local Nielsens. ... Plus, a new "Ask Uncle Barky" gives you a look at former WFAA8 ...
Today is the memorial for my good friend and former Dallas Morning News colleague Mike Maza, who died last year of cancer. In his memory, there'll be no further postings today.
One of the better new TV dramas of late, NBC's suitably epic Kings, premieres Sunday night. ... We also apprise George Clooney's little-promoted appearance on Thursday's ER, which didn't fare ver...
This basically has nothing to do with TV, although a D-FW station presumably could flip it into a "trend" story. ...It's the first time I'd witnessed cell phone usage in a steam room and whirlpoo...
Prime-time's most popular show, American Idol introduced a very lame "Judges' Save" option Wednesday. ... And on the Web Browser page, we commend NBC Universal for finally doing something right, ...
Belo Corp., owner of Dallas-based WFAA8 and 19 other TV stations, will be dropping 150 more employees by mid-April. ... Also, another network cooking competition, NBC's The Chopping Block, steps ...
Dancing with the Stars returned Monday night to the tune of big ratings and high scores for former Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader turned Bachelor jilt-ee Melissa Rycroft. ... Get Dancing's D-FW ratin...
Dallas-based WFAA8 has named a third Good Morning Texas co-host to fill the spot left by Brenda Teele. ... Plus, NBC reporter Lindsay Wilcox has a new arrival and a freshly posted TV Bulletin Boa...
It's not every day you hear a fire alarm go off in the middle of a local newscast. ... Also, we have a review of ABC's new and heavily promoted Castle series, an American Idol update and the late...
Fox4 anchor Steve Eagar again called attention to his sinister wide-striped suitcoat Wednesday, this time to swear off wearing it at the order of his "boss's boss." ... We've got our latest Ameri...
Fox4 anchor Steve Eagar made a point of wearing his wide-striped suitcoat Tuesday night after he says management told him to bag it. ... And we again pick our three Idol survivors from Tuesday's ...
Anchor Chris Flanagan made his Daybreak debut Tuesday on WFAA8, and hopes to last much longer than the previous trio. ... And the latest D-FW Nielsens are rosy for ABC's The Bachelor, where North...
The latest D-FW Nielsen ratings are both a plus and a minus for Megan Henderson's last day on Fox4's Good Day. Also, Jimmy Fallon will take a Web-centric approach to NBC's Late Night, where he de...
New posts for March send last month's to the February archives located along the right-hand border of each unclebarky.com page. ...Again, a monthly thanks to all who have made Amazon.com purchase...
Fox4 devoted much of Friday's four-hour Good Day to a "Mega Megan Celebration" in honor of departing co-anchor Megan Henderson. ... And unclebarky.com slumps to five out of six after missing on o...
Dallas-based Fox4 will go an unconventional route -- at least in the short-term -- after co-anchor Megan Henderson signs off Friday from the station's early morning Good Day. ... And on the Netwo...
But the justice system presumably survived, and we're back in business after a day-long trial and buildup. ... Also, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings are in for both a President Obama-infused Tues...
Two words: Jury duty. So cornfed unclebarky.com will be out of commission for at least part of Wednesday.
Megan Henderson's impending departure from Fox4 and the imminent arrival of a new guy at WFAA8 make early mornings a fertile field for NBC5. Also, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings are a grim reape...
Sunday night's Oscar ceremony topped last year's all-time low in the national Nielsens, but still is no blockbuster on the all-time list. Also, Mel Gibson resurfaced deep into the night on Jimmy ...
Megan Henderson, co-anchor of Fox4's Good Day since August 2003, is heading West to KTLA-TV. ... And the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings take a look at how Oscar performed in these parts.
The Texas Rangers have just announced their TV schedule, which mostly will be out of reach for fans without cable or satellite packages. ... Also, the new BBC America series Mistresses has both s...
Actually, "ruminating" is way too long a word for any self-respecting, character-deprived Tweeter. See what we mean in regards to Dallas-based WFAA8's oft-childlike duo of Pete Delkus and Dale Ha...
Also, unclebarky.com picks the survivors from Tuesday night's 12-way American Idol sing-off, from which only three will emerge Wednesday night after Season 8's first viewer votes are announced. N...
Dallas-based The 33 unveiled its new anchor team on Monday's 9 p.m. newscast. ... And on our still relatively new Web Browser page, CBS says that 2.5 million sets of eyeballs watched David Letter...
VETERAN WFAA8 ANCHOR JOHN MCCAA PREPARES TO DO A LIVE REPORT FOR THE 5 P.M. NEWSCAST FROM A DECIDEDLY DIFFERENT ANCHOR DESK IN THE STATION'S DOWNTOWN DALLAS NEWSROOM. Photo: Ed Bark Your friendl...
ABC's 1979 Oscar telecast hasn't been equaled since, at least in this view. ... And scroll down on the same page for video of a former D-FW weathercaster's crowd-pleasing performance at a Dancing...
Creator Joss Whedon of Buffy, the Vamper Slayer fame looms large over his new Dollhouse series, as he did during Fox's January press conference. ... Plus, HBO further debases baseball with Eastbo...
Below are highlights from bearded Joaquin Phoenix's already historic Wednesday night visit to Late Show with David Letterman, which surely will have more viewers than his new and supposedly last ...
Mark Cuban's HDNet Movies channel has another three-pronged "Sneak Preview" Wednesday night (Feb. 11) of a film opening in theaters this Friday. This one, Two Lovers, is billed as Joaquin Phoenix...
Tuesday night's severe weather throughout the D-FW viewing area brought disruptions to prime-time schedules as well. ... And meanwhile, there's a little more turbulence at "The 33."
Bad weather's movin' in again, which is great for both local newscast ratings and the profiles of their featured forecasters. ... Also, the latest D-FW ratings chart the network-by-network audien...
CBS11 sports anchor Babe Laufenberg and Cowboys QB Tony Romo went one-on-one late Sunday night after the Grammys went overtime. ... And you can chat with the stars of TNT's Trust Me right after t...
Austin-based businessman and bar owner BRAD WOMACK will be the first rose-bearer to get a "second chance at love" on ABC's next edition of The Bachelor, due in January. ...Yeah, well, good luck w...
Jeff Brady will be joining the ranks of D-FW television newsies who want to try something new. Our complete story is here.
Two new anchors, one previously revealed on unclebarky.com, will be helming "The 33's" 9 p.m. newscast later this month. The hires were announced on the day after veteran anchor Tom Crespo was dr...
Weeknight news anchor Tom Crespo is out as "The 33" continues to chop station veterans. ...Ed Bark
Veteran WFAA8 reporter Jim Douglas tackled a tough topic Tuesday night -- but as usual handled it impeccably. Also, the latest D-FW ratings are in, and a previously junked Bob Saget sitcom has be...
Friday, Feb. 6th, for Flight of the Conchords' May 5th show at Grand Prairie's Nokia Theatre. New Zealanders Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie are in the midst of their second season on HBO, whic...
Former TV investigative reporter Robert Riggs talks to unclebarky.com about his new duties at Dallas-based Bobby Goldstein Productions, home port for the TV show Cheaters. Also, a former host of ...
NBC's post-Super Bowl attraction, a one-hour episode of The Office, drew 22.9 million viewers nationally from 9:40 to 10:40 p.m. ...The all-time record-holder, which may never be beaten, is NBC's...
Fox's 100th episode of House goes against NBC's 3D hour of Chuck Monday night. ... Also, Super Bowl XLIII obviously dominated Sunday's D-FW Nielsen ratings.
January content has been archived on the Dallas-Fort Worth and Network News & Reviews pages as we begin another new month here at unclebarky.com central. Our first February posts on those pages a...
A guest star-infused episode of The Office will be Sunday's post-Super Bowl dessert. ... Click on over to our new Web Browser page to see both the spot and why NBC saw it as way too sexy.
Former King of Queens star Kevin James is the latest TV toiler to score with an out-of-nowhere hit movie. But where does Paul Blart: Mall Cop rank on our all-time list of surprise hits that made ...
Her latest contract is almost up, leaving Good Day co-anchor Megan Henderson in the mood to make a move -- or not. ...Ed Bark
It's described as "14 inches of gold-colored spinning status," even though its cowboy-hatted likeness (above) appears to be telling viewers to stick it. There's currently a less than raging "Gold...
Fox4 survived a major power outage while its foot soldiers and those from rival stations hit the streets skidding Tuesday night. Our up-close look at the frozen chosen is here.
Freeze finds Fox4's 9 p.m. newscast on fire in Monday night's D-FW ratings. Plus, a new TV Bulletin Board serves more nuggets of semi-nutritious info., including the current whereabouts of former...
This just in: WFAA8 has hired a new Daybreak co-anchor -- from Des Moines. Get our complete story here.
Publishing problems earlier Monday kept unclebarky.com steaming behind the scenes. But all's well -- finally -- so take a look at our posts on the first Dallas edition of Antiques Roadshow, an ab...
VH1, already home to Rock of Love, Flavor of Love, Celebrity Rehab and I Want to Work For Diddy, is welcoming Terrell Owens to its fold in a new, still untitled series set to premiere this summer...
Also, TNT premieres its new ad men series, Trust Me, and the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings are good news for both CBS and CBS11. Plus, Bob Eubanks is coming to Grapevine and Katie Couric is moving ...
But candidates also were grilled in depth during one-on-one segments in which the sharpest, most persistent questioners were longtime Dallas Morning News political reporter Wayne Slater and Len C...
We have updated information and quotes on WFAA8's new round of layoffs, which were first reported on unclebarky.com. Also, see how Lost's Season 5 return fared in the D-FW Nielsen ratings.
Fox's new Lie to Me finds truths in the face of -- facial expressions. ... And a new "Ask Uncle Barky" answers some of your pressing questions, including the status of NBC5 meteorologist James Ay...
Reporter Michael Rey has been let go as part of an ongoing shakeup at "The 33," which also has named two new reporters. And Lost returns for a 5th season Wednesday with an opening nod to an old W...
In response to a previous unclebarky.com post, CBS11 news director Scott Diener pledges to give credit where it's due from now on. Also, the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings chart the numbers for Gil ...
Death-defying Patrick Swayze stars in the new A&E cop series The Beast, which premieres Thursday night. ... A new "Ask Uncle Barky" has crept into the mix, and the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings are...
Fox4 reporter Shaun Rabb's exclusive jailhouse interview with an accused cop killer wound up making news on CBS11 as well. ... And PBS takes a rare stab at the funny bone in a six-hour history of...
Former Fox4 reporter Rebecca Aguilar filed a racial discrimination suit against the station late Monday afternoon, claiming she was suspended and ultimately terminated because of her "documented ...
Check out our fun rundown and also see how they fared against 24 and other stuff in the D-FW Nielsens. Also, WFAA8 will be the first local TV station ever to win a Gold Baton when the prestigious...
All hell once again breaks loose as 24 restarts for a seventh season that might make president-elect Barack Obama feel a bit blessed about the relatively minor problems he's about to inherit. Als...
An ongoing epidemic of downsizing in D-FW's television newsrooms has claimed Fox4 sports reporter Nita Wiggins, whose last day was Thursday. We have more details here.
Also, WFAA8 scores big in the 10 p.m. newscast ratings with help from deposed radio jock Russ Martin. ... Plus, our new "Web Browser" page puts you in touch with the TV sights and sounds of hulu....
So if you want to see recent posts that suddenly are invisible, just click on the appropriate month in our Archives list, located in the bottom right-hand margin of each UB page. ...But of course...
FX's excellent Damages returns for a second season Wednesday night. Meanwhile, The CW offers excrement in the form of its new 13 -- Fear Is Real.
Former NBC5 early morning meteorologist Rebecca Miller is officially the featured forecaster at The 33, with previous occupant Bob Goosmann still on board for now. (UPDATED TWICE TUESDAY WITH QUO...
CBS, currently the No. 1 network in overall prime-time viewership, uses the two-and-a-half-inch, across-the-bottom-of-the-page space to laud its success story "at a time when there are more media...
Also, WFAA8 closed out 2008 on a ratings high with its Big D NYE special, which drew almost as many viewers as the Rose Bowl. And ABC's new True Beauty reality series has a former Dallas pageant ...
We close with the Hansen/Delkus/Izaguirre clip from the 2008 Big D NYE special, and with thanks to all for sticking with good ol' unclebarky.com.
Which the locals certainly did on their late night sports specials after a little burnt toast buttering by game commentators Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, followed by a repulsed Jimmy Johnson on Fox'...
Thanks to the many who have read and continue to support unclebarky.com as we head away from an oft-dispiriting year and toward a Christmas and 2009 that hopefully will bring out the best in all ...
Whatever the actual date, Fox4 will be lagging roughly two years behind WFAA8, which went HD on Feb. 2, 2007 while also opening its new Victory Park studios. ...Saunders also addressed rumors tha...
But we're leaving you with a Top 10 countdown of the year's most momentous national TV events. Also inside: a complete list of the many D-FW television anchors and reporters who left their statio...
But there's ample youtube footage of Gorostiza, who knows how to have a good time on the air. ...
Teele, who joined WFAA8 in February 2006, said she needs to spend more time with the Dallas-based Jackson Law Firm, headed by her husband, Ray Jackson. ...As previously reported, the station's Da...
Leno reportedly will be paid more than $30 million a year to host a Monday-Friday hour at 9 p.m. (central), with most of his Tonight Show trappings intact, including an opening monologue. ...CBS ...
Terri Chappell didn't expect to be celebrating her 43rd birthday Friday as a former Ch. 33 news anchor. ... And TNT's new "high-octane" Leverage series presents Timothy Hutton as a combination Ha...
Her picture was removed from the station's Web site Tuesday, and several sources say this marks the end of her 10-year career at the station. ...Chappell joined Ch. 33 from Austin's CBS station, ...
He's former WFAA8 "Why Guy" Mike Castellucci, who left the station in July and now is part of the news team at KUSI-TV of San Diego. ...
It also includes a brief interview and demonstration by Turkey Bowling inventor Derrick Johnson, who was fired for perfecting his sport on a grocery store graveyard shift. ...
Daybreak co-anchor Brad Hawkins has decided to leave WFAA8 after eight years, but it'll be a short departing flight to Southwest Airlines. ... Also, the latest D-FW ratings are a big stomp for AB...
Action hero Jack Bauer returns this Sunday (Nov. 23) in a new 24 movie setting the stage for January's start of Season 7. ...And in more local news for you, NBC5 meteorologist James Aydelott soon...
CBS11 investigative reporter Bennett Cunningham and his partner, Michael Spann, are happy to be back in D-FW after the Oct. 10 births of Gregory Adam and Liliana Elizabeth in a Hartford, Conn. ho...
The Dallas Morning News and The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, long derided in each other's newsrooms as "The Morning Snooze" and "The Startlegram," announced earlier this month that they'd be "explor...
Edie, Bart, myself, Sylvia Komatsu and Ron Simon formed the board that selected the Kovacs Award winner from 1997 until "we realized that it was just getting to be too difficult for Edie to trave...
And before that, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama submitted himself for approval via a half-hour national pitch on four broadcast and three cable networks. ...And, um, er, has The D...
For better or worse, a majority of the electorate by now knows who Joe the Plumber is. ... Which of them has the best chance to be part of the national conversation 10 years/5 years/6 months from...
Will this season's TV ratings be scarily lower as the stand-pat Dallas Mavericks get into costume for a pre-Halloween night opener against the Rockets? ... Also, Tuesday's D-FW Nielsen ratings ar...
Once, twice, eight times an Emmy winner, semi-crazed Cloris Leachman is still kicking at age 82 -- in high heels. Easily the oldest competitor ever on ABC's Dancing with the Stars -- and also las...
Check out our trio of D-FW news "Talking Points," plus the latest Cowboys-infused local ratings snapshot. Ed Bark
As many may already know, today was another layoff day at The Dallas Morning News. ...The most that I can do, via this little web site among millions, is to wish all of you future good fortune an...
The new fall season is a month-old and all of its new series are now operative. ... Get all the further details in our first look at where the new shows and the Big Four networks stand.
Wednesday's opener between the Philadelphia Phillies and Tampa Bay Rays, which ran from 7:30 to 11:01 p.m. (central time), averaged 14.6 million viewers nationally, according to Nielsen Media Res...
But it did beat NBC's Lipstick Jungle. For all the messy details, dial up our daily "Local Nielsen Ratings Snapshot."
Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama will be on the same team -- for a few fleeting seconds at least -- during Fox's coverage of the 2008 World Series, which begins Wednesday, Oct. 22...
Former CBS11 anchor/reporter Maria Arita advocates for Barack Obama in the first film from her new Frisco-based film company. And the latest D-FW ratings snapshot charts another bumpy Tuesday nig...
And how is WFAA8's 5 p.m. newscast faring without those big booster shots? ... Also, look who's getting two more seasons to ply his gruesome craft and see where old hand Dan Rather will be on ele...
Also, talented MADtv alum Nicole Sullivan gets her own Lifetime sitcom, Rita Rocks. And two pro athletes with mixed success in Dallas -- Dennis Rodman and Hershcel Walker -- will be teaming on a ...
The Starz cable network's first original drama series is a continuation of the Oscar-winning film Crash. ... And that's not good news for the second episode of ABC's Life on Mars.
NBC has an engaging, first-rate adventure yarn in its new Crusoe series, premiering Friday. (Note to readers: Wednesday's D-FW Nielsens weren't immediately available.
John McCain has company in being upstaged by running mate Sarah Palin. ... And Comedy Central's Chocolate News begins a 10-week run, with David Alan Grier fake-anchoring.
Several readers have asked what happened to WFAA8's Saturday night local newscast, which already had been delayed until roughly 10:45 p.m. by ABC's NASCAR race overrun. ...The station took anothe...
It's a boy -- and a girl -- for CBS11 investigative reporter Bennett Cunningham and his partner, Michael Spann. Also, it at least was another big ratings Sunday for the Cowboys, with Fox4 the hap...
Former CBS11 and WFAA8 anchor Tracy Rowlett, veteran, award-winning local television producer John Sparks and former network television producer Olive Talley (who earlier reported for The Dallas ...
Also, Pete 'n' Dale get legal in a new and clever WFAA8 promo that's certain to further displease viewers who say they're already turned off by the pair's nightly newscast banter. And in a pivota...
Thursday night's third new series, CBS' Eleventh Hour, is another "police procedural" from producer Jerry Bruckheimer. We take a look while also paying respects to the network's godfather of the ...
Our reviews are in on two new Thursday night series -- ABC's Life On Mars and NBC's Kath & Kim. Also, Tuesday's D-FW Nielsens gave ABC a landslide win in the presidential debate ratings.
The 33"s weather team is now a one-man band after veteran Fred Barnhill called it a day. ... Also, Monday's D-FW Nielsens are feast or famine for some of the Big Four broadcast networks' best-kno...
DALLAS MAVERICKS OWNER AND TV ENTREPRENEUR/STAR MARK CUBAN SPORTS A LOVELY PARTING GIFT -- AN INAUGURAL UNCLEBARKY.COM T-SHIRT -- AT SATURDAY'S SEVENTH UNCLE BARKY SHOW. AT LEFT IS MATT MILLER O...
Your friendly content provider very much hopes to see you this SATURDAY, OCT. 4TH at a brand new "episode" of THE UNCLE BARKY SHOW, with Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban in the house. ...They ra...
Could it be true that Newman once played Plato and Nathan Hale in two episodes of CBS' You are There, a history-in-the-making series hosted by Walter Cronkite? ...Seventeen years later, few knew ...
***Former NBC5 early morning meteorologist Rebecca Miller, whose six-month "non-compete" clause ended early this month, will be back in front of a weather map on "The 33's" Thursday and Friday (S...
I had eagerly planned to write about Sunday's big ticket developments -- the Cowboys' commanding win over my homestate Packers and an Emmy Awards ceremony characterized by waves of partisan polit...
A later, longer sketch deployed virtually the entire SNL cast and a big chunk of extras as a clueless task force of 50 New York Times reporters. ...Republican talking point: Aha, but SNL led the ...
Sponsored in full by the Chesapeake Energy Corporation, the site is being billed as an objective vehicle to discuss production of natural gas in the Barnett Shale and other natural gas shales thr...
Troy Aikman spiked his regular Thursday morning segment on "The Ticket's" Dunham and Miller show with an unsolicited hot sports opinion aimed at Fox's sports overlords. ...Aikman also wondered ab...
Dallas fifth grader Dalton Sherman climbs another step on the celebrity rung Thursday with an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show (3 p.m. locally on NBC5). Sherman, 10, a student at Charles Ri...
"We are absolutely thrilled that the critics and our viewers have embraced True Blood," HBO exec Michael Lombardo says. ...Earlier this week, TNT picked up a second season of the legal drama Rais...
Birthed on Sept. 17, 2006 in a log cabin just west of Waxahachie, unclebarky.com has an anniversary to report. ...Thanks for your always welcome support and patronage of D-FW's only homegrown des...
AS PROMISED, WE HAVE A NEW DATE FOR THE STORM-POSTPONED UNCLE BARKY SHOW, WITH GUEST MARK CUBAN. ... THE RESTAURANT WILL BE DONATING $1,000 TO OUR GUEST'S DESIGNATED CHARITY, THE DALLAS MAVERICKS...
THERE'S A VERY OUTSIDE CHANCE THAT SATURDAY WILL BE A DAY OF SUNSHINE OR MAYBE ONLY MODERATE RAIN IN NORTH TEXAS. ... AND IT WOULD BE UNSEEMLY TO DO THE SHOW WHILE MANY TEXANS NEARER TO HURRICANE...
The head film critic of The New York Post inadvertently -- but reportedly unapologetically -- hit impaired Roger Ebert over the head with a binder during a screening at the Toronto Film Festival....
Former WFAA8 anchor Macie Jepson has some further and more pointed comments, sent via email, about her Aug. 21st dismissal from the station. But I would have preferred to tell this story another ...
Saturday Night Live returns for its 34th season on Sept. 13th. ... A new "Making a List" entry dares to rank a Top 10.
Please note that this Saturday's seventh Uncle Barky Show, with guest MARK CUBAN, will begin promptly at 3 P.M. instead of the usual 4 p.m. start time at Stratos Greek Taverna, 2907 W. ...We'll h...
A GARLAND STREET IS LITTERED WITH LONELY BRIEFINGS. Photo: Ed Bark ...It's yet to be delivered as promised at unclebarky.com central, but the next block down finds The Dallas Morning News' newes...
Also, the Repubs railed against the so-called eastern media elite Wednesday night before the so-called eastern media elite mostly fawned over Palin's address. And on Back Channels, we revisit Bil...
Dropped on August 21st as part of a WFAA8 budget slash, former 5 p.m. co-anchor Macie Jepson comments for the first time to unclebarky.com. Also, big, brash Keith Olbermann chickens out.
As you prepare to enjoy not working on Labor Day, make a resolution to attend the seventh in a series of live Uncle Barky Shows, this one featuring guest Mark Cuban. ...So support your local uncl...
Tina Fey/Sarah Palin. Sarah Palin/Tina Fey.
McCain's out-of-nowhere pick of 44-year-old Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his running mate ranked as the best-kept political secret of modern times until NBC's Kelly O'Donnell was credited with ...
It went better for Ducas at Kansas City's KCTV-5, where his fast-paced crime and tragedy strategy helped take the station to the top of the Nielsen ratings during his five-year reign. ...Post-CBS...
Larry Mowry will be taking more temperatures at CBS11 as part of a new alignment that also makes Jeff Jamison the full-time early morning weathercaster while Kristine Kahanek downshifts to 4 p.m....
Veteran WFAA8 anchor Macie Jepson is the latest in a long line of recent departures from the D-FW television news scene. ... A new "Picky Picky" tries to be fair to both sides, even if that's inc...
Another three were part-time, off-camera positions, leaving Jepson as the lone full-time employee dismissed at a station that dominated the May "sweeps" ratings with first place finishes for its ...
Chip Waggoner, last of D-FW television's featured airborne traffic reporters, has been grounded by the high costs of sky patrolling. ... And a new Uncle Barky Webcast is up and running, this one ...
The latest D-FW Nielsen ratings show that NBC5's early evening newscasts are still getting a big goose from the Peacock's following Olympic-casts. Meanwhile, we've got a big helping of TV odds an...
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ABC's World News will originate from Dallas on Wed., Aug. 13th after a two-night stay in early March that was tied to the Texas presidential primary. ...The Tillerson one-on-one is part of a thre...
Local and National TV Coverage
"I appreciate the job you do, but I hope you can respect my decision not to share my feelings of loss during this incredibly painful time," Hammarley said. ...In a one-liner written for his now i...
The economy remains deeply wounded and another round of job cuts will further decimate The Dallas Morning News this fall. So what better time for the paper to coo over the hot summer escape haunt...
The webcasts are produced by Texas radio Hall of Famer John Rody (of KZEW-FM's "The Morning Zoo" fame), whose webcastingnetworks.com operates out of Irving, TX. This latest Uncle Barky Webcast ru...
Snee said her decision to leave Ch. 33 after nine and a half years was hastened by new news director David Duitch's concern that she couldn't handle both positions. ...Chicago billionaire Sam Zel...
Ehlmann has work to do, particularly at 10 p.m., where NBC5 ran third in the May "sweeps" ratings period in the total homes Nielsens and barely nipped second-place CBS11 among 25-to-54-year-olds,...
This time the corporation wants a stunning 500 "full-time equivalents" (or FTEs as Decherd subsequently referred to them) to be sliced from The Dallas Morning News and Belo's two other, much smal...
The first Uncle Barky effort takes us to the Colleyville kitchen of former NBC5 meteorologist REBECCA MILLER, whose whereabouts and future plans have generated more emails and comments on uncleba...
After re-upping for an extra month, NBC5 sports reporter/anchor Derek Castillo will say goodbye to D-FW viewers on this Sunday's 10:30 p.m. Sports Extra. Otherwise his official last day at the st...
The reporter's last day at the station will be on Aug. 4th, assistant news director Sarah Garza says in a memo sent to staffers and obtained by unclebarky.com. Richie, who joined CBS11 in early 2...
Fox4 interviewed a possible replacement for weathercaster Maria Sotolongo Monday. Her name is Katrina Voss, and you might say she's a little different.
NBC's Deal Or No Deal, already served up in mass quantities on the network's prime-time schedule, will invade daytime in early September with new half-hour episodes hosted by Howie Mandel. In D-F...
Many thanks to TXA21/CBS11 anchor Tracy Kornet and fellow Eleven21 band members Tommy Hiett, Richard Frish and True Tidwell for guesting and performing at Saturday's sixth "episode" of the Uncle ...
"There have been talks with all of the stations since I left to see if I was interested in coming back," Bologna said in a telephone interview early Friday evening. ..."While we hate to lose some...
The sixth "episode" of The Uncle Barky Show will feature a live performance by TXA21/CBS11 anchor Tracy Kornet and the Eleven21 band. ...The banner ad above provides the basic details, and this p...
Sometime between 7 and 9 p.m., engineers will disable the station's analog transmitter in a test to see if you're ready for the transition to digital TV on Feb. 17 of next year. ...You'll draw a ...
Your friendly content provider's latest bi-monthly "Media Matters" article for Dallas CEO is on the growing number of reporters and anchors who are leaving local TV news for other pursuits. ...An...
Comfort Fedoke of Dallas, voted off Fox's So You Think You Can Dance last week, has been reinstated as a top 10 finalist after a rival dancer's injury. ...Also, Fox4 is among just four stations t...
Anyway, Dallas Observer writer Richie Whitt's cover story on deposed "Ticket" radio personality Greg "The Hammer" Williams is brilliantly composed and researched. ...Also in Observer-land, the al...
Simply put, perception rules right now, with benefit of the doubt a distant second in the case of D-FW anchor dean Tracy Rowlett throwing in with Chesapeake Energy Corporation on a "unique online...
After Chesapeake's announcement, CBS11 said it will air a Rowlett "retrospective" Friday during his final appearance at the station as co-anchor of the 5 p.m. newscast. ..."We have heard repeated...
Then stay close to home and motor over to the first "American Bandstand" edition of the Uncle Barky Show, with TXA21/CBS11 anchor Tracy Kornet (above) leading the vocal charge with members of the...
ITEM 1 -- As recently posted by Pittsburgh Post-Gazette TV critic Rob Owen, CBS11 early morning meteorologist Julie Bologna is rumored to be returning to Pittsburgh after her contract expires thi...
MURPHY MARTIN AT 2006 TEXAS RADIO HALL OF FAME INDUCTION AND AS A NETWORK AND LOCAL TV ANCHOR WHO HAD THREE STINTS AT WFAA-TV. ...Television-radio news stalwart Murphy Martin, also known to many ...
A safe and happy Fourth of July to the growing unclebarky.com nation! Refreshments are served inside, including chapter and verse on a new Lost book club, a holiday celebrity birthday straight fr...
TXA21/CBS11 NEWS ANCHOR TRACY KORNET GIVES VOICE TO HER FIRST CALLING BY SINGING WITH THE ELEVEN21 BAND. Photo: Ed Bark Tracy Kornet gets out from behind her TXA21 news desk to again sing with a...
"If I don't do something stupid, like ending my report with 'slam-alam-a-ding-dong,' I think my bosses want me to stick around a little while longer," Hammarley says on a bio page that was last e...
Our first in a periodic series of Internet Confidential commentaries checks out the Web skills of WFAA8 anchor John McCaa. Ed Bark
ABC News' six-part, non-fiction Hopkins, premiering Thursday, has the look, feel and constant music of Grey's Anatomy. ... Elsewhere, NBC5's 10 p.m. newscast and ABC's pair of fall-down-go-boom r...
The first-ever Saturday Night Live, hosted by the late George Carlin, will be repeated on Saturday, June 28th, at 10:30 p.m. (central) on NBC. ..."You never forget the people who were there at th...
Peripatetic anchor/reporter Beth Wagner has bounced back to CBS11 after a very short stint at WKOW-TV, the ABC affiliate in Madison, WI. Wagner left CBS11 on Jan. 23rd to become the early evening...
In a subsequent voice mail message from Chicago, Sayres said he had a "phenomenal run at Fox4" during his 21 years as a reporter before opting to act on a "once in a lifetime opportunity" with We...
A recent "Comments" section debate over the niceness of former NBC5 meteorologist Rebecca Miller spurs this further look at who deserves gold stars in the human being department. Also, another da...
NOTED GARLAND CATWOMAN MADELINE BARK, FRIENDLY SNICKERS (LEFT) AND DOUR COOKIE TENTATIVELY WILL JOIN THE DALLAS AUDITIONS FOR GSN'S THE MEOW MIX GAME SHOW, SET TO PREMIERE IN NOVEMBER. Photo: Ed...
Erin Hawksworth, formerly with WFAA8's sports department, is now at Fox25 in Boston (WFXT-TV), where she's a general assignment reporter. ...Here's one of her recent stories for WFXT, on an Iraq ...
An esteemed panel of TV critics -- OK, a bunch of losers -- recently participated in a Hollywood Reporter telephone survey on who should be nominated for TV's Emmy Awards. ...Also pictured from l...
Tom Brokaw, in semi-retirement but every bit the political junkie that Russert was, is the only successor who could stem any flow of Meet the Press's audience to ABC's This Week with George Steph...
Tim Russert, moderator of NBC's Meet the Press and one of the country's foremost political junkies, died Friday afternoon of a heart attack. ...That describes Russert as well, whether affectionat...
COMEDIAN/SITCOM STAR BILL ENGVALL GOT STARTED IN DALLAS. Photo: Ed Bark Blue collar comic Bill Engvall, whose TBS sitcom returns Thursday (June 12th) for a second season, talks about his Dallas ...
RAYMOND BURR AND EMMYS; GOOD OL' CHARLIE BROWN. Photos: Madeline Bark ...It's smallish compared to many, but the rustic tasting room does include a picture of the late Burr bordered by his real-...
Good Day co-anchor Megan Henderson has another weekend Fox & Friends stint behind her, but is still non-commital about any possible future with Fox News Channel. ...There's otherwise "nothing new...
Unclebarky.com will be taking the next four days off so that its friendly content provider can decompress and regenerate. ... Check out a salute to Mark Cuban's HDNet Movies channel, which is out...
Unclebarky.com prefers this shorthand: "A bizarre descent into dementia, with the sick-in-the-head host stripping his guests of any undue dignity while a rabid studio audience boos him on between...
Readers of this site regularly ask about the former WFAA8 reporter and investigator, whose memorable frigid weather dispatch from near Amarillo has provided a lasting youtube memory. ... And if y...
Former NBC5 weekend anchor Michael Scott, whose youtube moment arrived when a little lizard jumped on him during a live broadcast, has been fired by his latest station after reportedly insulting ...
How diverse is the North Texas TV news universe? ... Also, the 2007-08 TV season officially is over, even though Lost's big finale is still coming Thursday (May 29th).
KERA's new Art&Seek Web site launched Wednesday, May 28th, and it's in good hands with two former Dallas Morning News colleagues shepherding it. ...And the very best of luck to two fellow expatri...
Rockwall's Jason Castro, American Idol's fourth place finisher, will appear live on Fox4's Good Day Wednesday (May 28th), likely during the show's 8 a.m. hour. ...Wednesday night on Fox, the seco...
Fox4 reporter Paul Adrian is leaving the station in June to spend a year at Harvard University's John F. ... Upon returning to his native Texas, he aims to set up his own company with an eye towa...
The May sweeps ratings race crossed the finish line Wednesday, with WFAA8's newscasts easily standing tallest. ... Meanwhile CBS11 at least can throw a sweetened iced tea palooza after making sig...
Vehicles crashed through residential homes in two separate mishaps in Arlington Tuesday night. ... Launch those choppers and let the "Breaking News" begin on a night when crime and tragedy played...
CBS already is cruising to a second place sweeps win over NBC5 in the 10 p.m. total homes Nielsens. Still, the station can't keep its hands off the February sweeps playbook of the Peacock's Brian...
This time it's WFAA8's Bob Greene, who joined the station in June 2006 from New Orleans' WWL-TV, where he was part of the team reporting on Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. ..."It's a decisio...
Also, former "Ticket" standout Greg "The Hammer" Williams took his opinions and rehab program to Fox4's Sports Sunday program. And after a brief stay at WFAA8, weekend early morning meteorologist...
Among many, many things, Hansen said he's never liked his first name, has always wanted a nickname and doesn't think there's much of a long-term future for sports segments on local TV newscasts. ...
WFAA8 investigator Brett Shipp walks into another buzzsaw while stations greatly differ in their interpretations of the Cowboys' new ticket prices. Also, deposed "Ticket" personality Greg "The Ha...
Admission is free, show time is 4 p.m. and our guests are WFAA8's high-powered duo of Dale Hansen and Pete Delkus, respectively the sports and weather anchors on D-FW's No.1-rated nightly newscas...
What's gotten into unclebarky.com? For the second straight day, there's ample reason to praise rather than pan the late night efforts of D-FW's major TV news providers.
Before posting, it was best to make sure that playful FrontBurner wasn't spoofing its readers or getting punk'd, which happened yesterday when it bit on a fake story about a Newark, Texas teen's ...
Some solid, non-flashy reporter grunt work characterized Tuesday's late night local newscasts. Those marauding killer snakes must still be biding their time.
Local and National TV Coverage
At least one D-FW station is shocked to find a dinky little nude picture in a German textbook. ... And if NBC5 traffic reporter Tammy Dombeck's "hourglass" figure is fodder for a "sweeps" story, ...
Fox4's Good Day co-anchor, Megan Henderson, reportedly will be meeting soon with Fox News Channel chieftain Roger Ailes after impressing him with a recent guest stint on the network's Fox & Frien...
Also, Back Channels revisits the day -- 25 years ago -- that lippy sports anchor Dale Hansen got a new lease on life via his firing from Channel 4. And a new TV Bulletin Board shamelessly drops B...
Ronan said he'll also try to work with Fox4 reporter Jeff Crilley and his impending new Real News PR firm, but only on a temporary basis at best. ...Other local TV newspeople who have opted for n...
Quite a bit, as you'll see here in our latest May sweeps compendium. And boy, those Dallas Stars ratings on Versus were nothing to shake a hockey stick at in these parts.
WFAA8 sports anchor Dale Hansen and weatherman Pete Delkus, who regularly jab at each other on the air, will be the featured guests at the fifth Uncle Barky Show. ...Stratos already has donated $...
Sports radio 1310 ("The Ticket") staged its first-ever "Great Game" Thursday night, pitting Team Hardline against Team Musers. In pictures and prose, unclebarky.com highlights the errors of their...
Gunfire broke out behind a CBS11 reporter as she did her live standup from a Fort Worth neighborhood. ... Also, the May sweeps have hit the halfway point.
A power point presentation of the program, obtained by unclebarky.com, also names and pictures CBS11 traffic reporter Teresa Frosini as host of Red Hot Tickets. ...Red Hot Tickets is pitched as "...
Just what was "Lurking in the Sewers" on WFAA8's Tuesday, 10 p.m. newscast? It's time to pan reporter Brad Watson's story -- literally -- while also looking at how WFAA8 sports reporter Ted Madde...
NBC5 reporter Grant Stinchfield, in response to unclebarky.com's "Night 8" late night newscast analysis, has blogged a nice 'n' cheeky, in-depth story on jock itch. It's thoughtfully dedicated to...
CBS11's latest cellulite-reduction story prompts unclebarky.com's suggestions on how news directors also could pander to those hard-to-reach male viewers with stories of equal dubious import. New...
During the polygamist compound crisis in West Texas, one of her clients, who runs a Dallas-based family violence hotline, was told to "pack some bags" and head to San Angelo, Crilley said. ...Cri...
Fox4 excelled on Friday, a night when it's also been content on occasion to mail in its 9 p.m. newscast. Also, what a night -- ratings-wise and otherwise -- for the Dallas Stars in their dogged p...
Another colleague -- or at least someone who identified him/herself as a "CBS11 Insider" -- said in this Web site's comments section that two separate unclebarky.com postings on the Wright mistak...
This time we look at the respective merits of four decidedly different, late-night lead stories on Fox4, NBC5, WFAA8 and CBS11. Your latest D-FW ratings snapshot also is readily available.
Fox4 reporter Jason Overstreet, a frequent and valuable contributor to the station's 9 p.m. newscasts, will be taking a unique career path after six years of chasing stories. ...The imminent depa...
James Woodard of Dallas, freed from prison this week after serving 27 years on a wrongful conviction of murdering his girlfriend, tells his story to the nation on this Sunday's 60 Minutes. ...pid...
How did D-FW's late night newscasts cover Avery Johnson's firing Wednesday night? ... Also, it's amazing what you can do with a little old attempt to cash a $360 billion check.
Looking for and still finding some plusses on D-FW's late night newscasts after CBS11's "reporting" on the Rev. Jeremiah Wright dug such a big ditch.
You're damned right they did, and that's a very serious reporting error that was magnified during the station's Monday, 10 p.m. newscast. Meanwhile, NBC5 continues to surprise in the early mornin...
A long, winding career ensued before O'Reilly found his niche on the ground floor of Fox News Channel. The O'Reilly Factor long has been the network's most-watched program, with its host also aut...
WFAA8's Dale Hansen hauled out his heavy artillery while CBS11 peeped into the lives of cheating husbands on Thursday's launch of late night May "sweeps" warfare. ... Meanwhile, the first ratings...
NBC5's Newy Scruggs says he's making the most of less time for his nightly sports segments. He also talks to unclebarky.com about surviving racist death threats, and his gratitude to station mana...
Former Fox4 reporter Rebecca Aguilar's "Charge of Discrimination" against the station in effect boils down to a battle between her and the station's veteran news director, Maria Barrs. That's mad...
A brief news release from Aguilar's attorney also alleges that his client was fired "in a calculated move," and that she "did nothing wrong in October 2007 when KDFW (Channel 4) management suspen...
At age 50, he's been around the block at CBS News, reporting from abroad, from the White House and from his current perch at 60 Minutes. ...CHRIS WALLACE, 60, and current host of Fox News Sunday,...
By the way, TXA21 truth-tellers Gina Miller and former Mav Derek Harper continue to do a great job on the post-game show. ...How many of you watched the meltdown on ESPN instead of TXA21 for the ...
Veteran Fox4 sports anchor Mike Doocy uses his station's Web site to vent about what could be the imperiled future of his 9 p.m. newscast sports segment. Get his take -- and ours.
As reported Wednesday night on unclebarky.com (scroll down), KXAS-TV (Channel 5) president and general manger Tom O'Brien has been named to run NBC's owned-and-operated WNBC-TV, the network's New...
Now the network's flagship owned-and-operated station, Manhattan's WNBC-TV, apparently will be getting a second in Tom O'Brien, currently president and general manager of Dallas-Fort Worth's KXAS...
In a later NBC5 news release, Lopez says, "My family and I are really looking forward to experiencing everything the Dallas-Fort Worth area has to offer. ...Her husband is a pilot for Southwest A...
Gina Carano, daughter of former Dallas Cowboys backup QB Glenn Carano, has segued from NBC's American Gladiators to the premiere of the CBS Elitexc Saturday Night Fights. ...She'll battle Kaitlin...
Laura Bush, no stranger to Jay Leno's Tonight Show couch, will co-host Today on April 22nd with "America's First Family," as NBC so modestly puts it. ...NBC had another odd coupling earlier this ...
ANOTHER EPISODE OF THE UNCLE BARKY SHOW IS IN THE BOOKS, AND LEGAL AID OF NORTHWEST TEXAS IS THE LATEST RECIPIENT OF A $500 CONTRIBUTION FROM OUR HOST RESTAURANT, STRATOS GREEK TAVERNA. ...OUR FI...
Don't forget to support your local unclebarky.com by attending this Saturday's (April 12) fourth episode of The Uncle Barky Show at Stratos Greek Taverna, 2907 W. ...Our guests, as noted in the c...
Her last day will be Friday, where she's scheduled to sit in for regular forecaster Evan Andrews on the early morning Good Day program. Fox4 news director Maria Barrs did not respond to email inq...
Limited edition postage stamps picturing first-year American Idol champ Kelly Clarkson of Burleson are being sold in connection with Fox's Idol Gives Back charity event. ...By the way, viewers wi...
The Wall Street Journal reports that CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric "is likely" to leave that post well before her contract expires in 2011 and possibly soon after the next presidential ina...
Megan Henderson, eye-opening co-anchor of Fox4's No. 1-rated Good Day, is auditioning this weekend on Fox & Friends Weekend. ...But sources at Fox4 and a representative of FNC confirmed that Hend...
NBC5's sports department at least temporarily could shrink to Newy Scruggs alone after Derek Castillo's scheduled departure at the end of June. ...Castillo said he's leaving NBC5 on good terms an...
NO LONGER ON HOLD: FILMMAKERS MARK BIRNBAUM, ANDY STREITFELD, MANNY MENDOZA AT WORLD PREMIERE OF STOP THE PRESSES. Photos: Ed Bark ...Besides Bradlee, prominent interview subjects include humori...
Check it out and also see our pictures and impressions of Eddie Izzard during this week's sold-out performance at The Majestic: ...
But TXA21's Positively Texas, hosted by Iola Johnson, is being dropped as part of a wave of layoffs and budget cuts. Johnson, who in the 1970s made D-FW television history at WFAA8 as the market'...
In CBS11's case, as with other stations in the chain of command, edicts come down from on high to cut personnel in order to pay for the sins of the people who supposedly know what they're doing. ...
Sparks' work with WFAA8's Dale Hansen on the 1987 SMU football recruiting scandal, which resulted in the school receiving an NCAA-imposed "death penalty," won both a George Foster Peabody Award a...
There's a heard mentality on the cable news networks, many of whose top personalities love nothing more than the sounds of their own yappers. It's tough boiling it down to the four largest loudmo...
It has to do with an ad that's eating up lots of our monthly allotted "space." ...Also, the site's growing traffic -- keep it coming! -- sometimes stretches us to the max.
NBC's Law & Order, ABC's Boston Legal and CBS' The Unit haven't officially been asked back yet for next fall. ...Boston Legal, with William Shatner (middle), is scheduled to return on April 8th w...
KERA-TV PROGRAMMING HEAD BILL YOUNG PLAYS BALL, TOO. Photo: Ed Bark Dallas native Bill Young is nearing 30 years at KERA-TV (Channel 13), the last 20 as the station's programming chief.
Those with a continued interest in the ups and downs of Dallas-born actor Owen Wilson can go here to read all about his new role as a dog-loving newspaper columnist. The Drillbit Taylor star is f...
But as previously reported first on unclebarky.com, the show will be filmed in Los Angeles after two seasons on location in North Texas. ...It currently ranks 74th among total viewers in the seas...
Furry, purry Snickers Bark has learned to fear the sight of a coatless Pete Delkus. ...Ed Bark
Each of the Big Four broadcast networks has a franchise, money-raking reality series and a host who's been there from the start. ...Dancing with the Stars ringmaster Tom Bergeron often is quicker...
Thanks for reading D-FW's only homegrown site for local and national TV news and reviews. Have an eggs-ellent holiday!
The March 25th episode, which ends a seven-part arc, also will be the series finale, CBS entertainment president Nina Tassler announced on Good Friday. ...We listened to our viewers, gave the ser...
And by the way, Harris scored 26 points and had nine assists Wednesday night in New Jersey's win over Atlanta despite playing on a sore ankle he re-injured the night before. ...Even a mere TV cri...
Former KXAS-TV talk show host Charlie Rose didn't look quite himself earlier this week on PBS' Charlie Rose show. Salon.com has the intriguing behind-the-scenes story of how this happened and why...
And actually, it'd be pretty cool to see NBC5's Mike Snyder gunning it in a race with CBS11's Scott Sams during a Texas Motor Speedway showdown between D-FW's resident Ted Baxters. ...
Birnbaum and Mendoza ranged through Dallas and beyond to do more than 100 interviews for Stop the Presses, which went into production immediately after 110 DMN staffers, including yours truly, le...
Their non-stop cares and woes just keep coming on TMZ and celebrity rag mags Entertainment Tonight, Extra and Access Hollywood. Gary Busey, Jeff Conaway and Danny Bonaduce also have been star att...
Andy Streitfeld, CEO of Dallas-based AMS Productions Group, says his company will be pitching a demo tape of Risque Business to a variety of potential cable customers, including Lifetime, A&E, Br...
Your friendly local TV news providers invariably clam up when it comes to their own "personnel matters." ... The latest D-FW Nielsen ratings also are in, with boffo numbers for the 6 a.m. news sh...
Thursday brought a record 18,730 visitors to the site, most of them no doubt lured by stories on Wednesday's twin terminations of two prominent TV Rebeccas -- reporter Aguilar of Fox4 and meteoro...
NBC reportedly is very close to sealing a deal that would mean a third season for Austin-made Friday Night Lights. The critically acclaimed series continued to struggle in the Nielsen ratings las...
The third Uncle Barky Show, with guests Tim Ryan and Megan Henderson of Fox4's Good Day, is newly available in convenient clip form on pegasusnews.com. Thanks to all who attended -- it was our bi...
Shortly before 8 p.m., CBS11's generally solid Jack Fink (billed as the "only North Texas reporter" at Clinton's Ohio election night gathering), made a semi-fool of himself after buttonholing her...
GIBSON AND COMPANY ON TUESDAY'S GOOD MORNING TEXAS. Photo: Ed Bark ABC World News anchor Charles Gibson talked openly to unclebarky.com Tuesday about life in and out of "The Chair" on the cusp o...
CBS11's interview with a bluntly outspoken, longtime Hispanic activist raises the pertinent question of race-based voting in the Texas Democratic presidential primary. But will this touchy issue ...
CBS11 early morning meteorologist Julie Bologna and her husband, Phillip, welcomed their second son on Tuesday (Feb. ...The newborn's name is Phillip Rocco, and he weighed in at 7 pounds, 7 ounce...
Is Hillary Clinton sinking fast or still holding her own as the Texas primary nears? Two local TV station polls provide different impressions, even though both say her race against time and Barac...
ABC's World News and anchor Charles Gibson will be in Dallas on Monday and Tuesday to underscore the importance of the Texas presidential primary. ...World News dominates the 5:30 p.m. network ne...
Rockwall's Jason Castro, who pleased the judges last week, fell short in their view with his guitar-strumming version of The Bee Gees' "I Just Want To Be Your Everything." ..."It's cute I can get...
Also under our microscope: CBS11's unseemly sleight of hand during those nightly health and medical segments. And how sweet it is to see big ratings for ABC's exemplary production of A Raisin In ...
The tragic death of police officer Victor Lozada during a Friday morning Hillary Clinton campaign stop remained a big story on late night D-FW newscasts. All four major TV news providers covered ...
Two popular targets, the Dallas Cowboys' new stadium and UT Southwestern Medical Center, again were in the sights of their principal antagonists -- WFAA8's Brett Shipp and CBS11's Robert Riggs. ....
It all starts at 4 p.m., with Stratos Greek Taverna, 2907 West Northwest Hwy., again playing host. TIM RYAN and MEGAN HENDERSON, co-anchors of Fox4's No. 1-rated Good Day, will be on hand to parr...
WFAA8 news anchor Gloria Campos plans to honor a commitment Friday to be "Mistress of Ceremonies" at a Planned Parenthood of North Texas awards luncheon even though the organization is characteri...
Presidential candidates and a prominent surrogate descended on North Tex Wednesday, drawing ample TV coverage. ... Our latest sweeps digest sorts it all out.
Police-authorized "Dash Cam" video is always a popular tack on TV newscasts. ... Also, ABC has announced its post-strike spring plans for a group of popular series, including Lost.
Its web cam initially had the backs of rally-goers -- and sometimes the backs of their heads, too -- before finally capturing the candidate in closeup at 1:06 p.m. ...Warmup music and the same ol...
He goes more than a bit over the top down the stretch, but Charles Kaiser of radaronline.com otherwise makes some strong and salient points about the longest-running conflict of interest in Ameri...
Here we go again with another look at late night newscast ups and downs. The latest D-FW ratings could be a conversation-starter, too.
Does NBC5 news have a healthy relationship with Children's Medical Center? ... Also, the new field for Dancing With the Stars includes Graceland's Queen B, two goofballs and a pair of very accomp...
D-FW's TV news reporters can be pretty territorial when it comes to who reported what -- and when. ... The made-in-North Texas series at best is a longshot to go beyond that.
TIM RYAN AND MEGAN HENDERSON STUDIOUSLY PREPARE FOR THE UNCLE BARKY SHOW WHILE ANCHORING THAT OTHER SHOW THEY DO. Photo: Ed Bark Lest you forget, Fox4 Good Day anchors TIM RYAN and MEGAN HENDERS...
Campbell Brown has been tabbed to moderate CNN's high-stakes, 90-minute debate in Austin Thursday (Feb. 21) between Democratic presidential finalists Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Brown will ...
Another one's in the books, with unclebarky.com getting unaccountably wistful about the days when news of actual importance topped the late night newscasts. The latest D-FW ratings are in the hou...
SAYID JARRAH, HUGO "HURLEY" REYES AND JACK SHEPHARD OF LOST ...ABC's Lost so far has revealed four of the series' so-called "Oceanic 6" island expatriates, with Sayid Jarrah (Naveen Andrews) gett...
Here we go again, with compliments for some solid enterprise reporting, a lament by Fox4 sports anchor Mike Doocy and riffs on WFAA8's Cynthia Izaguirre's promotional spots and Fox4 anchor Steve ...
The candidates are coming, but some of their commercials got here first. Check out our latest deep-delve into D-FW's late night newscasts.
Gloria Campos had more hair, but also was more restrained in this stately 1992 close to WFAA8's 6 p.m. newscast. ...
Fox4's "The Cop and the Call Girl" story lasted longer than most men Monday night. Get the particulars, and then check out some interesting D-FW Nielsen ratings.
WFAA8's ever-opinionated Dale Hansen did it again, and this time he shouldn't be pleased with himself. Ed Bark
Two veteran D-FW gumshoes had some favorite targets in their sights again Thursday night. And there's lots more to report in our latest roundup of D-FW's late night newscasts.
Openly gay Joshuah Welch, 25, of Dallas, will be among the new batch of 16 Houseguests conniving their way through CBS' Big Brother 9 ..."Things changed when he slept with his sister's cheerleadi...
Fox4 consumer gumshoe Steve Noviello took on Mighty Putty in a featured bout with no undercard. ... And the latest Nielsen ratings brought more unusual orders of finish in the 10 p.m. news derby.
CBS11's Tracy Rowlett still has the touch while WFAA8's David Schechter also scored with a juicy investigation during Tuesday's "Super Tuesday"-juiced late night local newscasts. ... And the late...
Another one is in the books, with coverage of Bob Knight's sudden resignation at center stage in our latest telescoping of late night D-FW newscasts. See how they handled him, and how NBC5's Newy...
RAQUEL WELCH WILL BE STRIKING ANOTHER POSE IN NEW CBS COMEDY. Welcome to the Captain, joining CBS' comedy lineup Monday, features Raquel Welch as a woman who still pretty much gets what she wants...
Belo8 and CBS11 both are taking credit for prompting the FDA's official warning that the anti-smoking drug Chantix could have extremely dangerous side effects. ... Also, the latest D-FW Nielsens ...
My personal favorite commercial, with Shaquille O'Neal as a jockey, can be seen here along with another funny celebrity-driven spot starring Will Ferrell of the Flint Tropics as a pitchman for bo...
So check out our first of a 20-night tour of late night D-FW newscasts. ... And if you'd like to get in touch with your girlyman gene -- and win brownie points with your loved one -- then sit thr...
CBS11 NEWS HEAD SCOTT DIENER TRIES TO CHANGE COURSE. Photo: Ed Bark ...News director Scott Diener hopes to make ratings gains that aren't at the expense of the station's image.
Two new episodes of Lost arrived this week. ... See for yourself. Also inside: a fun-lovin' new TV Bulletin Board and the latest D-FW ratings.
An imaginative -- or deranged -- fan of South Florida TV news has anchors Laurie Jennings and Shannon Hori throwing down for 6 and 11 p.m. newscast supremacy in the upcoming February "sweeps." .....
Here's our last in a series of old-timey 1979 promos from WFAA's "You Can Count On Us" campaign. ...
That would be trailblazing anchor Iola Johnson, at the height of her powers here. ...
Florida import Larry Mowry signed on as CBS11's 10 p.m. weatherman Monday. Here's a first impression. Also, check out the latest D-FW Nielsen ratings.
Here's a classic "You Can Count On Us" WFAA-TV promo from 1979, starring Tracy Rowlett, Iola Johnson, Verne Lundquist and Troy Dungan. ...
And all gloriously captured by Fox, whose crew also had to battle the elements to bring you a tense gut fight between two storied teams who hadn't met in the post-season since 1962. ..."Ice Bowl ...
And remember, it's free and for a very good cause. A $500 donation will be made in guest Tracy Rowlett's name to his designated charity -- the Scottish Rite Children's Hospital.
Charlie Rose, who prepped at KXAS-TV (Channel 5) with a locally produced talk show, has been named a 60 Minutes contributor. Rose, 66, hosted The Charlie Rose Show at the station's Fort Worth stu...
Wednesday's two-hour American Idol audition show from Dallas drew 30.4 million viewers nationally, a substantial dip from the 36.9 million who witnessed last year's second episode. Still, Idol ag...
Wednesday night's two-hour American Idol audition show from Dallas again let America know that we're a buncha big galoots sharing space with longhorn cattle. Snore, what about Victory Park, the p...
Fox has just released this photo of Tim Rogers, er, Renaldo Lapuz, performing at last year's Dallas tryouts for American Idol. They'll unfold for all to see on Wednesday night's two-hour episode ...
Your attendance will show your support for unclebarky.com, the D-FW market's only source for both local and national TV reporting and criticism. ...And if you'd like more background and perspecti...
Comedian Harry Shearer's Web site, My Damn Channel, has an elongated, behind-the-scenes video of Katie Couric prepping for various news sniglets from the New Hampshire presidential primary. ... A...
Late night D-FW newscasts and sports specials were all over the Cowboys, of course, with Fox4 reporter James Rose the first to say, "I felt like I was at a funeral" as grieving fans filed out of ...
He did so again Thursday on CBS' Late Show with David Letterman, but also added a blast at McGraw's alma mater, the University of North Texas in Denton. ...For the record, McGraw has a B.A. from ...
"You'll forgive the Blue Man Group look, but it's the lights we're under," Williams says from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where NBC officially launched the site Wednesday. In anot...
But he then quickly wondered whether Hillary's teary-eyed response at a New Hampshire Q&A on Monday prompted an eleventh hour, gender-influenced pity vote for the lone woman candidate in either p...
Caldwell joined CBS11 in September 2001 from NBC5, where he had been a featured member of that station's three-man nightbeat team, along with Jay Gray and Scott Gordon, who remains with the Peaco...
Facing massive no-shows by nominees, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has canceled its 65th annual Golden Globes awards ceremony, which NBC had planned to televise on Sunday, Jan. 13th. .....
Begin the week by snacking on the latest "talking points" in local TV news. ...Also, the latest local Nielsens are in, with surprisingly robust numbers for NBC's two-hour premiere of a remodeled ...
Station management got the unexpected news Friday that co-anchor Justin Farmer will be joining WSB-TV in Atlanta after his contract expires in July. ...She's replacing Jackie Hyland, who left Bel...
Jackie Hyland, who left Belo8's Daybreak at the end of the November "sweeps," already has a reporting job at WCBS-TV in New York. ...She joined Belo8 in August 2005 and co-anchored the ABC statio...
Later Wednesday, via telephone, Devlin said that Izaguirre possibly won't make her first Daybreak appearance until Monday (Jan. 7th) if she needs more time to get comfortable in her new surroundi...
Much more on this later, but please mark your calendars to help both unclebarky.com and Tracy's favorite charity, which will receive a $500 donation in his name. ...
We'll be taking a few days off before returning on Dec. 27th with more end-of-the-year wrapups. In the meantime, enjoy the holidays and thanks so much for your continued support of both unclebark...
By the way, the game's on MY27 in the D-FW viewing area for the many fans without cable's NFL Network. ...
Mum's the word, literally, as Fox4 experiments with soundless widescreen telecasts on its local HD channel (804 on Verizon Fios). ...Asked in early October about her station's HD plans Fox4 vice ...
It's been a busy year of departures at D-FW television stations. Check out unclebarky.com's first annual list of where they were -- and what they're doing now.
A barrage of ba rum bum bum bums is sugared with cute kid pictures from the Simpson family vault. ...
We've made a list -- and checked it more than twice. Presenting a top 10, illustrated countdown of the year in D-FW television.
It's not quite as odd a pairing as Bing Crosby and David Bowie, but definitely in the neighborhood. ...
Fox4 anchor Heather Hays is happy to report that . . . Read all about it here.
"Proving it's never easy to play in front of your girlfriend," announcer Joe Buck noted moments after Romo completed his second pass to the Eagles near the end of the first half. ...Fox's post-ga...
All he had to do was sit down to generate the most enthusiastic ovation in the history of Late Show with David Letterman. ...
Dallas native Gina Carano, daughter of former Dallas Cowboys backup QB Glenn Carano, is among the 12 stars of NBC's new version of American Gladiators. ...Despite her girl-next-door looks, she's ...
Seven stories in 50 seconds, courtesy of the late Tom Snyder in a 1976 break from NBC programming. ...
The latest Golden Globe nominations for television and movies are in, and you can see the complete list here. Cable did exceedingly well overall -- excluding the final season of The Sopranos -- w...
Hulu.com seems like kind of a crazy name for a state-of-the-art trove of old and new TV series episodes. ... Check out what hulu's all about and also have a look at the latest Ask Uncle Barky inq...
Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and various Wookies are all willing participants, along with "special guest stars" Art Carney, Bea Arthur, Diahann Carroll, Harvey Korman and The Jeffers...
The premiere episode of The Uncle Barky Show is up and running in six convenient, extended clips on pegasusnews.com. ... They and the audience also had to endure my show-stopping singing, which i...
Here's a little somethin' from the second season of NBC's Hill Street Blues. ...
It now looks as though the writers' strike will be a reality well into the new year. ...
Hate to say it, but this latest "Speechless" video, starring Woody Allen, is pretty funny without any written words to support it.. ...
But it seems as though you can take it to the bank when former TCU running back LaDainlian Tomlinson says he'd rather be remembered for what he does off the field. Tomlinson, now a record-breakin...
Nominees for the 50th annual Grammy Awards are in, and quite a few of the artists are over 50. There also are four American Idol alums this time, but Kelly Clarkson had to sneak in via a duet wit...
Jimmy Kimmel generously continues to pay the salaries of his laid-off staff as the writers' strike endures. ...
The ongoing writers' strike still has America bereft of new late night entertainment, save for Carson Daly's Last Call, watched by no one with or without writers. ...
NBC5 has hired San Antonio native and Texas Christian University grad Omar Villafranca as the station's newest reporter. He'll begin work in January after just over three years at CBS affiliate K...
Here's what it's come to at the alleged News 10 morning show in Sacramento. ...
SMU school of journalism teacher Lucy Scott gave her students a daunting if not dispiriting task this semester. As part of her "Current Issues in the News" class, she required them to study the i...
We plan to do the show monthly, with CBS11 anchor Tracy Rowlett our next scheduled guest on a date to be announced in January. And yes, the banner ad above is dated at this point, but we'll put u...
But let me again say I'm greatly looking forward to meeting many of the faithful unclebarky.com readers at Saturday's event with guest Gordon Keith. Best of all, we'll announce a generous contrib...
TRACY ROWLETT, FLANKED BY ANCHOR DOUG DUNBAR AND WIFE, JILL, SIGNED OFF CBS11'S 10 P.M. NEWSCASTS IN EARLY MARCH. ...CBS11 EMERGED FROM THE NOVEMBER "SWEEPS" AS NO. 2 IN TOTAL HOMES IN THE KEY 10...
"The crowd doesn't like it, but the Packers will go for the tie," Gumbel later informed viewers as Cowboys kicker Nick Folk kicked a 26-yard field goal to knot the score at 3-3. ...Gumbel is the ...
In honor of my lunch bet with CBS11 anchor Tracy Rowlett -- he's still bitter about that 1967 Ice Bowl loss -- I've assembled some of my old Green Bay Packer trinkets as good luck charms. ...Rati...
One of the easier ways to make new friends -- and enemies -- in the TV biz is to pick a new all-star team of D-FW anchors and reporters. See what you think of this one.
Belo8 became a towering redwood at 10 p.m. again while NBC5 went timbe-r-r-r-r. Only Fox4's early morning Good Day held the ABC station at bay, but not by that much.
Just about anything can kill or harm you. ...Ed Bark
The station has hired Orlando, FL weatherman Larry Mowry as its new 10 p.m. forecaster, with incumbent Kristine Kahanek shifting to the 5 and 6 p.m. newscasts, president and general manager Steve...
That brings us to FrontBurner's addendum to this Web site's previous report that Cynthia Izaguirre of Albuquerque's KOAT-TV will join incumbent Justin Farmer as the new co-anchor on Belo8's Daybr...
Whew, Monday night proved very eventful on late night D-FW newscasts. ... The latest local ratings also await your inspection.
Cynthia Izaguirre, a University of North Texas graduate who has spent the last eight years at KOAT-TV in Albuquerque, N.M., has been named to replace Jackie Hyland as co-anchor of Belo8's early m...
Had breakfast with my son, brothers and other relatives at Max McGee's pancake restaurant near Minneapolis on the crisp, crystal-clear morning of Oct. 20th, 2007. ...
Which D-FW news provider had a penetrating report on a cellulite-fighting product called Butt-u-Tiful? ... Also, check out the latest D-FW ratings, including down-the-stretch news numbers and the...
Triple-threat Gordon Keith, our first attraction, is the longtime jester-in-residence on morning drive time's Dunham and Miller Show (5:30-10 a.m. on 1310 KTCK-AM, "The Ticket"). ...It's also a g...
Belo8 investigator Brett Shipp went hard after South Oak Cliff and its possibly tainted 2006 state basketball championship. ... Also, your latest D-FW ratings are in the house.
Belo8 may end up having it both ways on Daybreak, hiring from both without and within to replace co-anchor Jackie Hyland. Well-informed sources say that Austin news anchor Christine Haas, of corp...
Dale spurned Pete's man-love on the latest episode of Belo8's 10 p.m. newscasts. Read all about the slap-happier-than-usual goings-on in our latest sweeps sum-up.
You can find Cuban's pointed account on his blog, where he also accuses O'Reilly of at least indirectly instigating bomb threats against his businesses and of causing his Fallen Patriot Fund's We...
False claims of an exclusive and a silly Christmas tree warning soiled the latest NBC5 newscast. Meanwhile, see what NBC5 reporter/"rock star" Nigel Wheeler is up to, and check out the latest Cow...
Triple-threat Gordon Keith, our first attraction, is the longtime jester-in-residence on morning drive time's Dunham and Miller Show (5:30-10 a.m. on 1310 KTCK-AM, "The Ticket"). ...It's also a g...
Thursday's traffic-stopping oil tanker explosion near Lake Dallas and a toy truck investigation figured prominently in late night news coverage. ... Take our toll-free expressway to the latest da...
NBC5 offered some classic grackle cackles while everyone ganged up on Wednesday night's Hannah Montana concert. We're halfway through the sweeps, and Uncle Barky is teetering on the brink of insa...
We're at the midpoint of the November sweeps ratings wars, with NBC5 taking a serious licking in the 10 p.m. showcase showdown. ...
Riding high in the 10 p.m. newscast Nielsens, Belo8's Tuesday edition had a warmed-over feel. On three stories it followed rival stations' leads.
Bill O'Reilly continues to war with Mark Cuban over Redacted, the anti-war film directed by Brian DePalma and distributed by Cuban's and partner Todd Wagner's Magnolia Pictures. Now Cuban's warri...
Pant-puff, another daily "sweeps" report card has been graded. And Fox4 gets high marks for its lengthy "Red Light Camera Red Alert" investigation.
That station's bio says she began her broadcast career in 1996 as a "feedbay operator" at Miami-Fort Lauderdale's WSVN-TV, a Fox affiliate. Diaz, 33, quickly became a news writer before getting h...
CBS11 investigator Robert Riggs ran afoul of Belo Corp.'s ability to strike fast when its big shots are anywhere near the crosshairs. ... Also, I'm still thinking that the Reba McEntire-LeAnn Rim...
CBS11 stooped to a ballyhooed "Sex Diet" feature on Thursday's 10 p.m. newscast. So we in turn tell you about anchor Doug Dunbar's sexy turn in the late 1980s.
As Ringo Starr exclaims on The Beatles' White Album, "I've got blisters on me fingers!" Still, another look at the different drumming on 10 p.m. newscasts is ready for your inspection.
NBC5 and Wal-Mart: They've got a thing goin' on. Our latest 10 p.m. news roundup is ready to ride, and boy, are my brain cells tired.
TIMES CHANGE: REPORTER DAN RONAN WON A LONE STAR EMMY AWARD AT AN OCT. 27TH CEREMONY IN DALLAS WHILE STILL WITH BELO8. Photo: Ed Bark ...It was about marathon runners no longer being allowed to ...
Technical difficulties at unclebarky.com central have delayed this report, but now it's in the bank. So let's look at the comportment of hard-edged Fox4 investigator Becky Oliver on Monday's 9 p....
TXA21's First in Prime newscasts have launched what the station describes as "an aggressive on-air and online campaign" that will include viewer chats with anchors Kenneth Taylor and Tracy Kornet...
CBS11's 10 p.m. newscast looks more and more like a bright spot from this view. Also, see how Sunday's mega-sports menu played in the D-FW ratings.
Look for the comedy stylings of Fox4's Steve Eagar, Heather Hays and Shaun Rabb, NBC5's Scott Gordon, CBS11/TXA21's Rance Adams and Belo8's Jeff Brady and Brett Shipp, who disdainfully drops his ...
Take a look at what we found as D-FW's late night newscasts opened fire Thursday night on Night 1 of the hotly competitive November sweeps. For the next 19 weeknights as well, we'll hold a magnif...
NewsBlues reports that former CBS11 news director Regent Ducas, ousted in early September after a stormy five-month tenure, will be pitching in at WLNE-TV in Providence, R.I. during the November ...
The San Antonio-based Trinity Tigers used all means necessary to defeat the Millsaps Majors of Jackson, Miss. on the final play of their Division III college football game. ...
PHOTO: ED BARK NBC5 anchor Kevin Cokely, president of the Lone Star Emmy Chapter, prepares to present the final award for "Overall Station Excellence" at Saturday night's marathon ceremony in Dal...
Reliable sources say that Fox4 has suspended three off-camera staffers in connection with the exhaustively debated Rebecca Aguilar interview that still has the veteran reporter on indefinite susp...
My darling daughter Liz, back from China and now in Chicago, is taking the city by storm -- or something like that -- in the stage production of Ghost Stories: Crucible the Musible. ...So if you'...
Embattled Fox4 reporter Rebecca Aguilar talks for the first time about the interview that led to her suspension. ... Also, read about Mark Cuban's last tango -- actually it was a samba -- on Danc...
And with Dancing's oddball rules, viewers can vote at any time during the show without having to see anyone hit the floor first. ...His blog urged viewers to "take a break from the game" to vote,...
Newly named news director Scott Diener, who previously had that post with Belo's Phoenix TV station, is being joined by Sarah Garza, an executive newscast producer at Belo8 for the past five year...
Too tired to even blog about his exploits, Mark Cuban sent this wee hours email after viewer voting kept him on his feet during Tuesday's Dancing with the Stars on ABC. ..."I'm tired, and need to...
Mark Cuban's still vertical on Dancing with the Stars after an anticipated knockout punch instead hit pretty boy model Albert Reed in the schnozz Tuesday night. Read all about his great escape.
The Dancing with the Stars judges then damned him with faint praise and borderline ridicule, leaving Cuban on a respirator with a next-to-last 18 score, three points lower than last week's fox tr...
Little unclebarky.com, which recently marked its first anniversary, has been named "Best Blog" by Dallas Observer editors in the alternative newspaper's annual "Best of Dallas" compendium. ...Oth...
Congratulations to Dallas' own "The Ticket" (1310 AM) for winning a prestigious national Marconi Award as Sports Radio Station of the Year. ... Special nod to the BaD radio show's Bob Sturm, Dan ...
Jones, who had joined CBS11 in 2005, was one of several reporters to heatedly clash with former news director Regent Ducas, whose "run 'n' gun" approach led to his ouster on Aug. 31st after five ...
Two-time Peabody and duPont-Columbia Award winner Brett Shipp of Belo8 is coming under fierce and unrelenting automatic weapons fire from Tim "His Timness" Rogers on D Magazine's FrontBurner blog...
Cuban's fox trot to "King of the Road" received a middle-of-the-pack score of 21 from the judges during Tuesday's dance-off among the show's six male contestants. ...It left Cuban dangling as the...
Unaccustomedly duded up in a brown suit with scattered tan patches, a patterned light brown tie and white dress shirt, Cuban mouthed the lyrics to Roger Miller's old chestnut while occasionally f...
The 4 p.m. debut, anchored by Doug Dunbar and Maria Arita, had only a split-second transmission problem during the newscast's second story by reporter Mark Johnson. ...TXA21, sister station of CB...
This is the 2000 "Oh What a Night" campaign from The WB, with Jamie Foxx, Katie Holmes, Shannen Doherty and the network's other young stars gathering at a party to get smashed and act crazed. ...
The 2007-08 fall TV season kicks into full gear next week with loads of exciting new series, all guaranteed to be monster hits. ...
Otherwise nine overweight, engaged couples vie to drop the largest percentage of pounds in pursuit of "the wedding of their dreams" after host Sara Rue, a former plus-sizer herself on ABC's Less ...
The 2007-08 fall TV season kicks into full gear next week with loads of exciting new series, all guaranteed to be monster hits. ...
Big Love star and Fort Worth native Bill Paxton launched the project by bringing Bugliosi's 1,612-page book to the attention of Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman, who co-produce HBO's life and times of...
The 2007-08 fall TV season kicks into full gear next week with loads of exciting new series, all guaranteed to be monster hits. ...
Those of us who left Dallas' only daily a year ago were told it was OK if we didn't feel up to the "dynamic changes" awaiting those who chose to remain. ...That dates to Madison, Wis. and my firs...
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and his Dancing with the Stars partner, Kym Johnson, are polishing their act in Dallas via elongated weekday workouts. Get an up-close look at how they're doing and wha...
Here's a classic gaffe from weatherman James Aydelott, who can be heard derisively saying "old goat" during a piece on a feisty senior. ...
Ace TV newsman John Miller, now teaching at TCU's Schieffer School of Journalism, is recovering from a stroke suffered last week. ...He got his start in TV news in 1967 at then WBAP-TV (Channel 5...
Cuban, also entering the ring on ABC's Dancing with the Stars this fall, will join former mixed martial arts champ Guy Mezger Wednesday morning to announce the high-def network's HDNet Fights. Th...
HERE ARE YOUR FIRST OFFICIAL ABC LOOKS AT MARK CUBAN (WITH PRO PARTNER KYM JOHNSON) AND WAYNE NEWTON (WITH CHERYL BURKE). ...As you've already noted on your blog, your decision to compete on Danc...
Kinks were still evident on Sunday's 5 p.m. local newscast, which served as a warmup for NBC5's locally produced buildup to the Dallas Cowboys-New York Giants game at Texas Stadium. ...O'Neil did...
Aguilar, a 13-year veteran at the station, is praised by NAHJ executive director Ivan Roman as "the kind of journalist who contributes every day to fulfilling our mission of fair coverage of our ...
Mauldin, who hired Ducas, reportedly told the staff that he wants to reboot the newsroom, protect the CBS brand and create an environment where "people are happy to come to work and love their jo...
Tim Rogers at the office (he'll hate that the pic's so small) and a now notorious D Magazine cover story that's generated lotsa TV pub. ...Later, on Gordon Keith, Tim noted that most of the magaz...
CBS11 newscast, shorn of the "First Five Minutes" gambit, improved slightly on its 9:45 to 10 p.m. lead-in from an NCIS repeat to finish second in the total homes Nielsens behind Belo8. ...Mauldi...
MARK CUBAN, PICTURED WITH RIGHT HAND MAN TODD WAGNER, SOON WILL HAVE A MUCH CUTER BUSINESS PARTNER IN LUSH, LEGGY KYM JOHNSON (SHOWN WITH REIGNING DANCING WITH THE STARS RUNNERUP JOEY FATONE). .....
But Cuban's name was leaked Monday via several online sources, with TMZ.com reporting that his competitors also will include the likes of Tori Spelling, Wayne Newton, Jane Seymour, Floyd Mayweath...
Snitchy/sleuthing TMZ.com claims to know the latest Dancing with the Stars field, with Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban reportedly among the slip-sliders on this fall's fifth edition of the hit ...
Has all that you wrote. ...But we'll all cough far easier
And it usually helps to keep me employed, and my dance card full (except when I'm blacklisted for a righteous lawsuit against a major, disintegrating broadcast network and the lying punks, perver...
Set at KYTX-TV in Tyler, Texas, the reality series starred model and former wrestling vixen Lauren Jones, who was brought in to anchor the CBS station's 5 p.m. newscast after a crash course and n...
The reigning most popular personality on Fox News Channel did not have a pleasant stay at WFAA-TV (Channel 8) in Dallas, where he worked briefly in the late 1970s. ...Hired by Haag, she briefly c...
Fellow North Texan Haley, 26, also got a big boost for his high-pitched reggae song stylings. Got Talent has ranked as summer's most-watched series since its second season began in late May with ...
It's Sept. 24th, with the station currently giving viewers a taste of a new studio under construction with brief "Excuse Our Dust!" ...Belo8 became the first D-FW station to go to HD, and has bee...
So get your weekend off to a nice 'n' easy start by watching Eugene Levy's timeless sendup of Como in concert. ...
Belo8's new guy already seems entrenched, whether jabbing at sports anchor Dale Hansen or setting his jaw for serious weather. Meet the former major league pitching prospect who's now on the rece...
This just in: An oversized "doggie door" prompted a burglar to enter a Dallas home through it and heist more than $5,000 in electronics and jewelry. ...But viewers still got a clear picture of th...
TEX MESSAGING: ARLINGTON'S CAS HALEY AND TERRY FATOR OF DALLAS ARE HALF THE FINAL FOUR ON SUMMER'S BIGGEST HIT, AMERICA'S GOT TALENT. ...Ventriloquist Terry Fator of Dallas and singer/guitarist C...
Before that she had a three-year stay in Los Angeles at the KCBS and KCAL television stations. She has a graduate degree from California State University-Fullerton and began her journalism career...
Belo8, the first D-FW station to get into the HD game, launched its sharper pictures on Feb. 2nd from the station's new Victory Park studios. ...Several sources say the changes also will bring a ...
Former CBS11 reporter Raquel Eatmon, who left the station earlier this year, is now out of a job at Mobile, Alabama's NBC affiliate, WPMI-TV. The city's Press-Register reports that the ex-Miss Oh...
"It doesn't hurt that his sexy good looks make him The Bachelor's own McSteamy," says ABC in a calculated reference to the network's Grey's Anatomy. ...His family moved to Livingston, TX when Bra...
Belo8 traffic reporter/anchor Alexa Conomos and her attorney husband Bradley became first-time parents Tuesday with the birth of Alexandros Luka Anderson. ...Conomos joined Belo8 in October 2002 ...
DALLAS MORNING NEWS EXPATRIATE MANNY MENDOZA (LEFT) AND VETERAN FILMMAKER MARK BIRNBAUM SHOWED PART OF THEIR STOP THE PRESSES DOC ON CLOSING NIGHT OF THE DALLAS VIDEO FESTIVAL. Photo: Ed Bark .....
SARAH DODD DRESSES UP A DALLAS BOOKSTORE. Photo: Ed Bark Former high-profile CBS11 journalist Sarah Dodd talks about her recent past and future prospects in her first face-to-face interview sinc...
That's a very sobering backdrop for the events of mid-Monday afternoon, when Fox4 and CBS11 knocked out regularly scheduled entertainment programming from 2:30 to 3 p.m. before NBC5 and Belo8 lik...
The well-tanned veteran, who joined CBS11 in 1999 from a Cincinnati station, will team with the recently hired Scott Sams. She had been filling in on occasion for Shannon Hori, who left Dallas la...
ALI LARTER OF HEROES STRIKES A POSE AT NBC PARTY. Photo: Ed Bark ...TV's annual summer "press tour" finally wrote an end to itself Thursday night.
His "urgent" approach to the news, most notably at 10 p.m., generally calls for a volley of quick-hit crime and tragedy stories at the top of newscasts. ..."She has been around the world covering...
SOPRANOS CREATOR DAVID CHASE RETURNS HOME. ...THE TELEVISION CRITICS ASSOCIATION HAD ITS 23RD ANNUAL AWARDS CEREMONY SATURDAY NIGHT, WITH SOPRANOS MYSTERY MAN DAVID CHASE THE PRIZE ATTENDEE.
HERE'S CHARLIE SHEEN ON THE DAY HE GOT AN EMMY NOD. Photo: Ed Bark Jericho fans sure knew what to do with their nut sacks.
Come along for a rare look at the innards of CBS' Big Brother, complete with more one-of-a-kind unclebarky.com camera shots. (Note: Some of the comments from my daughter Liz's previous China page...
Down, dirty and often drunk as Calamity Jane on HBO's Deadwood, Robin Weigert will have a new look as a police lieutenant on the NBC fall series Life. Photo: Ed Bark Keith Olbermann takes on Bill...
Positioning itself as anything but a "football show," NBC's Friday Night Lights will play on this fall. Get all the latest info on the Austin-made series and also feast your peepers on a new batc...
Network TV's 2007 summer "press tour" began Monday night with a lengthy bus jaunt from the Beverly Hilton to the almighty Griffith Observatory. ...Uncle Barky, paying his own way to see such sple...
You see them all the time, but seldom if ever behind an anchor desk. ... Unclebarky.com's latest Top 10 list recognizes them for what they are -- mostly unheralded pros who deserve a big ol' back...
Though it's not your doing. ...We're all in a rut.
FEELING HIS OATS: FORMER DALLAS MORNING NEWS REPORTER MICHAEL PRECKER STRONGARMS LIMITED EDITION KRUSTY O'S AT THE BUSTLING 7-ELEVEN TURNED KWIK-E-MART ON 6833 NORTHWEST HIGHWAY AT HILLCREST. ......
Thought you'd like to see the first and so far only official Fox publicity shot for its new reality series Anchorwoman. Premiering on Aug. 21, it stars model and former wrestling villain Lauren J...
Thanks to all who participated in unclebarky.com's inaugural reader contest. ... And now for the three winning entries in our local newscast slogan contest, all of whom will be individually conta...
Just 10 days after leaving CBS11's early morning show, Shannon Hori will be staying up late as the 6 and 11 p.m. co-anchor of CBS station WFOR-TV in Miami. Hori, whose first day is Monday (June 2...
"Third, we need to make sure you have never, and never would, deface the Alamo (as some celebrity rock star with a bad British accent once did through the release of bodily fluids.) Editor's note...
During the May "sweeps," the first with Ducas fully in charge, CBS11 ran third in the total homes Nielsens and fifth at 10 p.m. among advertiser-coveted 25-to-54-year-olds. ...She began her journ...
But Uncle Barky is certain that you can come up with creative, cheeky alternatives to the current sales pitches. ...Send all entries, one per person, to unclebarky@tx.rr.com Please include your a...
Fox4 has hired young gun Adrian Arambulo to report for Good Day, filling the spot left when Casey Stegall left to become a Los Angeles-based correspondent for Fox News Channel. ...His KLAS statio...
Sunday night's finale of The Sopranos, detailed and dissed earlier on this page, came just a day after a truly fantastic finish involving two horses who weren't Pie-O-My. ...And he could have kep...
The show's 86th and final episode, subtitled "Made In America," had underachieved from the start. The Sopranos isn't supposed to make you look at your watch, but the first half-hour lacked any ur...
Here's a bigger one: "In May, CBS announced phase II of the Audience Network, which included partnering with leading community-building websites and social application providers to allow users to...
NBC5 weatherman David Finfrock does the Baseball-Size Hail Boogie in this exciting excerpt from a recent NBC5 newscast. ...
Cut off by his shrink and from his family, Tony Soprano went to bed Sunday night with an automatic weapon the size of a King Cobra. ...We begin our countdown to Sunday's grand finale with a Back ...
Ducas joined CBS11 in late March from KCTV-TV in Kansas City, where he took the station to No. 1 in the Nielsen ratings by selling viewers on the slogan "Live. ...Or as the headline for Barnhart'...
Risdon, whose contract with NBC5 expires at the end of June, invariably reports from scenes of crime or tragedy as one of the station's most prominent 10 p.m. correspondents. Her last story for t...
So KYTX passed on Smith and eventually settled on Jones, whom Hurley describes as "real bright, real outgoing, pretty aggressive, but very honest when she tells you how tough it is in L.A. to eve...
Anchorwoman, a new Fox reality series scheduled to premiere sometime this summer, will drop model and ex-WWE "uber vixen" Lauren Jones (pictured above) into the midst of the KYTX-TV newsroom in T...
The suspect faces charges of blah, blah, blah, . . . no one will remember this fact and it's not that important . . . If the suspect faced the 'death penalty' or capital murder charges, etc.' . ....
He joined Belo8 under legendary news director Marty Haag in 1981 and began shooting and reporting his own stories about 15 years ago "because it made it easier on staffing and I sort of liked the...
Many Sopranos prognosticators measured Christopher Moltisanti for a coffin this season, with some also envisioning his death at the hands of uncle Tony. ...Vegas stripper Sonya Aragon, who used t...
Scroll down a bit on this page and you can read the story on Chris Yates leaving Fox4 after 12 years as a sports anchor/reporter. ...He's taking a position with Continental Adjustors in Highland ...
He's leaving a job as Fox4's sports web producer after recently being taken off the weekend morning anchor desk. ...Fox4 sports anchor Mike Doocy praised him as "a valuable member of our sports t...
TEXAS RANGERS BEAT WRITER EVAN GRANT AND BOXING KINGPIN DON KING HELPED JUDGE AN "IRON CHEF AMERICA" COOKOFF BETWEEN 3RD BASEMAN HANK BLALOCK AND CATCHER GERALD LAIRD SUNDAY NIGHT. Photo: Ed Bar...
"You have to believe you're not going to see that in consecutive halves," Mavs analyst Bob Ortegel said on TXA21 after Nowitzki contributed all of four points in a nonetheless closely contested f...
Latenight drama, real or fictional, doesn't get any more compelling than the Dallas Mavericks' Invisible Man pulling himself and his team out of a crypt with a pair of three-pointers and 12 of hi...
On HBO's preceding episode of The Sopranos, Tony's run of big-time gambling bad luck had been punctuated by Stackhouse's buzzer-beating three-pointer against the San Antonio Spurs. ..."I'm gonna ...
The Dirk's-not-the-MVP-even-if-he-wins-it Mavs. ...The Mavs may be the first No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 8 seed since the start of the seven-game playoff system.
In the very animated "Comments" section tied to the Ducas interview, a "former CBS11 employee" praised the reporters, photographers and anchors who have survived "the whims of multiple news direc...
Former Belo8 sports anchor Verne Lundquist, who also was the radio voice of the Dallas Cowboys for 12 years, will be inducted into the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame on Mon...
So who should replace Rosie O'Donnell on The View? ...Nia Vardalos (Big Fat Greek Wedding star badly needs career picker-upper)
This time the pre-emptions kicked in at 8:50 p.m., with Belo8 weathercaster Pete Delkus again caught in the pincers of a live Dancing with the Stars results show. ..."I know if you live in Dallas...
But if they do, D-FW's 10 p.m. newscasts are going to have hell to pay on those May sweeps nights when the Mavs are still playing past prime-time. ...Cuban says he gets "far more news from cable"...
Dapper and a bit chunkier in a double-breasted navy blue suit, Sams has returned Lazarus-like from little KTEN-TV in Sherman-Denison, where he spent the last year anchoring after Belo8 cut him lo...
ANSWER: A&E, which once stood for classy, high-brow programming, has downshifted to reality series such as Dog the Bounty Hunter, Growing Up Gotti and Criss Angel: Mindfreak in recent years. MI-5...
Brian Williams and his NBC Nightly News are taking a hammering on the network's own blog for airing portions of what the anchor called a "multimedia manifesto" from Virginia Tech mass murderer Ch...
The flappy/sappy mother-daughter duo is being replaced by Lisa Rinna, who showed up on Dancing with the Stars Tuesday to promote her other activity -- a starring role with husband Harry Hamlin in...
Let the record show that three of D-FW television's four major news providers preempted their networks' prime time entertainment programming Friday night to cover the severe storms that ravaged p...
CBS President and CEO Leslie Moonves said in part: "From the outset, I believe all of us have been deeply upset and revulsed by the statements that were made on our air about the young women who ...
MSNBC announced early Wednesday evening that it is dropping its weekday simulcasts of Imus in the Morning after the radio personality's much-publicized racial slurs against the Rutger's Universit...
Packer, 67, tosses out a shorthand vulgarism for gay people and then laughs it up along with Charlie Rose, who's almost equally culpable for essentially playing along during their interview on th...
Much earlier in the broadcast day, CBS11 morning anchor Shannon Hori has decided to remain at the station until her three-year contract expires in July. That means she'll be in place for the May ...
The late Ed Bradley's 60 Minutes story on allegations of rape against the Duke University lacrosse team and ABC newsman Brian Ross' investigation into the Mark Foley sex scandal are also among th...
At that point, Hansen would be 65 years of age with 30 years under his belt at Belo8, where he matriculated in 1983 after being fired by rival KDFW-TV, then a CBS affiliate. ...Now he'll be good ...
Fox's Prison Break wrapped its second season Monday night with pretty boy brother Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller) re-jailed in what looks to be a very stinkin' Panama City hellhole. ...That d...
The former Belo8 anchor will be back in D-FW on April 23rd to co-anchor the CBS-owned station's ratings-starved 5 to 7 a.m. show, joining holdovers Shannon Hori, Julie Bologna and Teresa Frosini....
"The season series means absolutely nothing," ABC's play by play guy, Mike Breen, said near the close of Sunday's nationally televised demolition of the Dallas Mavericks by the Phoenix Suns. ...S...
Check out this 1979 Tinsley promo, complete with a vintage, pre-cable era TV set and a bearded Brad Sham sitting next to her at spot's end. ...
Letterman tried to tape a show on Tuesday, but fell ill with the stomach flu and belatedly gave way to Adam Sandler, who already had been booked as a guest. ...
In January on the TV Critics Association's midseason "press tour," Fox entertainment president Peter Liguori told unclebarky.com that a third season of PB is "very unlikely to be in Dallas, but w...
The two of them have sharply parried before, and it's not the first time that Cowell has twitted Seacrest's sexuality on a live Idol telecast. ...Still, I'll pick Phil Stacey to take the gas on W...
On a related front, CBS11 is presenting a special "Weather School Day" on Monday morning, May 14 at Ameriquest Field in Arlington, where the Texas Rangers will play that day at 1:05 p.m. Area sch...
Now Gordon's got another biggie -- video confiscated by Watauga police of two-and-five-year-old pot smokers being taught to inhale by their laughing 17-year-old uncle and an 18-year-old friend. ....
Sams fed the gossip mills during his last days at Belo8 by reportedly calling traffic reporter Alexa Conomos a "Greek bitch" off-camera He otherwise is a self-proclaimed devout Christian who befo...
Confirming rampant rumors and previously private communications, CBS11 anchor Tracy Rowlett announced Friday that he'll be retiring from TV news when his contract expires in July 2008. ...A parti...
Now he's takin' it to TV after being duly crowned in a cover story by Belo-owned Quick, for which Keith writes a weekly column. ..."It's a testament to man's abililty to engineer and a corporatio...
CBS11 has improved its ratings in recent years, but is still running third at 10 p.m. and a distant fourth at 6 a.m., the two key battle zones in the D-FW news wars. "There has been a tremendous ...
He'll keep his morning drive spot at KLUV radio (98.7 FM), but is leaving CBS11 after a decade as an anchor and former morning TV personality. ...KLUV, where he replaced the legendary Ron Chapman...
Packaged as a down home baby Britney on Tuesday's American Idol auditions from San Antonio, 16-year-old Baylie Brown of Krum isn't quite a Southern-fried neophyte. ...
A colleague of Finfrock's, who commented on condition of anonymity, said the weatherman "has been to a doctor a bunch of times and has something wrong." ...But his station likely will be locked i...
A three-year "pilot program" measuring college student viewing had been sponsored by several Nielsen clients, including MTV, The WB, Fox, CBS and ESPN. ...Testing off the charts is ABC's Grey's A...
AUSTIN'S PATRICE PIKE AND BAND HIT THE STAGE FOR TWO ROCK-SOLID HOURS AT THE GRANADA THEATER SATURDAY NIGHT. Photos: Ed Bark ...Pike, longtime fixture on the Austin music scene, made it to the l...
So by popular demand, here's a much easier way to watch Dale Hansen's Monday night "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead" commentary on ex-Dallas Cowboys coach Bill Parcells. ...
Brown also said he doesn't want to "contradict" Fox entertainment president Peter Liguori, who told unclebarky.com on Saturday in Pasadena that Prison Break is "very unlikely to be in Dallas" aft...
"Where the story will end, you'll see that they don't have to be Dallas-based," he said. Prison Break returns to Fox on Monday night at 7 p.m. with the 14th of this season's 22 episodes. ...Dalla...
Wednesday's vaporees included two new ABC comedies, The Knights of Prosperity and In Case of Emergency, which already had been struggling in the ratings. ...
The show also drew more advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds than any Fox program other than the Feb. 17, 2003 finale of Joe Millionaire. Competing programs on NBC, ABC and CBS drew a combined 30...
ABC came up big at Monday night's Golden Globes ceremony, winning for best comedy and drama series with Ugly Betty and Grey's Anatomy. And Fox's American Idol, which returns for a sixth season Tu...
Mark Cuban has just posted a terrific commentary on the perils and pitfalls of YouTube, which he prefers to call GooTube in honor of Google's $1.65 billion purchase. ... Cuban makes a lot of good...
It's time to call it a wrap for a few days. ... In the meantime, if you'd like to spread a little holiday jeer, there's video of the warm, fuzzy Rosie O'Donnell/Donald Trump feud on the Network N...
Couric can play in their league, even if her playing field is still a cathedral compared to the likes of 20/20, Prime Time Live and Dateline, where confronting child predators is still a man's jo...
The Dallas Morning News got held up to ridicule twice late Monday night, which is nice work if you can get it. ...Dave thought it was dumb enough to include in Late Show's "Small Town News" segme...
Most of ABC News' old-line star journalists now are either deceased (Peter Jennings), have left the building (Ted Koppel, Brit Hume), are little-used (Sam Donaldson, Cokie Roberts) or keep blabbi...
DANCING WITH THE STARS CHAMP EMMITT SMITH TOOK A MIKE TO THE CHOPS WHILE WIFE PAT TRIED HER HAND AT BEING AN EXTRA CORRESPONDENT DURING TUESDAY NIGHT'S WELL-HEELED CHARITY EVENT IN DALLAS. Photo...
NBC then showed a clip of Parcells downplaying Romo's previously strong play: "We've got a ways to go here, so put the anointing oil away," he said. ...Viewers were told early in the game that Sa...
This is a mere pittance compared to the Goliaths of the etherworld, and might even qualify as a pimple on an elephant's behind when compared to other Dallas-based sites such as FrontBurner and Un...
If she's included, then her performance becomes the Center's center-ring attraction, re-detracting from what's supposed to be one of the performing arts' classiest nights. ...Putting her in close...
Rajskub, who plays ever-vexed counter-terrorism agent Chloe O'Brian on Fox's 24, says Limbaugh caught her unprepared. ...Limbaugh was moderating the panel and Rajskub, who only plays a counter-te...
Simpson, in the words of a Fox press release, would be telling for the first time "how he would have committed the murders if he were the one responsible for the crimes." Virtually no one thought...
O'Reilly, the most-watched personality on cable's Fox News Channel, has urged viewers of The O'Reilly Factor to follow his lead in not watching the specials and shunning any products advertised d...
I didn't see it at the time, but the video since has made its way to you-know-where. ...
Dallas, Late Show sub-sidekick Alan Kalter tells Britney Spears just what he can do for her. ...
The three-time Super Bowl champ became the third celebrity winner of ABC's top-of-the-charts Dancing with the Stars. No one picked him at the start and few picked him down the stretch, save for u...
That leaves Wednesday night's verdict up to viewers, with an audience in excess of 25 million expected to see whether the brawny lad or the dimpled Gumby dance off with the show's worthless yet p...
Simpson will get two hours of Fox's prime-time to talk about the more than decade-old murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. ...Simpson was found not guilty of the murders in criminal c...
Whatever your take, Emmitt Smith is going to ballroom dancing's version of the Super Bowl, where he'll battle the favored Mario Lopez. Dancing with the Stars' top two sole men will floor it live ...
Ok, let's do the equivalent of a minuet at a barn dance in predicting a shocking development on ABC's Dancing with the Stars. As predicted two weeks ago, Emmitt Smith and Cheryl Burke (above doin...
You probably won't see it on the big board at American Airlines Center, but you can see it here. Ed Bark
Meanwhile, the deposed Dan Rather, is set to sit out his first election night since the Paleolithic period, although he will appear with fake news anchor Jon Stewart in the first half of Comedy C...
It's really all about viewers' votes, though, and Emmitt may well have a big enough fan base to survive just about anything but a rock-bottom judges' score. ...But now there are just two more sho...
Their fox trot got judged not so hot, but Emmitt Smith and Cheryl Burke regrouped with a show-stopping rumba to close out Tuesday's latest Dancing with the Stars. ...Combined with a 25 for the fo...
I've done numerous interviews with Barker over the years, and even played that putt-putt Price Is Right golf game with him in a weak moment. Has it really been a decade since he punched out Adam ...
So ESPN's presentation of Monday Night Football came in 14th for the week (Oct. 23-29), or 13th if you factor out a No. 2-rated CBS Sunday NFL overrun. ...In the overall TV universe, though, Sund...
The team had been too busy recycling old stars until Tony Romo thoroughly impressed Al Michaels and John Madden on NBC's Sunday Night Football. They named him "Rock Star of the Game," which has r...
The host pounced after O'Reilly said that Americans are depressed about the war in Iraq and would rather watch Bowling for Dollars or Dancing with the Stars. ..."I don't care," said Letterman, wh...
"If someone came up to me and said, 'Real men don't dance,' I'm going to say to them, 'Real men try to do things that they think they cannot do," he declared on Wednesday night's Dancing with the...
A transcript from Limbaugh's Monday show, published on his website, says in part: "All I'm saying is I've never seen him the way he appears in this commercial for Claire McCaskill. ...Fox ad:
The ex-Cowboy and partner Cheryl Burke dominated Tuesday's latest Dancing with the Stars performance edition, serving notice that they're the new couple to beat among the hit ABC show's final fiv...
To that end we were treated to a video montage of coach Bill Parcells dodging T.O. questions in what announcer Mike Tirico termed "life under the T.O. shadow." ...Later in the game, with Bledsoe ...
Still, most viewers are looking away and missing out on some terrific characters and compelling storylines. Friday Night Lights is in a black hole of a time slot, facing ABC's Dancing with the St...
Jerry Springer and Joey Lawrence were red-lighted in the bottom two, but everyone went home a winner on Wednesday's Dancing with the Stars results show. ...Guess it had to make him feel pretty go...
Her husband's alleged sexual transgressions, the tamest being adultery with the couple's ex-nanny, had left her in shock and in fear for "the emotional welfare of my kids," she said. ...In other ...
Sorry, Emmitt, but you'll have to share this Dancing with the Stars update with a Dallas Star and Wednesday night's surprise evictee. Pop tart Willa Ford, rumored to be seeing Mike Modano while f...
"I don't even know what the samba is," Emmitt had said before experienced pro partner Cheryl Burke told him, "It's all about pelvis action, moving forward and back." ...And Mario took Karina Smir...
Emmitt Smith and partner Cheryl Burke cake-walked through another Dancing with the Stars elimination round Wednesday night, leaving him game to find the end zone. ...ABC censors deftly used a del...
Steeled by a silly trip to the Texas State Fair, where he stared down a bull, Emmitt Smith and pro partner Cheryl Burke found a safe middle ground on Tuesday's fourth episode of Dancing with the ...
Dallas native Lane Garrison's live-wire David "Tweener" Apolski took a fatal hit on Monday night's Prison Break episode, joining mobster John Abruzzi (Peter Stormare) as the second escapee to go ...
Stuck with the previous night's lowest score, Emmitt and partner Cheryl Burke seemingly teetered near the brink of elimination on Wednesday's Dancing with the Stars. ... Some in the crowd just bo...
Channel 8's Dale Hansen devoted his entire 10 p.m. sportscast Tuesday to the death of legendary golfer Byron Nelson. Hansen, an avid golfer himself, clearly put this heart into this extended trib...
Held to no gain and then piled on, Emmitt "Twinkletoes" Smith fell to the ground floor on Tuesday night's third episode of ABC's Dancing with the Stars ...Emmitt's 19 points left him two shy of S...
Your proprietor, the quintessential stranger in a strange land, is now semi-versed in RSS feeds, Rapid Weaver, links, hits, pasting, j-pegging and other Internet terms that mostly had escaped me ...
Emmitt Smith and partner Cheryl Burke learned one-third of the way through Wednesday's live Dancing with the Stars that they'd be flooring it again next week. ...It won the 7 to 9 p.m. slot in to...
Emmitt Smith gamely juked his way to another solid 24 score on Tuesday's Dancing with the Stars, which there's a MAN LAW against watching. ...Emmitt and partner Cheryl Burke (shown above on last ...
Cons on the lam later made their way through mockups of Las Vegas (with an obviously digitized Stratosphere hotel dropped in) and Cache County, Utah, where $5 million in buried booty is supposed ...