Access Atlanta > Entertainment > Radio Talk > Archives > 2008 > September
September 2008
10/1: A talk with Billy Bush now on Q100
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Billy Bush, seen daily at 7 p.m. on WAGA-TV as host of “Access Hollywood,” is trying to emulate Ryan Seacrest by dabbling in radio, too. Bush can now be heard on a syndicated nightly show on Q100 from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m.
“There’s something so much more visceral about radio,” Bush told me Tuesday, before interviewing Jenny McCarthy. “And it’s much harder than reading a teleprompter.”
He said radio is another outlet to break news and do post celebrity interviews that can’t be done on camera. He also said he’s not going to just regurgitate stories from the Web or other TV shows. He’ll be able to get info himself using the resources of the 200 employees at “Access,” which draws about 4 million viewers a night.
On Q100, so far, he is doing mostly pre-taped pop culture bits a few times an hour between songs. “The best thing the show brings to Q100 is we get world-class interviews,” said operations manager Rob Roberts. “He has a presence and first-hand knowledge most radio stations don’t get.”
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9/30: B98.5’s Delilah at Buckhead Borders Friday
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Delilah can be easily mocked for her love song dedication show, which is heard on 222 stations nationwide including B98.5. The people who call in are almost over-the-top in love and have a tendency to want to hear something by Celine Dion. And Delilah indulges them in a honeysuckle warm voice and a distinctive laugh.
But she has inoculated herself by making fun of herself, dubbing herself “the Queen of Sappy Love Songs.”
“Who in the world is sappier than me?” Delilah asked in a phone interview earlier this month. “Maybe Mr. Rogers, God rest his soul.”
It seems inevitable that she’d eventually write a book — because doesn’t everybody?
Hers is, not surprisingly, called “Love Matters.” It’s a compilation of 50 of the favorite stories she’s heard over her 12 years doing her syndicated radio show. “There are so many beautiful, compelling and inspiring stories that only gets three minutes of airtime,” she said. “This is a way to make them a little more permanent.” She said she literally had enough good stories to fill 50 books.
“Love matters” is the crux of her philosophy in life although she is self deprecating about her own relationships. She’s been through three marriages that didn’t work out and she isn’t shy about owning up to her issues. “That’s what compels my listeners to share what they share,” she said. “There are ways to make a mistake and figure it out. Sometimes, I wasn’t sure if I made the mistake quite good enough so I’d revisit it.”
She’ll be signing it Friday October 3 at 7 p.m. at Borders, 3637 Peachtree Road next to that Circuit City.
If you happen to be a big Delilah fan (or foe), email me at rho@ajc.com. I’d love to interview you for a story in the print edition.
Although she doesn’t mind talking about her personal life, she doesn’t like discussing where she lives (she’s on the West Coast.). Her problem? Stalkers. “When they listen to me, they feel a connection that sometimes violates a few boundaries,” she said. “They start thinking they’re supposed to be involved with me.”
“There are groupies,” she added. “Then there are freaky groupies. One guy told me we were husband and wife in a previous life. Now—not so much.”
Deliliah said she has grown more tolerant over the years, less judgmental. “Early on, when someone says they moved in with their boyfriend, I’d ask, ‘When are you getting married?’ Now maybe if I slowed down a bit myself, I wouldn’t have made such bad choices!” (She compares herself to Bridget Jones, singing “All By Myself” in her apartment.)
Now dating, she said “I am extremely happy. I’ve never been this peaceful. Or content. Or exhausted. But it’s a good exhausted.”
Believe it or not, over her 33 years on the radio, Delilah has been a country DJ and even a classic rock DJ in Seattle. Her favorite classic rock hit not often heard on B98.5: “Barracuda” by Heart. In country land, she recalls wearing satin pants and meeting Tanya Tucker. She began syndication of this love song dedication show in 1996 and joined Peach 94.9 in 1997. When Peach died in 2006, B98.5 grabbed her immediately.
She said she takes 50 to 100 calls a day but only airs 25, seeking only those that are positive or inspiring. A guy who once dedicated a song to his mistress didn’t make the cut for that reason. Five or six songs an hour are preprogrammed. She picks the other five or six.
Delilah says she can’t sing a lick but remembers lyrics. She can hear a story and come up with an appropriate song almost immediately.
Delilah lives on a farm with 32 chickens, six horses, a goat, two rabbits, three dogs, two cats and two lovebirds. Yes, two lovebirds. Not one. (“That’d be an out-of-love bird.”)
She also has seven adopted kids as well as three biological children. When she said she sounded like Angelina Jolie, she demurred. “I wish I looked like Angelina! My oldest child is Angelina’s age so I’ve been doing this a long time!”
-Update on “Project Runway,” which may not end up on Lifetime after all. The New York Post reports that the Weinstein Co., which owns the show, may force NBC to move the show to NBC itself if the company has to keep it in the family, not Bravo. NBC Universal, which owns Bravo, filed a lawsuit a few months back when it found out Weinstein was moving “Project” to Lifetime, claiming it had right of first refusal. A judge last week agreed, freezing the ability of Lifetime to prep for “Project’ to come there in early 2009. The show is now in legal limbo.
-Here’s a photo of Alan Alda I took last Friday at the Atlanta Press Club luncheon. He’s 72 years old, promoting his book “Things I Overheard While Talking To Myself.” He’s quite thoughtful and always amusing. He won’t talk politics, though it isn’t difficult to figure out his preferences.
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9/29: “Survivor” Marcus Lehman gets more exposure than expected, Paul Newman dedication on TCM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Those eagle eyes at Tmz.com caught Emory Med School grad Marcus Lehman running in boxer shorts on “Survivor” and inadvertently exposed a bit of his private bits. The editors missed it. TMZ did not. He was ironically chasing after a big ball during the immunity challenge.
The moment was so fleeting I doubt the Parents Television Council will get excited about this one. And TMZ blurred it out on its site.
The next episode is on Thursday at 8 p.m. on CBS.
-TCM is hosting a 24-hour dedication to Paul Newman Sunday October 12.
Here’s the schedule:
The following is the complete schedule for TCM’s Oct. 12 tribute to Paul Newman:
6 a.m. The Rack (1956) - Paul Newman plays a Korean War veteran who has been brainwashed and is now on trial for treason in this taut drama based on a Rod Serling teleplay. Walter Pidgeon and Wendell Corey co-star.
8 a.m. Until They Sail (1957) - This drama directed by Robert Wise tells the story of four sisters each struggling to find love and happiness in New Zealand during World War II. Newman plays a Marine captain who falls for one of the sisters, a widow played by Jean Simmons. This film marks Newman’s emergence as a matinee idol.
10 a.m. Torn Curtain (1966) - An American scientist pretends to be a defector in order to get some vital information in this Alfred Hitchcock thriller co-starring Julie Andrews. Newman’s fight scene in a small farmhouse is a brilliant but disturbing Hitchcock set piece.
12:15 p.m. Exodus (1960) - Otto Preminger directed this epic adaptation of Leon Uris’ history of the Palestinian war. Newman plays an Israeli resistance leader, while Eva Marie Saint co-stars as an army nurse. Ernest Gold won an Oscar for his memorable score.
3:45 p.m. Sweet Bird of Youth (1962) - Newman and co-star Geraldine Page reprised their Broadway roles for this adaptation of the Tennessee Williams drama. In it, Newman returns to his hometown with an aging movie queen in tow. Ed Begley won an Oscar for his performance as the town boss.
6 p.m. Hud (1963) - This modern western, based on a book by Larry McMurtry, features impeccable performances by Newman and Oscar winners Patricia Neal and Melvyn Douglas. Newman plays a restless youth who destroys nearly everything he touches. Also earning an Oscar for this drama was cinematographer James Wong Howe.
8 p.m. Somebody up There Likes Me (1956) - This Robert Wise-directed biography of boxer Rocky Graziano traces his rise from the streets of New York to packed arena. Pier Angeli co-stars.
10 p.m. Cool Hand Luke (1967) - Newman gives a powerful and endearing performance as a member of a prison chain gang in this drama laced with ample doses of anti-establishment humor. Co-star George Kennedy took home an Oscar for his performance, while Strother Martin nearly steals the film as the warden.
12:15 a.m. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) - Tennessee Williams’ classic drama comes to the screen with an outstanding cast headed by Newman and Elizabeth Taylor. The story involves a rich Southern family of greedy vultures hovering around while their patriarch, played by Burl Ives, prepares to die.
2:15 a.m. Rachel, Rachel (1968) - Newman co-stars with is wife, Joanne Woodward, in this sensitive drama about a spinster trying to come out of her shell. This film marked Newman’s directorial debut.
4 a.m. The Outrage (1964) - Newman stars as a Mexican bandit accused of rape in this adaptation of Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon. Edward G. Robinson, Claire Bloom, Laurence Harvey and William Shatner co-star.
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9/26: Bravo parent stops “Project Runway” from moving to Lifetime
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It was shocking news a few months when Lifetime announced it had poached “Project Runway” from under Bravo’s pockets. NBC Universal, which owns Bravo, instantly filed suit.
Well, we just got the following news from NBC.
“NBC Universal is pleased that the court granted our motion for a preliminary injunction against The Weinstein Company. The overwhelming evidence demonstrated that The Weinstein Company violated NBC Universal’s right of first refusal to future cycles of Project Runway. After hearing all of the evidence, the court issued an order prohibiting The Weinstein Company from taking the show or any spin-off to Lifetime.”
Sounds like we won’t be seeing “Project Runway” anytime soon unless this gets settled. Lifetime had been scheduled to air the next season of “Runway” in early 2009. It was supposed to be part of a way to give Lifetime more cache but now such plans have been placed on ice.
From Adweek:
The Weinstein Co. late Friday issued this statement: “We are glad that the court held that NBCU cannot exhibit the program on Bravo and that court required NBCU to post a minimum $20 million bond. Obviously we will be appealing and remain committed to our partners.”
Lifetime said it would continue to press its case: “We are disappointed with the court’s decision to grant the preliminary injunction against the Weinstein Co. It’s unfortunate that the people hurt most by this ongoing dispute are the loyal fans of Project Runway. In the meantime, Lifetime will pursue all measures to uphold its valid and binding agreement reached with the Weinstein Co. for season six of Project Runway.”
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9/26: Hot 107.9 confirms what we already knew: Rickey Smiley takes over mornings
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
At 8:30 a.m. this morning, Hot 107.9 finally confirmed a rumor that has been running rampant for weeks: comic Rickey Smiley from Birmingham is taking over the morning show in syndication. He starts October 6.
So wipe another locally produced show off the grid as the “A Team” disappears for good. In the past three years, we’ve had an influx of out-of-towners arrive in Atlanta: Steve Harvey has been the most successful at Grown Folks 102.5, Yolanda Adams out of Houston came on last year at Praise 97.5 and Don Imus joined True Oldies 106.7 earlier this year. Bill Bennett has helmed the 920/WGKA-AM morning show for years and Tom Joyner has been a staple at Kiss 104.1 over the past decade plus.
As noted last month, long-time morning host Rashan Ali starting Sept. 29 will be doing mid days (because it seems like radio stations need to have women in mid days, with only a few exceptions) and Emperor Searcy returns to afternoons.
Hot has begun running short clips of his phone pranks, like calling up a tattoo parlor, pretending to be an old woman and trying to get a tattoo of the “Last Supper” done on her back for $10.
Yes, phone pranks! Atlanta already has phone prank lovers over at Star 94’s Morning Mess.
Smiley and I talked about him coming to Atlanta radio in mid August and he said at the time he felt he was well known enough in Atlanta to take on Harvey and Joyner, as well as Frank & Wanda at V-103, the only local show left among the stations targeting the African-American community in Atlanta. We’ll see soon enough.
This move, as noted last month, is primarily financial. The “A Team” actually did well in the ratings but a syndicated show such as Smiley’s owned by Radio One, which also owns Hot, should be significantly cheaper. And the radio business is suffering significant dropoffs in revenues this year so budget cutting is rampant.
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9/26: “Survivor: Gabon” recap with Marcus Lehman, “Office” recap
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gabon is in a real jungle. Monkeys, elephants, alliances, oh my!
Emory med school grad and physician Marcus Lehman (right) is part of Kota. This clearly looks like a stronger team, led by physics teacher Bob (58) vs. Fang, led by the oldest contestant Gillian, the 61-year-old nurse. While Jeff Probst teased that Lehman likes to remind folks he’s a doctor, when given a chance to say his job, he merely said he’s “in the medical field.” His triathlon background clearly comes into play since he’s the first one up the mountain and wins individual immunity.
Fashion photographer Ace is shaping up to be the arrogant one in the early going, not Marcus, who is linking up with Charlie, the attorney. Charlie has a serious crush on Marcus. The producers focus on their relationship. Marcus, who is not gay, doesn’t mind the attention but Charlie seems to understand that nothing will happen. Nonetheless, he’s still smitten and wants to be part of the “inner circle.” Marcus is clearly starting to create an alliance: Jackie, Corinne, Charlie and Marcus. Bob might be the loose fifth.
The Fang crew has no fangs. In fact, it has no leader. They tried to get JC to lead but he later decided he couldn’t do it. Nobody wanted to be the outright leader because they know from previous shows that early Type A leaders tended to get snuffed out. From that perspective, Marcus, while being a leader in Kota, is playing it smart by doing it with a level of subtlety.
UPDATE: “Survivor: Gabon” opened to the weakest ratings in the show’s history at 13 million. “Survivor: China” was at 14 million last spring. It’s hard to draw new fans to an aging show.
-And how did you like “The Office,” season four debut? I enjoyed it. These hour-long episodes always feel a wee bit too long in general and the “Biggest Loser” conceit (yes, Michael even calls them the “biggest losers.”) felt a bit tired by the end. But all in all, a solid B-plus episode.
Pam has a three-month internship with the Pratt Institute in New York City, leaving Jim to have to be “acquaintances” with his colleagues. I’m glad Jim finally proposed to Pam. It’s about time! Sure, it was at a Jersey rest stop in the rain but whatever works. My favorite moment was Pam doing a ridiculous “What up, 2-1-2?” using her fingers to pop out “two” and “one.”
Most of the regular players got a moment to shine. Holly calls Kevin “mentally challenged,” the running joke from last season’s finale and thinks she merely was being un-PC as opposed to being wrong. Creed gives what Kelly thinks is a tapeworm to help her lose weight. (It’s not, he notes). Stanley does the “black power” arm move at the end when he realizes he had lost 7 pounds. Ryan comes back after prison and Michael hires him to temp as Pam’s replacement. I loved his “hate” list for people who annoy him on his way back up to the top.
And then there was Angela and Dwight doing the nasty whenever Andy annoyed Angela, which was virtually every time he talked to her. They played that joke a wee bit too many times but it was amusing.
Random quote on the radio Friday morning:
“She puts some power in my pants.” — Larry Wachs on Rock 100.5, referencing WGCL’s Dagmar Midcap, who visited the studio. (Yes, this is yet another excuse to mention Dagmar Midcap.)
Condolences to “Southside” Steve Rickman, who’s father passed away this week, Wachs reported. And Eric Von Haessler was also dealing with an ailing relative.
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9/26: Former 99Xer Steve Barnes working on a local TV series
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Steve Barnes, former morning host at 99X and Dave FM, is working on a locally produced and shot TV series called “High Rise.”
Here are the details on the site:
Michael Damian (CBS-The Young & The Restless) and Steve Barnes to produce 20 episodes of a new series called “High Rise” to be shot in Atlanta. High Rise will have the feel of ABC’s Desperate Housewives and HBO’s Entourage featuring a story about characters living in one of Atlanta’s most elite properties. Casting will begin early October in Atlanta and shooting is slated to begin soon.
A demo video is available here.
There are no details of a network commitment or who’s funding this.
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9/25: Rashan Ali, Emperor Searcy moved out of mornings
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In late August, Hot 107.9 got rid of Griff, Maria More and E4Real for budgetary reasons. Rumors at the time was that Rickey Smiley would become the syndicated morning show while Rashan Ali and Emperor Searcy would take over mid-days and afternoons, respectively.
But for the past three weeks, Rashan and Searcy have held the fort in the mornings as a shrunken A Team. Today, the Hot 107.9 Web site now has Rashan indeed doing middays and Emperor Searchy doing afternoons, where he used to work. The changes happen on Sept. 29.
This morning, Hot is merely running taped bits from Rashan and Searcy announcing their new gigs next week. But no word on the morning show! For Rashan, this would be a bit of a come down after working mornings for years, but at least she’s still got a job in tough economic times.
I checked last week with Smiley’s manager and he said a deal had not yet been signed, although Smiley’s syndicator is Radio One, the same owner as Hot 107.9. Smiley’s name is not on the Web site. There is no morning show listed at all. I’ll check in later this morning to see what is going on there and update this entry if I find out anything specific but I anticipate this is the big announcement the station is teasing this morning that will be made Friday at 8:30 a.m. Steve Hegwood, the operations manager at Radio One, declined to comment.
-Shaffee Abraham of Project 9-6-1’s morning show is one of three finalists to the the public announcer for Atlanta Thrashers’ games. He would replace Steve Craig, formerly of 99X and now in New York as mid-day DJ at WRXP-FM.
-I’m going to be following Marcus Lehman, an Emory Med School grad, on “Survivor.” Jeff Probst has already targeted him as a player in more ways than one. The latest season starts tonight at 8.
Here’s a story I wrote about him.
-“Dancing With the Stars” voters decided Ted McGinley was not worthy so he was the second to be booted Wednesday night despite a decent performance and higher judge scores than Cloris Leachman or Kim Kardashian. But given some thought, it’s not a surprise. Kardashian has an inexplicable following thanks to her reality show, getting the young un’s to text and vote. Leachman? Come on! She’s 82 years old and she’s still elegant and funny and ambulatory. How can you not vote for her at this stage?
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Project Runway: A little bit country, a little bit rock n roll
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The high: L’il “Lee” J. Blige’s fashion rap
The low: It’s hard to see Suede auf’d when he looks that much like Ziggy Stardust.
Tonight I can’t even be bothered with ragging on Kenley, folks. Even though I thought she should lose.
More importantly, WHAT was going on on top
of Leanne’s head (right, courtesy of Bravo TV)? That was the oddest updo I’ve ever seen outside of “Masterpiece Theatre.”
The relationship between popular music and fashion always feels false and appropriated — taking something from the street and turning it into a couture enterprise — but it touches a nerve with me too, as those were the first fashion choices I exercised. I’m saddened to report that in the 1980s I used British musicians as my style influences. Adam Ant’s music may sound like noisy, drum-driven dreck today, but his pirate chic captivated me. Same with Bananarama’s overalls and tousled moppet hair. Oh, the memories!
That sense of nostalgia made tonight’s “Project Runway” challenge more fun than a flock of seagulls.
The winner: Korto, with her artfully distressed men’s jeans. Jerell’s pop design looked stage-ready; Suede’s rocker look was, in fact, subdued for Jerell; Kenley’s ode to hip-hop looked like a sidewalk sale on stilettoes. Yikes!
Meantime, and this is a seemingly minor point that speaks loudly, but I was just tickled that Leanne chose to accentuate Korto’s zaftig figure with a super curvy skirt. (A typical “country music” outfit might look more like a Sweetheart of the Rodeo — ruffled prairie skirt that successfully hides the hips and the tuckus.) Leanne wasn’t afraid of a plus-size challenge, as “Runway” designers usually are. Score one for the real woman.
The last word: In another ‘80s throwback, it looked like Suede was wearing black jelly bracelets. (“Borderline …”)
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9/24: Possible Lifetime show shooting in Atlanta
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A pilot for a Lifetime network series called “Drop Dead Diva” is shooting in the Atlanta area right now. We ran some barebones details here.
April Bowby appears to be the star, according to imdb.com. She was a recurring character on “Two and a Half Men.”
An ABC Family film starring Melissa Joan Hart (“Sabrina the Teenage Witch”) is in the works.
A ramped up tax incentives plan by the state of Georgia earlier this year is starting to draw more TV and film production here. Already, Tyler Perry’s “Meet the Browns” and “House of Payne” and the BET show “Somebodies” are already shot here. (So are Alton Brown’s “Good Eats” and HGTV’s “Deserving Design.)
The only scripted broadcast network show shot here in recent times was ABC’s “October Road” and the now-cancelled show jumped ship after six episodes.
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9/21: “30 Rock,” “Mad Men” win big Emmy awards
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’m watching the Emmy’s so you don’t have to. Feel free to catch the last game at Yankee Stadium on ESPN. Or “True Blood” on HBO. Or the Cowboys vs. the Packers on NBC (which will beat the Emmys in the ratings). Or “Masterpiece Mystery!” on GPB.
Two shows that don’t bring in big ratings won the big awards: NBC’s “30 Rock” took home best comedy for the second year in a row while AMC’s “Mad Men” won best drama. It’s the first basic cable series to win that award. I would have picked “The Office” and “Lost” but really, it’s the Emmy’s so what does it matter?
I anticipate the ratings for the Emmy’s will probably be a record low, given the most popular shows were mostly shut out (“House,” “Two and a Half Men,” “Lost,” et. al) UPDATE: Yes, it was the lowest rated Emmy’s in recent history. Just 12.2 million viewers saw it, about the same as “America’s Got Talent” over the summer.
The Emmy’s opened with possibly one of the lamest opening bits ever by the five reality show hosts, who came on after a turgid speech by Oprah and famous TV lines uttered by various actors (not the ones who were supposed to say them.)
The five had a pseudo-“real” conversation that just stunk like a turd since nothing seemed to happen. They couldn’t even manufacture “reality” entertainment live.
“Two minutes in, we have absolutely nothing to offer you,” “Survivor” host Jeff Probst said.
“We are Sarah Palin’s bridge to nowhere,” said “Deal or No Deal” host Howie Mandel. “The government can’t even bail us out of this.”
“By doing nothing, we have fulfilled our obligation,” Probst said.
“This is your network,” Ryan Seacrest said to “Dancing With the Stars” Tom Bergeron. “You deal with it.”
William Shatner and Bergeron then whippe off “Project Runway” host Heidi Klum’s “suit” to show off a dress. Again, not funny or terribly amusing.
It’s a very predictable opening with Jeremy Piven winning best supporting actor in a comedy for the third year in a row. “What if I just kept talking for 12 minutes? That was the opening.” He’s good at his role but I would have opted for either Neil Patrick Harris or Rainn Wilson.
In the supporting actress in a comedy category, Jean Smart on “Samantha Who” won an Emmy on a show that isn’t terribly funny. But Emmy voters love Smart, who has won twice before for a guest role on “Frasier.” I would have opted for Amy Poehler, which would have been unusual since nobody has ever won as a sketch artist that I know of.
In best supporting actor in a drama, I would pick either John Slattery of “Mad Men” or Ted Danson for “Damages,” but in a surprise, Zeljko Ivanek wins. He played Ted Danson’s attorney in “Damages” with a Southern accent that would have made Kyra Sedgwick blush.
Ricky Gervais’ very presence improved the proceedings as he mocked Steve Carrell for “taking” s Emmy last year when Gervais won but didn’t show for “Extras.” “I can do anything. This is s live,” he says, while doing a stare down with Steve Carrell. “I made you waht you are and i get nothing back.” eh said. “Have you even watched ‘Ghost Town’ yet? I had to sit through ‘Evan Almighty.’ So give me my Emmy.” And he gets it, of course, even if the bit actually goes on a few beats too long for comfort.
Funny line from Conan O’Brien: “I was planning to make more jokes, but Katharine Heigl told me she didn’t think my jokes were Emmy worthy.”
Top supporting actress in a drama went to Dianne Wiest for HBO’s “In Treatment,” a show I admit I didn’t watch. I would have gone for Rachel Griffiths in “Brothers & Sisters.”
And bravo to “Colbert Report,” which deservedly won for outsanding writing for variety, musical and comedy, beating out his bud Jon Stewart for the first time.
Having Josh Groban doing a medley of 30 some odd TV shows was actually inspired and yes, he is flexible enough to do the “Cops” theme, “the Love Boat” theme and “The Jeffersons” theme. Oh, and “South Park,” too. They really should have started the show with that. Here it is. It’s the one bit worth seeing from last night:
An attempt to resurrect “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh In” with a few of the original members including Lily Tomlin and Ruth Buzzi is missing Goldie Hawn and some of the original kick. Oh, well. “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” did right its ship by winning the overall outstanding variety, music or comedy program. It’s the show’s 28th Emmy. Wow.
Tim Conway, who worked with former Conyers resident Jack McBrayer in “30 Rock,” won the best guest male actor in a series. Well deserved. (Tina Fey also won a writing award for “30 Rock.”) Ditto for Kathryn Joosten on “Desperate Housewives,” who won for a second time for her role in that show.
Barry Sonnenfeld (“Men in Black,” “Get Shorty”) also took home an Emmy for directing that first episode of “Pushing Daisies,” which was truly brilliant.
Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart do an amusing bit though the substance of the joke is kinda, well, old. There was a moment that appeared to have been censored. Not sure what. Colbert eats prunes. And makes a joke about John McCain without ever mentioning it. Appropriately, HBO’s “Recount” wins for best miniseries or TV movie and for directing in that category.
There’s this awfully dull middle period where the Emmy’s present the miniseries awards. Blah blah blah.
Then it’s Don Rickles and Kathy Griffin to announce best reality program. “Let’s read these funny lines they wrote for us,” Rickles said. Then he goes off script after she reads a not-so-funny line comparing the two to McCain and Palin. Rickles fake laughs, then says, “Pull yourself together, Katharine. Listen you’ve been around… Live it up. You do well, here, who knows, you could do the valley!” They’re behind schedule so a guy is waving at Rickles to move on. “Are there planes landing?”
Alas, “The Amazing Race” wins for the sixth year in a row. Yes, the sixth year in a row! And “American Idol” gets hosed again.
Rickles wins best individual performance for his HBO special “Mr. Warmth.” Well earned, sir! The producers don’t try to cut him off in his speech. What a class act!
“I’m living proof, kids at home watching, that anybody can play the president. Anybody!” — Paul Giamatti, for winning best lead actor in a miniseries in a drama.
And Alec Baldwin, a favorite among fellow actors, won for comedic actor on “30 Rock.”
Though two Atlanta-connected actors got nominated for best actress for a drama series (Kyra Sedgwick and Holly Hunter), Glenn Close won. Can’t argue with that. Kenny Leon’s Raisin in the Sun” didn’t win earlier either.
In a well-deserved win but a big upset over the likes of Hugh Laurie and Jon Hamm, Bryan Cranston won for his role in “Breaking Bad” on AMC for best male actor in a drama. And Tina Fey won her fourth Emmy for best actress in a comedy and thanked fellow nominated actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus for inspiration.
And no, Dunwoody High School grad Ryan Seacrest didn’t win best reality show host. That goes to Jeff Probst!
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9/20: JIm Rome comes into town, visits Buck & Kincade
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
ABOVE: Rome met with fans, advertisers and execs Friday. As he left the Fox Sports Grilll, a bunch of fans chanted, “Jim Rome! Jim Rome!” CREDIT: Rodney Ho/rho@ajc.com.
Bigtime ESPN talk show host Jim Rome, also heard on 1340-AM, came into Atlanta for a quick visit with advertisers and radio station folks Friday. He did his show live from Cumulus studios, then came over to Fox Sports Grill Friday afternoon.
He ultimately didn’t have time to actually go on the air with Buck Belue and John Kincade, who were doing their show live, their 1,942nd show, according to Kincade, who Belue dubs as “Rain Man” given his predilection for stats and numbers. But they did get to talk to them for a few minutes before he had to catch a plane and go back to Los Angeles.
ABOVE: Rome gabs with Belue.
ABOVE: Kincade schmoozes with Belue.
“How’s it going?” Rome asked Belue while the pair were on a commercial break.
“Beats working!” Belue replied.
Kincade called his bud Belue “the governor of Georgia.” Indeed, as quarterback for the Dawgs in 1980 when the team won the national championship, Belue is in many ways.
“National title!” Rome mused. “You do what you want! Do you ever have to pay for a drink?”
ABOVE: No, Buck was not reading the AJC for my benefit. He was checking some football odds for this weekend.
ABOVE: Buck & Kincade are the highest rated show on 680/The Fan and has beaten the 2 Live Stews at 790/The Fan fairly regularly in viewership of late. The team has been together since September 2000.
ABOVE: Kincade does an ESPN Radio Sunday morning show and does fill-in work for a lot of regular ESPN talkers.
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9/19: What’s up with Kelly Stevens, formerly of B98.5
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Kelly Stevens, former co-host of the Kelly & Alpha show on B98.5 before being replaced in July by Steve & Vikki, took a 13 day, 13 state 4,153-mile trip on a Harley up to Maine and back earlier this month. He hit the Blue Ridge Mountains, the Shenandoah Valley and Niagara Falls. He made it to the Eastern most point of Maine. “I saw the sun rise before anybody else!” he said. He also sampled his first lobster roll.
Stevens, who went into alcohol rehab in the spring and has been clean for six months, said he found the trip peaceful and pleasant.
He did hit a road bump at the Canadian border. He went over to Canada to take some pictures and when he met up with customs going back into the States, he told them honestly he was taking pictures of the border. “That was probably a mistake,” he said. “This guy drove all the way from Atlanta to take pictures?” The customs officials detained him for an hour and interrogated him. He showed them his digital pictures to prove how harmless he was and they bought his story.
Kelly & Alpha have hired an agent (Glenn Goldstein, who used to rep Jimmy Baron) and are seeking radio jobs, either here or anywhere else. Nowadays, Kelly says he’s going to a lot of AA meetings while he figures Alpha is playing lots of golf.
Kelly might also make a trip to the West Coast.
“I’m getting paid to stay home,” he noted. “I’ll never have this opportunity again.”
-The top 5 on “America’s Got Talent” were not surprisng. I placed Kaitlyn Maher at No. 5 over Neal E. Boyd simply because I liked her better. I’m not surprised he beat her out. The rest of my top 5 made it in, including both opera singers (Donald Braswell, too), Nuttin But Strings, Queen Emily and Eli Mattson. Before next week’s finale performances, here are my odds to win the $1 million:
1-Nuttin But Strings: 40%
2-Neal E. Boyd: 25%
3-Queen Emily: 20%
4-Donald Braswell 8%
5-Eli Mattson 7%
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9/18: Kaedy Kiely back on air on the River, 2nd season for Alan Ball’s “True Blood,” “America’s Got Talent” top 10
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Kaedy Kiely returned to the air this morning on 97.1/The River after a four-year absence from Atlanta airwaves.
“I’m so psyched to be here,” she told listeners. And she sounded it. “I have to pinch myself,” she added after wrapping the show. “It was such a trip. I felt like I was back home.” She’s on from 5 a.m. to about 8:30 a.m.
“The greatest thing about the past four years is I didn’t need radio,” she added. “But I certainly missed it terribly. It’s what I do best.”
Thanks to www.971theriver.com, she’ll be able to funnel her rock knowledge with interviews and other content online. And you’ll see her at the Stone Mountain chili cookoff Sept. 27 and the AC/DC concert in December.
The River, as Kiely noted, makes “the music the star,” but she doesn’t mind not talking as much. “Rock and roll has always been such a big part of my life,” she noted. She was a fixture on Atlanta airwaves on those two stations for more than 20 years.
Her friend Jordan Graye (who is on B98.5 and also plays Kate McCarthy on the River) told her about the auditions a few weeks back at the River. Kiely competed with Steve Mitchell (a former colleague at 96rock, ironically), Tim Rhodes (also a former 96rocker who is now on a rock station in Athens) and Paula Phillips, the traffic gal at the River.
Kiely, who replaces Lexie Kaye, wasn’t entirely out of radio. She spent the past two years doing “continuity,” the liaison between advertising and talent at 790/The Zone. She also has been helping out selling horchata, a Mexican drink that has a rice pudding flavor. And she started a Web site called www.rockriddles.com.
-Marietta native Alan Ball gets a second season of “True Blood.” HBO has given Ball the green light after just two episodes. Although ratings have been relatively modest for HBO with 1.44 million seeing the debut, the second episode audience grew to about 1.8 million. It is a taut, fascinating drama, with Anna Paquin making a great central character as Sookie. Ball is also known for “American Beauty” and “Six Feet Under.”
-I can’t say any of the top 10 of “America’s Got Talent” has the true star power of Terry Fator last year. And I’m disappointed America is so fixated by singers with only Nuttin But Strings standing out. (I would have liked to have seen the baton twirler, the James Gang and even the Tapping Dads instead of, say, Jessica Price.) I tended to agree with Piers Morgan. Most of the Tuesday performances were mediocre. Five will remain as of tonight and the winner will be picked next week. Here’s my ranking of last night’s top 10:
1-Nutting But Strings They have such passion, such grace, such fire. As the only act that doesn’t sing, they are the favorites to take this home. Wow. If you haven’t seen them, here’s their audition:
2- Eli Mattson - He got the pimp spot, which virtually guarantees a slot in the top 5. He has a distinctive voice and sings with conviction, a powerful combo. He really connects with the audience. And his version of Elton John’s “Sorry Seems To Be the Hardest Word” clicks.
3- Queen Emily - Ugh. She went for the most obvious diva song “And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going” in the songbook. There are 100 others who can sing it as well but her stage presence and personality makes her special. She’s in the top 5 for sure as well.
4-Donald Braswell He is such a pro. I really do enjoy his pure vocals though he does sometimes seem too internalized while singing. I’m not sure if voters will place both opera singers in the top 5. Probably not. I’m rooting for Braswell over Boyd.
5- Kaitlyn Maher: I have an incredibly soft heart for Kaitlyn. She made me cry the first time I saw her at just age four. As Piers notes, she never misses a lyric. Sure, she misses a note once in awhile but she is the princess of adorable. It’s hard not to root for her. Based on talent alone, she doesn’t deserve to be in the top 5, but here I am placing her in the top 5 myself. I can’t help myself!
6- Neal E. Boyd - He made a mistake going for a boring pop song like “All By Myself.” I’ve never been quite as taken by him as others but I can see his underdog appeal and he’ll probably make the top 5.
7- Jessica Price — So-so voice, a fearful image on stage does not make the next big star in my mind. And she couldn’t compare to Sarah McLachlan doing “Angel.” The judges fell over backward praising her but I’m not sure she’d even make the top 24 on “American Idol.”
8- Paul Salos - He does a lovely rendition of Frank Sinatra each week and was adequate tonight with “New York New York,” but he really shouldn’t go any further. He’s another case of a great underdog story which “Got Talent” specializes in.
9- The Wright Kids - What century did these kids come from? They seem completely stuck in 1973 and sing Jackson Five’s “ABC” to boot. Cuteness has gotten them this far. Seriously, they are really not all that.
10-Joseph Hall I totally agree with Piers on him. Good stage presence, horrible voice with “A Little Less Conversation.” I’d be horrified if he made the top 5. I still have no clue why he’s even here at all. Bleh.
-Congrats to Kevin & Taylor at the Fish for winning best morning show in the “Best of the Big A.” Ditto with Karen Minton of WSB-TV for sexiest weather forecaster. (The Bert Show and Dagmar Midcap were our editors’ picks.)
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Project Runway: The Graduates
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The high: Overbearing mamas who have more to say than, “You’re not going to wear THAT, are you?”
The low: Nice guy Joe gets canned.
Now that this episode is out of the way, I’m going to do a little speculating on what the remaining designers’ strengths and weaknesses are. Full disclosure — I couldn’t stand the suspense: I have already seen the collections of the finalists who went to Bryant Park, though I don’t know who won. I promise not to give anything way, but I will also say that if you can’t wait till the finale and you MUST see what all the fuss is about, you can see the collections here at www.BravoTV.com. (After the finale, they’ll be posted here as well.)
The loser, Joe: Poor Joe, I think he really believed in his design. He was wearing pinstripes, after all. I personally haven’t considered pinstripes since the ‘80s, but Brooks Brothers still sells women’s pinstriped suit separates (and not cheaply, I might add!) so there must be market for them, though not among 21-year-olds.
Strengths and weaknesses based on tonight’s and past episodes:
Below right: I’m here about the job. (Photo: www.BravoTV.com)
Jerell: Strength: Not afraid to experiment with design elements. He’s coming on strong after tonight’s win (right).Weakness: Doesn’t seem to know how to hold back. He needs an editor.
Kenley: Strength: Is consistently capable of turning out a cute dress. Weakness: Her look is informed by midcentury fashion, but IMO she doesn’t seem to be able to interpret it into a modern design.
Korto: Strength: Knows how to handle a variety of fabrics, including unruly burlap. Weakness: Doesn’t seem to be having any fun, and sometimes you need that extra edge to win.
Leanne: Strength: Has an eye for great lines. (I consider tonight’s jacket an anomaly.) Weakness: Her sense of restraint is as great as Jerell’s sense of freedom. She needs to break free of her super-feminine aesthetic.
Suede: Strength: Seems to put a lot of thought into his designs. He means well. Weakness: May be taste challenged, and his designs frequently look amateurish.
The last word: Demode. Used to be, any job interview called for a matched (remember Kasper?) suit, flesh-toned pantyhose and closed-toe shoes. There are probably some law firms and banks that still stick to the uniform.
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9/17: WXIA’s Jerry Carnes and his prostate cancer battle, “Somebodies” ratings
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jaquitta Williams, who recently left WSB-TV as an anchor/reporter, last year publicly chronicled her fight with breast cancer.
Now it’s Jerry Carnes, a reporter at WXIA-TV, who has chosen to publicize his prostate cancer battle.
He was diagnosed in early August. At first, he didn’t want to say anything but he said that wasn’t his nature. “I rely a lot on faith and prayer,” he said. “I talked to my wife. I realized this is the kind of thing people need to know about. A lot of people I know don’t get tested for it. I can spread the word. I’d feel heartbroken if I kept this to myself and someone I knew didn’t get tested and discovered he had prostate cancer and it’s too late.”
Cancer runs in his family. His dad is going through chemo for prostate cancer. His dad has five sisters, all of whom have had some form of cancer. Three of them lost the battle. Jerry’s sister had breast cancer. So he’s chosen to get his prostate taken out completely.
“There is a risk of impotence,” he said. “But I’m willing to take a risk. The more I read, the more I talk about it, they’ve been able to regain all their functions as time passes by.”
Since the doctor caught his prostate cancer early enough, Carnes isn’t going to get the prostate taken out until November. “I’m a little anxious,” he said. “I’m ready to get it done.”
Recovery, he said, will take two or three weeks, maybe a month. “They don’t want me to rush back,” he said. “I’ve got to wear a catheter a week. That sounds like a real joy!”
Here’s some more info on the WXIA-TV Web site.. And here’s his page on the site.
He said he’s getting a lot of “get well” notes though the most heartening was his son’s former Boy Scout leader telling him he’s going to get tested now.
Do you like it when newscasters reveal their personal stories and use it to spread awareness of X disease or ailment or affliction?
-“Somebodies,” BET’s first scripted show in its 28 year history shot out of Athens, opened modestly at about 600,000 viewers nationally on Sept. 9. A repeat of “Comicview” a week earlier in the same 10:30 p.m time slot had 735,000 viewers, followed by a repeat of “Soul Plane” at about 600,000 viewers. A repeat of “Somebodies” this past Saturday night actually pulled in more viewers at 735,000. The key for its future is its ability to build an audience. The comedy was repeated several times and a total of about 5 million people saw the show through Sunday.
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9/17: Jeff Foxworthy plans an animated NASCAR comedy
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Alpharetta’s Jeff Foxworthy is gunning for more work, though this time in animated form.
Foxworthy, host of “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?”, has signed a deal with Fox to do an animated pilot program about a dysfunctional family set in the world of NASCAR, according to Variety magazine.
Nancy Hower and John Lehr, producers of Atlanta-based TNT’s “10 Items or Less,” will be helping out Foxworthy in this yet untitled show.
Fox is seeking a new generation of animated shows as its lineup has aged e.g. “King of the Hill” has been on 13 seasons. Foxworthy will provide his voice to the animated show. He has done voices before in film such as “Racing Stripes” and “The Fox and the Hound 2.”
Does this sound like a good concept?
Foxworthy is also going to host the syndicated version of “Are You Smarter” starting next fall.
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9/16: TNT renews “Saving Grace” and “Raising the Bar”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta-based TNT has renewed both “Saving Grace” for a third season and “Raising the Bar” for a second season.
The “Raising the Bar” renewal is especially curious given the direction of the ratings after the first three episodes.
The show, which stars Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Jane Kaczmarek in a law drama produced by “NYPD Blue” creator Steve Bochco, opened Labor Day to a huge 7.7 million viewers, the biggest debut in basic cable history.
But the drama slipped to 5 million viewers week two and 4.5 million Monday night. That’s a 40%-plus dropoff in two weeks. Not even the brighest-eyed optimist can take that as good news. Critics and viewers have complained that the show feels pedestrian and lacks the edge that has kept “The Closer” so popular.
In its opening week, the show held nearly the entire “Closer” audience an hour earlier. But last week, it held only about 70% and retention fell to about 60% this time around. It’ll be interesting to see how the show does once all the broadcast networks start their fresh episodes and the show no longer has “The Closer” as its lead in. (Last night was the last time “Bar” had that benefit.)
UPDATE: Steve Koonan, president of Turner Networks, got on the phone with me after I posted this and said besides losing Houston (which isn’t being rated right now for obvious reasons), there was some extra competition last night: a massive ESPN “Monday Night Football” game between the Eagles and Cowboys that broke basic cable records with 18.6 million viewers.
Koonan said the show far exceeded expectations Labor Day and he knew it wouldn’t stay at that level. He’s hoping to see “Raising the Bar” settle in its current range. He said TNT will bring back the show in late spring, early summer. He also likes how “Saving Grace” has grown and matured. He said the key way to attract talent such as Bochco is to espouse patience and not pull things reactively.
“Saving Grace,” starring Holly Hunter, has averaged 4.4 million viewers its second season so far, down about 10% percent from last year but still very respectable. It’s a more demanding, more complex show than either “The Closer” or “Raising the Bar,” but Hunter makes it eminently watchable.
Meanwhile, over at sister station TBS, conventional but amusing sitcom “The Bill Engvall Show” was rewarded a third season after averaging about 2.4 million viewers, down slightly from last year but a solid second on the network behind “Tyler Payne’s House of Payne” among its original comedies.
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9/16: Sunday Paper love, Georgia Radio Hall of Fame dinner
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thanks to The Sunday Paper for making me part of their “SP100” along with the likes of Dagmar Midcap of WGCL-TV and English Nick of Rock 100.5. I appreciate the plug!
The second annual Georgia Radio Hall of Fame dinner is set for October 4 at the Marietta Conference Center & Resort but it’s already sold out. For you historical radio fans, check out their Web site.
The emcee is CBS Radio president Dan Mason with presenters such as Rhubarb Jones, Gary McKee and Ludlow Porch. Z93 alums are scheduled to show up and reminisce.
Here are the candidates to win induction for the career achievement award. The organization won’t announce most of the winners until the dinner, which have already been selected. Eight will get in. The group decided, in the wake of Skip Caray’s death, to announce his entry with Ernie Johnson and Pete Van Wieren. (They count as one inductee.)
-Bill Bowick, who worked at stations in Columbus and Albany.
-‘77 Braves announcers (as a team) : the late great Skip Caray*-Ernie Johnson-Pete Van Wieren
-Gary Corry - A former program director and promotions director for WQXI-AM, he helped put together the infamous “Quixie Ramblin’ Raft Race.” He also helped with the Gary McKee morning show and Rhubarb’s morning show.
-Capt. Herb Emory — He is a true traffic legend, working on various Georgia radio stations, including WQXI-AM, Star 94 and WSB-AM.
-Red Jones — He did mornings for WQXI-AM during its heyday and now works at WKNG in Tallapoosa.
-Jack Lenz — He was long-time sales guy at WSB-AM from 1963 to 1980.
-Kelly McCoy — He has been the afternoon man at B98.5 since 1985.
-Steve McCoy — He has been a successful morning man at Z93 when it was a top 40 station, Star 94 for 17 years, and now at B98.5.
-Aubrey Morris — He was Atlanta’s first radio newsman at WSB-AM and spent more than 30 years there until 1987.
-Scott Slade — He has been hosting WSB-AM’s morning show since 1991.
-Tony Taylor — He spent eight years at WQXI-AM as a promotions man and has done plenty of voice and ad agency work locally until he retired in 2006.
-Del Ward - The only female in the inductee pool. The Web site has an audio interview with her but I can’t hear the audio.
Oddly, no induction representation from WAOK-AM or V-103. John Long, who runs the group, noted in an email that a couple of African Americans were inducted last year, Zilla Mays and William Perryman. But he said he’s disappointed no African Americans were nominated this year. Though he reached out to some for help, he is befuddled by the lack of response. So V-103/WAOK vets, membership is available at www.grhof.com.
—- The ratings for the “Saturday Night Live” were the highest since 2002 and the biggest opener since the post 9/11 episode in 2001, based on major markets measured by Nielsen. In Atlanta, the show didn’t do as well as it did in other markets in terms of ratings but still drew a respectable 180,000 viewers. Here’s the Sarah Palin/Hillary Clinton bit that everyone has probably already seen by now:
—- MTV is retiring “Total Request Live” after 10 years. Ratings are way down from the years when Carson Daly hosted ‘N Sync and Britney Spears. The network’s focus lately has been more on shows such as “The Hills” anyway.
—- I hear Scotty O’Brien, a night-time Kicks jock, is going to the Party in Nashville.
—- There’s been this big brouhaha between two fired pilots for Atlanta comic Ron White, who helped get him arrested for pot possession. White admitted to the pot but didn’t particularly like other insinuations made by the pilots. He opened up to the Regular Guys this morning.
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9/14: Visiting Leslie Fram and Steve Craig in New York City
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
ABOVE: Leslie Fram with Steve Craig. 99Xers reunited at 101.9/WRXP-FM. CREDIT: Rodney Ho/rho@ajc.com, Sept. 12, 2008
I visited former 99X program director and morning cohost Leslie Fram and mid-day host Steve Craig on Friday morning Sept. 12, 2008 at their new home WRXP-FM, a new rock station in New York City.
Ensconced in the West Village, WRXP-FM plays an intriguing blend of classic rock, alternative rock and new rock. Fram joined the station in June as program director and co-hosts the morning show with Matt Pinfield, best known nationally as former host of MTV’s “120 Minutes.” Craig jumped aboard about a month ago as mid-day host.
Fram, a workaholic, is at the station from 5 a.m. until 8 p.m. some days. She said there are three or four rock concerts a night she could go to. Her first week, she went to five in a row including R.E.M., My Morning Jacket and Steely Dan and realized she has to be more selective. “I can’t do this every day,” she said she thought. “I’m going to die!” Yet you know she’s like a kid in a candy store.
Craig is enjoying the music mix, too, the ability to blend the Stones and the Who with the Ramones and the Clash, along with Nirvana and Green Day, plus the Strokes and the Killers, as well as new bands such as Kings of Leon and the Hold Steady. I don’t know of a station that goes as broad as this one. Will it work? Time will tell.
Both Craig and Fram were let go from 99X back in January when the station was taken off the Atlanta airwaves and sent online. (Craig did some work for 99x.com until his contract ran out over the summer.) Fram and Craig helped launch 99X back in 1992 and lasted more than 15 years.
Fram hasn’t forgotten Atlanta. Her husband Lanny manages her stores here and flies up to New York a couple times a month. She still has commitments here, including three events this month: a benefit for P.A.L.s, helping pets for the elderly and disabled Sunday called Rubbing Noses with Holly Firfer. Then Friday Sept. 19, there’s Fram Jam, an Americana showcase at the Atlantis Music Festival at Smith’s Olde Bar. Then she co-hosts the Georgia Music Hall of Fame Sept. 20 with Monica Pearson at the Georgia World Congress Center.
The WRXP studio is modest since it used to house a smooth jazz station. She wants to rejigger the space to give visitors more space to hang out. Pinfield stands in the main spot, with the producer Matt Iannik next to him. Fram stands near the window facing Pinfield. Pinfield is very smooth, very lively and plays off Fram well. The pair are both into the music. They recently spent 50 minutes with Brian Johnson with AC/DC, a band Fram never had a chance to deal with at 99X.
This particular morning, they interviewed a new band called Pure Essence and actor Jamie Kennedy. They did a daily bit called “local licks” featuring a song from an act with ties to the tri-state area. On Friday, they chose a duet with New Yorker Regina Spektor and Ben Folds “You Don’t Know Me.” While many DJs turn the sound down in between songs, they kept this song up and Pinfield noted, “I really like this song!”
Steve Craig, who just moved his furniture up to Forest Hills, NY, says he’s still getting into gear but is loving every minute of it.
Athens native Matt Pinfield, former host of MTV’s “120 Minutes” is the lead morning guy at WRXP-FM,
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9/12: Laura Ingraham, Bill O’Reilly, Dennis MIller move to 1160/WCFO-AM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Popular talk-show host Laura Ingraham is leaving WGKA-AM, though it wasn’t because she was doing poorly there. In fact, she was one of the station’s strongest shows. But her syndicator (who took her off the air for a few weeks in June/July as a hardball negotiating tactic) couldn’t come to an agreement with Salem’s syndication arm. The result: next week, Ingraham loses 17 affiliates since Salem owns 17 stations (including WGKA).
On WGKA, Mike Gallagher will move from noon to 3 to a live spot from 9 to noon. And Dennis Prager will also be live from noon to 3, from his current 9 to midnight spot. Both shows will now be live, instead of taped, so Atlantans can now call them both and get on the air.
Meanwhile, Ingraham moves to 1160/WCFO starting Tuesday. Dr. Laura (the other Laura) moves from 9 to noon to noon to 3. The station dropped Dr. Joy Browne and bumped Lou Dobbs to nights. It will now air Bill O’Reilly from 3 to 5 (who will no longer be on 1230/WFOM-AM in the Marietta area from 1 to 3) and Dennis Miller from 5 to 7 (who will soon leave 10 to 1 on WFOM-AM). David Dickey Friday at WFOM said he will have a new game plan for that station’s 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. slot soon.
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9/11: Atlanta radio may change due to ratings measurement changes, Belinda Skelton Croc lawsuit backlash (UPDATE)
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Before I get to the item at hand, I did want to point out my colleague Richard Eldredge’s Peach Buzz item on Belinda Skelton’s husband’s lawsuit against Croc shoes after her four-year son got the shoes caught in an escalator.
Given that her boss WSB-AM talker Neal Boortz has railed against frivolous lawsuits, some of his fans were not thrilled to see Skelton go after the manufacturer. (Your call on whether it’s frivolous or not). But Skelton notes that her son has suffered quite a bit and that she wants a warning placed on the shoe, that the money ($2 million) isn’t the focal point.
[I would have posted this earlier but was in flight. Anyway, i got this note from Boortz Thursday morning: :”My main point on these lawsuits is that we need a loser pays system. I do believe that if Belinda’s case doesn’t settle, and if it goes to trial and Crocs wins … Belinda should be responsible for their attorney’s fees.”:]
Anyway, here’s the main point of this blog entry: Atlanta radio may change significantly in the next year or two thanks to a major change in the way Arbitron tracks listening.
For decades, Arbitron measured ratings through paper diaries. They’d call you, ask you if you can track your listening for a week. You do so in 15 minute increments. .
But there are flaws to this system. People will sometimes convey loyalty to certain stations and indicate more listening than they actually do. They also don’t track as many stations as they actually listen. And there’s month to month volatility in certain demographics that are hard to reach, especially 18 to 34 year olds. Plus, since the valid ratings only come out once a quarter, it’s hard for stations to know what’s going on for weeks at a time.
So now Atlanta is about to switch to people meters (right). They look like little pagers but track actually listening. Some cities have already switched to this system, including Houston and Philadelphia. The early evidence shows that people don’t listen to as much radio as they claim in paper diaries. Instead of 19 hours a week, it’s more like 14 hours a week. Plus, people listen to about twice as many stations as they claim.
The people meter, for its flaws, have several advantages:
-Obviously, it’s more accurate than paper diaries since it’s real listening. There will be fewer unexplained fluctuations.
-With 1,335 or so people using a people meter at any one time in Atlanta, 112,140 days are tracked every quarter compared to 27,699 for diaries. That again means more accuracy for advertisers to judge where to advertise.
-Radio stations will get more information quicker so they can react faster, too. Monthly ratings will soon be available, rather than quarterly ratings.
-Arbitron is now reaching cel-phone only households. That’s a good thing for accuracy since more and more people don’t have land lines anymore.
And here are some conclusions so far:
-Some “ethnic” stations suffer. And so do those that rely on “time spent listening” vs. “cume.” In other words, stations that rely on fewer listeners who spend more time with the station might get hurt while stations that focus on ‘broad reach” do better. This might impact the likes of Praise and Viva, which have fewer, more loyal listeners vs. the Beat or B98.5, which have broader reach. Smooth jazz suffers quite a bit and many other cities have dumped the format in recent months. Some minority stations in New York City have grouped together to try to get the FCC to investigate the people meter. Arbitron defends the methodology, noting its greater accuracy and that the weighting is the same.
-Rock tends to do better. That could help the likes of Dave, Project, Rock 100.5 and the River. Oldies does better, too, which may be why it came back a few months ago at 106.7.
-There has been an impression morning radio draws more listeners. PPMs show that’s not necessarily the case, that listening is more consistent throughout the day.
We’ve already had quite a volatile year in radio since late 2007. With a slow economy, budget cuts and this new measurement system, the changes are likely to continue.
Project Runway: Reunited and it feels so … good?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The high: Nice to have a change of scenery in the Hayden Planetarium.
The low: You hear one recycled “pooping fabric” joke, you heard ‘em all.
Why on earth did the producers choose Francisco Costa of Calvin Klein to be a guest judge on this particular epsiode? No doubt the man knows from avant-garde, but isn’t Calvin Klein’s house known for its minimalism? Just wondering.
The failed avant-garde dreams of Terri and Blayne.
As avant-garde goes, tonight’s design efforts were superior to last year’s avant-garde challenge (notably excepting Christian/Chris’ oversize, off-balance picture hat, and Victorya/Jillian’s dramatic cutaway coat), and I was glad that Jerell won.
However, I’m starting to get tired of Kenley’s attitude. Get over yourself already! (Did anybody notice she was first to offer sympathy hugs to the ousted Blayne and Terri? Nobody’s fooled, Kenley!)
Back to Jerell. His dress had an attractive mix of fabrics and nice lines (a bit muddled below the knee), though it seemed like the judges didn’t say too much in the way of praising it. Jerell designs like a wild man: He isn’t afraid to experiment, but he delivers mixed results. I applaud him for taking chances.
So, now that Terri’s gone, that shoots my prediction for an all-girl finale. I had a feeling she was going to go, though, because of her lousy attitude and the fact that she had never won a challenge.
Many of the designers were Libras, Scorpios, Aquarians and Sagittarians. There must be a serious creative streak in those signs … but I wonder which sign is most likely to appear on a reality show?
The last word: Don’t forget, while we’re still sweltering in Atlanta’s 80-something highs, New York Fashion Week is looking ahead to Spring 2009. Learn more about New York Fashion Week by clicking here. Check out some video from Carolina Herrera’s show.
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9/9: Moby gets bitten by a snake
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
ABOVE: A shot we took form Moby’s studios back in February, 2008. Lots of irony here. CREDIT: Joey Ivansco/staff photo)
Country DJ Moby over the years has been in a motorcyle accident and bitten (literally) by a lion. Now he’s landed in a North Fulton hospital for a snakebite.
The “yeah baby!” host now heard on South 107, WNGC-FM and 92.5/The Bear thought it was wise Monday to try to catch a copperhead snake in his driveway. He did nab it but it also nipped him on the right hand forefinger, forcing him to get anti-venom treatment. “It big time swelled up,” he told me today, while still in the hospital. “It turned red and black and flesh sloughed off around the wound. It’s nastly!”
Moby was at Kicks from the early 1990s until 2002. He has been running his own syndicated radio operation the past two years and is on more than 10 stations.
Good news: Moby, whose real name is James Carney, may have lost a bit of his dignity but won’t lose his finger.
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9/9: A look at “Fringe,” big ratings for Cox and “Are You Smarter?”, MTV’s VMAs, Fox News
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
J.J. Abrams, maker of network TV’s best show “Lost,” has created what may be the most highly anticipated show this fall on TV, an “X Files”-style conspiracy sci-fi drama called “Fringe.” It airs tonight at 8 p.m.
This very pricey show is getting mostly positive reviews, although I have genuinely mixed feelings about it. I’m not thrilled by a couple of the main characters. Joshua Jackson (“Dawson’s Creek”), whose dad knows more about this “fringe” science than almost anybody, seems snarkily unlikable. Anna Torv, who plays FBI agent Olivia Dunham, is a bore, a personality cypher, though her work (and love) partner John Scott (Mark Valley) plays the stolid, handsome counterpoint well.
The opening scene is a thriller, with a plane found to contain disfigured corpses. Scott catches the quick-killing disease, though he’s not sick enough to die immediately. Naturally, Olivia races to find a cure for him. The middle portion includes some absurd ways for her to “talk” to Scott even though he’s in a coma-like state. Fortunately, there’s a cool twist at the end so there may be hope for the show.
Here’s what the Hollywood Reporter had to say, which I didn’t see at all:
What really makes “Fringe” so promising is that it is potentially reminiscent, in a small way, of the battle-of-the-sexes charm that once made “Moonlighting” the best hour of TV of its time.
And the New York Times was all raves.
And as pilots go, this one is sensational, an artful, suspenseful mix of horror, science fiction, layered conspiracies and extended car chases. “Fringe” sets out to stretch the boundaries of conventional network series.
AP practicallyi falls over itself in praise.
Based on its opener, “Fringe” does action, intrigue, mind-blowing science and horror-film ick. It even does humor and romance. What DOESN’T it do?
So tell us what you think once you see it tonight. Does it live up to all this hype or are you on the fence like me? Or did you really hate it?
-In ratings, after CNN dominated the Democratic National Convention a week earlier, Fox News took over for the Republican National Convention. The John McCain speech Sept. 4 drew 9.2 million viewers on Fox News while his vice president Sarah Palin drew almost as many on Sept. 3 at 9.03 million. CNN, in comparison, drew about 4.8 million both nights. And Fox News easily beat the broadcast networks.
-The MTV Video Music Awards had its best ratings in years Sunday, hyped by the Britney Spears appearance. It drew 8 million viewers, up from 7 million a year ago, which was up from 6 million in 2006.
-The “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” special last Friday featuring Georgia schools superintendent winning $1 million drew 8.4 million viewers, the most of any show that night. The “Stand Up to Cancer” special on three networks drew a combined 10 million viewers.
I’ll get some local ratings later.
-Check out Kevin Avery of the Fish and his workout regime..
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9/9: David Pollack is coming to 790/The Zone, a talk with Brandon Leak
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Last week, I heard from a good source that former UGA football star and Cincinnati Bengel David Pollack was joining 790/The Zone on the heels of “Hometeam” Brandon Leak being let go.
I posted it, then spoke with Andrew Saltzman. He denied it so I pulled it off the site. But the cat was out of the bag. And my original source was more or less right. Saltzman said at the time we talked last Thursday, the deal with Pollack was still “touch and go.” They only finished signing the contract over the weekend.
So Pollack will be part of the Afternoon Saloon from 4 to 7 p.m. with Mike Bell and Chuck Oliver.
Leak said he has no animus toward his replacement Pollack. “I covered him while he was in school,” Leak said. “He’s been up to the station a few times. He’s been successful with everything he’s done. He’s a great guy and a class act.”
The Decatur native would like to stay in sports media in Atlanta and he’s gratified by the response from fans and friends after they heard he was booted last week. “I have received tons of emails,” he said. “My cel phone was drained twice with phone calls.”
Leak said he was told he was not let go for performance issues but was not told if financial problems led to his departure. “I think I was very fortunate,” he said. “The Atlanta community really needed someone who is passionate about teams in town. It was a dream come true to have that opportunity.”
Among his favorites to talk to include Arthur Blank and Rutherford Sydel of Atlanta Spirit. He namedropped Dominique Wilkins to Chipper Jones to John Smoltz. He got to play basketball at Smoltz’s home.
Keep in touch with “Hometeam” via his blog right here, updated at least weekly, he promises.
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9/7: TV star Kathy Griffin at Fox Theatre, Somebodies, 90210
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I stopped by the Kathy Griffin late show last Friday just a couple of hours after seeing Sean Hannity and Neal Boortz. I am confident to say I was the only person who went to both shows.
Griffin is an unabashed liberal though she isn’t terribly political. She’s beloved by her “gays,” as she dubs them. And her show “Kathy Griffin: Life on the D List” has lasted four seasons on Bravo. At the Fox Theatre Friday, she made a raft of jokes about the new Republican VP candiate Sarah Palin but it was more personality based than anything else.
“As a comedian,” she told the partisan crowd, “I want to give Sarah Palin a muffin basket!”
She was impressed with Palin’s speaking ability (“She delivers like Domino’s!”) and made fun of Palin’s kids names such as Bristol and Trig. She called her Tina Fey, who she resembles. She likes Palin’s do: “She’s got a great gay doing her hair, a good Log Cabin Republican!”
“And who knew there were rednecks in Alaska with Fargo accents?”
She then found a way to segue between Palin and Michael Vick thanks to Palin’s joke about the difference between a pitbull and a hockey mom? (“Lipstick”)
“Put her in Michael Vick’s backyard!” The crowd didn’t react universally warmly to that one so she said, “I get it, Atlanta! I know where I am!”
She also namechecked other former Atlantans such as Whitney Houston (“I miss her!”) and Nancy Grace (“She’s bat** crazy!”), doing great imitations of both. She mocked Ryan Seacrest, too.
-I wrote a features piece that ran in Monday’s paper about an upcoming BET series “Somebodies” shot in Athens. The comedy is the first scripted show in the network’s 28 history. Here it is.
-In case you missed it, I interviewed a new “90210” up-and-coming star who grew up in metro Atlanta: AnnaLynne McCord. It ran in Buzz a few days ago here.
-790/The Zone has some big announcement tomorrow. Obviously, it’s nothing bad because the station is hyping it to high heaven. I’ll post it as soon as I hear what it is.
-And was last night’s MTV VMAs as dull as ever? I felt host Russell Brand was trying too hard and the Britney appearance was a yawner.
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9/6: Sean Hannity & Neal Boortz at Cobb Energy Centre
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Former Atlantan Sean Hannity came into Atlanta to a hero’s welcome, joining fellow syndicated WSB-AM talker Neal Boortz before a full house at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre Friday night.
Fresh from two weeks of political conventions, the two long-time friends joked and cajoled each other, hailing Sarah Polin, dissing Barack Obama and regaling the audience with old stories about each other.
“I feel like Abbott and Costello here,” Hannity said at one point.
“If I had that hair, it’d be ‘Boortz and Colmes!’ ” said Boortz, who lacks a certain amount of hair on top of his head.
On James Carville: “His head is paper mache.” (Boortz)
“You stare at him, you can’t focus what you want to say.” (Hannity)
Boortz told a story of finding an, um, adult toy under the mattress at a Denver hotel. Sean, mock exasperated, said, “Did you ever grow out of the age of 14?”
“You have to grow old,” Boortz retorted. “You don’t have to mature.”
Hannity offered the crowd $100 to define what a “community organizer” is, a job Barack Obama once held and Palin mocked on Wednesday as a “mayor without responsibility.” Naturally, a gal in the fifth row aped Palin’s line and got Hannity’s 100 bucks. (Boortz joked, “you want my $100, you’re going to have to earn it!”)
Boortz mocked Obama for saying he was going to lower capital gains taxes on small businesses when small businesses don’t pay capital gains. “That’s like telling me you’re going to lower the tax on shampoo! I don’t care!”
And having a Boortz moment, he accidentally said Barack Obama when he meant Osama bin Laden. Whoops!
Hannity is a big fan of Palin: “She’s authentic. She’s real. I look at Joe Biden. He’s a phoney.” She compared Palin to Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan with her confidence, her poise, her grace. He feels the media has been “demeaning her” with its scrutiny.
They later brought on Mike Huckabee (above, left), former presidential candidate and Arkansas governor and former Clinton confidante Dick Morris. Huckabee also called Palin “grace under fire.” He noted that Obama made Oprah cry. “This is the lady that ought to make Oprah cry,” he said.
If you made it, how did you like the show?
Night-time WSB-AM host and Boortz sub Herman Cain helped warm up the crowd.
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9/5: Georgia school super Kathy Cox wins $1 million in “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox proved she is smarter than a 5th grader by winning $1 million for her school system on the third season debut of “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” on Fox Friday night.
She was the first person ever to win the big $1 million. Two people tried and got it wrong. Three who got to this point quit and took home $500,000.
[Read about her viewing party and the three schools she’s giving the $1 million to here.]
Cox had no problem parrying Alpharetta resident Jeff Foxworthy, who would torture her on occasion, throwing out wrong answers before giving her the right one in the question asking what country borders Costa Rica. She talked her way through the $1 million question incredibly well and earned the money 100%.
Partway through, Georgia Lt. Govr. Casey Cagle does a video for her: “Hi. Kathy… I don’t want to put any pressure on you but you’re representing the entire state tonight. Jeff, I know you live outside of Atlanta. As your lieutenant governor, I can make life very difficult on you so make life easy on her.” Well, he was. And she represented the state of Georgia amazingly well.
Here are the 10 questions (answers below)
1-What is the first month of the U.S. calendar year that has exactly 30 days? (1st grade measurements) $1,000
2- True or false: crawfish are fish. (2nd grade animal science) $2,000
3- How many times does the letter “D” appear in the following word…um… can’t print the word cos I’ll give it away. The word in question is grandma’s daughter’s little girl. (2nd grade spelling) $5,000
4- What is the two letter abbreviation for the word doctor? (1st grade English) $10,000
5- The U.S. Naval Academy is located in what city? (4th grade social studies) (Dr. Cox taught social studies for 15 years). $25,000
6- Costa Rica borders two countries. Nicaragua is one of the countries. What is the other? (4th grade world geography) $50,000
7- Which of the following foods contains no natural protein 1- whole milk 2- pure sugar 3- raw eggs (3rd grade health) $100,000
8- Which of the following is NOT an official language of Switzerland 1- German 2- Italian 3- Spanish (3rd grade cultural studies) $175,000
9-What is the name of the following painting by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch? (5th grade art) $300,000
10- Which commanding British general surrendered to American troops in Yorktown in 1781? (5th grade U.S. History) Cox did a peek to Olivia’s answer but ignored it. $500,000
MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION (she gets no help from her fifth graders and gets no cheats, plus once she sees the question, she must answer. If she got it wrong, she would have dropped to $25,000). The topic: world history. The question: Who was the longest reigning British monarch?
If you want to test yourself, do no look DOWN HERE. I’ll even leave a few blank spaces to help you avert your eyes:
ANSWERS:
1- April 2- False 3- two 4- dr 5- Annapolis, Md. 6- Panama 7- pure sugar 8- Spanish 9- The Scream 10- Lord Charles Cornwallis $1 million answer- Queen Victoria (for 63 years)
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9/5: JaQuitta Williams leaving WSB-TV
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
WSB-TV has confirmed that reporter and weekend anchor JaQuitta Williams is leaving the station next week. Her final anchoring day is Sunday. Her final reporting day is Sept. 12.
She has been at the TV station since 2004 and been in the TV business for about 20.
I got a hold of Williams at about 3 p.m. Friday. She said her recent bout with breast cancer was a factor in her departure.
“When I came back from my cancer journey in January, I was different,” she said. “I wanted my life to be more enjoyable. I wanted to do other things.”
While thinking about staying or going, she looked for signs. She found two: her Blackberry stopped working, then her laptop was stolen out of the WSB-TV van while she covered a church fire.
Ultimately, she had nothing but good things to say about WSB itself and was appreciative that they let her tell her breast cancer story on air. (Essence magazine has a story about her in October’s issue.)
Williams said she has a new job lined up but with respect to WSB, won’t reveal what it is until after she leaves.
Better yet, she noted: “I am cancer free. My last mammogram in August was clean. I’m in a wonderful place. I’m so excited!”
According to her online bio, her favorite moments have been interviewing the late legendary R&B singer James Brown and meeting with former V-103er Robin Roberts, now “Good Morning America” host. Both were diagnosed with breast cancer in July 2007 and had surgery, chemo and radiation at the same time.
If you want to reach out to Jaquitta, here’s her Myspace page, http://www.myspace.com/jaquittaw.
-Kaedy Kiely starts her gig at 97.1/The River as morning host on Sept. 18. The station is not personality focused and the morning show is heavily music oriented. But Kiely has tons of experience and will be the primary presence at community events. She’ll contribute music news and interviews to the Web site.
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9/4: “Hometeam” Brandon Leak out at 790/The Zone. Kaedy Kiely in at 97.1/The River Iky
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
After just a few months on the air, the “Afternoon Saloon” at 790/The Zone has already lost one patron: “Hometeam” Brandon Leak.
I have no details but he’s no longer on the Web site.. He had worked at the station for eight years. He has a MySpace page which doesn’t look like it’s been updated in ages.
The show’s two main hosts, Chuck Oliver and Mike Bell, remain. Andrew Saltzman wouldn’t say why they cut Leak per se but he noted that 680/The Fan has five local full-time hosts while the Zone still has 10 local full-time hosts. He wouldn’t characterize the move as budgetary but in this day and age, virtually all cuts have something to do with finances.
-Kaedy Kiely, off the air since Z93 became Dave FM in 2004, has found a new gig at 97.1/The River. She replaces Lexie Kaye as the morning host, according to program director Chris Miller. Details forthcoming once I get a hold of Kaedy.
I did a “whatever happened to” on her last November. You can read up on her here.
Kiely worked for 22 years on air in Atlanta including 96rock and Z93, neither of which exists anymore. She had been doing production work at 790/The Zone the last I had checked in on her.
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Project Runway: A foreign affair
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The high: Some nice prints in tonight’s episode.
The low: Blayne’s headband(s).
Here I sit, surrounded by fat September issues of fashion magazines and nursing a burning desire to haul out cashmere sweaters and tall boots. Ah, fall!
It’s too early for sweaters, so I have to get my fashion fix elsewhere. Using a movie as sartorial inspiration is a wonderful idea — except tonight’s “Project Runway” episode gave little indication that the designers actually watched the movie (Billy Wilder’s Oscar-nominated “Foreign Affair”) that inspired their challenge. Did anyone bother to research ’30s fashions or Marlene Dietrich beyond Diane von Furstenberg’s look book?
Shanghai, Berlin, the rest is all white noise — well, at least they got the gist of it. While Blayne continued his love affair with unflattering breeches for women (right, courtesy Bravotv.com), Kenley found a champion in von Furstenberg but failed to pull off the one challenge that she should have nailed. (Note to designers: When everybody else says, “You’re not going to make three pieces?” you might want to go with that flow.)
Final Four prediction? Korto, Leanne, Terri and Kenley. Yes, an all-girl finale. I like Korto to win, though. She has an innate sense of how to handle fabric, the willingness to experiment with shape, and the ability to innovate with texture (leather and linen; vinyl and kale). She also has few flubs on her record and no close calls at all. Unless she goes way off course, Season 5 should be hers. Leanne’s her closest competition.
For Season 6, Lifetime Network should air “Project Runway All-Stars,” pitting the best and most interesting designers of the past five seasons. My picks would include the five winners, as well as Mychael Knight, Uli Herzner, Wendy Pepper, Austin Scarlett, Santino Rice, Sweet P and Jack Mackenroth.
Whaddya think? Who would top your All-Star list?
The last word: Blowout. “Project Runway” ended in just enough time to catch veep candidate Sarah Palin’s new subdued ‘do at the GOP convention.
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9/2: “90210” redux a guilty pleasure, Atlanta group Kazual ousted from “America’s Got Talent”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The CW, in its make or break year, is hoping its savior is a reimagining or revamp or whatever you call it of “Beverly Hills 90210.” And since everyone now knows what that zip code stands for, the new shows is merely called “90210.”
Since TV writers were not given advance copies of this show, I’m live blogging (or close enough since I’m doing it via DVR tonight).
Though when advancers are withheld from movie writers, it usually means the film stinks. In this case, I’m not sure that is the case. In effect, it’s breezy and fun and doesn’t take itself too seriously. Is it fine art? Or Emmy material? Not even close. These aren’t deep, complex characters along the lines of those in “Friday Night Lights.” The plots are incredibly “been there, done that” and not remotely complicated. You could talk on the phone, fix up your Facebook page and text your buddies all at the same time and still follow the show without missing anything. Take it for what it’s worth and it’s a pleasant diversion.
I’m curious to see how ratings are and whether this can save the network. I doubt it but hey, stranger things have happened.
Brenda Walsh fans had to wait awhile. She does not turn up until one hour and 28 minutes in and isn’t given much to do — yet. Still, there’s plenty of grist for fans of the original.
First of all, the setup is similar. A family moves to Beverly Hills, fish out of water. Except now it’s 2008 instead of 1990 so you have Sidesteps and mochachinos instead of old-fashioned telephones and coffee . The theme song is revved up but otherwise, the opening credits evoke the original. Rob Estes’ character Harry Wilson moves his family back from the MIdwest to Beverly Hills to take care of his mom. He also happens to be principal of West Beverly Hills High. He has a daughter Annie and an adopted black son Dixon, the Brandon and Brenda Walshes of this show. (And making Dixon black is a way to add some diversity to the proceedings. But still, not a lot of Asians or Hispanics at this school - at least non yet with speaking roles.)
“It’s like the Oscars and everybody is Scarlett Johanssen!” says Annie Wilson (Shenae Grimes) as she enters campus.
There are inside jokes, too, for fans of the original. A gal playing a character named Hannah Zuckerman-Vasquez anchors the school broadcast news. One teacher remarks, “How old is that girl? Like 30?” Gabrielle Carteris, who played journalist Andrea Zuckerman in the original, was 29 years old when she started the show playing a 16 year old.
Naomi, played by former Atlantan AnnaLynne McCord, enters with that “bad girl” aura she exuded quite nicely on the last season of “nip/tuck.” At minute seven, Jennie Garth, the original Kelly Taylor and not far removed from four years on the sitcom “What I Like About You,” arrives with a Flock of Seagulls reference.
It doesn’t take long for Naomi to clash with Annie over the hot lacrosse boy Ethan, Annie’s boyfriend and the guy Annie conveniently kissed a couple summers earlier while visiting her grandma. (He plays lacrosse because that fits the “90210” ouvre more than the cliche of football.)
In most worlds outside of TV, Annie would be the earnestly hot girl. In TV land, she’s dorky, unfashionable and basically an outcast. Annie quickly finds a friend named Silver, bonding over an obscure rock band, who also does videos on line skewering folks at the school. Annie then uncomfortably (and temporarily) bonds with Naomi, whose mom dated Annie’s dad when they were in high school. (Of course!) Silver is displeased and skewers Annie online with a cow reference. (“Naomi is the anti-Christ,” Silver says, none too subtly. She later explains she used to be friends with Naomi, who broke her trust.) Conveniently, Silver is the sister of Jennie’s character, kind of like “What I Like About You,” given the massive age difference.
Joe E. Tata and his reprised, modernized Peach Pit arrive at minute 17 with his Nat character bitching about an expresso machine. “Whatever happened to regular coffee?” he asks (although Starbucks was very much in vogue by the time the original “90210” signed off in 2000.)
Quickly, the two newbies get in trouble. Dixon gets in a fight with a jealous lacrosse player who starts the fight but Ethan, who saw that Dixon did not start it, lies to the principal and fingers Dixon. Then Annie gives Naomi a paper for her to get “ideas from” but naturally, Naomi copies it word per word. Duh. That was telegraphed like the Batman symbol on a cloud.
The scriptwriters choose not to make Naomi out to be a total witch. Coddled, yes. Spoiled? Naturally. But smart, too. Still, they have to ensure Naomi is no longer “friends” with Annie to set up future conflicts.
As the first hour ended, the principal finds out his ex girlfriend had a son who was adopted. Same plotline used on “October Road” last year. But this time, the son is yet unseen. I’d say, mission accomplished in terms of hour one.
Hour two doesn’t quite work as well. Annie quickly gets introduced to an obvious love interest Ty Collins, a lead in the play, a player who can fly her to San Francisco on a private plane for dinner. She lies about it to her mom, gets caught, loses trust. Shannen Doherty, er… Brenda, shows up to hug Nate and says whenever twin Brandon thinks of him, he craves a megaburger. “We should spend more time together,” Kelly says. Aww… a reunion!
Naomi makes Ethan jealous. Dixon tries to gain the trust of the team as the principal’s son by masterminding a prank. Least interesting character is Naomis’ friend Adrianna, who steals, takes drugs and tries to audition for roles for the sake of her mom instead of herself. Yawn. Ethan breaks up with Naomi. Annie kisses Ty. Naturally, Ethan sees this. Eye roll. Yes, the producers here are not exactly pulling a “Sixth Sense” on us.
So fans of the original, how did you like it? Is this worth a second look? I’ll give it a try for awhile and see how it plays out.
-Not surprisingly, Atlanta singing quartet Kazual are out on “America’s Got Talent.” That means no Atlantans made the top 20. Oh, well. Kazual got virtually no air time before last Wednesday and needed to kill it to make the top 5. They didn’t kill it. They looked good, danced well, harmonized okay but three of the four soloists lacked power and finesse. When the show producers paired them with Queen Emily, it was obvious Kazual were goners. Four of the five acts that made it through were singers. America still loves singers and generally prefers them over dancers or magicians or whatever. The season one winner was a singer. Season two was a singer, took, albeit a ventriloquist, too.
The drag queen opera singer Shequida? Like fingers on a chalkboard, that chalkboard being my brain. But I thoroughly enjoyed the music teacher opera singer. Not karaoke to me. All heart. And the baton twirler Jonathan just amped his game up several notches. Wow! I was also a fan of Sarah Lenore, who brought surprising edge to the Dixie Chicks song “Ready To Make Nice.” Disappointing: everybody else.
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9/2: Surprisingly big numbers for TNT’s “Raising the Bar”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Steve Bochco’s latest drama “Raising the Bar” opened at an impressive 7.7 million viewers Monday night, according to Nielsen estimates.
Atlanta-based TNT says that’s the biggest ratings ever for a new series on a ad-supported cable. That excludes broadcast TV, non ad-supported cable such as Disney and pay cable such as HBO.
Despite generally poor reviews, the drama about the interaction between the Los Angeles public defenders’ office and the district attorney’s office found an initial audience thanks to two factors: a lead in monster by the name of “The Closer” and the lack of competition over on the broadcast networks, which were airing a mix of political convention news and hurricane updates. And surprisingly, a lot of people do watch TV on Labor Day. It’s not a holiday where viewing drops off sharply like some other days.
“Raising the Bar” was the second largest show on TV Monday night, beaten only by NBC’s ” Deal or No Deal,” which drew more than 10 million people for its first one million dollar winner after more than 180 shows. It even beat the fourth season debut of Fox’s “Prison Break.”
Whether this show has the makings of a genuine hit depends on how it does in coming weeks.
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9/1: Back to politics on the news channels
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Cable news channels, prepping for a repeat of Hurricane Katrina courtesy of Gustav, readied to cut back on the Republican National Convention Sunday. All the big shot anchors (Brian Williams, Anderson Cooper) flew to New Orleans, bracing for the worst.
But on Labor Day, as Hurricane Gustav skirted west of New Orleans, they pivoted back to the convention, especially with Sarah Palin’s daughter coming into play.
As the afternoon wore on, Gustav took less and less time and the convention took over, even with a scaled back opening day. And at the convention, officials made multiple calls for disaster relief.
Tonight, it appears a bulk of CNN/Fox News/MSNBC coverage will be back to politics and the Republicans appear to be going back to a normal schedule as well.
The New York Times noted that the hurricane may have overshadowed the Palin controversy Monday, which otherwise would have dominated coverage.
But the story of her daughter’s pregnancy is still alive on TV. At 1:45 p.m. today, CNN is talking about Palin. And so is MSNBC, with a “right to life debate.” And Fox News is airing Joe Biden commenting on it by saying, “Children are off limits,” repeating Barack Obama’s statement yesterday. When Fox News got around to a brief update on damage west of New Orleans, they shrunk the correspondent to include live shots of the convention, even though nothing is really happening in St. Paul right now. Fox News at 1:55 p.m noted they have whopping 500 people at St. Paul.
