Mr. TV: Moving Pictures

Unfortunately I don’t get to the movies all that much these days. One kid in college, one coming up and a bevy of other expenses keep me away from this costly pleasure. But while I may not be qualified to handicap this year’s Academy Award winners, I do know a thing or two about movies airing on TV.For example, if you enjoy Lifetime’s heroine-in-peril movies, I have a good one for you tonight: Amanda Knox: Murder on Trial in Italy. Former Heroes star Hayden Panettiere plays the now infamous American exchange student accused and convicted by Italian authorities of brutally killing her roommate, with Academy Award-winner Marcia Gay Harden playing her, well, imperiled, mother. Lifetime has done a good job of nailing down this part-pulp, part-Access Hollywood formula that sucks you right in and keeps you there until the conclusion. Aside from the occasional older-skewing Hallmark Hall of Fame movie series on CBS, the broadcast networks have basically abandoned the format.At one point, the Big 3 networks had one or two movie nights per week. NBC, in fact, aired a Monday night movie targeting women from 1968 to 1997. CBS’ Sunday movie was a 20-year staple that ran until 2006. Movies is just one of once-formidable genres doused by the rising tide of nonscripted programming. While you still see theatricals on a basic cable net like ABC Family, Hallmark, Syfy or Lifetime (which also has a spinoff network focused entirely on movies), and on pay cable channels like HBO and Showtime, reality is cheaper and skews younger. This race to the bottom that brought us endless dance offs and Snooky isn’t going to change anytime soon.What most people fail to realize is that the nonscripted format is not new; it’s just different. So, instead of flocking to the boob tube for a Sunday night movie, we check in at E! for the planned escapades of Kourtney and Kim as they “take” New York.Rather than watching bad actress Tori Spelling in a flock of predicable made-fors, we can now see her opposite hubby Dean on their ongoing Oxygen docudrama (and upcoming Tori and Dean: sTORIbook Weddings). And instead of seeing comedian Sinbad in another badly scripted sitcom or dopey movie, he too has a deal in the works to document his life in upcoming Sinbad’s Family Affair on WE tv. Even Roseanne Barr is hopping on the reality bandwagon with an upcoming nonscripted half hour on Lifetime.The nonscripted format is so prevalent, in fact, that variety as we once knew it is now reshaped in an entry like ABC’s Dancing With the Stars, a showcase for music, fancy footwork and comedy sketches all under the guidance of jovial host Tom Bergeron. The latest entry, Shedding for the Wedding on The CW, capitalizes on weight loss mixed with the popular marital sub category as 10 overweight couples work with trainers and nutritionists while meeting wedding planners. It premieres this Wednesday.Don’t get me wrong. I happen to enjoy much of the reality out there. And—shameless plug here—I am looking forward to my hosting chores at my company’s inaugural Reality Rocks conference at the Los Angeles Convention Center on April 9 and 10 (www.realityrocks.net). But as the Academy Awards show nears, I really do miss seeing more movies on TV. I also miss the days of seeing every Academy Award-nominated film at a theater without taking out a second mortgage.As for the Oscars this Sunday, my picks: Best Picture: The King’s Speech; Actor: Colin Firth (The King’s Speech); Actress: Natalie Portman (Black Swan); Director: Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech); Supporting Actor: Christian Bale (The Fighter); and Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo (The Fighter).Now, what channel is Lifetime on again?

Convergent TV

Mr. TV: Moving Pictures

Marc Berman

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Marc Berman