ENTERTAINMENT
October 23, 2009 | MARY McNAMARA, TELEVISION CRITIC
Just when you thought bromance was dead, here comes "White Collar," a crime drama premiering on USA tonight that lifts the genre to a new and dazzling level. Sparkling, snappy, bursting with energy and good clean heist fun, the first episode of "White Collar" may, in fact, be the most perfect pilot to air in a long, long time. Sure, there are shameless echoes of "It Takes a Thief," the show that launched Robert Wagner's television career, but who cares? Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and "White Collar's" creator, Jeff Easton, promises only improvement, and with a pitch-perfect cast that comes together to create that cinematic Holy Grail: chemistry.
BUSINESS
November 14, 2009 | Joe Flint
The first thing Emiliano Calemzuk did when he was tapped to become president of News Corp.'s Fox Television Studios was to move it out of its posh locale on the Fox lot in Century City -- and into offices neighboring an old gas station on Santa Monica Boulevard. "I wanted to get out of the 'lot mentality,' " explained Calemzuk, referring to the assistant-and-fresh-cut-flowers style of business that is pervasive among major Hollywood studios. "We're here to do things differently."
NEWS
December 6, 2000 | SALLIE HOFMEISTER and CLAUDIA ELLER, TIMES STAFF WRITERS
Bowing to recent pressure from a major pharmaceutical advertiser, USA Network took the highly unusual step of canceling the production of a television movie about two highly publicized drug-tampering deaths. The cable network abruptly pulled the plug on "Who Killed Sue Snow?" on Thanksgiving eve, five days before filming was to begin in Vancouver, Canada. The movie was based on the 1986 deaths of two Seattle-area residents who took cyanide-laced Excedrin.
BUSINESS
May 11, 1999 | SALLIE HOFMEISTER, TIMES STAFF WRITER
USA Networks Inc., facing resistance from shareholders of Lycos Inc., is preparing to abandon its plan to purchase the nation's third-ranked Internet search service, executives close to the company confirmed Monday. The proposed $21.5-billion merger has been closely watched since it was announced in February because it is one of the first to challenge the highflying values of the Internet sector.
ENTERTAINMENT
June 26, 1993 | N.F. MENDOZA, TIMES STAFF WRITER
Both scenes are set in a steamy locker room. In one version, a woman drops her dress and exposes her naked body as she and her equally naked lover writhe on a bench. In the other version, the camera angle changes after she reaches for her dress; all that can be seen of the lovers is a grainy close-up of their faces. Same show, different TV channels.
BUSINESS
January 20, 1999 | From Bloomberg News
USA Networks Inc.'s Ticketmaster, the largest U.S. ticket service company, won't have to pay antitrust damages to a group of consumers that claims the company uses its dominance of the business to jack up prices for popular concerts. The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected the consumers' appeal, leaving intact a lower court ruling that found they do not have the legal right to seek damages from the company.
BUSINESS
December 8, 2000 | CLAUDIA ELLER and JAMES BATES
Barry Diller's USA Networks Inc. continues to insist that it pulled the plug on the TV production of "Who Killed Sue Snow?" in the name of social responsibility. Denying it bowed to pressure from drug company advertisers, USA says a docudrama about two cyanide-laced-Excedrin deaths in 1986 could have inspired a copycat crime. As USA spokesman Ron Sato said: "We don't have to worry about a crazy individual finding the subject matter much too compelling for our comfort."
ENTERTAINMENT
April 21, 1998 | BRIAN LOWRY, TIMES STAFF WRITER
As if tailored to the Clinton era, the mantra for television executives trying to build their own bridge to the 21st century has become, "It's the programming, stupid." That may be the clearest message to emerge as the end of the television season nears--a year in which as many breakthrough shows came from distribution-challenged outlets like the WB network and cable's Comedy Central (the homes of "Dawson's Creek" and "South Park," respectively) as ABC, NBC and CBS. With about two-thirds of U.S.
BUSINESS
March 17, 2000 | SALLIE HOFMEISTER, TIMES STAFF WRITER
Barry Diller's USA Networks Inc. and Chris-Craft Industries Inc. are in discussions to become partners in the UPN television network, according to sources close to the companies. UPN could be Diller's best chance for reentering the network business after losing out on both CBS and NBC, which he tried to buy almost two years ago. Diller is credited with building the Fox Television Network for Rupert Murdoch.
ENTERTAINMENT
January 4, 1997 | STEVEN LINAN
USA Network, cable's home to sitcom veterans "Duckman" and "Weird Science," introduces two new comedies this weekend that are neither ducky nor scientific. Unfortunately, they are merely dim and dumb. The first is "Lost on Earth," a mirthless half-hour starring Tim Conlon, a star of Fox's short-lived "Wild Oats." Conlon plays David Rudy, an Albuquerque TV reporter whose on-air gaffe with a chimpanzee (don't ask) results in a demotion leveled by his stern, ratings-conscious boss (Paul Gleason).