Morning Links: 2/7/12

Welcome to the Morning Links. Each weekday, I’ll provide you with some interesting television-related news items culled from the various TV websites I frequent on a regular basis with a slight bit of commentary attached. Pretty straightforward – no fuss, no muss. Let’s get to it:

*According to EW’s James Hibberd, Super Bowl XLVI (even though the end result sucked a big one) became the most-watched television program in history by attracting 111.3 million viewers on Sunday night, good for an INSANE 40.5 rating in the coveted 18-49 demographic. The fact that four of the top five most-viewed television programs of all-time are the last four Super Bowls is incontrovertible proof that football is king in the United States. As it damn well should be. It also boosted the second-season premiere of The Voice to the biggest non-sports rating (37.6 million and a 16.3 rating among 18-49 year-olds) in six years. Again… football = king.

*So M.I.A. flipped off the camera during her appearance with Madonna at halftime of the Super Bowl on Sunday night. I’d like to think that middle finger was directed straight at the Parents Television Council because those fascists deserve a big one being waved right in their collective faces. Danger Guerrero over at Warming Glow has a much more eloquent take than mine on the subject. Seriously – go read it.

*Will Ferrell did an ad for his pro-bono Old Milwaukee ad campaign that for some reason only aired in Nebraska during the Super Bowl. Because of course he did. (Via The AV Club)

*According to TVLine, ABC Family has picked up a new series from Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino that stars Broadway mainstay Sutton Foster (Flight Of The Conchords) as a Las Vegas showgirl who gets married and moves to the small town that her new husband grew up in. Yeah… I realize it doesn’t sound like the most exciting premise in the world but Sherman-Palladino created Gilmore Girls and if anyone tries to say anything negative about Gilmore Girls I swear I will end you.

*Cougar Town finally returns for its third season a week from tonight at 8:30 on ABC. Creator Bill Lawrence has taken the unusual step of releasing a trailer that shows much of the upcoming season’s goings-on as a way of enticing people who may not have sampled the show before. Believe it or not, despite its horrendous title, it’s actually one of the funniest shows on television. Do yourself a favor and check out the trailer. You’ll see what I’m talking about. (Via Hitfix)

*Hitfix’s Alan Sepinwall has an interview with the Teresa Rebeck, the creator of NBC’s latest big hope, Smash. I admit that shows like Smash aren’t usually my bag and NBC’s incessant pimping of the show over the past month has been off-putting but there are a lot of people – including Sepinwall – who I have a lot of respect for who’ve said that it’s actually a pretty good show so I plan on at least checking out the pilot on Hulu later in the week.

*This doesn’t come as a complete surprise, but HBO announced that Paz de la Huerta will not return for the upcoming third season of Boardwalk Empire. It’s not like her Lucy Danziger character will be missed but, I think I speak for everyone when I ask, “Where’s all the gratuitous nudity going to come from now?”