From the industry-crippling writers' strike and a nutty, yet successful fan campaign to DUIs and prison sentences, 2007 has had its share of ups and downs. Let's hope that 2008 brings better times for our favorite celebrities and a resolution to the strike so the remainder of the television season can go on as usual.
Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty ImagesAfter almost 20 years of successful negotiations between the Writers Guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, talks broke down and the WGA went on strike. In less than six weeks, just about all television dramas ran out of scripts, shutting production down indefinitely. The economic impact is upwards of $1 billion.
© CBS Broadcasting Inc./Cliff LipsonIt's not unheard of for a network to decide against canceling a series based on an outpouring of fan support, but when a network officially cancels a series (especially after delivering the annual upfront presentation in May), the chances they will change their minds are slim to none. In the season finale of Jericho, the battle cry "Nuts!" spoken by Skeet Ulrich's character gave the fans a brilliant idea -- flood the NY and LA CBS offices with more than 20 tons of nuts. The message was received loud and clear by the network and Jericho was resurrected for seven episodes, along with a plea from CBS to "please stop sending us nuts." You've got to love the fans!
Most TV series go from season to season hoping fans will continue to tune in and save the writers from having to wrap things up with little notice (if any at all). In the case of ABC's
Lost, TPTB wanted to end things on their terms and entered into negotiations with ABC to set a specific time frame to end the show. Their wish was granted and the magic number is 48 (interesting number, eh?) -- that's right, 48 more episodes until all those agonizing mysteries are finally solved.
It all started when a fight broke out on the set of
Grey's Anatomy between Isaiah Washington and Patrick Dempsey and as 2007 began, one incident after another involving Washington and the various derogatory comments he kept making ultimately found the actor out of a job on one of television's hottest shows. While the series suffered slightly in the ratings this past fall, Washington's absence doesn't seem to have impacted the show in the least.
The cancellation of a series is always hard on the fans, especially when it's a serialized drama that people have followed since day one and this past year has been difficult for those types of dramas. Earlier in the year, Fox canceled
The O.C., a move that didn't make fans too happy, but imagine their response as the CW tore apart the face of the teen/young adult TV genre. When the CW was the WB,
7th Heaven and
Gilmore Girls helped put the network on the map, as did
Veronica Mars for UPN. By the time those annual upfront presentations were delivered in May, all three series had been canceled. Vowing never to return to the CW, and judging from their dismal ratings, it almost seems as though fans kept their word.
Back in the 80s, movie star Ronald Reagan proved that an actor could go from the movie set to the White House (and serve two terms). It came as no surprise when another actor announced his intention to follow in President Reagan's footsteps and
Law & Order's Fred Thompson thinks he may be the man for the job. When he joined the long-running NBC series, Thompson served as the Senator of Tennessee for many years, so he is no stranger to the world of politics. Could he become President of the United States? With the election less than a year away, it's going to be a busy year for Fred Thompson.
Is it me or does it seem as though celebrity crime is at an all-time high? We've seen our share of celebrities drinking and driving in previous years, but 2007 brought more than the usual amount of TV stars to the inside of a courtroom on DUI charges. The 2007 list includes: Kiefer Sutherland, Ray Liotta, Mischa Barton, Shemar Moore, Daniel Dae Kim, Austin Nichols, Kirsten Storms, Ty Pennington, Gary Collins and Vivica A. Fox. On December 6, 2007, Kiefer Sutherland began serving a 48-day sentence for his DUI. Don't these celebrities make enough money to hire drivers?
You've got to love technological progress and as the entertainment business continues to further wedge its way into the online world, there may come a time when cable companies will become obsolete due to the many online offerings from the networks. However, when the Emmy nominee "short list" was revealed thanks to an online leak from someone associated with the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, I'll bet those Hollywood bigwigs weren't exactly celebrating all those wonderful things the Internet has to offer.
Back in 2006, former
Prison Break actor Lane Garrison became the perfect example of how one night and one bad decision could forever alter the course of someone's life when he drove drunk with three teenagers in his SUV and hit a tree, killing one and injuring the other two. After pleading guilty last May to vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence, driving under the influence with a blood-alcohol level of more than 0.15 percent and a misdemeanor of providing alcohol to a minor, Lane Garrison was sentenced to 40 months in prison.
In a world where girls aspire to (and sometimes go to dangerous means) look like those beautiful models and actresses, ABC's
Ugly Betty brought a refreshing change to the face of television. In a campaign titled "Be Ugly '07," ABC sent hundreds of Betty Suarez lookalikes to major public events, encouraging girls to shed those self-esteem issues and "Be real, be smart, be passionate, be true to yourself and be ugly." Ugly really is the new beautiful.
