Bill Bratton to be NBC/MSNBC Analyst

Former NYPD and Boston Police Commissioner and LAPD

Known as one of the country’s premier police chiefs, Bratton is the only person to have led four of the largest police forces in the United States.  As Chief of the New York City Transit Police, Boston Police Commissioner, New York City Police Commissioner and Chief of the LAPD, he revitalized police morale and cut crime significantly in all four posts.  In New York, Bratton led the development of CompStat, a command and accountability system designed to focus the work of police on stopping crimes before they happen.  He is also credited with improving the LAPD’s relationships with the city’s many diverse communities and also led the creation of their Real Time and Predictive Policing initiatives.

Currently the Chief Executive Officer of the Bratton Group LLC, he provides a wide range of collaborative consulting, leadership, management and public safety network services to both the public and private sector in the U.S. and abroad.  Bratton is also the CEO of Bratton Technologies, a company that operates BlueLine, the first secure, global law enforcement professional social media network. In addition, Bratton is the Vice Chairman of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, whose members provide advice and recommendations on a variety of homeland security issues to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Bratton was recently named the most innovative figure in criminal justice according to the results of a recent survey commissioned by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance. Conducted by the Center for Court Innovation, the survey polled leaders of criminal justice agencies across the country.

Among his many honors, Bratton was recognized in 2009 by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II with the honorary title of Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE).  He was also awarded the Schroeder Brothers Memorial Medal in 1976, the Boston Police Department’s highest award of valor.

A U.S. Army veteran who saw service in Vietnam, Bratton began his police career in 1970 as an officer with the Boston Police department.  His critically acclaimed autobiography TURNAROUND with Peter Knobler was published by Random House in 1998.  In addition, Mr. Bratton and Zachary Tumin, a senior researcher at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, co-authored a management leadership book, COLLABORATE OR PERISH that was published by Random House in January 2012.
Police Chief Bill Bratton has joined NBC News and MSNBC as an analyst specializing in criminal justice policy and practice, domestic intelligence gathering and the role of local law enforcement in counter-terrorism. His analysis will appear across the various platforms of NBC News and MSNBC and their digital properties.

Paula Deen's Today Show Interview with Matt Lauer Here

If you think you can stomach watching Paula Deen sob uncontrollably while trying to defer guilt over her transgressions of alleged racism and hate speak, here it is.

As I told a colleague who asked for my professional opinion on how Deen has handled herself from a public relations standpoint, my impression is that Paula Deen is the typical celebrity who does not listen to her advisers, lawyers or PR professionals.

Every statement she has made is downright stupid and self serving. Going on TV with Matt Lauer and crying just makes her look like someone seeking pity

I read just this morning that she finally hired a high powered PR person to help her out of this mess, but it's probably too late.

FOX Premiere Dates for Fall

FOX has set the fall premiere dates for its new and returning series.

The 2013-2014 season begins with the return of THE X FACTOR. Hosted by Mario Lopez, and featuring judges Simon Cowell, Demi Lovato, Kelly Rowland and Paulina Rubio, the hit music competition series will launch with a two-night season premiere event on Wednesday, Sept. 11 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) and Thursday, Sept. 12 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT).

Darkly amusing procedural BONES enters its ninth season on Monday, Sept. 16 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT), followed by the series premiere of the thrilling adventure fantasy SLEEPY HOLLOW (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT). In this modern-day twist on Washington Irving’s classic, ICHABOD CRANE (Tom Mison, “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen”) is resurrected and pulled two and a half centuries through time to find that the world is on the brink of destruction and that he is humanity’s last hope, forcing him to team up with a contemporary police officer (Nicole Beharie, “42,” “Shame,” “American Violet”) to unravel a mystery that dates back to the founding fathers.

On Sept. 17, the Tuesday night comedy block is back with two new additions – DADS (8:00-8:30 PM ET/PT) and BROOKLYN NINE-NINE (8:30-9:00 PM ET/PT) – and new seasons of NEW GIRL (9:00-9:30 PM ET/PT) and THE MINDY PROJECT (9:30-10:00 PM ET/PT). Kicking off the night is DADS, the new live-action, multi-camera comedy from Emmy Award winner Seth MacFarlane, Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild (“Ted,” FAMILY GUY) that stars Emmy Award winner Seth Green (FAMILY GUY) and Emmy Award nominee Giovanni Ribisi (“My Name is Earl,” “Ted”) as two successful gaming entrepreneurs – and childhood best friends – whose lives get turned upside down when their pain-in-the-neck patriarchs (Martin Mull, “Two and a Half Men”) and Academy Award and Emmy Award nominee Peter Riegert, “The Good Wife,” “The Sopranos”) move in. BROOKLYN NINE-NINE (8:30-9:00 PM ET/PT), from Emmy Award-winning writer/producers Dan Goor and Michael Schur (“Parks and Recreation”) and starring Emmy Award winners Andy Samberg (“Saturday Night Live”) and Andre Braugher (“Men of a Certain Age,” “Homicide: Life on the Street”), is a new single-camera workplace comedy about what happens when a hotshot detective (Samberg) gets a new captain (Braugher) with a lot to prove.

Will Rachel (Lea Michele) be Broadway’s next baby? Will Blaine (Darren Criss) marry Kurt (Chris Colfer)? Can the kids of New Directions win yet again at Nationals? Find out the answers to all these GLEE-related questions when a new season of the hit musical comedy launches Thursday, Sept. 19 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT), following THE X FACTOR.

New unscripted series MASTERCHEF JUNIOR is set to debut Friday, Sept. 27 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT). The new culinary competition series for talented kids gives budding cooks between the ages of eight and 13 the opportunity to showcase their talent, culinary smarts and passion for food through a series of delicious challenges and cook-offs. Award-winning chef Gordon Ramsay, restaurateur and winemaker Joe Bastianich (Del Posto, Eataly) and acclaimed chef Graham Elliot (Graham Elliot, Graham Elliot Bistro) coach and encourage the promising hopefuls to cook like pros and teach them the tricks of the trade along the way.

Sundays get re-animated beginning Sept. 29, with the season premieres of THE SIMPSONS (8:00-8:30 PM ET/PT), BOB’S BURGERS (8:30-9:00 PM ET/PT), FAMILY GUY (9:00-9:30 PM ET/PT) and AMERICAN DAD (9:30-10:00 PM ET/PT).

Later this fall, futuristic action drama ALMOST HUMAN premieres Monday, Nov. 4 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT). Executive-produced by Emmy Award winner J.J. Abrams (“Fringe,” “Lost,” the “Star Trek” and “Mission: Impossible” franchises) and creator J.H. Wyman (“Fringe,” “The Mexican”) and starring Karl Urban (“Star Trek”) and Michael Ealy (“Sleeper Cell,” “Common Law”), ALMOST HUMAN is a high-tech, high-stakes action drama set 35 years in the future, when police officers are partnered with highly evolved human-like androids. An unlikely partnership is forged when a part-machine cop (Urban) is forced to pair with a part-human robot (Ealy) as they fight crime in a futuristic new world.

Friday nights beginning on Nov. 8 are all-new when BONES moves to a new night and time (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) and RAISING HOPE (9:00-9:30 PM ET/PT) kicks off an all-new hour of comedy, followed by the series premiere of the new sibling comedy ENLISTED (9:30-10:00 PM ET/PT). Written and created by Kevin Biegel (“Cougar Town,” “Scrubs”) and starring Geoff Stults (“Ben and Kate,” “The Finder”), Chris Lowell (“Private Practice,” “Veronica Mars”) and Parker Young (“Suburgatory”), ENLISTED is an irreverent single-camera comedy about an older sibling who returns home to reconnect with his two brothers and lead a group of misfits on a small Florida Army base.

Fall premieres of new and returning series are listed below in chronological order (all times are ET/PT):

Wednesday, Sept. 11

8:00-9:00 PM                          THE X FACTOR (Season Premiere, Part One)

9:00-10:00 PM                        MASTERCHEF (Season Finale)

Thursday, Sept. 12

8:00-10:00 PM                        THE X FACTOR (Season Premiere, Part Two)

Monday, Sept. 16

8:00-9:00 PM                          BONES (Season Premiere)

9:00-10:00 PM                        SLEEPY HOLLOW (Series Premiere)

Tuesday, Sept. 17

8:00-8:30 PM                          DADS (Series Premiere)

8:30-9:00 PM                          BROOKLYN NINE-NINE (Series Premiere)

9:00-9:30 PM                          NEW GIRL (Season Premiere)

9:30-10:00 PM                        THE MINDY PROJECT (Season Premiere)

Wednesday, Sept. 18

8:00-10:00 PM                        THE X FACTOR (All-New)

Thursday, Sept. 19

8:00-9:00 PM                          THE X FACTOR (All-New)

9:00-10:00 PM                        GLEE (Season Premiere)

Friday, Sept. 27

8:00-9:00 PM                          MASTERCHEF JUNIOR (Series Premiere)

9:00-10:00 PM                        SLEEPY HOLLOW (Encore)

Sunday, Sept. 29

8:00-8:30 PM                          THE SIMPSONS (Season Premiere)

8:30-9:00 PM                          BOB’S BURGERS (Season Premiere)

9:00-9:30 PM                          FAMILY GUY (Season Premiere)

9:30-10:00 PM                        AMERICAN DAD (Season Premiere)

Monday, Nov. 4

8:00-9:00 PM                          ALMOST HUMAN (Series Premiere)

9:00-10:00 PM                        SLEEPY HOLLOW (All-New)

Friday, Nov. 8

8:00-9:00 PM                          BONES (Time Period Premiere)

9:00-9:30 PM                          RAISING HOPE (Season Premiere)

9:30-10:00 PM                        ENLISTED (Series Premiere)

News on All My Children and One Life to Live

The Online Network announced today that beginning next Monday,

July 1, 2013, TOLN (The OnLine Network) will release ALL of the week’s highly-rated “All My Children” and “One Life To Live” episodes on Mondays via Hulu, Hulu Plus and iTunes. The new schedule means that TOLN will run all episodes on Mondays, and not stagger runs of “All My Children” on Mondays/Wednesdays, “One Life to Live” on Tuesdays/Thursdays and “MORE AMC/OLTL” on Fridays.  

Viewers will be able to choose to watch one episode each day or binge view some or all of that week’s shows at once starting each Monday.  Together with more shows, viewers can play or save up to six TOLN programs per week—all available on Mondays – providing even more flexibility to watch anytime, and anywhere.

Matt Lauer's Paula Deen Interview to Air Wednesday in 7:30 Half-Hour

NBC today issued this program note: In an exclusive live interview, Paula Deen

will sit down with Matt Lauer on NBC’s TODAY show tomorrow, Wednesday, June 26.  The interview will air in the 7:30 a.m. half hour of the show and will be available on TODAY.com

Gary David Goldberg, Creater of "Family Ties," Dies at 68

A fond farewell to a producer who made a lot of people laugh and think at the same time.

Click to here to read full article:  http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/25/arts/television/gary-david-goldberg-creator-of-family-ties-dies-at-68.html?_r=0&adxnnl=1&pagewanted=all&adxnnlx=1372178643-fPG8VlHbQLrOFirTNY8wmw

NBC Announces Season Premieres for Fall, including The Michael J. Fox Show

NBC has announced premiere dates for its fall schedule, which include the

“The Blacklist,” starring James Spader as an international criminal who works with a rookie FBI agent in order to bring down some of the world’s most wanted, begins Monday, Sept. 23 at 10 p.m., immediately following the fifth-season two-hour premiere of “The Voice” at 8 p.m. that will reunite the four original coaches: Christina Aguilera, CeeLo Green, Adam Levine, and Blake Shelton. (All times are ET.)

“Chicago Fire” will begin its second season at 10 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 24 following the Tuesday edition of “The Voice.”

On Wednesday, Sept. 25, the sophomore season of “Revolution” will begin the night in its new time period at 8 o’clock, followed by the season premiere of the 15th season of “Law & Order: SVU” at 9 p.m. in which Det. Benson (Mariska Hargitay) will be fighting for her life against a madman.

Highly-acclaimed comedy “Parks and Recreation” will launch its sixth season with an hourlong episode at 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 26 that takes the show to London. That will be followed by back-to-back episodes for the debut of “The Michael J. Fox Show,” starring the iconic actor as a father and husband returning to work as a news reporter in New York after a brief leave of absence to get his Parkinson’s under control.

“Parenthood,” which is beginning its fifth season this year, moves into the 10 p.m. time period on Sept 26 (immediately following “The Michael J. Fox Show”) with special guest star Ray Romano.
“Dateline NBC” will premiere with a two-hour episode Friday, Sept. 27 at 9 p.m.

The new Blair Underwood-starring action drama “Ironside” will begin its run at 10 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 2.

New first-year comedies “Welcome to the Family” (8:30 p.m.) — about the clash between two families forced to deal with the surprise pregnancy and marriage of their teenage kids — and “Sean Saves the World” (9 p.m.) — bringing Sean Hayes back to NBC as a single dad balancing his teenage daughter, opinionated mother and overbearing boss — both launch Thursday, Oct. 3

The debut for the third season of “Grimm” will begin at 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 25. That will be immediately followed by the series launch of “Dracula,” starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers as the iconic character returning to Victorian England to seek revenge on those who doomed him to immortal hell. Appropriately, both shows will launch within a week of Halloween.

The night will be led off at 8 p.m. with “Dateline NBC,” as the newsmagazine will shift to its regular timeslot.

And finally, “The Biggest Loser” will start its newest cycle with an hourlong telecast at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 8.
launch of two highly-anticipated new shows: “The Blacklist” on Sept. 23 and the series debut of “The Michael J. Fox Show” with back-to-back episodes on Sept. 26.

New Producer for NBC's Meet the Press

Veteran news executive Rob Yarin has been named Executive Producer of NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” the country’s leading Sunday morning public affairs hour. Yarin will report to Antoine Sanfuentes, NBC News Senior Vice President, and will join the show on Sunday, August 4.

Yarin takes over for Betsy Fischer Martin, who is transitioning from her role as Senior Executive Producer of “Meet the Press” to focus full time on her position as Managing Editor of Political Programming for NBC News, a role she was promoted to in March.

Said Sanfuentes: “Rob is a seasoned journalist and industry expert who understands the worlds of television, politics and social media and how they converge to create compelling and informative programming.  Rob’s knowledge and experience will be a tremendous asset to ‘Meet the Press,’ as the show continues to make news and drive the political conversation each week.”

David Gregory, Moderator of “Meet the Press” said, "I’ve known Rob since my earliest days at NBC News, including our work together covering the ’08 campaign. His creativity as a producer and his political smarts are the perfect combination for the future of ‘Meet the Press.’”  He added, “I am sorry to see Betsy leave the show, but I’m thrilled for her and look forward to all the work we will do together in her new role.”

Yarin joins NBC News from Frank N. Magid Associates where he was the Senior Vice President of Programming since 1999.  In that role he served as a programming and news consultant for a wide range of leading news organizations, including broadcast and digital networks, local television stations, newspapers and cable and satellite television networks. He was also instrumental in crafting digital transition strategies for multiple television and print organizations. In 2008 Yarin also worked as the Executive Producer of “Race for the White House,” a daily election program hosted by David Gregory that aired on MSNBC, and he has served as an advisor to “Meet the Press.”

Yarin stated, "I am thrilled to be joining NBC News to work with David Gregory and the outstanding ‘Meet the Press’ team.  The show is an important part of the political landscape, and I am honored to be associated with this longstanding tradition.”

Previously, Yarin was the Executive Producer of “Hardball with Chris Matthews,” when the show aired on CNBC.   He was instrumental in reformatting the program, doubling its ratings which led to the show’s expansion to one hour and position as CNBC’s top-rated primetime program.  Before that, Yarin held a number of producing roles within the news industry including Executive Producer of Morning Programming at WBIS+/Dow Jones and Senior Editor of “Front Page,” at Fox News.   Earlier in his career Yarin worked as the Managing Editor of “Entertainment Tonight” and was a local news producer at several television stations including KCBS-TV and KNBC.

Cher to Guest on The Voice

Oscar, Grammy, Emmy and three-time Golden Globe winner Cher will make a

Cher will perform “Woman’s World,” the first single off her upcoming album of the same name that is due Sept. 24.  “Woman’s World” marks the first album in 12 years for Cher and her appearance on “The Voice” will be her first live TV performance in over a decade.

Her record-breaking 1998 single "Believe" reached No. 1 worldwide, selling more than 20 million copies. Her 325-show “Living Proof” tour (2003-05) played to more than 3 million fans and is the most successful tour by any female artist.

A winner of an Oscar (“Moonstruck”), Emmy (“Cher: The Farewell Tour”), Grammy (“Believe”) and three Golden Globes (“The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour,” “Silkwood,” “Moonstruck”), Cher has been an entertainment icon for nearly 50 years.

Cher is the only artist to have a No. 1 single on the Billboard pop charts in each of the last six decades.
live appearance on the June 18 season finale of NBC’s musical competition series “The Voice.”