The Who didn't rock the house, but they didn't strip to their underwear either

The biggest event of the year, the Saints vs. the Colts on Super Bowl XLIV, had no shortage of robust musical talent entertaining at halftime: legendary British rockers The Who, who (excuse the pun) might be criticized for being a musical infomercial for CBS. Airing on the Eye net, Roger Daltrey, Peter Townshend and company (including Ringo Starr's son Zak) took us through bits and pieces of the trio CSI: theme songs: the original CSI: ("Who Are You"); CSI: Miami ("Won't Get Fooled Again"); and CSI: NY ("Baba O'Riley"). If anything, this reminds us of the importance of opening a TV show with some kick-ass lyrics. The adrenalin gets pumping before any word of dialogue is spoken, thanks to any catchy TV-show theme.
  With only 12 or so minutes to perform, we also got parts of "Pinball Wizard" and the close of "Tommy" amid an orange-and-green-toned halftime show, which according to one Twitterer was "insanely cool." But not everyone was impressed. "The halftime show is supposed to leave you with wanting more," said one blogger. "The Who are always great to hear but tonight I hoped for more." "The Who halftime show was brought to you by Geritol and Depends," barked another. "They needed to leave early to get home to watch Matlock."
  Regardless of the reviews, CBS was not disappointed. Fortunately, there was no wardrobe malfunction, à la the Janet Jackson debacle of six years ago. Not a nipple in sight, nor any member of the Who sliding on his knees groin first into the camera. While the Who were not necessarily at the top of their game, anyone with some "snow on the roof" (myself included) watched and remembered the good old musical days of yesteryear. Too bad, though, that we are the not the audience that advertisers necessarily want to reach.

—Posted by Marc Berman

TV's award shows get their act together

At long last, producers of TV award shows have gotten our memo. It was pretty short and sweet. It said: "Listen, we don't have to watch." If there is such a thing as appointment television anymore, and that's debatable, prime-time slogs like the Golden Globes hadn't been on the calendar. Most of the major award shows have been declining in the ratings for years. If someone wore something ridiculous or said something scandalous, we could check it out later on YouTube. But finally, producers have stepped up their game and put on programs with some entertainment value. (Imagine that.) They've been rewarded for it, too, with the Grammy Awards drawing nearly 26 million viewers, a 35 percent increase from last year.

'Lost' season 6: answers answered (ep. 1)

Readers: You know I'm a huge Lost fanatic from my other MediaFreak posts about the ABC series. And given that this is the final season, I'm paying extra-close attention to what's going on, and my theories are even crazier (and foolish, according to my girlfriend) than ever before!
  So, this season, I'm going to help guide you through the long, arduous process of breaking down each season 6 episode after it has aired. Check out the first installment after the jump.

—Posted by Will Levith

Strap in, we're all about to get 'Lost' again

I'm not trying to be Captain Obvious here, but is anyone as excited as I am about tonight's premiere of the final season of Lost on ABC? I caught my girlfriend up over months of intensive Hulu and Netflix watching/training sessions to make sure that, on a night like this, we'd be able to experience Lost together—as a unit. I mean, this is the Big Night. I feel like I'm going into battle or something. I'm ready to kick some ass. My brain is ready to start thinking hard, my eyes set to pick out all the little nuances I would've missed the first time around in seasons past. All those countless hours I spent on Lostpedia, reading up on the Un-Locke and the Four-Toed Statue and Richard Alpert and theories about the Smoke Monster, are all coming to fruition. Tonight's the night. And I'm not touching my phone, social media or Mediaweek.com for those two full hours. Check out my Twitter feed at @MediaweekDotCom tomorrow for more Lost gushings!

—Posted by Will Levith

Hey, the Grammys weren't bad this year!

I'm the staff music nut. I know everything there is to know about music, and I have no problem letting everybody know it. What am I reading right now? A book about Radiohead's masterpiece, OK Computer. I bought some new vinyl over the weekend (the new Flaming Lips record Embryonic). I listen to the radio, CDs, vinyl daily. So, of course, I'm going to watch the Grammy Awards, right? Well, in recent years, I've been totally uninterested in the telecast. Every year, when I see the Black Eyed Peas getting tons of award noms, I start to wonder what's wrong with the voting committee. (This year, sadly, was no different—and they performed. Ugh.) I mean, the music is OK, but do they deserve Grammy nominations? But this year was different. You had actually cool bands like the Kings of Leon (above) and Zac Brown Band in the running for major awards (and winning!). You had Lady Gaga, who may or may not be a dude, leotarding it and singing face to face with the Modern Elton John (who is nowhere near as good as the Ghost of Elton John Past). You had a Michael Jackson 3-D tribute (I didn't have the specs, but the tune was still great). You had Stephen Colbert, who was hilarious and won an award, which I guarantee will be worked into The Colbert Report in coming episodes. This year had it all. Here's hoping CBS and the Grammys have finally figured out the right equation—at least for me. What did you think?

—Posted by Will Levith

NBC/TurboTax deal sees middling returns

Who doesn't want more Ken Jeong? Though some of us are still a little scarred from seeing too much of the doctor-turned-actor in The Hangover (that was no stunt double in the full frontal scene), fans of the sitcom Community need mucho mas. Jeong, who plays a prickly, condescending Spanish teacher, lights up the screen during the little time he spends on the sitcom. Same goes for castmate Jim Rash, who plays the second-rate community college's ambiguously gay dean. So, it's a good idea to put these two guys in a commercial that aims to keep the comedy rolling and stop viewers from hitting the DVR's fast-forward button. NBC made such a deal with Intuit for the marketer's Turbo Tax software, with ads starring Jeong and Rash sprinkled through the Thursday-night comedy block. There's a related Web site with more content and a whole layered marketing program running through February. Problem is, the spots aren't very funny, so the much-deserved extra screen time for these characters is kind of squandered. But I didn't zap the commercial, simply because I wondered what these guys were doing in the ad pod. So, that's at least half the battle for the network and its advertiser. Score one (or maybe 0.5) for branded entertainment.

—Posted by T.L. Stanley

Why can't we see more NFL games online?

It's awfully odd to me that NBC, home of the Leno/Conan scandal, is the only broadcast network to tap the Internet for simulcasts of its live NFL games. Each of NBC's games this season was streamed live on its Web site, much to my enjoyment (seeing as I'm a member of the not-buying-overpriced-cable guild). Sure, I had to watch on my laptop, whose screen is tiny compared to that of my HD TV. But there's something to be said about the user experience—and a network that has grabbed the digital age by the horns. Why doesn't ESPN do a Monday Night Football simulcast online? How about CBS and Fox on Sundays? Remember, this is mostly about advertising, and as far as that's concerned, both the TV and online versions of NBC's telecast are ad supported. Nobody's missing the money train. Look, I know everybody's trying to make money, and networks have to make the green to survive. But I have to give NBC serious credit for giving its audience what it wants here—and that's not something they seem to be doing a lot lately. Go, NBC!

—Posted by Will Levith

An 'Office' clip show? Is NBC trying to cut costs on writers?

A huge thumbs-down to last night’s episode of The Office. A bogus original episode that was really a thinly disguised clip show? So lame. You know that old trick, when a sitcom seemingly runs a new episode, and has the characters start to reminisce for some reason—which leads to a string of clips from previous episodes (starts about 4:30 into the episode)—and no new actually plot? I thought this sort of thing went out of fashion decades ago with shows like The Jeffersons (no offense to the Jeffersons). What, did Jeff Zucker decide to insert himself in this episode by asking the writers to save a few hundred bucks this week by not actually writing a script? Come on guys, you’re better than that.

—Posted by Mike Shields

Conan sure enjoys spending NBC's money

NBC is about to start hemorrhaging money on the Olympic Games in Vancouver ($200 million in losses) and on its late-night debacle (upwards of $50 million in severance to The Tonight Show's star and staff). But they won't get any sympathy or relief from Conan O'Brien. During last night's show, coming back from a commercial break, his house band ripped into a classic Led Zeppelin tune. "It costs the network a fortune every time we play Led Zeppelin," O'Brien said of the famous rock band's licensing fees. Then he looked directly into the camera and laughed so hard that his hair helmet shook like a Jell-O mold. Actor Paul Bettany let loose with some colorful language during his interview, to which O'Brien said, "Go on, go for it, it doesn't matter." FCC fines be damned! O'Brien reportedly has only a few more days left after a seven-month run on the iconic franchise (and third-ranked network). Will Ferrell, who was his first guest in June, is slated for what may be the farewell show on Friday night. Expect an instant classic and a whole lotta Led.

—Posted by T.L. Stanley

'Pants on the Ground': money in the bank

Everybody's doing the "Pants on the Ground," just like Little Eva's famous "Loco-motion." When Larry Pratt hit the stage at Fox's American Idol audition in Atlanta and did his rap-dance-tastic song (see above), you could tell by the reaction of the judges (including Mary J. Blige) that this was going to be the next big craze. I don't think Pratt is the next William Hung. Hung had zero talent and was equal parts ugly and stupid-sounding. He did his ridiculous arm-circling dance to an equally ridiculous song (Ricky Martin's "Livin' La Vida Loca"). "Pants on the Ground" appears to have been written by Pratt, and it's already been performed by the likes of Brett Favre in the Vikings' locker room after their playoff victory. It was a viral smash in its own right before that. Plus, it's got a not-so-complex social message: Pratt's not a big fan of dudes who wear their pants too low, have gold in their mouths (save for cavity fillings), wear their hats askew and act like fools. As a belt-and-jeans-at-my-waist and hat-on-the-front-of-my-head type guy with no showy dental art, I agree with this message. (I do act like a fool on a regular basis, so I guess I'm still in the target demo for this tune, though.) Here's hoping Pratt cashes in. The guy deserves it.

—Posted by Will Levith