CBS Leads in Daytime Emmy Nominations

With fewer and fewer soaps on the air, it’s probably not a surprise that CBS, the network with more soaps than any other (by virtue of having only two of them), leads in the number of daytime Emmy Award nominations.

Still, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, the number one soap in daytime, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary, earned 23 nominations, more than any other show. Among them are nods for Outstanding Drama Series, one it shares with its sister soap, THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL. B&B earned 15 nominations.

The only two remaining network game shows, THE PRICE IS RIGHT and LET’S MAKE A DEAL, were both nominated in the Outstanding Game Show category. DEAL’s Wayne Brady also received a nomination for Outstanding Game Show Host. THE TALK was honored as a nominee for Outstanding Talk/Entertainment Program, while the syndicated THE DOCTORS received a nomination in the Outstanding Talk/Informative category.

CBS NEWS SUNDAY MORNING received a nomination for Outstanding Morning Program.

Actress Susan Flannery, who retired from the role of matriarch Stephanie Forrester on B&B, received a nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, where she’ll compete against former B&B co-star Heather Tom (Katie) and Y&R’s Michelle Stafford (Phyllis). On the male side, Y&R’s Peter Bergman (Jack), Doug Davidson (Paul) and Michael Muhney (Adam) are among the nominees.

Game show legends Monty Hall, who co-created and hosted the Let’s Make a Deal for most of its run on television; and Bob Stewart, creator of venerable shows like The Price is Right, PASSWORD and THE $25,000 PYRAMID, will receive Lifetime Achievement Awards. Hall, 91, appeared recently on the current version of his show to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its premiere. Stewart passed away at age 91 last May.

The Daytime Emmy Awards will air in June on HLN.

Andy Griffith Dead at 86

Actor Andy Griffith, a TV icon who entertained generations of viewers, died at age 86 early Tuesday morning.

That news was confirmed by former UNC President Bill Friday, a friend of Griffith, and reported by WITN-TV.

Griffith worked nightclubs and was appearing on Broadway when producers approached him with an idea for a new television series focused on a sheriff in a small town. That idea would become THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW, a hit for CBS that premiered in 1960. With co-star Don Knotts, Griffith would endear Sheriff Andy Taylor, Deputy Barney Fife and a host of comic characters in the fictional Mayberry to millions of fans.

Griffith left the show in 1968, when it was renamed to MAYBERRY, R.F.D.. He continued to serve as executive producer of the series until it left the air in 1971.

THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW remains popular in syndication, even more than fifty years after its premiere.

He stayed busy with movie and television projects in the seventies and eighties, but gained new popularity with his portrayal of folksy Southern lawyer Ben Matlock from 1986 until 1995.

President George H.W. Bush presented the actor with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005.

Griffith was born on June 1, 1926 in Mt. Airy, North Carolina, a town that would forever be fabled as the inspiration for Mayberry. His early career included humorous stories; his “What It Was, Was Football” reached number nine on the charts in 1954. He appeared on television for the first time in an adaptation of the play “No Time for Sergeants” in 1955, and would reprise his role in the 1958 movie, in which he met Knotts. His love of music and singing, on display frequently during the Griffith show, led to several albums, including “I Love to Tell the Story: 25 Timeless Hymns,” in 1986, an album that went platinum.

His final television apparance came in the summer of 2010 during an ad campaign for Medicare.

Amazon Prime Adds Thousands of CBS Episodes

More viewing options are on the way to current customers of Amazon Prime, CBS and Amazon announced in a new deal on Wednesday.

The agreement brings 2,000 episodes from the CBS library to the service at no additional cost to consumers, bringing the total number of movies and TV shows available to more than 8,000.

Complete seasons of 18 television series, including the full Star Trek franchise, NUMB3RS, MEDIUM, Frasier and Cheers are part of the agreement. Starting this summer, Amazon Instant Video customers will be able to access dozens of CBS shows.

Though terms of the deal have not been disclosed, analysts have estimated that it could be worth as much as $100 million.

Amazon Instant Video is a paid streaming video service with more than 90,000 movies available for purchase or rental. Customers can watch from Amazon on a PC or Mac, or without a computer on an Amazon-compatible television set.

Pair of TV icons to appear on Y&R

Two upcoming guest appearances on THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS may have you doing a double take. Actresses Susan Olsen and Elinor Donahue will make cameos on the #1 daytime drama.

Olsen, best known for her role as Cindy Brady on ABC’s The Brady Bunch, will be playing Liza Morton, the owner of the preschool that several Genoa City residents’ children will be attending. Olson’s appearance is scheduled for Wednesday, September 1st.

Donahue, best known for her role as Betty ‘Princess’ Anderson on the classic CBS comedy FATHER KNOWS BEST and a brief role as Ellie Walker on THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW, will play Judge Anderson, who presides over the wedding of Billy Abbott and Victoria Newman on Wednesday, September 8th.

The characters of Billy and Victoria recently purchased a house they fell in love with because it appeared to be an exact replica of the Anderson home from the series.

THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS has been the #1-rated daytime drama for more than 21 years. The show is broadcast weekdays 12:30-1:30pm on LIVE 5 WCSC.

Preview CBS Fall Shows at live5news.com

You don’t have to wait until the summer to start seeing previews for the new shows CBS announced as part of its fall lineup.  You can see a sneak peek right now, by logging on to our homepage, live5news.com.

Look for the “Watch CBS Shows” link on the top navbar:

Click that, and you’ll see our video player, where you can watch the previews of the new shows, like HAWAII FIVE-O, along with other CBS shows and even some classic shows like THE TWILIGHT ZONE.

Super Bowl Sets TV Record

The 1983 finale of the CBS hit M*A*S*H has finally lost its long-held title as the most-watched television program in history.

Last night’s SUPER BOWL  was viewed by more than 106 million people, beating the last episode of the classic sitcom by about a half-million viewers.

That much-anticipated finale saw Hawkeye, B.J., Hot Lips and the rest of the 4077th M*A*S*H unit finally head home from the Korean War after eleven seasons, a run nearly three times longer than the actual conflict in Asia.

It goes as no surprise, of course, that last night’s game was also the most-watched Super Bowl, too. The previous game to hold that record was last year’s match-up between Arizona and Pittsburgh.

So whether you tuned in to see the action on the gridiron or the commercials, if you were watching, you were making television history! Thanks for being part of it!

Back to Hawaii?

Could the phrase, “Book ‘em, Danno” be returning to CBS? It’s possible.

The network is considering a remake of the classic 1970s detective drama HAWAII FIVE-0, and has ordered a pilot to be produced.

The executive producer of CSI: NY would also helm this pilot episode. Other than that, there aren’t many details about what would and what wouldn’t change in the remake.

The original version featured the late Jack Lord as Steve McGarrett, and its legendary theme music is still one of the most recognizable in television history. It premiered in 1968 and left the air in 1980. Years later, CBS returned to the islands with MAGNUM, P.I..

We’ll keep you posted if it looks like FIVE-0 will make it to the schedule!

Fifty Years in the Zone

For science fiction fans and classic TV buffs, today is a big day. It was half a century ago today that one of television’s most famous series made its debut right here on LIVE 5 WCSC.

That show was THE TWILIGHT ZONE.

The science fiction anthology series ran for just five seasons on CBS, but it is still a favorite and is regularly mentioned among the most favorite shows of all time.

The premiere episode was called, “Where is Everybody?” and starred Earl Holliman as an astronaut who finds himself in a deserted town desperate to find any signs of life. As his fear turns into paranoia, it is then revealed that it was all a delusion spawned by excessive time in solitary confinement, an experiment designed to test the affects of lonliness on a future astronaut as he travels into outer space.

Reliving the magic of creater Rod Serling’s series is as easy as going online! CBS offers full episodes available any time for free. Visit this page to take a trip into the Twilight Zone!

Which episode was your favorite?

Classic TV In New Spotlight

Some classic shows from the earliest days of television are being honored with a new series of postage stamps that will be available next week.

Among the longtime TV favorites are classic CBS shows that originally aired on LIVE 5 WCSC, including ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS, THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW, I LOVE LUCY, THE HONEYMOONERS and THE TWILIGHT ZONE.

And while we’re on the subject of classic TV, we must mention the classic video player at CBS.com, where you can watch episodes of shows like THE TWILIGHT ZONE, clips from THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW, and other hits like HAWAII FIVE-0 and the original STAR TREK. Just click here to visit that page and relive some great TV memories.