MTV's "Skins" doesn't premiere until 9 p.m. Monday (with a 10 p.m. repeat of the first episode), but it's already drawing fire from a self-appointed TV watchdog group.
"'Skins' may well be the most dangerous show for children that we have ever seen," said Tim Winter, president of the Parents Television Council.
That's not likely to hurt ratings for the glitzy American version of the glitzy British version, several seasons of which have already aired on BBC America.
I haven't screened MTV's version of "Skins," but it's said to be slightly toned down from the British original about a group of oversexed, usually drugged and drunk teens who live lives that are surprisingly independent from the adult world.
As over the top as the British original was, it frequently dealt with heavy topics, like death, with a surprising seriousness and sensitivity. It also drew detailed portraits of the various characters, something very few TV shows can pull off.
I'll be surprised if MTV's version is as edgy as the original -- although it's sure to be edgier than most U.S. TV shows.
Premiering this weekend: HBO is launching the final season of "Big Love" on Sunday at 9. If you're planning on watching Ricky Gervais again hosting "The Golden Globes" at 7 p.m. on Channel 4.
Here's a "Big Love" preview:
On TV: The two-hour episode of Fox's "Human Target" displaced by the president's Thursday night speech in Tucson will air tonight at 7 on Channel 6.
- With "The Green Hornet" coming to the big screen, Me-TV is running a marathon of the 1960s TV series from 10 a.m. through 11 p.m. Saturday. Me-TV is Channel 49.1 over the air, and Channel 19 on Time Warner and Charter cable systems.
- NBC says Steve Carell is leaving "The Office" in a late-April episode, which would give the show an entire May sweeps month to introduce the post-Michael Scott "Office."
- Bravo's planning a summer song-writing competition with Kara DioGuardi and Jewel as judges. Maybe they can hire Paula Abdul when her CBS dancing competition ends.
- Wendy Williams' syndicated talk show will be back for a third season this fall. It currently airs at 10 a.m. weekdays on Channel 6.
- CBS has confirmed all the rumors swirling around that it's adding veterans Russell Hantz and Rob Mariano to "Survivor: Redemption Island" when it premieres Feb. 16.
- Just to keep you updated, no Milwaukee radio hosts made it to the list of 10 finalists for the competition to be a one-day co-host on "Live! With Regis and Kelly."
- Today's the 59th birthday of NBC's "Today." Expect a year's worth of reminiscing as the morning show approaches its 60th birthday.
A video for Gleeks: Fans of Fox's "Glee" are the target for this Funny or Die video:
Tim Cuprisin is the media columnist for OnMilwaukee.com. He's been a journalist for 30 years, starting in 1979 as a police reporter at the old City News Bureau of Chicago, a legendary wire service that's the reputed source of the journalistic maxim "if your mother says she loves you, check it out." He spent a couple years in the mean streets of his native Chicago, and then moved on to the Green Bay Press-Gazette and USA Today, before coming to the Milwaukee Journal in 1986.
A general assignment reporter, Cuprisin traveled Eastern Europe on several projects, starting with a look at Poland after five years of martial law, and a tour of six countries in the region after the Berlin Wall opened and Communism fell. He spent six weeks traversing the lands of the former Yugoslavia in 1994, linking Milwaukee Serbs, Croats and Bosnians with their war-torn homeland.
In the fall of 1994, a lifetime of serious television viewing earned him a daily column in the Milwaukee Journal (and, later the Journal Sentinel) focusing on TV and radio. For 15 years, he has chronicled the changes rocking broadcasting, both nationally and in Milwaukee, an effort he continues at OnMilwaukee.com.
When he's not watching TV, Cuprisin enjoys tending to his vegetable garden in the backyard of his home in Whitefish Bay, cooking and traveling.
