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American Morning
Interview with Matt Rousch
Aired September 30, 2002 - 07:40 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID CARUSO, ACTOR: My name is Horatio Caine. I'm the head of the crime unit.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Horatio?
CARUSO: Yes. That's a funny name, isn't it?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Will "CSI" once again spell H-I-T? The crime-time spin off, "CSI: Miami," getting a thumbs-up already from critics after the premiere.
In all, 34 new shows dot the TV landscape this season. So, then, how to separate must-see from must-flee TV?
Some guidance this morning, senior "TV Guide" critic, Matt Rousch, is with us here on AMERICAN MORNING.
Good to see you again, Matt.
MATT ROUSCH, "TV GUIDE": Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: All right, let's talk about the hits so far. You like what out of the gate?
ROUSCH: Well, Monday -- we're talking on a Monday. Monday belongs to CBS. We had "Everybody Loves Raymond," which burst out of the gate. With "CSI: Miami," the no-brainer spin off -- I mean, everybody expected it to be a huge hit. It was a huge hit.
And then, the Emmy winners from last week, "West Wing" and "Friends," came back in big numbers. So "Friends" is big. And then, the regular "CSI," the one that spun off "CSI: Miami," that was also huge.
So, it was a big week for NBC and for CBS.
HEMMER: So, you mentioned "CSI." Is that the new big hit so far this year?
ROUSCH: It really is.
HEMMER: Do you see it the same? ROUSCH: It really is, and it has also spawned a whole lot of crime dramas. Almost every hour, a show that's on TV right now is some variation on a crime drama. And "CSI" is doing it like a meat- and-potatoes format. I mean, it's very no-frills. It's really just right there at the crime scene with some new camera tricks. But for the most part, crime shows are what rules on TV right now.
HEMMER: Yes, isn't that the truth? Caruso was here last week on AMERICAN MORNING -- a really good guy and very pumped up about the...
ROUSCH: Oh, yes. Well, it's a gift for him to come back to TV in the way that he has on a show like this.
HEMMER: Yes.
ROUSCH: I mean, it's his to lose (ph). And right now, he's writing his own. He's doing great.
HEMMER: Best new show of the TV season so far.
ROUSCH: Best new show, also a crime series. It's called "Boomtown" on NBC. It's sort of like a jigsaw puzzle. It's a show that -- it's a crime that's told from many, many points of view in Los Angeles, both the people who are investigating the case and the people who are involved in the case. There's a lot of humanity to it, and it's just a very interesting way of telling a crime story.
And at the end of the hour, you know more than any one person in the show, because of the overlapping points of view, and it plays with time and perspective. And it's the one show this season that's really trying to do something different.
HEMMER: And the way they shoot it, too.
ROUSCH: Yes, well, it's also very, very, I guess, sophisticated in its look, and the cast is great. It's just one of those -- it's just the one show, again, this season that I think really is aiming high and it really achieves what it's aiming for.
HEMMER: A lot of those scenes we call it "off-the-shoulder photography."
ROUSCH: You bet.
HEMMER: You like "Boomtown." Other winners are what?
ROUSCH: Well, another winner -- actually ABC is looking for any good news after the season they just had, and I think a winner that's come along for them is John Ritter's new show...
HEMMER: Yes.
ROUSCH: ... called "8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter."
HEMMER: What are the rules, by the way, do you know? ROUSCH: Well, I mean, they're pretty simple, as the show says, you know? It's about a dad who is basically terrified by his two teenage daughters that he's trying to navigate the dating pool with them a little bit. You know, but it's John Ritter coming back to TV. When -- you know, he became a star by being befuddled by two girls on "Three's Company." Now, he's the father of two girls on "8 Simple Rules."
And for ABC, they're creating this whole thing called "happy hour," the first hour of primetime being a family hour for them. This one is kind of working.
HEMMER: I like the story line, too. It's pretty cute there.
ROUSCH: Yes.
HEMMER: "Without a Trace," what do you think?
ROUSCH: "Without a Trace" -- "Without a Trace" follows "CSI" on Thursday night, and even though it didn't win its time period, it came closer to "ER" than any show has ever done since 1994 when "ER" first came on the air. It's basically doing the "CSI" thing, only using missing persons as the framework. Anthony LaPaglia, a really good cast again, and people who are watching "CSI" are very likely to stay tuned for "Without a Trace."
HEMMER: Sure.
ROUSCH: "ER" is kind of fading right now.
HEMMER: And (UNINTELLIGIBLE) strategy kick in, too.
ROUSCH: Yes, narrow the margins.
HEMMER: Now, you have been too positive for us so far.
ROUSCH: Ah.
HEMMER: Give us some losers.
ROUSCH: A loser -- well, let's see here. What will be the first loser...
HEMMER: And what about "The Bachelor," do you like that?
ROUSCH: Well, "The Bachelor," that's a good loser.
HEMMER: Yes.
ROUSCH: Because it was a show I didn't like last spring. But as a stunt, it was all right, but it came back on the schedule as a weekly series. This is the one about a bachelor who gets to pick 25 women and find his wife, maybe. But it's like cereal dating. It's a really distasteful concept for me. It came back last Wednesday opposite the "West Wing," and it got crushed. It didn't even open, so that's good news for me. HEMMER: What about "Push, Nevada," do you like that...
(CROSSTALK)
ROUSCH: "Push, Nevada" is a much buzzed-about show, but it's not a very good show. It's sort of like "Twin Peaks" done as a game, where you can play along with the mystery and go on the Internet and solve the clues -- all that kind of a thing.
Well, it's opposite "CSI," the best puzzle show on TV, and "Will & Grace." And even though some of the media is buzzing about the sort of "Twin Peaks" quirkiness of the show, it isn't working, and it's dying.
HEMMER: Ten seconds. Well, maybe we'll give you 15 seconds. First show to get canceled is going to be what?
ROUSCH: It's a show called "That was Then," the time travel show on Friday night on ABC. That's two strikes against it right there, and it's not a very good show.
HEMMER: Maybe the title did it in from the beginning, huh, "That Was Then"...
ROUSCH: Yes, this is...
HEMMER: ... because now it's over.
(CROSSTALK)
ROUSCH: Yes, you bet.
HEMMER: That's great. Matt, good to see you -- Matt Rousch with "TV Guide."
ROUSCH: You bet, Bill.
HEMMER: We'll see you again, all right.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired September 30, 2002 - 07:40 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID CARUSO, ACTOR: My name is Horatio Caine. I'm the head of the crime unit.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Horatio?
CARUSO: Yes. That's a funny name, isn't it?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Will "CSI" once again spell H-I-T? The crime-time spin off, "CSI: Miami," getting a thumbs-up already from critics after the premiere.
In all, 34 new shows dot the TV landscape this season. So, then, how to separate must-see from must-flee TV?
Some guidance this morning, senior "TV Guide" critic, Matt Rousch, is with us here on AMERICAN MORNING.
Good to see you again, Matt.
MATT ROUSCH, "TV GUIDE": Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: All right, let's talk about the hits so far. You like what out of the gate?
ROUSCH: Well, Monday -- we're talking on a Monday. Monday belongs to CBS. We had "Everybody Loves Raymond," which burst out of the gate. With "CSI: Miami," the no-brainer spin off -- I mean, everybody expected it to be a huge hit. It was a huge hit.
And then, the Emmy winners from last week, "West Wing" and "Friends," came back in big numbers. So "Friends" is big. And then, the regular "CSI," the one that spun off "CSI: Miami," that was also huge.
So, it was a big week for NBC and for CBS.
HEMMER: So, you mentioned "CSI." Is that the new big hit so far this year?
ROUSCH: It really is.
HEMMER: Do you see it the same? ROUSCH: It really is, and it has also spawned a whole lot of crime dramas. Almost every hour, a show that's on TV right now is some variation on a crime drama. And "CSI" is doing it like a meat- and-potatoes format. I mean, it's very no-frills. It's really just right there at the crime scene with some new camera tricks. But for the most part, crime shows are what rules on TV right now.
HEMMER: Yes, isn't that the truth? Caruso was here last week on AMERICAN MORNING -- a really good guy and very pumped up about the...
ROUSCH: Oh, yes. Well, it's a gift for him to come back to TV in the way that he has on a show like this.
HEMMER: Yes.
ROUSCH: I mean, it's his to lose (ph). And right now, he's writing his own. He's doing great.
HEMMER: Best new show of the TV season so far.
ROUSCH: Best new show, also a crime series. It's called "Boomtown" on NBC. It's sort of like a jigsaw puzzle. It's a show that -- it's a crime that's told from many, many points of view in Los Angeles, both the people who are investigating the case and the people who are involved in the case. There's a lot of humanity to it, and it's just a very interesting way of telling a crime story.
And at the end of the hour, you know more than any one person in the show, because of the overlapping points of view, and it plays with time and perspective. And it's the one show this season that's really trying to do something different.
HEMMER: And the way they shoot it, too.
ROUSCH: Yes, well, it's also very, very, I guess, sophisticated in its look, and the cast is great. It's just one of those -- it's just the one show, again, this season that I think really is aiming high and it really achieves what it's aiming for.
HEMMER: A lot of those scenes we call it "off-the-shoulder photography."
ROUSCH: You bet.
HEMMER: You like "Boomtown." Other winners are what?
ROUSCH: Well, another winner -- actually ABC is looking for any good news after the season they just had, and I think a winner that's come along for them is John Ritter's new show...
HEMMER: Yes.
ROUSCH: ... called "8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter."
HEMMER: What are the rules, by the way, do you know? ROUSCH: Well, I mean, they're pretty simple, as the show says, you know? It's about a dad who is basically terrified by his two teenage daughters that he's trying to navigate the dating pool with them a little bit. You know, but it's John Ritter coming back to TV. When -- you know, he became a star by being befuddled by two girls on "Three's Company." Now, he's the father of two girls on "8 Simple Rules."
And for ABC, they're creating this whole thing called "happy hour," the first hour of primetime being a family hour for them. This one is kind of working.
HEMMER: I like the story line, too. It's pretty cute there.
ROUSCH: Yes.
HEMMER: "Without a Trace," what do you think?
ROUSCH: "Without a Trace" -- "Without a Trace" follows "CSI" on Thursday night, and even though it didn't win its time period, it came closer to "ER" than any show has ever done since 1994 when "ER" first came on the air. It's basically doing the "CSI" thing, only using missing persons as the framework. Anthony LaPaglia, a really good cast again, and people who are watching "CSI" are very likely to stay tuned for "Without a Trace."
HEMMER: Sure.
ROUSCH: "ER" is kind of fading right now.
HEMMER: And (UNINTELLIGIBLE) strategy kick in, too.
ROUSCH: Yes, narrow the margins.
HEMMER: Now, you have been too positive for us so far.
ROUSCH: Ah.
HEMMER: Give us some losers.
ROUSCH: A loser -- well, let's see here. What will be the first loser...
HEMMER: And what about "The Bachelor," do you like that?
ROUSCH: Well, "The Bachelor," that's a good loser.
HEMMER: Yes.
ROUSCH: Because it was a show I didn't like last spring. But as a stunt, it was all right, but it came back on the schedule as a weekly series. This is the one about a bachelor who gets to pick 25 women and find his wife, maybe. But it's like cereal dating. It's a really distasteful concept for me. It came back last Wednesday opposite the "West Wing," and it got crushed. It didn't even open, so that's good news for me. HEMMER: What about "Push, Nevada," do you like that...
(CROSSTALK)
ROUSCH: "Push, Nevada" is a much buzzed-about show, but it's not a very good show. It's sort of like "Twin Peaks" done as a game, where you can play along with the mystery and go on the Internet and solve the clues -- all that kind of a thing.
Well, it's opposite "CSI," the best puzzle show on TV, and "Will & Grace." And even though some of the media is buzzing about the sort of "Twin Peaks" quirkiness of the show, it isn't working, and it's dying.
HEMMER: Ten seconds. Well, maybe we'll give you 15 seconds. First show to get canceled is going to be what?
ROUSCH: It's a show called "That was Then," the time travel show on Friday night on ABC. That's two strikes against it right there, and it's not a very good show.
HEMMER: Maybe the title did it in from the beginning, huh, "That Was Then"...
ROUSCH: Yes, this is...
HEMMER: ... because now it's over.
(CROSSTALK)
ROUSCH: Yes, you bet.
HEMMER: That's great. Matt, good to see you -- Matt Rousch with "TV Guide."
ROUSCH: You bet, Bill.
HEMMER: We'll see you again, all right.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
