It’s the Same Old Song for ABC, Tarses

It takes a lot to excite a curmudgeonly bunch like the 150 television critics currently assembled in Pasadena to preview the new TV season. Still, that group seems positively giddy over the troubles plaguing ABC and has three days to explore them starting today. Beyond its sluggish ratings, the real hoopla surrounds the network’s seemingly endless management turmoil. A year ago, ABC spoofed the arranged corporate marriage between ABC Entertainment Chairman Ted Harbert and just-arrived President Jamie Tarses by having them enter while they played the Turtles song “Happy Together.” Harbert left ABC six months later, but now Tarses--at age 33, the first woman to run a network entertainment division--is the embattled one. She was recently given a new boss, ABC veteran Stu Bloomberg, and flayed in an unflattering New York Times Magazine profile. As a consequence, ABC is again dogged by speculation about personnel changes, in this case Tarses’ possible exit. (The coverage has become so overwrought in the New York tabloids that one paper has run an ongoing “Jamie Watch.”) The main event comes Wednesday, when Bloomberg and Tarses are scheduled to hold a joint press conference. Hollywood has been abuzz with speculation that the matter will be resolved this week. Whatever happens, the hungry press should have plenty to feast upon.

It’s All in the (Viacom) Family

Summertime, and the synergy is easy. Friday marks the opening of the second feature film effort spun off from Nickelodeon, “Good Burger” (the first was last summer’s “Harriet the Spy”). “Good Burger,” being released by Nickelodeon’s sister company Paramount against such fare as “Air Force One,” takes two wildly popular comedians from Nickelodeon’s comedy show “All That,” Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell, and blows up one of their funniest sketches--set in a fast-food joint--into a full feature. The partnership between Paramount and Nickelodeon (both owned by Viacom) promises to be a lucrative one; next up is expected to be a feature film of “Rugrats.” And meanwhile, the movie division of MTV, another Viacom network, is in full steam after the recent success of “Beavis and Butt-head Do America” (and despite the clunker “Joe’s Apartment”), with Mike Judge reportedly hard at work on a sequel to “Beavis” and a black comedy called “Dead Man on Campus” due out next spring.

Point Guard-Turned-Concert Promoter?

Now that the House of Blues-sponsored “Smokin’ Grooves” tour is in its second successful year (it’ll be at the Universal Amphitheatre on July 30 and 31), pop industry insiders are eager to see if the “Jamizon” tour can hit with equal impact. The connection is that both tours focus on R&B; music, which has been woefully under-represented on the U.S. concert scene in recent years. “Jamizon”--co-sponsored by Magic Johnson, Miller Lite and Vibe magazine--kicks off a 26-city swing on Wednesday in Jacksonville, Fla. The package, which will be at Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles on Aug. 23, offers a lineup of Keith Sweat, SWV, Kenny Lattimore, Brownstone and Mark Morrison. The tour also features such extras as an audio-visual salute to 50 years of black music, pieces of Magic Johnson memorabilia and a second stage of performers. Gary Bongiovanni, editor-in-chief of Pollstar magazine, says he’s optimistic about the tour’s box-office potential. “There are so few tours representing this genre that this one won’t be overwhelmed by any real competition,” he said.

One of the Few Early Mornings in Hollywood

When nominations for television’s 49th annual prime-time Emmy Awards are announced Thursday, a movie title--”The Usual Suspects”--may come to mind. Veteran shows seem destined to dominate the series balloting, since few of last season’s new programs emerged as critical favorites. As a result, the suspense may be limited to the movie categories, where Emmy candidates include made-for-TV productions starring the likes of Meryl Streep and Demi Moore, who appeared in ABC and HBO movies, respectively. As with the Oscar nominations, the announcement itself has become a made-for-TV event, held at 5:30 a.m. in order to air live in the East Coast on the network morning programs (early risers can watch the ceremony live here as well on various outlets, including E! Entertainment Television). The awards will be televised Sept. 14 on CBS and hosted by Bryant Gumbel. Emmy producer Don Mischer said he pushed for using Gumbel, wanting “intelligence and integrity” to be the watchwords of this year’s telecast. Consider it a bonus, then, that the telecast will help trumpet the launch of Gumbel’s new CBS prime-time program. In TV, both charity and self-promotion begin at home.