Ted Marshall Open Television Death Pool

Over the past few years, I have participated in a television death pool named for an actress "who had a proclivity of being on quickly canceled programs." Unfortunately, she apparently now has a lawyer, so the name has changed "despite the fact it ran for nearly eight years without "harming" her career." (The quotes are attributed to the creator of the Alison LaPlaca, I mean, Ted Marshall Open Television Death Pool).

As I’ve mentioned before, in my first year, I finished an impressive sixth place out of over 100 entries but finished in the middle of the pack last year. Although I’ve spent much of the past few days preparing for and participating in fantasy football drafts, I need to quickly shift my focus to see what television shows I think will be cancelled at the end of the 2008-2009 television season. Is this the year According to Jim finally dies (not Jim Belushi, just the show)? Do I think people will watch Christian Slater’s new show? Knight Rider is really coming back?

Anyway, if you enjoy television or have ever even watched television, feel free to enter the contest. All you need to do is select ten shows that you feel will get the ax. It’s fun and much harder than you would think. Entries are being taken until August 31st at 11:59 PM Eastern time. Good luck!

Summer Television

Are you one of those people who complain that there’s little on TV during the summer? Besides watching sports, Wipeout and VH1’s I Love Money, I might agree with you, although I would never complain about it. I have great respect for television, even the bad television, and am a loyal follower of The Washington Post’s TV writer Lisa de Moraes. However, if you are one of those complaining folks, I have a challenge for you and it has nothing to do with visiting your local grocery store.

I’ve written about the Alison LaPlaca television death pool several times over the past few years. The LaPlaca Open is a contest where you pick ten television shows that will be cancelled during the season. Unfortunately, the LaPlaca Open is no more, apparently because LaPlaca’s lawyers made it stop. Instead, the LaPlaca Open has been renamed The Ted Marshall Open. In my first year in this league, I was brilliant finishing in sixth out of over 100 entries. My luck was not as good for the 2007-2008 season. Although the results are not final, I am going to finish in the middle of the pack largely due to Scrubs and According to Jim returning this year. Scrubs seemed like an extremely safe bet since it was announced that this past year would be its last. Nope. ABC has picked up the show from NBC. Meanwhile, how According to Jim remains on the air is a mystery to me. It is a terrible show with awful ratings. Jim Belushi must have a secret video of Mickey Mouse and is using it as blackmail to keep the show alive.

So my challenge to you is to start studying the fall TV line-up and predict what shows will fail. Entries for the 2008-2009 year will be accepted in August, and I will be sure to announce it again here. I promise that you will see television in a different light and appreciate even the bad shows.

Weekend Links

Looking for the perfect holiday gift? Get your loved one some rhino poop!

An $85,000 cell phone bill! That’s a lot of text messages (IDK my BFF Jill).

Tamir Goodman is back (courtesy of the D.C. Sports Bog).

While there really is not a TV season anymore with the current writers’ strike, I am presently in first place in the 2007-2008 Alison LaPlaca Open. There have been four shows cancelled, and I have accurately picked all four.

These cloned cats are really freaky.

2007 Emmys - The Morning After

I thought I was pretty good connoisseur of television, but I successfully picked only two of the nine categories. While I thought last night would be all about The Sopranos, it really was all about Tony Bennett. "Tony Bennett: An American Classic" won three awards in the aired version of the show, plus he performed with Christina Aguilera. Tom Shales of The Washington Post has a real recap of the Emmys.

So maybe I'm just a connoisseur of bad television shows. In case you were wondering, here are my picks for shows that will be cancelled during the 2007-2008 season for the Alison LaPlaca TV Death Pool:

Scrubs (NBC)
Cavemen (ABC)
According to Jim (ABC)
Viva Laughlin (CBS)
Carpoolers (ABC)
The Return of Jezebel James (FOX)
Reaper (CW)
Online Nation (CW)
Nashville (FOX)
Big Shots (ABC)

I finished in sixth place last year out of over 100 entries. There looks like even more competition this year, and I'm a little worried about some of my picks. While I feel confident that my first six shows will not make it to the 2008-2009 season, Reaper may turn out to be decent, which means CW will keep the show, and I have no idea what will happen with the last three on my list.

Obsession

This is my busiest time of year, but has nothing to do with work or social activities. I am currently spending any free time with fantasy sports. My first of four fantasy football league drafts took place last night (Gobo has a brief recap), and I’m gearing up for the final month of the fantasy baseball league season for my two leagues. While four fantasy football leagues are probably a bit excessive, I only truly care about two of them. Actually, I take that back; I can be competitive so I care about all four, but I’m only really focusing on two of the four. As for baseball, I’m currently in third place out of twelve teams in both leagues. It does not look promising for a championship in either league. Have I mentioned that I hate Dontrelle Willis?

Over the past few days, I also spent time researching television shows for the upcoming season for the Alison LaPlaca Open TV Death Pool. I’ve selected my ten shows, which I will share here soon. As a reminder, the deadline to sign up for the LaPlaca Open is August 31, 2007 at 11:59 PM EDT.

Finally, I was recently interviewed for an article about the business of fantasy sports, which should be available any day now. While I’m not going to link the article here (if you want the link, e-mail me at seanramblings at yahoo[dot]com), I’m a little scared to see how my fantasy obsession is portrayed in print by someone who has never met me.

Television Death Pool

Do you watch television shows and wish that they get cancelled (thanks Fox for getting rid of “The War at Home”)? Have you viewed previews for television shows and wondered how in the world did they get approved? If you answered yes to either of these questions or if you just like watching TV, this is for you. The 2007-2008 Alison LaPlaca Open Television Death Pool is here! From now until August 31st, “enter the web’s premier TV death pool.” It actually says that on the website, so it must be true! In all seriousness, I finished tied for sixth out of over 100 entries for the 2006-2007 season, which may be one of my life’s greatest accomplishments!

Simply select ten shows that you think will not make it to the 2008-2009 season. Click here for the entry form.

Is this the year that “According to Jim” is finally cancelled?

Fantasy Television League

Way back in September, I mentioned my participation in The Alison LaPlaca Open, a contest to see who can guess which television shows would be cancelled during the 2006-2007 season. Now that the season is nearly complete, I have unofficially (depending on the status of Standoff and According to Jim) finished in the top ten, possibly top five, out of over 100 entries. I correctly predicted that What About Brian, Kidnapped, Happy Hour, Runaway, The Knights of Prosperity, The O.C., Seventh Heaven and The War at Home (thank goodness!) would not make it to the 2007-2008 season. Unfortunately, Men In Trees starring Anne Heche survived, and NBC was apparently smart enough to realize that The Singles Table was a terrible show and never aired it.

I’m definitely going to participate next year. My top pick will probably be Caveman, the new comedy based on the “guys” from the GEICO commercials.

Fantasy TV League

Two of my favorite things are fantasy sports leagues and television. Thanks to JQ, I learned that both of these interests can be combined through The Alison LaPlaca Open Television Death Pool. Now in it's seventh year, the LaPlaca Open is a contest to see who can guess how many TV shows will be cancelled during the 2006-2007 season. To be eligible, a show must air sometime between September 1, 2006 and August 31, 2007 on any of the big five commercial networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CW), and presumed not to air a first-run episode after August 31, 2007.

Here are my picks:

10-pointer: What About Brian (ABC)
9-Kidnapped (NBC)
8-Happy Hour (FOX)
7-The Singles Table (NBC)
6-Men in Trees (ABC)
5-Runaway (WB)
4-The Knights of Prosperity (ABC)
3-The O.C. (FOX)
2-Seventh Heaven (WB)
1-The War at Home (FOX)

What About Brian had 6 episodes in the spring and had poor ratings. However, since this show is produced or created by J.J. Abrams (of Lost), I think ABC decided to give it another try in part to keep Abrams happy. I think the ratings have spoken, and there is no chance it will make it to the 2007-2008 TV season.

Of the picks above, I'm a little worried about Kidnapped and The Knights of Prosperity. Kidnapped looks exactly like the movie "Ransom" with Mel Gibson but NBC seems to be hyping the show and it looks decent. The Knights of Prosperity was originally going to be called "Let's Rob Mick Jagger" (or something like that) and still has a terrible title. The show stars Donal Logue (who I like) and, in seeing a preview tonight, looks funny.

I really, really, really hope The War at Home gets cancelled. This may be the worst show on TV.