Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Best, Worst TV shows, Ads of 2003
Aired December 26, 2003 - 07:51 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.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN ANCHOR: Marriage mates chosen on camera and pop stars picked by viewer votes, it was all part of the year that was in television.
Bill Hemmer gathered a panel of media and entertainment critics to get the last word on television in 2003.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: For a look back at the big stories on the small screen this year, we're offering the last word on TV in 2003 to B.J. Sigesmund of "Us Weekly," Barbara Lippert of "Ad Week" and Mark Peyser from "Newsweek."
The clunkers from TV, what made your short list?
B.J. SIGESMUND, STAFF EDITOR, "US WEEKLY": Bill, this year sex did not sell. We had "Coupling," which was supposed to be NBC's next "Friends." They took this British series, brought it to America and put it on Thursday nights. First critics didn't like it and then American viewers.
HEMMER: What else?
SIGESMUND: The other one was "Skin."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "SKIN")
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sex is sex. Boys, girls, what's the difference?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIGESMUND: This was the show on Fox all about in the world of pornography in L.A. No one liked it. It was gone within a month.
HEMMER: Do you agree with that, Barbara?
BARBARA LIPPERT, MEDIA CRITIC, "ADWEEK MAGAZINE": Yes. It was sort of porn and order. It was, you know, the Romeo and Juliet, the once over as the porn king and his daughter's in love with him.
HEMMER: Have you used that before, by the way?
LIPPERT: No, it's for you. But I think the problem is, you know, oh, no, not another pole dance. The pornography trade is everywhere, especially on the Internet. SIGESMUND: Right.
HEMMER: What about pleasant surprises, if we could?
SIGESMUND: The pleasant surprise for me was "Arrested Development."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT")
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are going to keep dad in prison at least until this gets all sorted out. Also, the attorney said that they're going to have to put a halt on the company's expense account.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIGESMUND: It's a dark comedy. It's sort of like an HBO show. It doesn't have a laugh track. It's filmed in a different way. The pleasant surprise about it is that Fox has actually allowed it to be on this long.
HEMMER: What about a breakout show this year?
SIGESMUND: "Doc."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "DOC")
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But know this, stealing a car because your big brother told you to, it's stupid.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIGESMUND: As most people know, this is the "Beverly Hills 90210" of the 2000s. And it's kind of an addictive, frothy show.
LIPPERT: And then there's "Joan of Arcadia," also, that has been a real hit, but people -- it has its real niche and people love it.
HEMMER: Marc, what about "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" this past year?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "QUEER EYE FOR THE STRAIGHT GUY")
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're on "The Walton" instead of "The Waltons."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARC PEYSER, SENIOR WRITER, "NEWSWEEK": I think it was really the media darling of the year. Carson Kressley -- who knew who Carson Kressley was, you know, six months ago? Now he's everywhere, which is a great thing for that show. But I think they have to be careful, because this show really is everywhere. NBC puts it on every chance it can get. The guys are everywhere. But television has a way of over working these things.
SIGESMUND: Well, couples watch it. It's not just women and gay men. Straight men watch this show. They love it. And the wonderful thing about the show is for the first time in television history, we're seeing gay men and straight men interact in a wonderful, friendly way.
HEMMER: What do you think was the biggest reality hit from the past year, 2003?
SIGESMUND: By far, "The Newlyweds."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE NEWLYWEDS")
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I will love you until forever.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIGESMUND: Celebrities sat at home watching reality TV and saying I want a piece of this. This time, they turned somebody who never has been, Jessica Simpson, into the biggest entertainment story of the year.
LIPPERT: Now we're going into seeing rich and dumb people and laughing at them, which leads us into rich girls on MTV and the "Paris Hilton Show" on Fox. So we like this a lot.
HEMMER: Is that the trend you see going forward in 2004 or do you see it more things...
LIPPERT: More rich and dumb, yes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE REAGANS")
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In five, four...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: CBS got into a big brouhaha this past couple of months regarding "The Reagans" miniseries.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE REAGANS")
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two months ago, I told the American public I did not trade arms for hostages.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: What's the takeaway from that story?
PEYSER: The activists have very much been energized. They know now that they can get a TV movie yanked off the networks. Nobody had ever done that before. SIGESMUND: Right. That was, that's a huge precedent. You never want to mess with the far right-wing of this country. They love Ronald Reagan. And when I finally saw "The Reagans" on Showtime, I couldn't believe how campy the thing was.
HEMMER: Really?
SIGESMUND: It felt like it was written by a tabloid journalist.
HEMMER: Let's talk about commercials, Barbara.
LIPPERT: OK.
HEMMER: That's your forte.
LIPPERT: Yes.
HEMMER: What did you like this past year?
LIPPERT: Well, I loved the Ikea lamp commercial.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM IKEA COMMERCIAL)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Many of you feel bad for this lamp. That is because you're crazy. It has no feelings. And the new one is much better.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIPPERT: Have you seen that?
HEMMER: Yes, sure. It, what, bends over on the street and goes sad?
LIPPERT: That's right. I think you said you didn't like it, though?
HEMMER: If I did, I didn't think it was the best thing out there.
LIPPERT: Right. But the big story this year actually is that advertisers are worried that the 30 second commercial is going to get TiVOed out of existence.
HEMMER: Yes.
LIPPERT: And, also, yes, branded entertainment. Of course, all these reality shows, you know, have these products in them, you know, the Coke room, the Ford Focus moments in the "American Idol."
SIGESMUND: And we're becoming more and more adjusted to that.
LIPPERT: Right. We're becoming more and more adjusted to that. But I think that's going to get over done very soon.
HEMMER: Have a great new year. Marc, great to see you.
PEYSER: Thank you.
HEMMER: Barbara, come back anytime, OK?
B.J., as always.
That's it, the last word on TV for 2003.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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 December 26, 2003 - 07:51 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN ANCHOR: Marriage mates chosen on camera and pop stars picked by viewer votes, it was all part of the year that was in television.
Bill Hemmer gathered a panel of media and entertainment critics to get the last word on television in 2003.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: For a look back at the big stories on the small screen this year, we're offering the last word on TV in 2003 to B.J. Sigesmund of "Us Weekly," Barbara Lippert of "Ad Week" and Mark Peyser from "Newsweek."
The clunkers from TV, what made your short list?
B.J. SIGESMUND, STAFF EDITOR, "US WEEKLY": Bill, this year sex did not sell. We had "Coupling," which was supposed to be NBC's next "Friends." They took this British series, brought it to America and put it on Thursday nights. First critics didn't like it and then American viewers.
HEMMER: What else?
SIGESMUND: The other one was "Skin."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "SKIN")
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sex is sex. Boys, girls, what's the difference?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIGESMUND: This was the show on Fox all about in the world of pornography in L.A. No one liked it. It was gone within a month.
HEMMER: Do you agree with that, Barbara?
BARBARA LIPPERT, MEDIA CRITIC, "ADWEEK MAGAZINE": Yes. It was sort of porn and order. It was, you know, the Romeo and Juliet, the once over as the porn king and his daughter's in love with him.
HEMMER: Have you used that before, by the way?
LIPPERT: No, it's for you. But I think the problem is, you know, oh, no, not another pole dance. The pornography trade is everywhere, especially on the Internet. SIGESMUND: Right.
HEMMER: What about pleasant surprises, if we could?
SIGESMUND: The pleasant surprise for me was "Arrested Development."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT")
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are going to keep dad in prison at least until this gets all sorted out. Also, the attorney said that they're going to have to put a halt on the company's expense account.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIGESMUND: It's a dark comedy. It's sort of like an HBO show. It doesn't have a laugh track. It's filmed in a different way. The pleasant surprise about it is that Fox has actually allowed it to be on this long.
HEMMER: What about a breakout show this year?
SIGESMUND: "Doc."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "DOC")
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But know this, stealing a car because your big brother told you to, it's stupid.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIGESMUND: As most people know, this is the "Beverly Hills 90210" of the 2000s. And it's kind of an addictive, frothy show.
LIPPERT: And then there's "Joan of Arcadia," also, that has been a real hit, but people -- it has its real niche and people love it.
HEMMER: Marc, what about "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" this past year?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "QUEER EYE FOR THE STRAIGHT GUY")
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're on "The Walton" instead of "The Waltons."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARC PEYSER, SENIOR WRITER, "NEWSWEEK": I think it was really the media darling of the year. Carson Kressley -- who knew who Carson Kressley was, you know, six months ago? Now he's everywhere, which is a great thing for that show. But I think they have to be careful, because this show really is everywhere. NBC puts it on every chance it can get. The guys are everywhere. But television has a way of over working these things.
SIGESMUND: Well, couples watch it. It's not just women and gay men. Straight men watch this show. They love it. And the wonderful thing about the show is for the first time in television history, we're seeing gay men and straight men interact in a wonderful, friendly way.
HEMMER: What do you think was the biggest reality hit from the past year, 2003?
SIGESMUND: By far, "The Newlyweds."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE NEWLYWEDS")
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I will love you until forever.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIGESMUND: Celebrities sat at home watching reality TV and saying I want a piece of this. This time, they turned somebody who never has been, Jessica Simpson, into the biggest entertainment story of the year.
LIPPERT: Now we're going into seeing rich and dumb people and laughing at them, which leads us into rich girls on MTV and the "Paris Hilton Show" on Fox. So we like this a lot.
HEMMER: Is that the trend you see going forward in 2004 or do you see it more things...
LIPPERT: More rich and dumb, yes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE REAGANS")
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In five, four...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: CBS got into a big brouhaha this past couple of months regarding "The Reagans" miniseries.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE REAGANS")
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two months ago, I told the American public I did not trade arms for hostages.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: What's the takeaway from that story?
PEYSER: The activists have very much been energized. They know now that they can get a TV movie yanked off the networks. Nobody had ever done that before. SIGESMUND: Right. That was, that's a huge precedent. You never want to mess with the far right-wing of this country. They love Ronald Reagan. And when I finally saw "The Reagans" on Showtime, I couldn't believe how campy the thing was.
HEMMER: Really?
SIGESMUND: It felt like it was written by a tabloid journalist.
HEMMER: Let's talk about commercials, Barbara.
LIPPERT: OK.
HEMMER: That's your forte.
LIPPERT: Yes.
HEMMER: What did you like this past year?
LIPPERT: Well, I loved the Ikea lamp commercial.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM IKEA COMMERCIAL)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Many of you feel bad for this lamp. That is because you're crazy. It has no feelings. And the new one is much better.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIPPERT: Have you seen that?
HEMMER: Yes, sure. It, what, bends over on the street and goes sad?
LIPPERT: That's right. I think you said you didn't like it, though?
HEMMER: If I did, I didn't think it was the best thing out there.
LIPPERT: Right. But the big story this year actually is that advertisers are worried that the 30 second commercial is going to get TiVOed out of existence.
HEMMER: Yes.
LIPPERT: And, also, yes, branded entertainment. Of course, all these reality shows, you know, have these products in them, you know, the Coke room, the Ford Focus moments in the "American Idol."
SIGESMUND: And we're becoming more and more adjusted to that.
LIPPERT: Right. We're becoming more and more adjusted to that. But I think that's going to get over done very soon.
HEMMER: Have a great new year. Marc, great to see you.
PEYSER: Thank you.
HEMMER: Barbara, come back anytime, OK?
B.J., as always.
That's it, the last word on TV for 2003.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
