Posted Oct 2nd 2008 3:02PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Music and Variety, Celebrities, Reality-Free
Rumors have been swirling for months that Rosie O'Donnell was in negotiations with NBC to create her own show. There were even rumors that she would get a talk show on MSNBC to compliment Keith Olbermann's show (though now Rachel Maddow has that gig). Instead, it has been announced that
Rosie will host a variety show on NBC on Thanksgiving Eve, November 26.
It's called
Rosie's Variety Hour, because it's hosted by Rosie, it features variety, and it's going to last 60 minutes. Rosie will do a monologue and introduce musical and comedy acts, and they'll be big prizes for people in the studio audience and people watching at home. Rosie compares the show to Carol Burnett, Ed Sullivan, and Sonny & Cher. She had me at the first two. I'd love to see a show like that on TV again. Not sure about the last one, but I think I know what she means.
If the show is a hit, you might see it as a weekly series.
Continue reading Rosie O'Donnell is coming to your house for Thanksgiving
Posted Sep 17th 2008 12:02PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: Industry, OpEd, Music and Variety, Cancellations, Reality-Free
I guess the real news should be "MTV's
Total Request Live is still on", because I -- and anybody else that is over twelve years old and/or doesn't listen to the Jonas Brothers -- had definitely forgotten about it. Really, what can be said about a program that started going downhill
after Carson Daly left? The show will attempt to go out with
some semblance of a bang in the form of a two-hour Saturday afternoon special next month. I'm not sure if anyone will cry, but I can almost guarantee plenty of unnecessary gyration and poorly-wailed lyrics.
Continue reading MTV's Total Request Live is totally cancelled
Posted Sep 13th 2008 2:10PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Late Night, News, Saturday Night Live, Music and Variety, Reality-Free
In what can only be labeled as the "shock of the decade," Richard Huff of the New York
Daily News has reported that
Tina Fey will return to Saturday Night Live tonight to play Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee.
I've gotta tell ya, as far as the surprise factor is concerned, this ranks right up there with fall of the Berlin Wall and the Challenger explosion. I mean, Fey looks
nothing like Palin. That's especially true when she's wearing her glasses; I can't seem to see any resemblance at all between the two at all in that case.
But I guess Lorne Michaels thought that Fey was the best person for the job, and asked her to take some time from knocking out
30 Rock episodes to play this woman. Maybe she'll be able to pull off the impression, though I can't imagine how.
Posted Aug 28th 2008 5:25PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: OpEd, Music and Variety, Awards
There's a difference between cheap, tawdry publicity stunts that are (pop) culturally significant and those that are just, well, cheap and tawdry. An example of the former is
Madonna's infamous VMA performance from 2003 in which she performed and locked lips with not only
Christina Aguilera, but
Britney Spears as well. An example of the latter would be basically anything involving
Katy Perry.
if you've walked past a TV, into a retail store or gotten into a car this summer, chances are you've heard Katy Perry's single, "I Kissed a Girl." There's an even bigger chance that if you just read that sentence, "I Kissed a Girl" is now going to be stuck in your head for the rest of the day. Perry is performing that song during this year's
VMA telecast on September 7th, and if you haven't already guessed, she's looking for a girl to kiss.
Continue reading Katy Perry plans to make out with a female celeb at the VMAs
Posted Aug 26th 2008 8:19AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Programming, OpEd, Music and Variety, Children, Ratings, Reality-Free
I have a tween-aged girl in the household, so we watch a fair amount of
Disney Channel. I'll come clean and even announce that
Miley Cyrus,
The Cheetah Girls, and Demi Lovato share iPod space with AC/DC, Jeff Beck, and Aerosmith. Hey, those Disney Channel tunes are catchy, and they're easy to dance, I mean, walk to. I draw the line at the
Jonas Brothers, though.
But about 10 minutes into the new
Cheetah Girls: One World movie the other night, my daughter looked at me and said, "I was really hoping these Cheetah Girls movies would get better." Yeah, me, too.
I actually liked the first two movies, in 2003 and 2006, respectively. The second, directed by
High School Musical alum Kenny Ortega, was a downright cute tale about the Girls' escapades in Spain.
Continue reading Cheetah Girls scores high in ratings - Say what?
Posted Aug 25th 2008 1:39PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Music and Variety, Celebrities, Reality-Free
He's survived being encased in ice, being buried alive in a grave, being trapped in a plexiglass box high in the air, holding his breath underwater for Oprah, and standing on top of a pedestal for a few days, but this is the first stunt where magician David Blaine will wear magnetic footwear. Take that, Criss Angel!
ABC has announced the next special to feature Blaine, who seems to be loved and loathed in equal measure. The show is titled "The Dive of Death," and will feature Blaine walking on the underside of a thin wire high above Wollman Rink in New York City. He'll do it for three days and nights, with the help of magnetic boots. On a related note, "The Dive of Death" also describes the bar down the street from my apartment.
Continue reading David Blaine to strap on magnetic boots for next stunt
Posted Aug 25th 2008 10:20AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Programming, OpEd, American Idol, Music and Variety, TV Squad Lists, So You Think You Can Dance
It's sad when you can't remember who won the last American Idol. Oh yeah, David Cook. And we're avid fans around this house, too.
Simon Cowell probably remembers, but, apparently, he's as bored as the rest of us. In a TVGuide.com story, he says of Season 7, "I was a little bored ... I think [last season] the talent was great, and the ratings were great, I just think it could be more interesting and controversial."
That's why he plans to mix it up a little come January 2009, when he'll be taking a larger role in the show, perhaps compensating for executive producer Nigel Lythgoe stepping back to focus on his other show, So You Think You Can Dance.
Simon's not saying how he'll shake things up, but I have a few ideas:
Continue reading Simon Cowell to shake up American Idol - I've got some ideas for him
Posted Aug 15th 2008 12:01PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Music and Variety, Reality-Free
Generally speaking, I'm not an anti-remake person. There are times when a remake is perfectly acceptable and oftentimes can improve upon the best of the original, like
Battlestar Galactica, for instance. However -- you knew that was coming, didn't you? -- this remake just sounds like a disaster in the making.
MTV is going to turn The Rocky Horror Picture Show into a TV movie. They will take the 1975 cult classic sci-fi, horror musical spoof and give it a 2008 spin.
Oh, please! You cannot strike lightning twice.
Rocky Horror was a phenomenon. It was a cult classic because the people who found and supported the movie in all those midnight movie showings felt like they were part of a "with it" crowd. It was like we had all found a diamond in the rough, a film that Hollywood just didn't get. How can MTV possibly think they'll recapture that zeitgeist in a TV movie?
Continue reading MTV plans remake of The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Posted Aug 12th 2008 12:25PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: OpEd, Video, Music and Variety, Celebrities, Awards
We all know the story:
Britney Spears got divorced, shaved her head, beat a car with an umbrella, went to rehab for a little while, and generally acted in an unstable fashion in front of the paparazzi. Then, last year, she was supposed to put all of that behind her and reclaim her rightful crown as a pop princess by performing her new single, "Gimme More" at the
MTV Video Music Awards.
So she opened the show--but her performance was more befitting a zombie stripper than a multi-platinum artist. Things continued to go downhill for a while, until her dad stepped in. After that, it was better extensions, visits with her kids and guest spots on
How I Met Your Mother. It was good all around.
Now, after several months of relative stability, Britney may be ready for a comeback from her comeback. Along with VMA host
Russell Brand, Spears is starring in a couple of promos for the VMAs. The videos are after the jump.
Continue reading Don't call it a comeback: Britney's VMA promos - VIDEOS
Posted Aug 8th 2008 8:08AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: TV Royalty, Programming, OpEd, American Idol, Music and Variety, Celebrities, Talk Show, Host, Emmys, Reality-Free
In the Lame Title Department,
ABC's annual New Year's Eve show will now be called
Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest.
I dunno...couldn't they have come up with something snappier? Like maybe
Dick and Ryan's New Year's Rockin' Eve ... oh never mind.
Anyway, it's old news that
Ryan Seacrest has been co-hosting the show for the past three years with
Dick Clark, who
suffered a stroke several years ago. But now
Seacrest has his name in the title, so I guess it's official.
Continue reading Ryan Seacrest's name added to New Year's Rockin' Eve
Posted Aug 6th 2008 6:01PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Music and Variety, Celebrities, Reality-Free
If you've ever seen Bette Midler on stage in concert or on one of her TV specials -- when they used to really do musical specials that were more than just filmed concerts -- you know that The Divine Miss M knows how to put on quite a show. There are songs, dancers, hula skirts, motorized wheelchairs, weepy ballads, clackers, Soph jokes and ukuleles. And the music is all live!
Currently, Bette's encamped at Caesar's Palace doing
The Showgirl Must Go On. Talking about state of today's divas and referred to The Buggles song "Video Killed the Radio Star" to take a broad shot as MTV. No, she wasn't turning all prudish and complaining about the morality of MTV. No way.
Continue reading Bette Midler blasts MTV - VIDEO
Posted Aug 6th 2008 10:01AM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: Music and Variety, Celebrities
Bob Saget's Comedy Central roast was filmed Sunday night, and the typically raunchy affair may have crossed the line a little bit. Despite being a famously foul-mouthed comedian himself, Saget is best known for playing warm and fuzzy Danny Tanner on
Full House. It was because of this famous role that most of the jokes centered on two of his diminutive co-stars:
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen.
Whether it was
Gilbert Gottfried suggesting that Saget seduced the twins with chocolate milkshakes or Uncle Jesse himself,
John Stamos, saying things like, "The whole time Bob and I were doing
Full House, he was also hosting
America's Funniest Home Videos. His entire job consisted of saying 'Take a look at this' which is what he used to say to Mary Kate in her dressing room," the subject of inappropriate relations with children was apparently a high source of comedy.
Continue reading Bob Saget + sex jokes about the Olsens = awkward
Posted Aug 1st 2008 8:38AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Music and Variety, Celebrities, Dancing With The Stars
Kathy Griffin may be the ultimate D-lister, but the Emmy-winning star of Bravo's reality hit
Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D List, is really a smart cookie in my book.
She told TV's Extra that she turned down Dancing with the Stars, a top-drawer, sort of B-list opportunity. "I have a hard offer for
Dancing with the Stars," she revealed, adding that it's not for her. "I can't even touch my toes!"
Now, before you think Kathy was being haughty or superior, to me she was just being smart. While appearing on
Dancing with the Stars would be a great chance for exposure, appearing on
DWTS is one of the toughest gigs in show business. I hand it to Kathy for knowing her limitations. The kind of physical workout involved is just too much, especially if you figure that you're likely to embarrass yourself. I mean, what did a stint on
DWTS do for Penn Jillette?
Continue reading Kathy Griffin says no thanks to Dancing with the Stars
Posted Jul 24th 2008 7:03AM by Kristin Sample
Filed under: OpEd, Music and Variety, Celebrities, Reality-Free
The
Teen Choice Awards will feature a dance battle between two of the toughest, roughest, street-est (not a word, I know) dance crews around. No, Lil C and his crew won't be there crumping. Miley Cyrus and Mandy Jiroux's M&M Cru will battle ACDC, the dance crew featuring Jon M. Chu and Adam Sevani of
Step Up 2: The Streets. The two crews are BFFs and they challenged each other back in April. A more heated rivalry has not been seen since TuPac and Biggie. Yeah! Totally street. "Street" is even in the name of the movie.
The
Teen Choice Awards have some other performers and appearances lined up too. But they're not "street" so who cares? Shia LaBeouf, David Archuleta, James Marsden, Sophia Bush, Josh Holloway, Scarlett Johansson, Zac Efron, Pink, JoJo, Kristen Bell, and Hayden Panettiere are some of the other names previously announced. Mariah Carey is slated to perform her new single, "I'll Be Lovin' You Long Time."
The
Teen Choice Awards will air on August 4th at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Fox.
Posted Jul 21st 2008 1:21PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Sports, Industry, Music and Variety, Reality-Free
I remember watching the halftime show of the 2004 Super Bowl and seeing Janet Jackson's nipple at the end of her duet with Justin Timberlake. I couldn't believe what I had just seen and I knew it was going to be a big thing. Of course, no one knew at the time just how big it was going to become. It actually changed the way TV shows are presented now.
But here's some good news for logic: a federal appeals court has thrown out the $550,000 fine that the FCC gave CBS for broadcasting the football boob scene. In the ruling the court said the FCC acted "arbitrarily and capriciously" when they handed out the fine.
Continue reading Goodbye, $550,000 Janet Jackson boob fine
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