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11/25: People are watching more TV than ever, got more “Housewives of Atlanta” info
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With so many new distractions this decade, especially stemming from the Internet, people are reading fewer books, reading fewer magazines and newspapers and watching fewer movies in theaters.
But TV? It’s more popular than ever. Some reasons why: there are more choices on TV (including on-demand and more cable networks) and the growth of “time shifting” DVRs.
The average U.S. household watched 8 hours and 18 minutes a day of TV, according to Nielsen from September 2007 to September 2008, the most since Nielsen began measurements in the 1950s.
The average person watches four hours and 45 minutes of TV a day. That’s more than anything except sleep and work. In 1998-99, the average person watched 4 hours a day. So viewing is up nearly 19 percent in less than a decade. And just think: that means millions watch more than four hours and 45 minutes a day.
DVRs only represent 4.5 percent of total viewing but that’s up from 3 percent a year ago.
- More flotsam from the Web and TV on “Real Housewives of Atlanta,” which has its reunion show tonight at 9 p.m.:
Jimmy Baron (formerly of 99X) subbed in for Tommy Sullivan on “Atlanta & Company” Monday and while interviewing Rosie O’Donnell, discovered she’s a fan of “Real Housewives of Atlanta” and had met NeNe. “She’s going to be a star,” she said. “She’s got something about her!”
After Baron called the women “abhorrent,” she didn’t quite agree but did say she didn’t relate to these women at all: “It’s like I’m watching people from Neptune.”
Plus, please check out my colleague Richard Eldredge’s hilarious piece interviewing businesses featured on the show here.
A sampling: Jan Smith, the vocal coach who told Kim Zolciak she really can’t sing well, commented to Richard:
“I’ve been featured on MTV, VH1 and BET. But I’ve never gotten the level of reaction that I’ve gotten with this silly show. I did this as a favor to [producer and friend] Dallas [Austin]. The good thing is, the people who saw it, saw me being honest with her. They saw me doing what I actually do at work. Someone had to tell her. To me, the show is despicable. Total buffoonery.”
E! Online interviewed breakout star NeNe. Here’s a scary note:
Anderson Cooper really can’t stop talking about you. He was talking about you the other night with Jay Leno. Jay even showed a picture of you.
He showed a huge photo of me. I screamed in my bedroom. I was like, Whoa! I really need to get on Leno now!
- Bonnie Hunt and comic Niecy Nash [mock Kim and NeNe in this clip from the “Bonnie Hunt Show” Monday. It’s pretty darn funny.:
-And look! More dirt on Kim Zolciak!
The New York Post cited a Hartford Courant piece noting that she had a high-profile affair with a police chief named John MacDougald when she was 16 or 17 the romance began and allegedly a witness in a criminal investigation at the time.
McDougald, a 25-year veteran of the police department, copped to the affair-but insisted that the relationship started after the case was closed.
The scandal helped touch off an internal investigation in the Windsor Locks [Ct.] police department-where allegations of secret tapings, sexual-assault charges and cover-ups flew.
It names the real-estate investor who is Big Papa (though since we don’t have direct proof here, I’m told not to reveal his name.)
And the newspaper found records of Sheree being arrested for theft in 1989 at age 19.
The paper also gripe that they aren’t technically in Atlanta, which is true, but they’re close enough. And according to the Post, Zolciak purchased her home in Myers Park, a townhome community in Duluth, for $486,000 in 2006. From a New York standpoint, that’s cheap. In Atlanta, that’s not half bad.
And it noted that Gregg Leakes, NeNe’s hubby, was recently evicted from a rental home in Sugarloaf. The home is owned by Shenaz Ali Kajani.
Permalink | Comments (12) | Post your comment | Categories: atlanta housewives
Comments
By Michael Campbell
November 25, 2008 8:36 AM | Link to this
I was unfortunate enough to catch an episode of this … “show”, last night. It’s offensively bad. I bet Springer even finds it bad.
By Michelle
November 25, 2008 1:57 PM | Link to this
I’m not always a Bonnie Hunt fan, but that was freaking hilarious!!
By Justin
November 25, 2008 10:05 PM | Link to this
From NY Post article…
Zolciak, the cast’s sole white member whose mystery man is a source of Internet intrigue.
Online gossip mongers have surmised that her sugar daddy could be a music industry icon like Quincy Jones or Sean Combs, hence her “friendship” with producer Dallas Austin.
The most prolific rumor, however, is that her sugar daddy is real-estate developer Lee Najjar-father of a member of the extended posse on MTV’s reality show “The Hills,” and very married.
Zolciak, as it turns out, is no stranger to scandal. As a teenager in Windsor Locks, Conn., she had a high-profile affair with a police sergeant, John MacDougald.
According to the Hartford Courant, Zolciak was “16 or 17” when the romance began and allegedly a witness in a criminal investigation at the time.
McDougald, a 25-year veteran of the police department, copped to the affair-but insisted that the relationship started after the case was closed.
The scandal helped touch off an internal investigation in the Windsor Locks police department-where allegations of secret tapings, sexual-assault charges and cover-ups flew.
Zolciak’s new BFF, Sheree Whitfield, knows something about the police, too: In 1989, when she was 19, Ohio native Whitfield-then known as Sheree Fuller-was arrested, twice, for theft, according to Cuyahoga County court records.
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Notice how these women came to Atlanta pretending to live a different lifestyle…this is the place golddiggers come…the women perfect their craft of s*x and land them a jock who if he wasn’t making money couldn’t get any women.
Now Sheree is trying to steal from Bob Whitfield. Bob, were you stupid? You should’ve realized when she dropped to her knees on the first date what she was about…
On the reunion show, Sheree should’ve caught more flack instead of everyone ganging up on Kim.
By Justin
November 25, 2008 10:18 PM | Link to this
Did any of the women go to college other than DeShawn? DeShawn is a sweetheart!
Lisa is cool but I wonder how her ex got custody of the children, especially in Georgia where judges are notorious for discriminating against fathers and often award outrageous child support awards to women.
If NeNe and her family were evicted, it is because of the economy. Real Estate businesses are suffering and this may be the reason she was on the show, to help bring in money to sustain the family.
I feel sort of sorry for Kim. As far as Sheree, please! She is so transparent and the epitome of golddiggers and the kind of woman who moves to Atlanta in droves hanging out at parties trying to meet someone who can finance them.
Men of Atlanta, did you not learn anything from Lance Herndon’s situation? His mistresses still ended up with men with money. Wonder why none of those women didn’t volunteer for the show. I guess they didn’t want the past coming out…
By Justin
November 25, 2008 10:27 PM | Link to this
Kim is doing a photo shoot for Playboy! Wow, that was unexpected (sarcasm)!
By April
November 25, 2008 10:38 PM | Link to this
Ha Ha Ha…I guess the issue will sell well…at least in Atlanta.
I guess Sheree will be coming out with a video “How to slide down a pole and catch an athlete”! “What a role model for her daughter! You are a pro garden tool because anyway you say it, you traded your body for currency. Run, Bob, run. Run, men of America, run. She will probably snatch a rich foreigner.
By KaKa Re
November 25, 2008 11:01 PM | Link to this
Sheree sighting! At the Dirty Awards at the Georgia International Conference Center! Trying to find a rapper to keep her in the bling! Remember Vivica Fox and Fifty cents!
By Julie
November 25, 2008 11:47 PM | Link to this
Sheree is actually how she is portrayed on the show. She is stuck on herself and is uppity. Whenever we see her her nose in the air and she looks down on people. I don’t understand why because she is a hoodrat who has stolen in the past. She moved to Atlanta to use her body as currency to hook a rich guy. Upper middle class upbringing…please! Lie, lie, lie!
She doesn’t deserve a settlement. She should get out and work. She is trying to get Bob to settle by running up attorney bills because he has to pay her attorney and his attorney. The state of Georgia is the one of the worst to get divorced.
As far as fashion, I can show you some pictures of the early days in Atlanta of Sheree…I wouldn’t put her and fashion in the same sentence! Ha!
By diva
November 27, 2008 12:51 PM | Link to this
JUST FOUND THIS ARTICLE IN THE NEW YORK POST ABOUT KIM AND SHEREE : Kim Zolciak, as it turns out, is no stranger to scandal. As a teenager in Windsor Locks, Conn., she had a high-profile affair with a police sergeant, John MacDougald. According to the Hartford Courant, Zolciak was “16 or 17” when the romance began and allegedly a witness in a criminal investigation at the time. McDougald, a 25-year veteran of the police department, copped to the affair-but insisted that the relationship started after the case was closed. The scandal helped touch off an internal investigation in the Windsor Locks police department-where allegations of secret tapings, sexual-assault charges and cover-ups flew. The upshot of unleashing these skeletons in her closet? The Hartford Courant’s reporting on the scandal, which unfolded in the summer of 1997, identified Zolciak’s age as 19. That nearly proves Zolciak’s seemingly ludicrous on-screen claim that she is 29 though, despite her onscreen Botox treatments, her detractors say she doesn’t look a day over 40. Zolciak’s new BFF, Sheree Whitfield, knows something about the police, too: In 1989, when she was 19, Ohio native Whitfield-then known as Sheree Fuller-was arrested, twice, for theft, according to Cuyahoga County court records.
By Diva
November 27, 2008 12:55 PM | Link to this
JUST FOUND THIS ARTICLE IN THE NEW YORK POST ABOUT KIM AND SHEREE : Kim Zolciak, as it turns out, is no stranger to scandal. As a teenager in Windsor Locks, Conn., she had a high-profile affair with a police sergeant, John MacDougald. According to the Hartford Courant, Zolciak was “16 or 17” when the romance began and allegedly a witness in a criminal investigation at the time. McDougald, a 25-year veteran of the police department, copped to the affair-but insisted that the relationship started after the case was closed. The scandal helped touch off an internal investigation in the Windsor Locks police department-where allegations of secret tapings, sexual-assault charges and cover-ups flew. The upshot of unleashing these skeletons in her closet? The Hartford Courant’s reporting on the scandal, which unfolded in the summer of 1997, identified Zolciak’s age as 19. That nearly proves Zolciak’s seemingly ludicrous on-screen claim that she is 29 though, despite her onscreen Botox treatments, her detractors say she doesn’t look a day over 40. Zolciak’s new BFF, Sheree Whitfield, knows something about the police, too: In 1989, when she was 19, Ohio native Whitfield-then known as Sheree Fuller-was arrested, twice, for theft, according to Cuyahoga County court records.
By Glo
November 29, 2008 7:22 PM | Link to this
Why does NeNe keep going on and on about Kim wearing a wig when she has a weave. Sheree goes on and on about how beautiful she is but she looks like a man to me and at times, so does NeNe. They all may have money, but they act like they’re in a ghetto somewere.
By Justin
December 9, 2008 2:55 PM | Link to this
Sheree gets $15,000 a month in child support and only got a six figure settlement. She is appealing the settlement at the Georgia Supreme Court.
I guess that amount is not enough to pay for her children’s private school and her “I don’t shop on a budget” shopping sprees. She now has them in public school so she can “keep shopping”. I wonder how much they made for each episode of the show and now for their appearances at events. I guess they are going the Paris Hilton fame route…famous for not doing anything…
Young men, watch out for Sheree…she is a cougar who is gold-digging…