Family

According to thefutoncritic.com, ABC is developing a new "High School Musical"-themed reality competition series in which aspiring performers compete for the chance to study at a music conservatory to hone their skills. The untitled project, which is being targeted for the summer, would feature a weekly performance/elimination with the winner going home with an unspecified prize. It's not clear how the series will tie into the Disney Channel phenomenon but appearances by the franchise's stars is said to be likely. The deal however has yet to be finalized as the network is still in discussions with a production company to handle the show. Industry publications also speculate ABC will repurpose the series for the Disney Channel however nothing has been confirmed. The Disney Channel can be seen on Satellite TV channel 290.

It was announced today that the award-winning family comedy series, Everybody Hates Chris from co-creator and narrator Chris Rock, will join the Nick At Nite line-up in fall, 2009. Beginning September 2009, Nick At Nite will become the exclusive basic cable home to the half-hour series which stars Tyler James Williams ("Unaccompanied Minors") as Chris, Terry Crews ("The Longest Yard") as Julius, Tichina Arnold ("Martin") as Rochelle, Tequan Richmond ("Ray") as Drew, Imani Hakim as Tonya and Vincent Martella ("Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo") as Greg. "Nick At Nite is one of my family's favorite TV networks," said Chris Rock. "I am thrilled that this series, which reflects my childhood growing up in Brooklyn, is coming to the number-one home for great family comedies." "Following the success we've had with George Lopez and Home Improvement, this show has all the makings to be our next big hit for kids and parents on Nick At Nite," Cyma Zarghami, President, Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group said. "Chris Rock is a comedic genius hugely popular with adults, and he's created a great kid-centric character and story that will be relevant to both our kid and adult audience. It's a great addition for us." Nickelodeon and Nick At Nite can be seen on Satellite TV channel 299.

Satellite TV has many different channels for religious and spiritual programming. These include DAYSTAR, GOD TV, The Church Channel, TCT Network and The Word. Each channel has its own mission and focus, but they all offer educational, news and entertainment programming. Many of these channels are available to you with the Family programming package, and The Church Channel is available with Choice packages and above. DAYSTAR is interdenominational and multicultural, as is The WORD. Several programs are teaching forums to teach about the Bible and its many interpretations.People approach Satellite TV’s spiritual programming for many different reasons. Some feel something is missing in their lives and others feel a desire to learn more about the Old and New Testament. Some just love gospel music. Because Satellite TV reaches so many people, its religious and spiritual programming does the same. When you need something more soulful, you can turn to Satellite TV.

Joan Lunden will salute caring Satellite TV subscribers on “Hometown Heroes,” a new series created by the satellite television provider. “Hometown Heroes” will premiere April 6 on Satellite TV's original programming channel, called The 101. Each episode of the half-hour show features three stories about people who make a difference in their communities and are customers of the satellite service. Satellite TV, with 16 million subscribers, has been creating original programming for The 101 as a bonus to subscribers and to create a point of differentiation from other multichannel services. The idea for “Hometown Heroes”—a show that focuses on subscribers and tries to make them feel part of a community of satellite TV users—originated with Ms. Larone and Eric Shanks, executive VP of Satellite TV Entertainment. Ms. Lunden, the former “Good Morning America” anchor, was their first choice to host the show. “We were trying to think who would be the perfect person. It kept coming back to Joan,” Ms. Larone said. “Because she hosted morning television for nearly 20 years, we figured our audience would recognize her instantly as someone who is trustworthy.” “In this age of so much reality TV, and so much bad news and so much exploitation, to see a network ... give airtime to something that just recognizes people doing something good, people making a difference in the world, I took my hat off to them and I jumped right on board,” she said. Satellite TV has broadened its programming focus to include women with the former NBC soap opera “Passions.” “Hometown Heroes,” however, is aimed at more of a family audience. Next week, Satellite TV launches “Supreme Court of Comedy,” in which comedians represent real people with small claims in front of comic Dom Irrera, who serves as judge. In one episode, Tom Arnold and Sinbad square off on behalf of their clients.

According the thefutoncritic.com, ABC and TV Guide magazine are giving fans special pocket-sized packets of tissues for all of those tears of joy they'll experience Sunday, March 2 with the premiere of "Oprah's Big Give" (9:00 p.m., ET) and an all-new "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" (8:00 p.m., ET) on ABC. Copies of the February 25 issue of TV Guide will be polybagged with an ABC-branded/"Oprah's Big Give," "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" packet of tissues, which will be mailed to subscribers in select markets to coincide with the premiere.

ABC Family is continuing its commitment to original quality programming for the Young Adult audience. It has picked up season two of the network's hit series "Greek," and ordered "Samurai Girl" as a special six hour programming event from ABC Studios. Production on both projects is set to begin this spring. Based on a series of popular young adult novels, "Samurai Girl" tells the story of a 19-year old Japanese girl named Heaven, who discovers that the wealthy businessman who adopted her as an infant is really the head of the Yakuza (the Japanese mafia) and may have had her beloved brother brutally murdered. She breaks from her family and begins training to become a samurai, and with the help of a group of new American friends, sets out to take down her father's evil empire.ABC Family has also ordered season two of its hit series, "Greek." Production is set to begin in early April and the twelve episodes will air as part of the 2008-09 season. All new episodes, part of season one, are set to premiere March 24, 2008. With the initial run of ten episodes in the summer of 2007, "Greek" established itself as the network's most-watched original series on record in adults 18 24, while its final on September 10, 2007 ranked as ABC Family's top-rated original series telecast ever in the targeted young adult demo. ABC Family can be seen on Satellite TV channel 311.

Satellite TV offers a huge amount of kids’ programming that will keep the younger generation occupied and engaged. The Family programming package provides numerous channels for kids, along with kids-related XM Satellite Radio. Still and all, both tv and the internet present challenges for parents these days in terms of monitoring content. The important thing with tv is to be aware of your programming options and restrict potentially harmful content. Satellite TV offers vast programming options, but does so with a sense of responsibility. The company takes seriously the fact that not all programming is appropriate for children. Parents need to be able to limit the channels that their children are watching. For example, certain HBO programming may not be suitable for young children.Satellite TV’s Locks & Limits feature is there for customers when they need it and is conveniently built into the equipment. It has been shown to work to restrict unsupervised television viewing in several different ways. Parents can block specific movies based on their MPAA rating, lock out entire channels with no channel limit, set limited viewing hours, or even establish spending limits on Pay per View programming. Meanwhile, parents get a handy (PIN) number so that they themselves don’t have to be limited in terms of programming.Parental controls give parents peace of mind knowing that their kids are safe. Let’s face it, some content is just plain violent, sensational or over-the-top. It may give children the wrong message about what is acceptable behavior. It’d be great if some advanced fingerprinting technology applied to the remote control could protect our kids from inappropriate programming. But since we’re not quite there yet, Parental Controls are the next best thing.

In December, 2007 Satellite TV, Inc., the Association of Public Television Stations (APTS) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) made a landmark decision to join forces with the goal of making even more quality public television available in High Definition (HD). This will affect such programs as The NewsHour, Frontline, NOVA, American Masters, the American Experience, Bill Moyers' Journal and award-winning children's programming. Imagine how detailed the screen will be when watching Nova’s spectacular programming on space, exploration, nature, health, history, technology and more. The already vivid picture is sure to be even more lifelike in HD!This means that in every market where Satellite TV carries any local HD (72% of the country and 68 market areas), PBS and local Public Television stations will be available. Moreover, there will soon be a library of on demand content from local stations across the country, making programming available to the public on their own schedule. Public television is now catching up with Satellite TV’s innovative technology and the latest trends in the market, and the outcome is sure to be exciting.

Satellite TV’s Family programming package has all the programming you could want for every age group -- from kids to adults. It’s also very affordable, at just $29.99 per month. Family programming offers 45+ channels and all of your local channels such as ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox and PBS. Many people think that Satellite TV only offers national channels, but this is not the case. Local programming gets its fair share too.Viewing movies together at home is better than going out to the movies, especially on cold winter nights! The Family package is varied, offering news, favorite children’s networks and Christian/religious programming to meet your spiritual needs. Channels such as Headline News, PBS, The Word, Bloomberg Television and National Geographic Channel ensure a well-rounded television experience.Parental controls let you feel safe knowing that your children can only access age-appropriate programming. Kids can enjoy the lively programming of Toon Disney, Discovery Kids and PBS Kids Sprout. There’s even an XM Radio channel, XM Kids. Families want a way to relax after a busy, hectic day and they want a variety of interesting and relevant programming. Satellite TV’s Family programming package meets all of these criteria. That’s why it’s been so popular and so sought after by millions of customers nationwide. Many families decide that they don’t need fancy packages with more channels than they could ever watch. The Family programming package is their package of choice for all these reasons.

Try as I might I just can't seem to bring myself to watch an entire episode of The Gourmet Next Door. I realize that Amy Finley was the winner of the Next Food Network Star  contest but she just seems to be so out of her league when compared to previous winners. While her recipes may be simple and tasty she has no real presence on the screen. She practically blends into the background.

I like it when the cook or chef shows so much excitement about what their cooking that  you want to go out, buy the ingredients and cook the recipes that very same day. Those cooking shows (Guy's Big Bite, Good Eats and Paulas Home Cooking to namea few) whose stars have some charisma are the one's I watch the most and who instill  in me the desire to  step outside my comfort zone and try new foods and recipes. The only thing the Gourmet Next Door inspires me to do is to change the channel.

Hopefully the Food Network will add some more great shows to their line-up next season and drop those that  seem to have never really made it out of the gate. My vote would be to drop The Gourmet Next Door.