‘Lost’ fans in the US were relieved on Friday, January 29, 2010 when the White House assured that a crucial speech by President Barack Obama would not clash with the premier of the final season of the show.

This was reiterated by White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs at a recent White House press briefing when questioned on the subject by a journalist from an ABC news program.

ABC, a US television station, blocked off a three-hour slot on February 2, 2010 to screen the first episode of Lost which is one of the most popular shows in America. However, fans of the TV show were unsure if President Barack Obama would choose that very time to deliver his very first State of the Union address, which is by tradition scheduled for the last Tuesday of January every year.

The slot for the US president’s State of the Union address is always reserved in order to provide a national broadcast of the speech, regardless of scheduled programs.

Lost is about a group of travelers stranded on an island due to a plane crash. Since its first episode in 2004, the TV show has become immensely popular and has acquired an average of 16 million viewers per episode during its first season. The TV show is one of the most expensive due to its huge ensemble cast and is in its sixth season, with the final episode scheduled to air in May 2010.

3D movies will never be cheap to make, but as long as they become a hit, the production cost is not a matter of worry. James Cameron’s “Avatar” is a prime example of what 3D can do for a massive return on investment. However, have all 3D animated movies so successful? Let us look at ten notable movie successes and disasters.

10. “Shark Tale” - Criticized for its ethnic stereotyping, the DreamWorks movie also was torn to pieces by critics. The audiences apparently loved it though with the movie making $161 million domestically and $363 million worldwide. The production cost was only $75 million.

09. “The Wild” - This movie found the success of “Madagascar” a hard act to follow and limped ahead to a relatively small profit. The movie cost $80 million to make and managed to rake in only $124 million in total. Its main criticism was that it attempted to rip off “Madagascar”.

08. “Toy Story 2″ - It broke the sequel hoodoo and raked in $732 million in total justifying the $90 million investment by Pixar and Disney.

07. “The Incredibles” - Bringing in $892 Million as well as an Academy Award is not too bad a performance for any movie. The production budget for this 2004 Best Animated Feature was $92 million.

06. “Finding Nemo” - The Pixar juggernaut never fails and this movie helped cement that reputation by amassing a massive $1,205 million in total. The movie is still a favorite today and is awaiting a sequel. The production budget was capped at $94 Million.

05. “Treasure Planet” - A simultaneous release at regular and IMAX theaters failed to help this movie as it made only $29 million more than its $100 million budget. Perhaps Disney’s decision to release it against “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets”, “LOTR: The Two Towers” and “The Santa Clause 2″ was not the best of ideas.

04. “Monsters Inc.” - This movie cost $115 million to make and although its sales do not compare with “Finding Nemo” it still did well for Pixar bringing in $781 million.

03. “Dinosaur” - Made in 2000, the movie cost Disney $128 million but was spectacular enough to turn in a decent profit. The movie grossed $138 million in the U.S. and $356million worldwide.

02. “Final Fantasy: Spirits Within” - Despite having photo-realistic characters the movie failed massively due to one tiny crucial flaw. The story deviated from the one in the video game, thus alienating the videogame’s fan base. Square Pictures suffered heavily as the $137 million investment was never recovered as the movie made only $117 million totally.

01. “The Polar Express” - The book bearing the same name takes five minutes to read, yet the movie is 90 minutes long. The 2D version had minor success but disaster was averted by the conversion of the movie to 3D, which brought in a fair profit. Overall, the movie made $470 million, $300 million more than its production budget.

The sports telecasting juggernaut, otherwise known as ESPN, is expanding and shows no sign of slowing down. Its stranglehold over all things sporty seems to be growing as it extends its coverage of College Football Bowl games now. Consider this, out of the 34 games in the December - January period, ESPN covered 24. They also provided radio coverage for five of the games that were not telecast by them. Within this year, the only Football event, they will not cover is the Rose Bowl, but every other Bowl championship will be telecast over the Disney-owned channel.

ESPN’s near-monopoly on sporting events is not necessarily a bad thing, as they have excellent coverage and in-depth analysis of every sporting event. They have even started launching market-focused websites such as espnlosangeles.com, which puts them in an invincible position in the market. Their economic clout is such that, they can even impose their will in kickoff times and game schedules.

However, the coverage overkill and its strategic positioning in cable package offerings, where you pay for ESPN even if you do not watch it, among other things have come in for a lot of criticism. This is why many people hope that Comcast will be able to challenge the juggernaut.

Comcast’s new acquisition of NBC U will bring in NBC sports, which in addition to the Golf Channel and Versus, could form a decent threat.
However, that seems unlikely at the moment. The manner in which this decade will pan out will be an interesting watch, especially if ESPN is dethroned as the undisputed champion of sports broadcasting.

Unexpected as it is, Russia seems to loosening up a bit in terms of political satire. For the first time in over ten years, the unthinkable suddenly appeared on state TV. A satirical cartoon featuring President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was telecast and enjoyed by its citizens. The two and a half minute clip poked fun at the Olympics’ chief Jacques Rogge, Russian bureaucracy and the power play between the President and the Prime Minister.

The cartoon did not come close to taking the liberties that western media does, but it did signify a thawing in the policies of the Russian government in relation to media freedom. Not since the heyday of Boris Yeltsin has this type of lampooning been seen on Russian TV. During Yeltsin’s time NTV’s “Kukly” enjoyed massive success with political satires. However, immediately after Putin took over the satire, along with NTV, it died an unnatural death.

State TV is well known for its unabashed telecast of propaganda and praise for Russia’s two leaders. So, it came as a massive surprise when “Mult lichnosti”, a program that takes pot shots at public figures featured Medvedev and Putin. It was especially surprising that the clip was played immediately after the New Year address of President Medvedev to the nation. The good news is that the two characters will continue to be part of the show, which features the President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko and President Obama.

How long this will last is anybody’s guess. However, as long as it does, the Russians are enjoying a good laugh after a long time.

Ratings are called into question during this time of the year and it is time for another set of fresh TV series pilots to try their luck on the silver screen. Yes, it is Pilot season, although things have started out a little slowly.

ABC has two dramas that it is interested in; Off the Map is yet another medical drama from (surprise surprise) Shonda Rhimes. The team of Rhimes, Beers and Jenna Bans are responsible for this one, which is about three doctors working in a tropical medical clinic. The other drama titled Body of evidence is a Police procedural about a female medical examiner and is written by Chris Murphy. ABC is also picking up a comedy about a group of friends that experience a shake-up as a couple (within this group) decides to part ways. The single camera project is titled Happy Endings and is written by Dave Caspe.

Fox is going ahead with a project put forward by Ajay Sahgal, about two brothers who hail from a very traditional Indian background. One brother is a rebel and dates a non-Indian while the other is not, and agrees to an arranged marriage. The comedy revolves around their interactions within the family.

NBC picked up a multi-camera comedy called The Strip, starring Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon. The story is about a Hooters-like restaurant owned by a former child star. Lennon has been handed the lead role while Garant will play the supporting role.

CBC is still deciding on whether to take on The Odds, a project written by Jeff Wadlow about cops who are friends.

Rachel Eggebeen is the newest entrant to Shondaland, the production company run by Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers. The company is most famous for its hit offerings Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice.

Shondaland has been experiencing a lot of growth over the past few years and has been hiring new staff. Eggebeen has been hired as a development executive and is expected to bring in a lot of creative input as well. “We look forward to the creative expertise that Rachel brings to the company”, said Rhimes on the new addition to the Shondaland family.

Eggebeen’s credits include her roles as a Creative Executive with Section Eight Productions, as an Associate Producer on Pu-239 as well as working as an assistant to Charles Shyer and Michael Mann. She was involved in development and production at Paramount Vantage before her move to Shondaland.

She looks to be in for a busy time as the production company has quite a few projects that have been approved. These include “Year to Year”, a marriage-based drama written by J.J. Philbin from Heroes, “Off the Map” a drama on doctors written by Jenna Bans from Grey’s Anatomy; and “Love and Death,” which is a romantic crime drama set in San Francisco, written by Mark Wilding from Grey’s Anatomy.

“Off the map” will probably be aired first, as ABC has already given the go ahead for a pilot. The plot revolves around three doctors from mainland USA who choose to work in an isolated clinic at a tropical location.

The drama surrounding American Idol takes on a different stance this time around with the fate of Simon Cowell, the show’s most hated and loved judge - in the air. The show has established itself on the Fox network, at least until 2011, but Cowell’s $45 million-a-year deal ends this season.

The future of American Idol is still uncertain however - although figures estimate the franchise’s value at a whopping $2.5 billion in 2007 and fetches ad revenue with an annual figure touching $500 million. The show has also won Fox the 18-49 primetime adult segment for five seasons straight, and this time around - the sixth season is more or less assured with American Idol’s success bringing in Fox as the top network of the year for the first time.

Simon Cowell is a crucial part of the show. This season could prove to be the biggest yet with Cowell’s association to the show still up in limbo.
Last year the show added on a fourth judge, Kara DioGuardi, which disrupted the usual flow of the show, and the choice to bring around 36 semi finalists slowed down the pace of the show.

Preston Beckman, Fox’s scheduling and program strategy topper said, “There is still enormous goodwill for ‘American Idol’. This show is going into its ninth season, and it is rare for a show to stay as high, and grow, as ‘Idol’ has. Now we are in a normal, natural path. There is a little shedding of the audience. But this is the kind of show we can, with the right group of 12 kids, turn the ratings around a bit.”

Though Cowell’s possible exit could make or break the show, Paula Abdul’s departure will not have much of an effect on the show - although industry experts are still unsure of how her absence could change the usual going-ons of the show. Abdul brought in a sense of unpredictability to the show as well as huge doses of emotion - and somehow, she served as ‘peacemaker’ between Cowell’s personality and Randy Jackson’s incomprehensible comments.

Ellen DeGeneres replaces her - whom folks expect to bring in doses of humour, although it is doubtful if she will make the headlines as Abdul did. DeGeneres also does not have as much music experience as Paul Abdul does.

This year looks set to be full of upheavals and changes as shows, hosts and deals look shaky. Kicking things off are the negotiations for the broadcast of the Emmys, as the TV Academy’s deal with broadcasters ends this year. Rumors of a rival show are in the works and the inability on the part of the Academy to elect a CEO is fuelling the fire.

Nevertheless, speculation on that deal is nothing when it comes to determining the future of American Idol über- judge Simon Cowell. With his open refusal to continue next season, the theory is that either he is pushing to get “The X Factor” onto Fox or that he is holding out for a bigger payout. The smart money is on the X Factor theory - so far.

Staying with Idol, it remains to be seen how new judge Ellen DeGeneres will fare on the show as Paula Abdul’s replacement. While being the ratings juggernaut for sometime, American Idol has been consistently slipping from its summit and this season may be a defining moment for the show.

Spring brings new things and so will it decide the fate of “The Jay Leno Show”. Tumbling ratings have forced NBC to rethink altogether the future of the show. The problems for NBC do not end there as Leno’s replacement on “The Tonight Show”, Conan O’Brien continues to suffer as well. Fixing this problem is anybody’s guess.

On the News front, people will watch the battle between the newly promoted Diane Sawyer and Katie Couric eagerly as well as the progress of George Stephanopoulos in “Good Morning America” and his unnamed replacement on “This Week”.

With Bonnie Hunt and Tyra quitting and Oprah in her final season this has resulted in throwing the daytime talk show market wide open, leaving execs scrambling for replacement shows. With the renegotiations for the “Ellen Show” coming up in 2011, the problems seem to be mounting for the networks with no good news in sight.

2010, if anything, promises to be an “interesting” year.

With the overall consensus on Ninja Assassin being that it was ‘overly serious and incomprehensibly edited’, the movie seems to have failed to live up to the promise of its title. The low ratings received for the movie confirms that Hollywood will not have to endure a ninja craze.

The movie starts with a strong mix of traditional themes that get you all excited and pumped up with the opening scene, which talks of the ninja legend and then, wham bam - an explosion of violence.

Then come along these Europol agents who never stop talking and somehow the entire premise lies on the fact that ninjas do not exist - which of course every moviegoer knew and did not need any further explaining of.

The sequence of the scenes was too fast, which gave the feeling that there might have been a version of the story that made sense, but this one seemed to have been shortened to such an extremity that was more or less incomprehensible. The lengthy explanations and rigmaroles could have easily been done away with, which would have then at least then made this movie a better watch.

The movie has a few interesting bits which were the ninja preparations, the legend and the training scenes. Embracing something of a comic book feel, the effects however were sadly poor with CGI blood that looked absolutely terrible - although the killings were fabulously and outrageously gory.

The generic cop talk in the movie slowed down the pace of the movie and made it boring with terminology commonly used in TV shows making an appearance. As one critic put it: “This is one ninja flick that should have remained in the shadows…”

The old saying “Always leave ‘em wanting more,” is being taken way too far by networks. More TV shows seem to be taking extra long mid-year breaks during winter, as networks seem to be experimenting with the traditional schedules of prime time TV.

Glee, Fox’s brand new TV sensation is taking a four month hiatus before it hits TV schedules in April, while others also taking lengthy breaks are Fringe and Lie to Me.

ABC too seems to going ahead with big breaks with two of its science fiction shows; FlashFoward and V. Both premiered in November, and now will not be back until the end of March.

Jeff Bader, program planning and scheduling topper, ABC, “The viewers are more used to it. It’s a case of scripted mirroring what alternative series do.”

Of course there are reality shows like Survivor, Dancing with the Stars and America’s Next Top Model that usually take long breaks and rightly so in the case of such reality series. They have varied casts and storylines which do not leave its audiences hanging on until the next episode.

Shows like Glee and FlashForward however ended the fall with a fair number of loose ends - which means the long wait will only build up a bigger demand when they actually return.

“This isn’t like any of us have discovered a magic formula. We stumble into most things. Out of necessity, each network in its own way has thought up creative ways to split up the 22-episode order. These long hiatuses are becoming a bit more normal,” said Preston Beckman, Fox sked guru.