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Pete Buttigieg is going to be the President of the United States. That is something I believe, and have from virtually the moment I first saw him — though I don’t suspect it’s going to happen for 10 or maybe 20 years. If you watch the fascinating new documentary “Mayor Pete,” which was shot during the year leading up to the 2020 Democratic primary season and its aftermath, you may end up believing it too.

There’s a spark that certain politicians have, and it’s not about media training or visionary policy or the deep aura of decency. You need all those things, but you’re either born with the spark or you’re not. John F. Kennedy had it. Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher had it. Bill Clinton and Barack Obama had it. It’s the X factor, the natural-born leadership charisma that makes a politician feel like a protector...

It was the middle of June when more than two dozen songwriters, producers, and publishing representatives poured into an expansive, secluded creator’s “compound” just outside of Los Angeles’ wealthy Brentwood neighborhood. For three days, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., they wrote songs — in between catered meals and fierce games of corn hole in the estate’s backyard — to shop around to A-listers like Doja Cat, Ariana Grande, and Cardi B, who could turn the tunes into lucrative anthems. It was, essentially, a summer camp for hitmaking. There was...

Lanford is going live again.

ABC on Thursday announced that the cast of The Conners will perform Season 4’s Sept. 22 premiere live for both the East and West Coasts. This marks the veteran sitcom’s second live episode, following Season 2’s New Hampshire Primary-themed event.

More from TVLineGood Doctor: Watch Antonia Thomas' Tearful Goodbye Ahead of Season 5Goldbergs' Season-Opening Sendoff for George Segal's Pops Is 'Hysterically Funny' and 'You'll Cry Your Eyes Out'Dancing With the Stars Season 30 to Include First-Ever Same-Sex Couple

This time around, viewers will have the opportunity to “guest-star” alongside their favorite blue-collar family.

Documentarian Senain Kheshgi takes us through a few of her favorite documentaries.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

American Movie (1999)

Dog Day Afternoon (1975) – Katt Shea’s trailer commentary

The French Connection (1971) – Dennis Lehane’s trailer commentary, Mark Pellington’s trailer commentary

Grey Gardens (1975)

Salesman (1969)

Real Life (1979)

Hoop Dreams (1994)

Seven Up! (1964)

Don’t Look Back (1967)

Primary (1960)

The Thin Blue Line (1988)

Reds (1981)

The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020) – Dennis Cozzalio’s 2020 best-of list

High School (1968)

Hospital (1970)

Titicut Follies (1967)

Harlan County, USA (1976)

Salaam Bombay! (1988)

Mississippi Masala (1991)

India Cabaret (1985)

The 400 Blows (1959) – Robert Weide’s trailer commentary

Bicycle Thieves (1949) – Dennis Cozzalio’s Muriel Awards column

Shoeshine (1946)

Citizen Kane (1941) – John Landis’s trailer commentary

Day For Night (1973) – Neil Labute’s trailer commentary

Sherman’s March (1986)

Capturing The Friedmans (2003)

I Think We’re Alone Now (2008)

The Mole Agent (2020)

The Act of Killing (2012)

Other Notable Items

Walter Hill

Walton Goggins

The Majority

Mark Borchardt

Mike Schank

The...

With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options—not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves–each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

30 Years of The Film Foundation

Equally impressive as his towering career is Martin Scorsese’s dedication to restoring previously lost classics and championing underseen gems with The Film Foundation. Now celebrating 30 years, they’ve been given the spotlight on The Criterion Channel, featuring a wealth of highlights as well as a conversation between Scorsese and Ari Aster. The lineup of essentials includes The Broken Butterfly (1919), Trouble in Paradise (1932), It Happened One Night (1934), L’Atalante (1934), The Long Voyage Home (1940) The Chase (1946), The Red Shoes (1948), The River (1951), Moulin Rouge (1952), The Bigamist (1953), Ugetsu (1953), Senso (1954), The Big Country (1958), Shadows (1959), The Cloud-Capped Star (1960), Primary (1960), The Connection (1961), Salvatore Giuliano (1962), The Masque of the Red Death (1964), Once Upon a Time in the West...

The Whitney Houston estate is moving forward with an official biopic about the late singer tentatively titled I Wanna Dance With Somebody.

In a statement, producers described the film as “a joyous, emotional and heart-breaking celebration of the life and music of the greatest female R&b pop vocalist of all time, tracking her journey from obscurity to musical superstardom. While being very frank about the price that super-stardom exacted, it will be both the rich and complex saga of the search for the perfect marriage between song and singer and audience,...

Hey, "NCIS" fans. Unfortunately, it's another one of those times again. We have to inform you guys that your favorite crime show is currently on another extended break. That means CBS will not be airing the next,new episode 17 of NCIS' current season 17 tonight, February 25, 2020. That's right, guys. And unfortunately, this will be the case next Tuesday night. We have official confirmation from CBS that episode 17 is scheduled to air on Tuesday night, March 10, 2020 in its usual 7 pm central standard time slot. So, you guys will certainly want to write that important date and time down on something or make sure you remember it. So, what will CBS be airing over the next two weeks instead of NCIS' new episode 17 of season 17? According to the TV guide listings, CBS is carving out their entire primetime line up to present Live coverage of another debate session from the Democrats. This special is called,...

Every summer, more than 1,000 teens swarm the Texas State Capitol to attend Boys State, the annual American Legion-sponsored leadership conference where these incipient politicians divide into rival parties, the Nationalists and the Federalists, and attempt to build a mock government from the ground up. In 2017, the program attracted attention for all the wrong reasons (the attendees voted for Texas to secede from the United States), which gave filmmakers Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss an idea: What would it take to orchestrate a deep dive into the subsequent next session? Is there a right way to cover the testosterone- and Ritalin-fueled event?

One of the biggest sales of the 2020 Sundance Film Festival — for a documentary, no less — “Boys State” represents a revolution in vérité filmmaking, as McBaine and Moss (who collaborated on “The Overnighters”) . Like “Spellbound” and “Science Fair,” the film is essentially the feature-length equivalent of an elimination-style reality TV show,...

Comic Books 101: Marvel Characters That Need To Be On Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. !

I’ve said time and time again that despite its merits the biggest flaws in Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D TV show has been its lack of fully developing characters from the Marvel Comic Book Universe. The show (which spiraled out from The Avengers movie) is ripe to explore and showcase some of the best characters that might just not be ready or capable of making an impact on the big screen. While some characters have found a way to appear (Deathlock, Daisy Rumble Johnson, Absorbing Man, and recently Ghost Rider) a great majority of villains have either been created specifically for the show (and suddenly now appearing in the comics) or have just been throw away characters that have very little to zero ties in the Marvel Cinematic Universe or Comic Book Universe.

[caption id="attachment_48362" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Tracy Scott, Linus Sandgren, and David O. Russell on American Hustle. Photo via Megan Ellison of Annapurna Pictures. Credit: Francois Duhamel/Annapurna Productions./caption]

TV series and feature film script supervisor, Tracy Scott, is dead at the age of 46. Earlier today, Annapurna Pictures' Megan Ellison announced Ms. Scott died of cancer. The Hollywood Reporter confirmed the death with her brother Michael. Reportedly, Scott was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015. She more recently developed liver cancer.

Scott worked on TV series including Happy Endings, Wilfred, True Blood, Sons of Anarchy, and Standoff. She also served as script supervisor on the Veronica Mars movie sequel to the series, starring Kristen Bell.

Read More…...

Baby makes three for Ron Livingston and Rosemarie DeWitt! The couple welcomed their first child, daughter Gracie James, on Monday, Apr. 29. "The whole family is happy and well," reps for the stars tells Us Weekly. Livingston, 45, and DeWitt, 38, met while filming the Fox show Standoff in 2006. The actors tied the knot three years later in San Francisco. It's going to be a busy summer for Livingston, who appears in the supernatural horror film The Conjuring with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson (in theaters July [...]...

Welcoming a new addition into their family, People confirmed that Rosemarie DeWitt and Ron Livingston are officially parents.

The 38-year-old actress gave birth to a baby girl last month (April 29), marking the couple’s first child together.

According to the proud parents’ rep, Ron and Rosemarie are “thrilled to announce the arrival of their daughter, Gracie James Livingston. The whole family is happy and well.”

The pair wed back in 2009 after meeting on the set of “Standoff.”...

Celeb couple Ron Livingston and Rosemarie DeWitt have welcomed their first child.

The actors are "thrilled to announce the arrival of their daughter, Gracie James Livingston," whom they welcomed through adoption, their reps told People.

Pics: Hollywood's Cutest Kids

"The whole family is happy and well," the rep told the magazine.

DeWitt and The Odd Life of Timothy Green star Livingston, 45, met while filming the Fox television series Standoff in 2006 and got married in 2009.

Pics: A-List Couples Kissing!

Twelve years ago, HBO put to screen a miniseries that was one part Television event, one part historical drama, which had the considerable backing of executive producers Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks and the hype of being something of a spiritual successor to their highly acclaimed war film Saving Private Ryan. Through ten one hour long episodes, essentially using TV as a medium to explore a vast and epic journey through the Second World War that would simply be impossible to map on the big screen, and with Stephen E Ambrose’s critically acclaimed non-fiction book as source material and a huge cast representing a collective of real world heroes, one of the most ambitious storytelling exercises the small screen has ever mounted was brought to life. The result was much fanfare, both critically and among the masses, a recurring trope that continues to this day, and the fledgling start...

Looks like writer, director, comic book author and "Carnivàle" creator Daniel Knauf has a new gig. Since Knauf's mystical Depression-era series was canceled by HBO seven years ago, he's been scripting for shows like "Supernatural," "Standoff," "My Own Worst Enemy" and "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" (on which he also served as a consulting producer). He's also written issues of "Iron Man" for Marvel Comics alongside his son Charles Knauf. His new job is a high profile one -- as reported by Deadline, he'll be working as showrunner and head writer on NBC's upcoming series "Dracula."  Read More: Jonathan Rhys Meyers Will Play a (Probably Sexy) Vampire on NBC's 'Dracula' The 10-episode drama, which was given a straight-to-series order in July, was created by Cole Haddon and will star Jonathan Rhys Meyers as the titular...

New CBS drama series Blue Bloods has completed assembling its team following the recent departure of executive producer & showrnner Ken Sanzel. Two new producers have joined the show: helmer Fred Keller (Boomtown, 24, House) as producer & director and writer Linda Gase (Standoff, The District) as consulting producer. Keller's deal came after he directed episode 3 of the cop/family drama starring Tom Selleck. His work on the episode, which coincided with Sanzel's departure, got solid marks from the show's executive producers: creators Mitchell Burgess and Robin Green and Leonard Goldberg. As for the show, "it is running really smoothly and is coming in even better," an insider said. Keller is with Kaplan Stahler and Fineman Entertainment.

Vision Entertainment Group has partnered with Suzanne De Laurentiis Productions to produce a new mystery thriller titled the The Grief Tourist. A disturbed and troubled soul, Jim Tahana, retraces the footsteps of serial killers who fascinate him as his hobby. His dark obsession with past killers soon becomes his reality and leads viewers on a menacing and horrific journey inside his twisted mind.

Cast for the film include Michael Cudlitz (Southland, A River Runs Through It, Grosse Point Blank, Running Scared, The Negotiator) and Emmy Award Winner Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad).

Vision Entertainment Group founders and producers Zachery Bryan (Fast & the Furious: Tokyo Drift, The Game of their Lives (opposite Gerard Butler), Held For Ransom (opposite Dennis Hopper)), and Adam Targum writing/producing credits include Fox’s “Standoff,” CBS’s “Eleventh Hour” and “CSI:ny” as well as the feature film, “The Good Student,” team up with Suzanne De Laurentiis “10th & Wolf,...

"Vampires are funny and intelligent and passionate," says Mariana Klaveno, and the same can be said about her. After working as a hostess at Morton's in Burbank for seven years, Mariana got the break of a lifetime when she landed the role of Lorena, the vampire who "made" Bill (Stephen Moyer) on HBO's mega-hit "True Blood," whose third season is just underway. Raised on a farm in a tiny town in Washington State, Mariana drove a Dodge pick-up truck nicknamed 'The Silver Bullet' to high school, where she claims to have never had a boyfriend. While those days are in the past, Mariana remains grateful for her current success, and wary of the unpredictable nature of Hollywood. Chosen as this week's Actor2Watch for their special Vampire Week, Mariana will be featured in a series or articles, fun facts and social media tweets through this week for subscribers of Girl2Watch.

In Beth Henley's "Family Week," Rosemarie DeWitt has an impassioned monologue at the end of the piece. But far more daunting than bringing herself to tears each night is suggesting a woman who is sharing her feelings with the audience for the first time, says DeWitt. In the piece, currently in previews at the Off-Broadway Lucille Lortel Theatre, she portrays Claire, an abused abuser who has suffered the death of her son and abandonment of her husband. Claire is now in rehab, and it is family week; under the direction of trendy psychotherapists, she is forced to confide in, confess to, and confront members of her family, who in turn offer their truths.DeWitt admits it's a daunting role and a departure for her. She is perhaps best known as the inscrutable sister of the emotionally challenged heroine (Toni Collette) on the quirky "United States of Tara." "There are...

Office Space star Ron Livingston is taking legal action against an unknown internet prankster who keeps hacking into his Wikipedia page and claiming the actor is gay.

The 42 year old, who is married to Standoff co-star Rosemarie Dewitt, filed suit at Los Angeles County Superior Court on Friday alleging a "malicious" hacker is continually breaking into his information page on the website.

The papers reveal the online joker - who is not named in the documents - has allegedly published claims the star is in a relationship with a man named Lee Dennison, and created a false profile on social networking site Facebook.com, which again suggests the actor is homosexual.

He is suing for libel, invasion of privacy and using his image without prior permission, according to TMZ.com.

At time of press, Livingston's Wikipedia page has been changed to say he is married to Dewitt.

Office Space star Ron Livingston is celebrating after marrying Rosemarie Dewitt.

Livingston tied the knot with his actress fiancee in a ceremony in San Francisco, California on 2 November, reports People.com.

The couple has been dating for more than three years since meeting on the set of U.S. TV series Standoff.

Ron Livingston and Rosemarie DeWitt have officially become husband and wife. The actor's representative confirms exclusively to People that the pair tied the knot in a ceremony held in San Francisco last Monday, November 2. Other detail of the wedding ceremony isn't disclosed though.

Ron Livingston and Rosemarie DeWitt first met on the set of the short-lived Fox's series "Standoff", in which they were co-stars. They've been dating for more than three years before walking down the aisle last week.

Personal life aside, Ron Livingston is best known for his role as Peter Gibbons in 1999 comedy film "Office Space". He, moreover, has appeared in the TV shows "Sex and the City" and miniseries "Band of Brothers".

Rosemarie DeWitt, meanwhile, is best known for starring as Rachel in "Rachel Getting Married". She currently stars as Charmaine on Showtime's comedy series "United States of Tara".

Glad to see Ron Livingston doesn't have Berger's commitment issues. The 42-year-old actor, who just couldn't deal with Carrie Bradshaw's success on Sex and the City, married fellow thesp Rosemarie DeWitt last week, People reports. They tied the knot Nov. 2 in San Francisco after more than three years of dating. Livingston, best known for sticking it to the man in Office Space, fighting for his country in Band of Brothers and reluctantly taking the Goofy job in Swingers, met DeWitt on the set of the short-lived Fox series Standoff. DeWitt, who was one of Don Draper's pieces on the side in the first season of Mad Men, can now be found in The United States of Tara on...

Ron Livingston and actress Rosemarie DeWitt got married on Nov. 2, in San Francisco, Livingston's rep tells People exclusively. Livingston, best known for roles on Sex and the City, The Time Traveler's Wife and Office Space, and the Rachel Getting Married actress, met while shooting the Fox show, Standoff. They've been dating for over three years. Livingston recently wrapped Going the Distance opposite Drew Barrymore and Justin Long.

I've been a fan of women in space movies ever since I watched Kate Capshaw and Lea Thompson in Space Camp as a kid. Although I've never gotten into the Star Trek or Star Wars franchises too much, because they rarely give women leadership roles — except for Star Trek: Voyager, which I've seen all seven seasons of — and I've only watched some of the Battlestar Galactica episodes, I enjoyed Jodie Foster's Contact (at least the first half), and Lori and I both loved the 2002 Showtime series Odyssey Five.

So I was excited to hear about the new space drama coming to America (and Canada, Germany, and the U.K.).

Last week, ABC purchased 13 episodes of the new Canadian sci-fi drama Defying Gravity, which has this description, "In the near future, eight astronauts from five countries (four women and four men) undertake a mysterious six-year international space mission covering thirteen billion kilometers.

***Spoiler Warning***

This article reveals the identity of the gay character in NBC’s upcoming new police drama Southland.

NBC’s press materials for the new cop drama Southland boast that it’s going to provide an “authentic” look inside the world of the Los Angeles Police Department. Viewers will have to wait until it premieres on Thursday April 9th to judge that for themselves. But the show is already breaking new ground by including an out gay cop as part of the ensemble cast.

A source close to the show tells AfterElton.com exclusively that the character’s name is John Cooper and he’s played by Michael Cudlitz, a well-respected character actor known for his work on such shows as Standoff and 24. Officer Cooper is described as being in his mid 40's, a "cops-cop" and is what is often termed as "hard-core Lapd". He’s a Senior Lead...

Ok, so maybe that title's a stretch. But the thing is, these are all television writers with solid track records and who could easily and happily fill up those hours of television NBC's handing over to Leno. We're sticking with writer-producers who specialize in drama, that could fill that 10 p.m. slot, and are not currently attached to any series (there's one exception), and a quick glance at IMDb doesn't indicate they have anything in development. There's no reason to believe they couldn't produce a compelling 13 hours of television (remember, we're going with the cable paradigm here -- 13 episodes and you're out.)

1. Lee Goldberg. I'm an unabashed fan of Goldberg's, and it might just be how much he obviously loves television. His post about "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" isn't written by someone who just watches TV, but is passionate about it, about its power and its influence, and...

Fox TV Studios recently made a pact with Canada’s CTV, Germany’s ProSieben and BBC for a new 13-episode adventure drama series which will cast Standoff star Ron Livingston as the central character. Titled Defying Gravity, which comes from creator and executive producer James Parriott, who previously worked on Grey’s Anatomy and executive producer Michael Edelstein who also worked for Desperate Housewives.

The new series is set in the future and revolves around eight astronauts from five countries who embark on a six-year-long mission throughout the solar system.

Aside from the former Standoff star, Defying Gravity has also cast German actress Florentine Lahme to be part of the upcoming series, which is a co-venture between FtvS and Vancouver-based Omni Film Prods. Brian Hamilton and Michael Chechik will also serve as executive producers for the show. David Straiton, on the other hand, has signed on to be the director...

Tim DeKay has been tapped to star opposite Matthew Bomer in USA Network's 90-minute pilot "White Collar." The casting of the two leads lifts the cast-contingency on the project.

In other pilot castings, Gina Torres, Brett Davern, Scott Cohen, Sammi Hanratty and Jen Drohan have joined Lifetime's drama "The Amazing Mrs. Novak."

Bronwen Hughes (USA's "Burn Notice") is set to direct "Collar," which is from Fox TV Studios and creator/exec producer Jeff Eastin. The project centers on a brilliant con artist (Bomer) who against his will partners with the head of the FBI's white-collar crime unit (DeKay).

USA executive vp original programming Jackie de Crinis praised the two stars.

"They have incredible range in terms of comedy and drama, which is something we always look for in actors," she said.

DeKay most recently was a series regular on the HBO series "Tell Me You Love Me" and "Carnivale."

"Novak,...

Sooner or later our favorite TV shows all come to an end and the cast and crew all go their separate ways. If we're lucky, our favorite performers return in new shows and movies. Here's where you'll be able to see some of them.

Sasha Alexander (Dawson's Creek) is currently working on Tenure, an indie film that stars Luke Wilson (That '70s Show), David Koechner (Still Standing), and Michael Cudlitz (Standoff). The movie's a comedy and centers around a college professor who competes for tenure with a hot-shot female colleague.

Michelle C. Bonilla (Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman) is booked to film Montana Amazon. The film stars Olympia Dukakis (Center of the Universe) and Haley Joel Osment (Murphy Brown), and features veterans like Veronica Cartwright (Leave It to Beaver, L.A. Law) and Ellen Geer (Falcon Crest).

If you're in the New York City area, you can see Bebe Neuwirth (Cheers) perform a one-woman show at Feinstein's.

As the writer's strike continues, casting is certainly slowing down. Some projects may be delayed or even cancelled as a result of the strike. If they're not on the picket line, here's where you'll be able to find some of your favorite performers from the shows of yesteryear.

David Chokachi (Baywatch) stars in the Sci-Fi Channel movie Bats: Human Harvest that premieres this weekend. He also recently filmed an independent fantasy-adventure movie called The Dreamless. He plays a treasure hunter who's hired to find a powerful amulet. The film's producer is currently seeking a distributor.

TV Guide is reporting that Gina Torres (Standoff, Firefly) has been cast to play the ex-wife of Darling family nemesis, Simon Elder (Blair Underwood) on ABC's Dirty Sexy Money. The role was originally intended to be a recurring one but that may not happen because of the writers' stike.

Bruce Greenwood (John from Cincinnati) has...

Ron Livingston has joined Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams in "The Time Traveler's Wife", New Line Cinema's adaptation of the Audrey Niffenegger novel being directed by Robert Schwentke. Plan B and Nick Wechsler are producing the picture.

The book tells the story of a dashing librarian (Bana) at Chicago's Newberry Library who has a gene that causes him to involuntarily time travel. He must help his wife cope with the many complications of his disorder as the two are often out of sync.

Livingston will play the man's friend, a liberal attorney who works for nonprofit organizations.

A September shoot in Toronto is being planned.

Jeremy Leven and Bruce Joel Rubin wrote the adaptation.

Overseeing for the studio are Richard Brener, Cale Boyter and Michele Weiss.

Livingston recently starred off-Broadway in the Neil LaBute play "In a Dark, Dark House". He starred in the TV series "Standoff" and next appears on the big screen in the fall in the indie film "The Music Within", in which he stars opposite Michael Sheen and Melissa George, as well as the indie drama "Holly", which was shot on location in Cambodia and has screened at several festivals.

Patrick Moran has been upped to senior vp drama development at 20th Century Fox TV and has inked a new four-year deal with the studio.

Moran, who reports to executive vp drama development Jennifer Nicholson-Salke, was vp in the drama department for the past four years.

"Patrick not only has amazing instincts and taste in material, but he is a fantastic manager helping to oversee development and launch our new series," Nicholson-Salke said. "He's an integral part of the team here at 20th."

Since joining 20th TV in 2003, Moran has shepherded the development and launches of such drama series as Fox's Bones, Prison Break, Standoff and Drive. He is overseeing the new ABC fall drama Women's Murder Club, which stars Angie Harmon.

Before coming to 20th TV, Moran was vp drama development at UPN, where he developed the critically praised hip-hop drama Platinum as well as The Twilight Zone and The Dead Zone, which subsequently landed at USA Network.

Moran previously served as president of Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert's Renaissance Pictures Television, working on the syndicated action hours Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.

Prolific 24 director-producer Brad Turner has inked a two-year overall deal with 20th Century Fox Television, which produces the real-time drama with Imagine TV.

Under the pact, Turner will be upped to co-executive producer on "24" this coming season and to executive producer the next season.

"Brad has been incredibly valuable on '24, ' " 20th Century Fox TV president Gary Newman said. "He is equally adept with action and emotional material and brings consistency and quality to any production."

This marks the first overall deal for Turner, a veteran series director. For the past two years, he had a show deal for "24," serving as a producer and supervising producer.

"It helped me expand creatively and grow as a filmmaker, and on a show like '24, ' you have to be a filmmaker," Turner said.

In addition to his duties on "24," for the past two years Turner was assigned to direct the important first post-pilot episodes of 20th TV's series Prison Break in 2005 and Standoff in 2006.

As serial dramas go, Standoff is one of the lucky ones. After several new series from the 2006-2007 season bit the dust, this one miraculously survived and Fox even ordered additional episodes. But now, after being M.I.A. for months, has Standoff's luck finally run out?

Standoff debuted back on September 5, 2006 on Fox. The series focuses on an FBI Crisis Negotiation Unit whose members negotiate hostage situations and, of course, share relationships. The series stars Ron Livingston, Rosemarie DeWitt, Gina Torres, Michael Cudlitz, Raquel Alessi and Jose Pablo Cantillo.

Following an episode of popular medical drama House, the Tuesday night Standoff premiere attracted a healthy 13.7 million viewers (retaining 70% of its lead-in). Before going on hiatus for the World Series, the ratings dropped to an average of 8.4 million.

When Standoff returned on November 1st at 8pm, without the benefit of the House lead-in, Standoff really got clobbered and viewership...

NEW YORK -- CBS won a near-three-way-tie in viewership Tuesday while Fox ran away with the night's title in adults 18-49.

A repeat of House as the night's top show in viewership and adults 18-49, with Nielsen Media Research estimating that the medical drama averaged 11.8 million viewers and a 4.7 rating/12 share in the adults 18-49 demographic.

It followed a lackluster performance at 8 p.m. by Fox's Standoff (6.2 million, 2.2/6), which came in fourth in the time period against ABC's Santa Claus is Coming to Town (11.2 million, 3.9/11), a repeat of NCIS (11.5 million, 2.5/7) and even NBC's Friday Night Lights (6.2 million, 2.2/6). And Standoff was only barely ahead in the demographic to The CW's Gilmore Girls (4.8 million, 2.1/6), which was the show's highest ratings this season in women 18-34.

Beyond House, there wasn't much to write home about at 9 p.m. The Unit (9 million, 2.4/6) and Law & Order: Criminal Intent (8.1 million, 2.4/6) were repeats. ABC's Big Day (6.3 million, 2.3/6) had another bad day, down 41% from last week's premiere.

NEW YORK -- NCIS pushed past House in viewership to lead CBS to a win Tuesday in the measure although House overwhelmingly took the demo to give Fox a primetime win in adults 18-49.

NCIS averaged 17.4 million viewers and a 4.3 rating/12 share in adults 18-49, according to preliminary estimates released Wednesday by Nielsen Media Research. It was the night's top show in viewership and also won the 8 p.m. hour for CBS against relatively light fare including ABC's The Grinch That Stole Christmas (11 million, 3.9/11), NBC's Friday Night Lights (5.7 million, 2.3/6) and Fox's Standoff (5 million, 1.9/5).

The 9 p.m. hour was all House (16.1 million, 6.5/17), which beat up on CBS's The Unit (13.5 million, 3.7/10) as well as a repeat Law & Order: Criminal Intent (7.4 million, 2.1/5) plus the faltering ABC sitcoms Big Day (4.9 million, 1.8/5) and Help Me Help You (3.5 million, 1.4/3).

The CW averaged only 2.3 million viewers and a 0.9/2 in the demo with a repeat Gilmore Girls before falling even further with an hourlong telecast of the Family Friend Awards ( 1.7 million, 0.6/2).

NEW YORK -- NCIS pushed past House in viewership to lead CBS to a win Tuesday in the measure although House overwhelmingly took the demo to give Fox a primetime win in adults 18-49.

NCIS averaged 17.4 million viewers and a 4.3 rating/12 share in adults 18-49, according to preliminary estimates released Wednesday by Nielsen Media Research. It was the night's top show in viewership and also won the 8 p.m. hour for CBS against relatively light fare including ABC's The Grinch That Stole Christmas (11 million, 3.9/11), NBC's Friday Night Lights (5.7 million, 2.3/6) and Fox's Standoff (5 million, 1.9/5).

The 9 p.m. hour was all House (16.1 million, 6.5/17), which beat up on CBS's The Unit (13.5 million, 3.7/10) as well as a repeat "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (7.4 million, 2.1/5) plus the faltering ABC sitcoms Big Day (4.9 million, 1.8/5) and Help Me Help You (3.5 million, 1.4/3).

The CW averaged only 2.3 million viewers and a 0.9/2 in the demo with a repeat Gilmore Girls before falling even further with an hourlong telecast of the Family Friend Awards ( 1.7 million, 0.6/2).

Dancing With the Stars and ABC came up big Tuesday, waltzing their way to the nightly win on the penultimate night of competition between Mario Lopez and Emmitt Smith. Meanwhile, CBS had a slow start with medical drama 3 Lbs. in the 10 p.m. hour.

More than 26.8 million people tuned in to the penultimate episode of Dancing from 8-9:30 p.m. and scored a 7.5 rating and 20 share in the adults 18-49 demographic, according to preliminary estimates from Nielsen Media Research. ABC's new William Shatner-hosted game show, Show Me the Money (12.4 million, 3.8/10), debuted in the 9:30-11 p.m. slot.

Dancing, which had its hourlong finale Wednesday, was far and away the top show on television Tuesday, but CBS put up respectable numbers for NCIS (15.8 million, 4.1/11) from 8-9 p.m. That was not the case for NBC's Friday Night Lights (5.5 million, 2.3/6) or Fox's Standoff (4.6 million, 2.0/5).

The 9 p.m. hour was dominated by the final 30 minutes of fancy footwork on Dancing, but Fox had a strong second place in the demo with House (14.5 million, 6.2/15).

NEW YORK -- House came roaring back for Fox, torching the rest of Tuesday night's primetime and leading Fox to a strong challenge to ABC's Dancing With The Stars-fueled demo win.

After several weeks of rest for the baseball postseason and a new time, House returned with the highest demo rating of the night while Dancing With The Stars took in the most viewers. ABC won the night in viewers with 15.3 million and the adults 18-49 demographic (4.1 rating/11 share), according to preliminary estimates released Wednesday by Nielsen Media Research.

The 90-minute Dancing With The Stars (20.5 million, 5.2/6) overpowerd everything else in primetime, although NCIS (15.9 million, 3.9/11) put up respectable numbers between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. House (14.1 million, 5.8/15) returned to its new time period only slightly off from its last original episode of 14.5 million viewers and a 6.1/17.

But things weren't so well with Standoff, which inherited the House time period of 8 p.m. It averaged 4.9 million viewers and a 2.0/6, down from the 7.9 million viewers and 3.4/9 that it had in the 9 p.m. time period on Sept. 26.

NBC offered a repeat of Friday Night Lights before new episodes of Law & Order: Criminal Intent (8.5 million, 2.7/7) and Law & Order: SVU (13.2 million, 4.7/13). Both were the lowest demo rating of the season. The Unit (11.3 million, 3.2/8) was down to its lowest original rating of the show's run.

Fox has revved up the drama pilot Drive with a 12-episode series order.

The pickup will bring the total number of episodes ordered to 13, including the pilot. The 20th Century Fox TV-produced show is targeted for a spring launch.

Drive, whose ensemble cast includes Alan Ruck, Kristin Lehman, Melanie Lynskey, Emma Stone, Shahine Ezell and Andres Saenz-Hudson, chronicles an underground race across America. The pilot, from writer/executive producer Tim Minear, was filmed during the summer by director/executive producer Greg Yaitanes.

"This is the perfect birthday gift," Minear, who celebrated his birthday on Sunday, said of the series pickup. "It is a unique project, not straight down the line, and that's what frightened and excited people about it."

It's been a bumpy ride for Drive, which was delivered to the network more than a month ago. For a few weeks, the project appeared to be dead, and Minear, who is under an overall deal with 20th TV, joined the Fox/20th TV rookie drama series Standoff as a consulting producer (HR 9/26). Drive began heating up again last week when rumors about a possible midseason pickup began to surface.

Marking a first for the network, TV Guide Channel said Wednesday that it's planning to air a special four-hour marathon of Fox's freshman drama series Standoff in a move intended to introduce the struggling series to more viewers.

The network is planning to air the first four episodes of the series, featuring Ron Livingston and Rosemarie DeWitt as hostage negotiators who are romantically involved, in a marathon from 3-7 p.m. Saturday. The two stars will host the marathon, which also will give viewers new and exclusive insights into the characters and the 20th Century Fox Television series.

TV Guide Channel president Ryan O'Hara noted that the arrangement is similar to previous promotional agreements the network has struck with Showtime for its series Sleeper Cell, with NBC for its coverage of the 2006 Winter Olympics and with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for this year's 78th Annual Academy Awards.

But the arrangement for Standoff is unique in that the full episodes will air on TV Guide Channel. By comparison, the agreement for Sleeper Cell called for the premiere to be streamed at TVGuide.com and available on-demand at TV Guide SPOT but not on the linear channel.

"We've been talking to broadcast networks and television studios about a concept where we would cover interesting shows and introduce those shows to our ravenous TV fans," O'Hara said, adding that the goal is to do something similar once every quarter. "The benefit for our channel is that we get to show really unique content and do a preview and review of shows for the fans, and the network and studio get the ability to either update people on the show or introduce a show to a whole new slew of people."...

Two struggling freshman drama series, NBC's Friday Night Lights and Fox's Standoff, have received additional script orders. NBC has ordered two more scripts of the high school football drama Lights, from NBC Universal TV Studio. Fox has picked up three additional scripts from Standoff, 20th Century Fox TV's hostage-negotiator drama, which recently added Tim Minear to its producing team (HR 9/26). Standoff joins another new drama on Fox, Justice, which received a three-script order.

Fox is going all-out to lessen the impact of pre-emptions of the broadcast network's primetime schedule this month for postseason Major League Baseball. Fox Broadcasting Co., Fox Interactive Media and Fox Television Stations have joined forces with Tuesday's launch of Fox on Demand, a venture making full-length episodes of the network's entertainment programming available through MySpace and MyFoxLocal Web sites in 24 markets with Fox owned-and-operated stations, including Los Angeles, New York and Chicago. Through the ad-supported initiative, viewers can access previously aired episodes of such series as Bones, Prison Break, Standoff, Vanished, Talk Show With Spike Feresten, 'Til Death, The Loop and Justice in the 24 O&O markets and by logging on to MySpace. Additional episodes from the new series and other Fox shows will be available through November.

NEW YORK -- The House season premiere blew the doors off the competition in Tuesday primetime, more than doubling its nearest competitor's viewership and boosting the debut of Fox's hostage drama Standoff. House averaged 18.1 million viewers and a 6.6 rating/19 share in the adults 18-49 demographic, according to preliminary data released Wednesday by Nielsen Media Research. That grew to a monster 20.7 million and a 7.6/20 in the demo at 8:30 p.m. for its last half hour. And the medical drama gave a strong lead-in for Standoff, which brought in 13.7 million viewers and a 4.7/12. More than 14.2 million viewers stayed around to sample Standoff although it had dropped about a million by 9:30 p.m. It was still much better than anything else in its time period and, beyond House, anything on TV.

NEW YORK -- The House season premiere blew the doors off the competition in Tuesday primetime, more than doubling its nearest competitor's viewership and boosting the debut of Fox's hostage drama Standoff. It was a far slower start for another premiere in the Fox TV family on Tuesday, the debut of News Corp.'s new MyNetworkTV. The new 8-10 p.m. programming service featuring serial dramas Monday-Saturday bowed to an underwhelming 1.2 rating/2 share in Nielsen Media Research's 55 of Nielsen's overnight metered markets, which represent more than 70% of U.S. television households. Meanwhile, the big news in cable was Monday's second-season finale of TNT drama The Closer, starring Kyra Sedgwick, which finished out its second season on the upswing with an average of 7.6 million viewers at 9 p.m. Closer ended its sophomore year in the same way it started, with record numbers for a basic cable original series finale that ranked second only to the 8.3 million who tuned in to the show's season premiere in June (HR 6/14).

NEW YORK -- The New York Television Festival on Tuesday announced its lineup of panels, special events and pilot screenings for their 2006 edition, set for Sept. 12-17 in Midtown Manhattan. During the opening-night gala Sept. 12, NBC will screen the pilot of its new fall drama Kidnapped. On Sept. 14, ABC will screen the pilot of its new fall comedy The Knights of Prosperity, and Fox will screen an episode of its new drama Standoff. On Sept. 13, The Simpsons executive producer Mike Scully, Everybody Loves Raymond executive producer Phil Rosenthal and Arrested Development executive producer Mitchell Hurwitz will participate in a panel on the portrayal of the American family through the years.

TORONTO -- Hoping to gain ground on TV ratings king CTV, rival broadcaster CanWest MediaWorks pitched 14 new U.S. dramas and eight comedies Wednesday to Canadian advertisers and media buyers in Toronto. Holding its upfront presentation in Toronto, CanWest MediaWorks unveiled four new U.S. dramas at 10 p.m. for fall 2006 -- ABC's Brothers & Sisters on Sundays, Fox's Standoff on Mondays, NBC's Kidnapped on Wednesdays and CBS's Shark on Thursdays. It's ammunition for regaining audience share from CTV, which rules Canadian primetime with 17 of the top 20 shows, including American Idol and the CSI and Law and Order franchises. "We have taken a giant leap forward," Barbara Williams, senior vp of programming and production at CanWest MediaWorks, told 1,200 advertisers and industry executives after her network, for the second year running, dug deep to buy whatever it could at the Los Angeles Screenings.

Fox is getting dramatic next fall with three new series joining its Monday-Wednesday drama block and a new comedy strategy on Thursdays. Fox will open the week with the sophomore year of Prison Break followed by new conspiracy-thriller drama Vanished, about the disappearance of a U.S. senator's beautiful young wife. New drama Standoff, about male and female hostage negotiators who are romantically linked, holds the 8 p.m. lead off slot on Tuesdays, followed the return of red-hot medical drama House.

Fox is getting dramatic next fall with three new series joining its Monday-Wednesday drama block and a new comedy strategy on Thursdays. Fox will open the week with the sophomore year of Prison Break followed by new conspiracy-thriller drama Vanished, about the disappearance of a U.S. senator's beautiful young wife. New drama Standoff, about male and female hostage negotiators who are romantically linked, holds the 8 p.m. lead off slot on Tuesdays, followed the return of red-hot medical drama House.