USA Network Announces Second Annual Character Approved Awards

USA Network announced today the ten honorees for the second annual Character Approved Awards, a multimedia campaign honoring individuals who are changing the face of American culture. Inspired by USA’s Characters Welcome brand, the initiative is dedicated to celebrating the true trailblazers across a variety of disciplines such as art, philanthropy, new media and film.

“Character Approved is a celebration of the real Characters making an impact on our culture today,” said Chris McCumber, USA executive vice president, marketing, digital and brand strategy. “Our honorees are all at the top of their game, and we’re thrilled to shine a light on their unique accomplishments.”

Character Approved honorees are innovators in their field who are influencing our opinions, our style and our view of the world. They surprise us and inspire us with fresh ideas. They are celebrated by their peers and have an authentic style. USA recognizes these ten individuals for their cultural impact, legacy and persona with the hallmark of recognition, the USA Network “seal of approval”:

-Green Day, Grammy Award-winning rock band (Music)
-Kathryn Bigelow, Academy Award-nominated film director, “The Hurt Locker” (Film/TV)
-Nora Ephron, best-selling novelist, Academy Award-nominated screenwriter and playwright (Writing)
-Narciso Rodriguez, multiple award-winning American fashion designer (Fashion)
- Angela Brooks, groundbreaking sustainable architect, principal of Pugh + Scarpa Architects (Architecture)
- Kehinde Wiley, revolutionary urban arts painter (Art)
- Yves Behar, innovative industrial designer of the Jawbone Bluetooth headset and the $100 XO laptop (Design)
-Dan Barber, renowned restaurateur, Blue Hill and Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture (Food)
-Jessica Jackley, social entrepreneur and microfinancier, co-founder Kiva.org (Giving)
- Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy, game creators of Guitar Hero and Rock Band (New Media/Technology)

The honorees will be featured in vignettes introduced by Mark Feuerstein (ROYAL PAINS) and directed by Henry Alex Rubin (Murderball), which will debut Thursday, February 25 on USA Network. The vignettes provide an inside look at the lives, the works and influences of these characters, and will be aired over the course of six weeks across the network’s programming and online at characterapproved.usanetwork.com.

To recognize the Character Approved honorees and their accomplishments, USA in partnership with Vanity Fair will host an invitation-only VIP cocktail reception in New York City on Thursday, February 25. The event will be held at the iconic IAC Building, which was designed by Frank Gehry. USA’s Mark Feuerstein will officially unveil the 2010 honorees and their on-air vignettes. Performing live will be the cast of Green Day’s “American Idiot.” This will be their first live appearance in New York City ahead of the show’s Broadway debut on Wednesday, March 24. Alexandra Richards will be holding court as the DJ for the evening and several from USA’s roster of stars will be in attendance, as well as many of the 2010 Character Approved honorees.

In the program’s inaugural year of 2009, USA honored seven visionary characters including Lupe Fiasco, Shepard Fairey, David Chang, Patrick Robinson, Charles Best, Jimmy Wales and Jennifer Siegal.

For more information on Character Approved, visit characterapproved.usanetwork.com.

Two of USA Networks Hottest Shows Law & Order: Criminal Intent and In Plain Sight premiere Sunday, April 19th!

USA Network will be airing 16 all new episodes for season eight of LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT produced by Wolf Films and Universal Cable Productions. LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT was created and executive produced by Emmy Award winning producer Dick Wolf and developed by Rene Balcer. CRIMINAL INTENT veers from the traditional “Law & Order” format by taking viewers into the minds of its criminal while following the psychological approaches the Major Case Squad uses to solve the crimes. LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT premieres Sunday, April 19 at 9/8c
Academy Award and Emmy nominee Jeff Goldblum (“Raines,” “Jurassic Park”) has joined the cast for the season eight and will be playing Zach Nichols, a detective who was born and bred in New York City, particularly the Upper West Side.

Premiere Episode Review:

After much delay the new season of Law & Order: Criminal Intent is here! Detectives Eames and Goren start the new season off with a case involving corrupt politics, with a certain surprise twist. While there is a new case to solve each week and the storyline continues to move forward I can not help but feel that the show, or perhaps rather the relationship between the characters of Goren and Eames has grown a bit stale over the course of seven seasons. What is great for this season is Jeff Goldblum, who brings his own dynamic personality to his character of detective Zach Nichols, and may just give this show the breath of fresh air it truly needs to survive amidst some of the strong crime dramas on network TV these days. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the season will continue to build up steam, and I am hoping that some of the spark will return to the characters of Goren and Eames to keep things interesting!

Premiere Episode Clip:

IN PLAIN SIGHT, USA Network’s newest original scripted series, starring Mary McCormack, will return for season two on Sunday, April 19, 2009 at 10/9c. The series was created and written by David Maples (“Home Improvement,” “Huff”), who serves as executive producer alongside Paul Stupin (“Dawson’s Creek,” “Beautiful People”). IN PLAIN SIGHT was shot entirely on location in and around Albuquerque, NM.
Proving again that USA is the home to new hits, IN PLAIN SIGHT was the #1 new original series of the year for both P25-54 (2.66 million) and P18-49 (2.28 million). This is the third year in a row USA has had the #1 new series in these key demos (PSYCH in 2006, BURN NOTICE in 2007). IN PLAIN SIGHT helped drive USA to #1, where it has remained for three consecutive years. The show stars McCormack as Mary Shannon, a U.S. Marshal working in the highly secretive branch of the witness protection program (WITSEC) who relocates Federal Witnesses - many of them who are career criminals, and many who are innocents that had the misfortune of witnessing a crime. They all have one thing in common – someone wants them dead. Mary's job is to see that doesn't happen, while at the same time attempting to manage her own dysfunctional family. IN PLAIN SIGHT also stars Frederick Weller, Lesley Ann Warren, Nichole Hiltz, Paul Ben-Victor, Cristian de la Fuente and Todd Williams.

Premiere Episode Review:

I can definitely say that I am big fan of In Plain Sight, and the premiere episode jumps right in and captures the audiences attention from start to finish. When last season left off, Mary had managed to escape her captors, and with the ingenious help of Raph, keep her little sister Brandi out of any serious legal troubles. This season starts off with Mary jumping right back into work, however I am not truly certain that she has dealt with all the mental consequences of going through an ordeal such as hers, it appears she may be suffering from a form of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and we may see a side of Mary's character that is not as strong as she appears. The same snarky humor and creative witness situations are in place and those are some of the factors that made audiences fall in love with this show in the first place. If the premiere is any indication, we are looking to see a strong season from this show and I truly believe it will be around for many more seasons to come! Set your Tivo's, this is one not to miss!

Premiere Episode Clip: