NBC Cancels Ratings Challenged FREE AGENTS

NBC took the next logical step after canceling Monday's low rated THE PLAYBOY CLUB by canceling the even lower rated FREE AGENTS. FREE AGENTS was actually a U.S. adaptation of the more successful British series PARTY DOWN. The romantic workplace comedy simply seemed to be losing viewers with each outing, having just 3.3 million viewers for it's final airing, or 100,000 less viewers than THE PLAYBOY CLUB. Apparently, about 3.5 million viewers is the NBC immediate cancellation mark it seems. Previously, NBC claimed that they were unwilling to cancel either series, which they had big investments and high hopes for both.

In the case of the cancellation of THE PLAYBOY CLUB, you can expect NBC to air a cheaply produced news magazine hosted by Bryan Williams. At 10pm, NBC feels that they can get away with cheaply produced television, but earlier in the evening a cancellation of a higher budget series is a real concern.

On the bright side for NBC, two new series WHITNEY and UP ALL NIGHT both appear to be relative successes, and the network has now ordered full season orders. That has to be good news for Canadian born comic actor Will Arnett, star of UP ALL NIGHT, whose last series over at FOX, RUNNING WILDE was a huge flop in the 2010/11 season over there. NBC immediately saw some great promise in the current husband for comic actress Amy Poehler, and fitted him into the cast of THE OFFICE before finding him this new vehicle. All of this only proves that the right script and right actor will sell a show. Both THE PLAYBOY CLUB and FREE AGENTS failed because things were simply flawed with both shows.

Comic actor Hank Azaria had to be very disappointed at the cancellation of FREE AGENTS, he's a highly talented entity that provides voice work for THE SIMPSONS and other projects. He even mounted a Twitter campaign to save the show.

Ashton Kutcher Moves Out After Huge Sex Scandal

After news broke that Ashton Kutcher was involved in a huge sex scandal story on what what supposed to be his sixth wedding anniversary, news is that he has now moved out from Demi Moore. Some stories that Demi Moore is now suffering from substance abuse are being denied though. However, an eyewitness account did place Ashton Kutcher naked at a hot tub party with four young naked women, one of which is said to be his 23 year old mistress, Sara Leal.

Rumors started to emerge in the last few days that the marriage of Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore might be in trouble, although there were some attempts to disclaim that from somewhere. Now, it seems to be a fact.

Another big issue is what CBS and the producers of TWO AND A HALF MEN must be thinking at this point. They were hoping to put all of the scandals of Charlie Sheen behind them. Now, in only the third week of the new season with Ashton Kutcher as the new lead star of TWO AND A HALF MEN he has once again colored the show with more outrageous scandal. It's almost like Charlie Sheen never left. Welcome back, Charlie?

While the ratings for TWO AND A HALF MEN still rate over 17 million viewers, that's down nearly 10 million viewers from the season premiere episode just three weeks ago. And a brand new HUFFINGTON POST entertainment opinion piece now argues that the experiment with Ashton Kutcher as a character just isn't working.

No doubt, both the producers of TWO AND A HALF MEN and CBS will watch the series ratings over the next few weeks and hope that the worst of the Ashton Kutcher sex scandal problems are behind them. However, if ratings continue to fall by 13% or more each week, and if more bad reviews for Ashton Kutcher's character as well as scandal stories emerge, then this may well become the last season for this once powerful CBS comedy. Things have to be a little nervous right now.

Amanda Knox Back Home

Amanda Knox's plane landed at Sea-Tac Airport this evening Seattle, ending the four year nightmare for the former college student who was convicted for the murder of a British roommate. Some reports are now raising some questions about the Italian prosecutor himself, although he has vowed to appeal the case to a higher court. For her part, Amanda Knox and her American lawyer both offered some kind words to her supporters at the Sea-Tac Airport who supported her during the last four years with car washes and other fundraisers while her family used every legal avenue that they could afford. Amanda Knox had at least three Italian lawyers working on her behalf as well.

Some like FOX's Bill O'Reilly compared Amanda Knox to Casey Anthony, claiming that both were found not guilty because of a broken justice system both in the USA and in Italy. Bill O'Reilly, might at least be partially right here, where both cases are likely to remain very controversial for years to come.

Ashton Kutcher's Nude Hot Tub Sex Scandal

Another TWO AND A HALF MEN actor, more problems. Just as CBS had hoped to put controversy aside by choosing actor Ashton Kutcher to replace troubled actor Charlie Sheen, a huge new scandal involving their new lead actor has emerged. This time it appears that Ashton Kutcher and at least four girls might have been a part of an arrangement to spend a "night of debauchery" on what was supposed to the sixth anniversary of his marriage to actress Demi Moore.

One eyewitness caught a naked Ashton Kutcher with vodka and four naked girls, including a beautiful 23 year old blond, Sara Leal, who some news sources now identify as his mistress. Leal is so upset about the affair becoming public that she has hired an attorney and has reportedly pulled down her Facebook page and closed her Twitter account.

The evening of this wild party, Leal was even heard to brag about having sex with Ashton Kutcher, claiming "100%" they had sex.

All of this news has to just rock the marriage to Demi Moore on one hand, as well as to give the producers of TWO AND A HALF MEN and CBS fresh new jitters. Just when they thought that all of Charlie Sheen's problems were behind them, they hand pick just the one actor that can deliver them a whole fresh new scandal to worry about. Way to go!!!

NBC Finally Cancels THE PLAYBOY CLUB

After posting even worse ratings last night, NBC finally decided to cancel THE PLAYBOY CLUB, scrapping plans to allow the ratings troubled series to build an audience. Last night, a mere 3.4 million viewers even bothered to watch the show, which only continued the week by week slide for the show. Likely the remaining episodes will be dumped on to Saturday night's schedule until the series is all played out.

Such low ratings just couldn't justify the price that advertisers were paying for time on the show, and too many large advertisers had asked to get out of their contract for the show as ratings worsened.

Two lunatic fringe censorship groups, The Parent's Television Council and Morality In Media will no doubt both attempt to take credit for the downfall of the show. But, neither were any factor in the downfall of the show, which was plagued by bad critical reviews and audience boredom from a weak and dull script with no real action. It's another sign of the outright delusions of these organizations that either may think that they had any influence on the failure of the show. I've seen at least news release today giving supposed credit to Morality In Media for killing the show. But, that hardly squares with the real facts here. Another low rated NBC show, FREE AGENTS is right on the bubble of cancellation as well, and Morality In Media or the PTC sure can't credit for that either.

I'm just not sure what NBC was thinking when they decided to add this show to their schedule. The idea just never seemed good to me and my first hunch was that the show would likely be a quick failure. I was right about that. It seems like a know a thing or two about TV after all.

ESPN Pulls Hank Williams Jr. From MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL After Obama/Hitler Comments On FOX

Never one to shy away from outspokenness or controversy, outlaw country music star Hank Williams Jr. found his theme song pulled from ESPN's MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL coverage after he made some comments earlier in the day in a FOX news interview comparing President Obama to Adolf Hitler, and also told viewers that he didn't like any of the current crop of Republican candidates for president either. A spokesman for ESPN announced that the trademark Hank Williams Jr. theme song, "Are You Ready For Some Football" would not air Monday before last night's broadcast because of the network being very unhappy at some of the comments that Hank Williams Jr. made earlier in the day on the FOX broadcast.

Hank Williams Jr. also compared the president and vice president to the Three Stooges, which is an interesting comparison since most people only count two persons here and not three.

Part of the reason that Hank Williams Jr. was invited to FOX for the interview is because he has expressed some interest in running for the U.S. Senate form Tennessee as a Republican candidate.

Hank Williams Jr. has had quite a life. He is the son of the legendary Hank Williams, and later followed his father's footsteps into country music although his own music is largely a mix of Southern rock, blues and traditional country stylings. Apparently, early in his musical career he sometimes referred to himself as Rockin' Randall, since his real name at birth was Randall, with Hank only his middle name. But his career was nearly ended when he was critically injured during a 1975 hike when he fell 442 feet during a mountain climbing accident and was nearly killed. His signature beard, sunglasses and hat might give him an outlaw look, but it was to disguise all of facial fractures and scars from the accident. But, Hank Williams Jr. has managed to use the new look to his marketing benefit for his new tougher image.

Known as a tough guy Harley motorcycle riding type, many fans love the gritty style of Hank Williams Jr. and love his music as well. He's won numerous country music awards over the years. Whether the public is ready to elect this guy to the U.S. Senate is a good question, but as usual, in his own no-holds barred style, Hank Williams Jr. managed to stir up some controversy that may take some days to settle down.

Infomercial King Don Lapre Found Dead In Jail

Just before he was to stand trial on 41 charges of defrauding investors and customers, TV infomercial king Don Lapre was found dead in his jail cell. Lapre was to stand trial for white collar fraud crimes related to his vitamin business which just didn't live up to his outrageous claims for the products. Suicide is the likely cause of death.

For years, the boyish-looking Lapre would run some sort of infomercial bragging about how much money he made from his one room apartment. His first ads were for some get rich scheme where persons could supposedly make up to $50,000 a week by running tiny classified ads. David Spade used to parody Lapre on SNL years ago because the ads looked so comical. As silly as some of Lapre's infomercials were, they still made the boyish Lapre into a wealthy man.

Lapre was an interesting guy. On one hand, you just knew that he was so full of crap. On the other hand, you just had to admire that this young guy who was so motivated with the American entrepreneurial spirit. His enthusiasm and motivation to make something of his life had to be admired, but sadly ended with his downfall into arrest and apparent suicide for widespread fraud.