LAWRENCE, Kan. – For as long as I’ve been writing about the world of live television, I don’t think I’ve ever actually put forth a list of who I think is the best for on-air and production.

Here are a couple of rules: 1) individuals must still be active in their respective roles (network changes are okay); 2) there is no limit on how many people working for a particular network can be chosen (if the network happens to be that good, it wouldn’t make sense for me to suggest otherwise); 3) for sports, when I feel it is warranted, I may select multiple people holding the same position but for different sports.

Filed under:
Music/Variety, Opinion/Editorial, Sports TV by Scott A. Winer

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Saturday Night Live may have suffered one of the biggest losses in the show’s 32-year history. The show returned last weekend without director Beth McCarthy Miller calling the shots, for the first time in 11 years. Reports from USA Today and Variety have been unclear about who made the decision to end McCarthy Miller’s reign as director, and it’s even more baffling how Don Roy King was chosen as her replacement.

McCarthy Miller came to SNL after rising to the rank of senior director at MTV before leaving to direct The Jon Stewart Show, whose short lifespan perfectly coincided with the late Dave Wilson’s retirement from SNL. Wilson’s departure, however, appeared to have been far more premeditated as a live shot in the control room showed him salute at the close of the 1994-95 season finale. McCarthy Miller had no such curtain call.

Filed under:
Late Night TV, Music/Variety, Opinion/Editorial, Television by Scott A. Winer

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Two months have passed since my hectic schedule last allowed me an opportunity to vent. I’ve seen a lot of television in these eight weeks, so here’s what I’ve concluded:

The first year back to multi-network coverage of the Triple Crown was disappointing at best. NBC’s telecasts at Churchill Downs and Pimlico Race Course were almost entirely comprised of cuts (rather than dissolves or other effects) that were exceedingly jarring, and director David Michaels seemed to be cutting out of sync with the field. His cutting during The Preakness Stakes, when jockey Edgar Prado was forced to pull up heavy favorite Barbaro, at least provided a silver lining in the cloud over the first two races. ABC/ESPN’s coverage of The Belmont Stakes, however, had no such upside. As The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir pointed out in his June 13th column, “an inferior ESPN production showed how unprepared it was to carry a Triple Crown race.” Indeed, there was nothing positive to be taken from the broadcast except for the hope that it can’t possibly get any worse next year.

Filed under:
Late Night TV, Music/Variety, Opinion/Editorial, Sports TV by Scott A. Winer

ROSWELL, Ga. – Chalk one up for the BCS. This was the last year of the Bowl Championship Series’ TV contract with ABC, and without a last minute deal with Fox, we might have witnessed a change in the bowl system. Needless to say, the BCS is here for at least another four years. For all the criticism that the system has endured since its inception in 1998, however, this year it appears to have worked – more or less.

While the rankings may still need some work as a majority of top ten BCS-ranked teams lost their respective bowl games, the elite bowl games certainly lived up to expectations. As my trusty stat man pointed out to me after last night’s National Championship, all but the Fiesta Bowl were decided by three points, each with its own set of quirks. The Sugar Bowl had a huge lead and a subsequent comeback; the Orange Bowl was slow developing and mistake prone; and the Rose Bowl was an exhilarating neck-and-neck race of two tremendous football teams. Blowouts are no fun to watch, and this year’s games were infused with endless storylines and matchups that endured well into the final minutes of each game.

Filed under:
Opinion/Editorial, Sports TV, Television by Scott A. Winer

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Late Show with David Letterman: Led by the premiere host in late-night television, the Late Show did a superb job last Wednesday when actor Russell Crowe appeared on the show after his arrest last week for throwing a telephone at a New York hotel worker. If Johnny Carson is the eternal King of Late Night, then David Letterman is its Crowned Prince. Letterman is by far the best interviewer of all late-night talk show hosts, and his star shone bright when he appropriately conducted a compassionate, serious interview, infused with a perfect amount of humor. Regardless of ratings, Late Show with David Letterman is qualitatively far superior to any of its competition. Even technical-director-turned-director Jerry Foley, who is often lacking in his ability to direct a music performance, rose to the occasion with a commendable job on Paul Anka’s jazzed up rendition of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”

Filed under:
Late Night TV, Music/Variety, Opinion/Editorial, Sports TV, Television by Scott A. Winer

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Think Outside the Box: For some reason, networks have begun to show a growing number of replays with various split-screen effects. Here’s a thought: STOP! It began with Fox’s baseball coverage in the last few years and can now be seen on some of ABC’s college football telecasts.While some viewers may be able to follow two replays going simultaneously at opposite ends of the screen, no network seems to be able to integrate that with a background that doesn’t look absolutely hideous. Fox used its mind-numbing cookie-cutter shapes rather than simple polygons, and ABC’s background looked so pixelated that it was practically unbearable to watch. Whatever happened to the good ‘ole days when it was sufficient to show the isolated shot of the quarterback throwing and the subsequent pressure from the opposition’s defensive line and then seeing the receivers in isolation from a separate angle. I don’t remember anyone complaining that they couldn’t see both at the exact same time.

Filed under:
Music/Variety, Opinion/Editorial, Sports TV, Television by Scott A. Winer

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Let me be the first person to say that ESPN did a horrendous job in its coverage of last night’s ridiculous finish to the Indiana Pacers-Detroit Pistons basketball game. Blame is being handed out in various directions to all parties involved, but no one seems to be pointing any fingers at the 24-hour sports network in its third year covering the National Basketball Association with its sister network ABC.

If there was ever a reason for people not to watch the NBA, then this is it. What is it that separates the NBA from college basketball? Furthermore, what separates the NBA from other professional sports leagues? The answer is the way it is shown on television. Should anyone be all that surprised when this happens in a league that is all about invading personal space? How else could anyone possibly rationalize the use of “Floor Cam,” which shows nothing but the spandex shorts that the players wear under their uniforms? This is the league whose poster boy is an accused rapist, whose players are the most notorious for infidelity, promiscuity, drug use, alcohol abuse and domestic violence.

Filed under:
Opinion/Editorial, Sports TV, Television by Scott A. Winer