Ellen Gray: Forget viewers - CW's 'Gossip Girl' is the talk of the town

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – One of the great mysteries of the CW – other than why anyone would call a noncountry western network the CW – is why it's building much of its fall season around one of the least-successful shows on television,.

But according to CW entertainment president Dawn Ostroff, who next season will add the rich teens of "90210" and "Privileged" to the network's lineup, it's not "Gossip Girl" that's the problem, it's the Nielsens.

" 'Gossip Girl' is one of the great mysteries of the television universe," Ostroff told reporters this weekend. "We have a show that everybody is talking about. We do research all over the country. We can't go anywhere without having women talk about 'Gossip Girl.' "

Still, when the show returned from the writers strike, it was to an audience of fewer than 2 million viewers.

Ostroff sees a "disconnect," noting that there's an ad agency, Optimedia, that's created its own ratings system, one that counts "television, downloads, iTunes, mobile."

On that list, she said, "Gossip Girl" is actually at No. 15 of all the shows on television. (No word on whether Al Gore is finishing his second term.)

"Every viewer must be counted, and no viewer should be left behind," she said.

One of the stranger aspects of the TCA's summer meetings is how a schedule packed with interview opportunities from morning till late night forces people who get paid to watch television to abandon it for a couple of weeks.

Many of us, to be honest, can't tell you which pooch is which on "Greatest American Dog" – though the canine contestants that showed up to a CBS party Thursday night all seemed pretty cute – but if the TV sets in our room aren't getting much of a workout, our laptops are, and the biggest hit here is probably "Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog," the three-part musical from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" producer Joss Whedon that's an online phenomenon.

Free viewing at drhorrible.com was supposed to expire last night, but it's still available at iTunes, where as of yesterday, it represented the Top 3 TV downloads.

Neil Patrick Harris, of CBS' "How I Met Your Mother," stars as the arch-villain-in-training title character.

"Joss Whedon called me during the [writers] strike and said, 'I want to not picket but make some content for the Web and sort of try and reinvent things,' and I said, 'Yes.' And he said, 'Well, wait a second – I haven't even told you what I want to do yet,' " said Harris, whose "HIMYM" character, Barney, probably deserves to be named America's greatest dog.

"And then he pitched the show and I said, 'Absolutely yes,' you know. To be asked by Joss Whedon, of all people, to play the title character in a super-villain musical – you can't say no to that. That's a once-in-a-lifetime. The music is really great. I hope that they release the soundtrack relatively soon, 'cause I still listen to the songs ad nauseam, and I was in it."

TV critics and Emmy voters don't always see eye to eye – hello, James Spader again? – but you might not have guessed it Saturday night as the producers and stars of AMC's "Mad Men" made it to the stage three times during the Television Critics Association's 24th annual awards show.

Just a couple of days after receiving 16 Emmy nominations, the set-in-the-'60s drama about workers at a Madison Avenue advertising agency was honored as TCA's program of the year, outstanding new program and outstanding new drama.

The '60s also got a shout-out from awards-show hosts Tom and Dick Smothers, who next year mark the 40th anniversary of their once-controversial show's cancellation by CBS.

You can't see the TCA awards show on television, and it tends to be a relaxed affair. Paul Giamatti capped his win for individual achievement in drama for HBO's "John Adams" by telling critics the miniseries had been a "nut-buster" for everyone involved, a theme picked up by "Adams" producer Tom Hanks in a funny acceptance of the award for movies, miniseries and specials.

Upper Darby's Tina Fey won for individual achievement in comedy and for outstanding comedy for NBC's "30 Rock," a show whose ratings aren't nearly as good as its reviews. "It's a great time to be in broadcast television, isn't it? It's like being in vaudeville in the '60s," she joked.

HBO's "The Wire," nominated for just one Emmy in its final season, received the group's Heritage Award, which recognizes "a long-standing program that has had a lasting cultural or social impact," while Lorne Michaels, longtime producer of NBC's "Saturday Night Live," was honored for career achievement.

Also winning: PBS' "The War," for news and information, and PBS' "Word Girl," for children's programming. *

Ellen Gray is attending the Television Critics Association's summer meetings in Beverly Hills. Read more at go.philly.com/ellengray or send e-mail to graye@phillynews.com.