A Short Dream

"The Great American Dream Vote" has already been canceled.

Pretty impressive. Sneak peak on Tuesday. Official timeslot premiere on Wednesday. Canceled on Thursday. Two and through.

NASCAR Cooks

NASCAR is the king of brand marketing; so I'm simply shocked it took so long to create a TV show based on the cookbook NASCAR Cooks.

The book was published in July 1998. NASCAR just filed documents with the US Patent & Trademark Office last week (March 23, 2007) to protect the phrase for "television programs in the field of dining and food preparation."

For once NASCAR was lapped on its own track.

HBO's New Tagline?

There are stories, and there are stories you talk about.

Not one of HBO's better slogans.

I really expect better. There's the old standby — It's not TV, it's HBO. The short-and-sweet — Simply the best. And my fave — We make water...cooler.

With "Deadwood" long-gone, "Rome" just finished and "The Sopranos" on its way to the grave, HBO is banking on a new lineup this summer. I suspect HBO will embark on a huge marketing campaign to try to recapture a distracted audience. And this slogan is the best it could do?

I'll keep checking HBO's trademark apps for any other scoop.

Source: United States Patent & Trademark Office (Serial Number: 77139317; Filing Date: March 23, 2007; Owner: Home Box Office, Inc.).

Dream Always Rises To the Top

"The Great American Dream Vote"

Now we have one more thing to dream about.

Besides "Dream Vote," did you ever wonder what else is considered to be Great American? Well, let's take a look at ep titles:

• Great American Artists (''Homes of Our Heritage'')


• Great American Cheeses (''Emeril Live'')


• Great American Classics (''All in Good Taste'')


• Great American Journeys (''The Power of Ideas'')


• Great American Ranches (''Destination USA'')


• Great American Shad (''Outdoor Passion'')


• Great American Weekend (''Born American'')


• Great American Women (''Homes of Our Heritage'')


• The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters (''American Playhouse,'' 3/16/1982)


• The Great American Hamburger (''The Uncle Chef Show'')


• The Great American Harness Horse (''Discovery'')


• The Great American Hoax (''The 20th Century Fox Hour,'' 5/15/1957)


• The Great American Kiss Off (''Rocky Road,'' 9/16/1985)


• The Great American Medicine Show (''Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman,'' 2/13/1993)


• The Great American Melting Pot (''Schoolhouse Rock!'')


• The Great American Treasure (''Yogi's Treasure Hunt'')

Common Threads #12

What do these names have in common?

• "Climbing for Dollars"


• "Ding Dang Dong"


• "FunDead"


• "Pigs in a Poke"


• "The Running Man"


• "Your Money or Your Life"

(+/-)answer

All six names are fictional TV gameshows in theatrical films:

• "Climbing for Dollars" in The Running Man


• "Ding Dang Dong" in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York


• "FunDead" in Shaun of the Dead


• "Pigs in a Poke" in National Lampoon's European Vacation


• "The Running Man" in The Running Man


• "Your Money or Your Life" in Time Bandits

You Shoot It, We'll Share It

Local Fox affiliates are taking a serious look at citizen journalism. (Here's the whole story from Lost Remote.)

It took FoxNews.com a long time to unveil UReport, but a local version may roll out at the end of April.

Of course every new venture needs a tagline. Fox Television Stations, Inc. filed documents with the US Patent & Trademark Office on March 16, 2007 to protect the phrase You Shoot It, We'll Share It for:

Entertainment services in the nature of a on-going television program segments featuring sports, news and entertainment; providing on-line information in the field of sports, news and entertainment.

vsWild

Now that Versus has rights to the NHL, Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL), World Combat League and other professional sports, it only makes sense that it might spin off field sports onto a new, separate, dedicated channel.

What's my first clue? Outdoor Life Network, LLC filed documents with the US Patent & Trademark Office on March 1, 2007 to protect the phrases VersusWild and vsWild. Thankfully, it's not going the ESPN route and calling it Versus2. I like much more descriptive channel names, like those of the Starz networks.

OLN also registered the relevant domain names — vswild.com (Feb 28, 2007) and versuswild.com (Feb 27, 2007). Unfortunately, the domain names are just parked and offer no additional clues.

The World According to Barnes

Walking around campus on Wednesday, I couldn't tell if it was Princeton or Caltech.

Well, that's a lie. That's only because I knew "The World According to Barnes" was being filmed. As you might know, "Barnes" is a show about geeky Princeton grad students who solve crimes. Otherwise, it looked like any other show that recently filmed on campus.

Well, that's a lie too. I have to say that Wednesday was the first day I saw the suits smiling. When I walked past the directors chairs, I actually witnessed people in sport coats with smiles on their faces. Must've been the end of a long shooting day.

My Crime

It's not my confessional. Don't worry. I haven't committed too many crimes this week. Yet.

"My Crime" is a new show being developed by CPT Holdings, Inc., a subsidiary of Sony Pictures Television International. On March 14, 2007 CPT filed docs with the US Patent & Trademark Office to protect My Crime for various platforms for mystery-themed programming:

• downloadable, "featuring clues for interactive responses by participants."


• streaming.


• television program, "featuring clues for audience participation in solving mystery, via votes from mobile or broadband devices."

Kind of sounds like a cross between AOL's Gold Rush and "Push, Nevada" (ABC, 2002).

We may not know for a while. I sent an RFI e-mail to Gabriella Alaimo Thomas at Sony Pictures Television International, but I received no reply.

In case you were wondering, the domain mycrime.tv is still available. If you're a domain squatter, don't bother unless you want to hold the site. Sony Pictures Television doesn't usually purchase domain names with [series name].tv.

Voiky Toiky

First thing I thought of was Pip saying "lunchy munchy" in "South Park." Not sure why. Maybe it was the first rhyming and somewhat nonsensical phrase that popped into my head.

But Voiky Toiky has absolutely nothing to do with "South Park." That is, unless Qualcomm starts streaming eps from "South Park."

Confused?

Good.

Qualcomm filed documents on March 14, 2007 with the US Patent & Trademark Office to protect the phrase Voiky Toiky. For what? Well, pretty much everything, including "television broadcasting services" and "transmission and broadcast of audio and video programming."

I sent an email to Qualcomm asking for additional information, but I recevied no reply. (Maybe because I mistakently typed Voiky Troiky instead of Voiky Toiky in my e-mail. Not once, but twice.)

Just a note for domain squatters: voikytoiky.com is still available.

Rats Desert a Sinking Ship of Fools

Quick. Name the #1 best-selling hardcover fiction book. From 45 years ago.

Does it help if I tell you that Franny and Zooey was #5 on that list?

Didn't think so.

According to Publisher's Weekly, Ship of Fools by Katherine Anne Porter was the #1 book in 1962.

The phrase Ship of Fools has permeated all aspects of culture, which makes it a perfect choice to look for ep title homages.

• Chain of Fool (''!Mucha Lucha!,'' 11/1/2003)


• Chain of Fools (''Evening Shade,'' 11/29/1993)


• Graveyard of Fools (''Land of the Giants,'' 3/22/1970)


• Partnership of Fools (''Malcolm & Eddie,'' 9/16/1996)


• Relationships of Fools (''Boston Common,'' 4/11/1996)


• Ship of Captain Krool (''Johnny Cypher in Dimension Zero'')


• Ship of Fools (''Aaahh!!! Real Monsters,'' 10/5/1996)


• Ship of Fools (''The Honeymooners,'' 10/1/1966)


• Ship of Fools (''Kappa Mikey,'' 3/4/2006)


• Ship of Fools (''Gimme a Break!,'' 9/21/1985)


• Ship of Fran's (''The Nanny,'' 5/13/1996)


• Ship of Ghouls (''The Love Boat,'' 10/28/1978)


• Ship of Ghouls (''The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo,'' 10/12/1985)


• Ship of Ghouls (''Beetlejuice,'' 10/14/1991)


• Ship of Ghouls (''Archie's Weird Mysteries,'' 1/20/2000)


• Ship of Jewels (''Police Academy: The Animated Series'')


• Ship of Mules (''Captain Whammo'')


• Ship of Phil's (''Murphy Brown,'' 5/10/1993)


• Ship of Shrinks (''The Bob Newhart Show,'' 11/9/1974)


• Ship of Spies (''Secret Squirrel'')


• Ship of Spies (''Scarecrow and Mrs. King,'' 1/2/1984)


• Ship of Spies (''Get Smart,'' 4/2/1966)


• Ship of Tears (''Babylon 5,'' 4/29/1996)


• Ship of Thieves (''Murder, She Wrote,'' 5/2/1993)


• This Stage of Fools (''Branded,'' 1/16/1966)


• Train of Fools (''Boy Meets World,'' 12/15/1995)


• Yacht of Fools (''Cheers,'' 2/4/1988)

A Shorty Walk

I can add another show to the TV Shorty List.

"A Walk Through the 20th Century with Bill Moyers" (CBS Cable, 1982)

One and done! But it wasn't Bill Moyers fault. Honest. Here are a few excerpts of proof.

John J. O'Connor (New York Times, Sep 7, 1982) wrote:

BILL MOYERS is officially employed by CBS News but that technicality hasn't hampered his ambitious need for special projects. Since returning to CBS, he has completed a series on ''Creativity'' for public television. And now, beginning tonight at 8:30, he can be seen on 20 hour-long programs produced for CBS Cable (carried on Manhattan Cable's Channel K in New York City).

Reflecting the importance attached to finding sponsors in CBS Cable's continuing efforts to stay in business, the official title of the new series is ''General Motors Presents ... A Walk Through the 20th Century With Bill Moyers.''

Good. Now we have an ep title and proof that it likely aired. Only one week later, CBS Cable announced it was shutting down before the end of the year. CBS Cable died at 4AM on December 17, 1982.

But did "A Walk" continue to air during those three months? Nope.

Gus Stevens (San Diego's The Tribune, Jan. 11, 1984) wrote:

Now Moyers has returned to television, starting tonight when PBS launches "A Walk Through the 20th Century With Bill Moyers." The first episode, a special 90-minute effort, will air on Channel 15 at 9.

CBS Cable originally commissioned the Moyers series, but only one program was cablecast before CBS Cable went dark. With the series in danger of being scrapped, a $2 million grant from Chevron saved the day, and operations were shifted to PBS.

After tonight, each episode will be an hour long and will be shown on selected Wednesdays through October. The subjects for about a dozen programs have been selected.

And there's the proof.

Awards d/b Update

It's been about two months since I've updated the trivialTV Awards database; so I had a busy weekend.

I added 1,135 records for the following awards:

• American Anime Awards: 2007 noms & winners


• American Cinematographers Award: 2007 winners


• Annie Award: 2007 winners


• Art Directors Guild Award: 2007 noms & winners


• Christopher Award: 2007 winners


• Cinema Audio Society Award: 2007 winners


• Costume Designers Guild Award: 2007 winners


• Daytime Emmy Awards: 2007 noms


• Directors Guild Award: 1967, 1970, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984 noms; 2007 winners


• GLAAD Media Award: 2007 noms


• Gold Angel Award: 2007 winners


• Golden Eddie Award: 2007 winners


• Golden Reel Award (MPSE): 2007 noms & winners


• Gracie Allen Award: 2007 winners


• Impact Award: 2007 winners


• Kids Choice Award: 2007 noms


• Maggie Award: 1978 - 2000 winners


• Movieguide Award: 2007 noms & winners


• Mr. Skin's Anatomy Award: 2007 winners


• NAACP Image Award: 2007 winners


• NAMIC Vision Award: 2007 noms


• Nebula Award: 2007 noms


• Publicists Guild: 2007 winners


• Rose d’Or Award: 2007 noms


• Saturn Award: 2007 noms


• Screen Actors Guild Award: 2007 winners


• Spur Award: 1969 - 2007 winners


• TV Land Award: 2007 noms (VOTE NOW)


• Visual Effects Society Award: 2007 winners


• Writers Guild Award: 2007 winners


• Young Artist Award: 2007 noms & winners

SHO Mobile

On March 9, 2007 Showtime Networks Inc. filed documents to protect the word marks, SHO Mobile and Showtime Mobile, and their logos. I guess this means Showtime is truly going mobile with its own brand.

But what about mobile content on http://wap.sho.com? Doesn't that count?

Well, kind of.

Showtime launched its mobile store two years ago. Then it introduced mobile video about six months ago.

What do these two items have in common? The announcements highlighted Showtime (content) and another company (delivery). It was essentially co-branded. That's fine at the beginning for the techies, but Showtime obviously realizes the average person doesn't care which company delivers the content. Just as long as it is delivered.

I'm guessing SHO Mobile will the single face of mobile content from Showtime, and you'll never hear another word about the other company (or subsidiary) that actually delivers your fav shows.

MyHistory.tv

Just what we need. Another MySpace, social-network, web 2.0 wannabe.

But you'll never guess which network is behind the venture.

Give up?

How 'bout A&E. I told you you'd never guess.

About a month and a half ago (29 Jan), A&E Television Networks registered the domain, myhistory.tv. Don't bother clicking through. Nothing's there yet.

And then last week (6 Mar) A&E Television Networks filed docs with the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) to protect the phrase, MyHistory. A&E is definitely looking to make their website more 2.0ish, including 'internet based dating, introduction and social networking services.' Yes. That is a direct quote from the USPTO application.

I hope that A&E puts a twist on their social network. Think about the possibilities. A&E once filed paperwork with the USPTO for the tagline, A Great Place to Meet People, way back in September 2002. Of course, they meant 'famous, historical and noteworthy individuals.' A&E should resurrect that phrase. Can you imagine a social network that includes scholars playing the roles of dead famous people? Where else could you exchange pearls of wisdom with Confucius? And where else could you have a debate with Stephen A. Douglas? And where else could you have former US Presidents amongst your friends.

It does seem like A&E might incorporate an educational component since the trademark filing also covers old school media like 'books, magazines, pamphlets, brochures, study guides, workbooks and scrapbooks.'

Newsmag Ratings

I just read parts of the report from Project for Excellence in Journalism, The State of the News Media 2007: An Annual Report on American Journalism. I came across this data and plot, which shows Prime-Time News Magazine Viewership.

I have to say I was shocked to only see data from three periods. And I was even more shocked to see that the periods weren't the same length nor properly adjusted for season. Just awful. It did a fine job for morning and evening news, but not primetime.

So I thought I'd fix the problem. I don't have viewership data, but I do have household rating data from present day back to 1983. And I can easily query the data so that I only compare weekend airings (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) in November of each year.

For those still reading, here's the plot:
You can click on the plot to view the Figure in your browser.

Don't Get Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, World

During the weekend when I was entering movies that aired in the '70s on TV, I twice typed "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" (1963). I also seemed to remember a ton of ep titles that referenced the flick. And here they are:

• It's a Bad, Bad, Bad World (''The New Three Stooges'')
  
• It's a Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad World (''Charmed,'' 5/16/2004)
  
• It's a Dad, Dad World (''Fatherhood,'' 6/19/2004)
  
• It's a Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad World (''Will & Grace,'' 5/5/2005)
  
• It's a Gay, Gay, Gay, Gay World! (''Ellen,'' 2/25/1998)
  
• It's a Hot, Hot, Hot, Hot Christmas (''Sabrina, the Teenage Witch,'' 12/6/2002)
  
• It's a Mad Mad Mackerel (''Power Rangers: Dino Thunder'')
  
• It's a Mad, Mad, Mad Hotel (''The Suite Life of Zack & Cody,'' 7/17/2005)
  
• It's a Mad, Mad, Mad War (''McHale's Navy,'' 9/29/1964)
  
• It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Bar (''Cheers,'' 1/21/1993)
  
• It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Boat (''Savannah,'' 10/28/1996)
  
• It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Christmas (''Madman of the People,'' 12/15/1994)
  
• It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Eric (''Ned & Stacey,'' 1/5/1997)
  
• It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Hip-Hop World (''One on One,'' 2/10/2004)
  
• It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Jersey (''The Jersey,'' 10/6/2002)
  
• It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Locker Room (''The Hoop Life,'' 10/17/1999)
  
• It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Opera (''Jack of All Trades,'' 5/20/2000)
  
• It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Season Opener (''Sabrina, the Teenage Witch,'' 9/25/1998)
  
• It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Maddy World (''Suddenly Susan,'' 11/3/1997)
  
• It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Marge (''The Simpsons,'' 5/14/2000)
  
• It's a Mad, Mad, Madeline World (''The Wonder Years,'' 10/24/1990)
  
• It's a Mad, Mad, Madhouse (''Family Matters,'' 2/19/1993)
  
• It's a Mob, Mob, Mob, Mob World (''Weird Science,'' 6/15/1996)
  
• It's a Mod, Mod World (''That Girl,'' 12/7/1967 & 12/14/1967)
  
• It's a Mud, Mud, Mud, Mud World (''Los Luchadores,'' 4/14/2001)
  
• It's a Nude, Nude, Nude, Nude World (''Son of the Beach,'' 6/5/2001)
  
• It's a Plaid, Plaid, Plaid, Plaid World (''The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries,'' 2/3/1996)
  
• It's a Sad, Sad World (''The Munsters Today,'' 11/25/1989)

I was most impressed by the "McHale's Navy" homage. Only one year after the film played in theaters!

Titleness Is the Mother of All Evil

Recently I've been spending some time in the '70s.

I'm expanding the trivialTV Schedule database, which means I'm entering a lot of movie titles for the '70s. One thing really struck me — the number of theatrical films that were later shown on the telly with a different name. (Some made-for-TV movies even changed names for their second airing.)

So I queried the entire database and found the same thing happened in the '70s, '80s and early '90s. Here's the alphabetical list of theatrical films named differently on TV (with links to imdb):

• Beautiful But Deadly (1973) (a.k.a. The Don Is Dead)


• Death of Her Innocence (1974) (a.k.a. Our Time)


• Deep Cover (1985) (a.k.a. Code Name: Emerald)


• The Double Con (1973) (a.k.a. Trick Baby)


• Earth's Final Fury (1980) (a.k.a. When Time Ran Ou…)


• Escape to Freedom (1988) (a.k.a. Judgment in Berlin)


• For Better, For Worse (1974) (a.k.a. Zandy's Bride)


• Forbidden Paradise (1979) (a.k.a. Hurricane)


• Girls of Summer (1988) (a.k.a. Satisfaction)


• Hard Driver (1973) (a.k.a. The Last American Hero)


• Home Is Where the Heart Is (1987) (a.k.a. Square Dance)


• A Horse Named Comanche (1958) (a.k.a. Tonka)


• Invasion Force (1980) (a.k.a. Hanger 18)


• The Neptune Disaster (1973) (a.k.a. The Neptune Factor)


• Never Give an Inch (1971) (a.k.a. Sometimes a Great Notion)


• Olympic Visions (1973) (a.k.a. Visions of Eight)


• On the Road Again (1980) (a.k.a. Honeysuckle Rose)


• Rafferty and the Highway Hustlers (1975) (a.k.a. Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins)


• Sky Terror (1972) (a.k.a. Skyjacked)


• Summer of Innocence (1978) (a.k.a. Big Wednesday)


• Volcano (1969) (a.k.a. Krakatoa, East of Java)


• You Can't Steal Love (1975) (a.k.a. Murph the Surf)

I'll update the list as I find more films like these.

Note: The film titles have the following format:

    TV Title (Year of Theatrical Release) (a.k.a. Theatrical Title).

Old School Franchise

All this talk about "American Idol" and its big announcement last night. And Idol Camp. And everything else about the franchise got me thinking.

Well, actually reading.

I wanted to find a really old, unexpected, international franchise in TV history; so I read Hal Erickson's Syndicated Television: The First Forty Years, 1947-1987 and found an answer. "Romper Room."

I was surprised too. Here's an excerpt from Erickon's work (p. 53):

The oldest and most durable of the kiddie "franchise" shows, Romper Room was the brainchild of Baltimore television producer Bert Claster. Claster came to the conclusion in 1953 that there wasn't anything on the tube specifically for preschool children. At that time, Claster's wife Nancy was a nursery-school teacher. Claster simply moved Nancy's classroom before the WBAL-TV cameras every morning and titled the new series Romper Room. Once the project took off (it was especially popular with young mothers looking for a convenient "baby-sitter" for their restless offspring), the Clasters were approached with an offer of a CBS-network time slot. Bert and Nancy felt that Romper Room's basic appeal was its usage of local children and teachers, an appeal that might dissipate with a coast-to-coast hookup. To retain its "local" flavor, the Clasters offered Romper Room as a franchise package, providing the format, the Romper Room games and toys, and a training program for local hostesses on a station-by-station basis. By 1957, there were 22 Romper Roomns in the country, and after the Clasters made their first foreign sale in 1959, the number of versions increased to 130 worldwide.

Shocking. 130 versions worldwide. Beat that "American Idol."

American Psychic Challenge

I see a new show in Lifetime's future. Wait. Wait. Something about....physicists. No, no. A reality show about psychics. Hold on. Not just a reality show. [long pause] But a competition. It's a competition to find America's next great psychic. There's more. It's going to be called....I'm having a hard time seeing it...but it's going to be called "American Psychic Challenge."

Apparently Lifetime wants to corner the markets on psychics since it couldn't get John Edwards.

If you remember, Lifetime presented British clairvoyant Lisa Williams last October in "Lisa Williams: Life Among the Dead." Now it wants to find her heir-apparent. I wonder if Ms. Williams will be a judge? Maybe Cleo?

Anyways, as you probably guessed, I'm not psychic. Lifetime filed a trademark app that was published early this morning to protect the phrase 'American Psychic Challenge' for a reality series. I haven't heard or read anything else about the show.

Spring Break Gone Wild

I still remember one family trip to Ft. Lauderdale when I was in 8th grade. It was Spring Break and we stayed in a HoJos across the street from the beach. College students were making mischievous mayhem. Somebody put a sand shark in the pool. People were diving from balconies into the shark-infested pool. Quite the site for young eyes.

Now — especially thanks to late-night ads on Comedy Central — we're supposed to think about Girls Gone Wild when we think Spring Break. The first GGW vid was released in 1998 and the concept was a pop cultural phenomenon by 2000. Just take a look at the number of ep names that pay homage to these vids:

• Boys Gone Wild (''The Man Show,'' 7/23/2000)
  
• Cheryl Gone Wild (''According to Jim,'' 1/24/2007)
  
• Evil Goes Wild (''Evil con Carne'')
  
• Experiments Gone Wild (''Clean Sweep'')
  
• Garage Gone Wild (''The Dan Ho Show,'' 1/18/2007)
  
• Gilmore Girls Gone Wild (''Gilmore Girls,'' 4/13/2004)
  
• Girls Gone Cluttered (''Clean Sweep,'' 5/8/2004)
  
• Girls Gone Mild (''The Powerpuff Girls,'' 1/16/2004)
  
• Girls Gone Wild (''What I Like About You,'' 4/8/2005)
  
• Girls Gone Wilder (''Survivor,'' 3/26/2003)
  
• Girls Gone WYWO (''While You Were Out'')
  
• Good Moms Gone Wild (''8 Simple Rules,'' 3/25/2003)
  
• Grannies Gone Wild (''Reba,'' 11/11/2005)
  
• Guy Gone Wild (''Off Centre,'' 1/13/2002)
  
• Haley Gone Wild (''American Dragon: Jake Long'')
  
• Juan Goes Wild (''The Man Show,'' 6/6/2004)
  
• Rednecks Gone Wild (''V-Twin Motorcycle TV'')
  
• Spies Gone Wild (''She Spies,'' 1/19/2004)
  
• Trannys Gone Wild (''Cops,'' 12/4/2004)

A PI Saved Is a PI Earned

If you watch the pilot ep of "Andy Barker" online, you'll find out that Andy takes over the office of Lew Staziak, Private Investigator.

I gotta say I was kind of disappointed. I expected to see a detective agency with a really cool name. Or some obscure reference I could figure out. And all I got was a person's name.

Mike Hammer and Eddie Drake have agencies named after them; so I shouldn't have been too surprised to simply see a person's name.

Then there's "Riptide," "Hawaiian Eye" and "Psych," where the series name is also the name of the PI firm.

And that brings us to this week's trivia question. Can you match each detective agency with its series?

Series Name		Detective Agency
1.	"21 Beacon Street" (1959, NBC)	a.	The Beverly Hills Detective Agency
2.	"Charlie's Angels" (1976, ABC)	b.	The Blue Moon Detective Agency
3.	"Detective Conan"	c.	Caulfield Detective Agency
4.	"Inch High Private Eye" (1973, NBC)	d.	Charles Townsend Detective Agency
5.	"International Detective" (1959, Syn)	e.	Cosmos Detective Agency
6.	"Leg Work" (1987, CBS)	f.	The Dennis Chase Detective Agency
7.	"Me and Mom" (1985, ABC)	g.	Double Eagle Detective Agency
8.	"Moonlighting" (1985, ABC)	h.	Finkerton Detective Agency
9.	"Outlaws" (1986, CBS)	i.	The Lionel Whitney Agency
10.	"Partners in Crime" (1984, NBC)	j.	McCarron Investigations
11.	"Search" (1972, NBC)	k.	Moore Detective Agency
12.	"South of Sunset" (1993, CBS)	l.	Morgan, Garfield & Hunnicutt Detective Agency
13.	"Tek War" (1994, USA)	m.	Probe Detective Agency
14.	"Tenspeed and Brown Shoe" (1980, ABC)	n.	The William J. Burns International Detective Agency

(+/-)answers

1-f, 2-d, 3-k, 4-h, 5-n, 6-j, 7-l, 8-b, 9-g, 10-c, 11-m, 12-a, 13-e, 14-i

Retention Is the Better Part of Valour

I'm still surprised when I read analyses of Nielsen ratings. I still see statements like "Retention for 'Studio 60' out of 'Heroes' was just 77 percent in the overnights, 72 percent in total viewers and 66 percent among adults 18-49."

It doesn't really mean that 72% of the viewers who watched 'Heroes' also stuck around to watch 'Studio 60.' It simply means the audience for 'Studio 60' was 72% the size of the audience for 'Heroes.'

Historically, that statement made sense. Nielsen had a tough enough job just estimating the number of viewers for a given show. Forget about trying to estimate the number of viewers who watched both shows.

With all data that's available now, why don't we see real retention numbers? Why doesn't Nielsen report viewership like 6.9(5.2)? That data would tell us that 6.9 million people watched the show and 5.2 million of those people also watched the show before it. I would love to know how many people actively sought 'Studio 60' at 10PM instead of maybe just leaving the TV on after 'Heroes.'

I'm guessing Nielsen already has this data but only provides it to its paying customers. If Nielsen does have this data, I hope that we can choose better words to more accurately report ratings.

Carmedian

Wish I would've thought of the name, but somebody else is much more clever than I.

Randy Backes filed docs with the USPTO to protect Carmedian for a variety of uses, including a TV show. It doesn't seem like it'll get that far, but I'd love to see Comedy Central do a Reno 911-like show for an auto shop. I know SPEED already did "Texas Hardtails" two years ago. But come on. What does SPEED know about comedy?

Who'd You Rather?

Maybe you've played the home game, but Who'd You Rather? might play the same game as Scrabble, Balderdash, Scattergories, Trivial Pursuit and Taboo.

Which game is that? Start as a home game and then take a turn as a TV show.

Who'd You Rather? Inc. filed docs with the USPTO on February 22, 2007 to protect the phrase Who'd You Rather? for 'entertainment in the nature of on-going television programs in the field of game shows, reality shows, and dating shows.'

Can't you just imagine a dating show based on this premise? It would really be nothing more than a simplified dating service. Choose a date from a few pictures and hope that the same person chooses you.

Or maybe it will be like Date or No Date. Imagine a wall with pictures of 26 people and 26 suitcases. The gameplay is identical to Deal or No Deal except potential dates replace dollar amounts. Just replace the banker with a madam!