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January 2007
Low I.Q. in High-Def
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Q: Are you smarter than a fifth grader? A: Clearly not, if you’re reading this blog.
Oh, come on now, the Serf’s just kidding! She’s well aware that the folks who regularly read her random ramblings on the noble art of television are all rocket scientists and the kind of people who have to downsize their vocabulary simply to be understood at Mensa meetings. Which is why you’ll doubtless have absolutely no interest in Fox’s newest programming gambit:
It’s a quiz show called “Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?” and it is specifically NOT meant to measure intelligence. Quite the opposite in fact. It is — and here I am quoting directly from the press release issued by the Network Big Cheeses, because clearly I am not smart enough to make up something like this — designed “to test adults’ lack of knowledge.”
[At this point I feel compelled to emphasize that this is the Fox broadcasting network of “Joe Millionaire” and “Temptation Island” fame, not the Fox News cable network of Geraldo Rivera and Bill O’Reilly fame. People often get the two mixed up, but I think it’s important to distinguish between the network that wants to know how smart its viewers are, and the one that doesn’t].
OK, back to our show. Created by “Survivor” guru Mark Burnett, “Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?” aims at elevating contestants’ sense of self-esteem by putting them back in a classroom setting and quizzing them on the sorts of things it was essential to know in elementary school: Things like where Mount Rushmore is located, the names of all five Great Lakes, what’s on the governor’s Sonny Do list, etc., etc. OK, I made that last one up, but all the rest are bona fide questions that promise to crop up on this exciting show.
The series debuts on Tuesday, Feb. 27 and runs for six episodes. Typically for Fox, they almost all air on different nights or at different times from any of the other episodes, so good luck to any of you who want to find them. I only have a Master’s degree, so figuring out Fox’s scheduling strategy obviously is way beyond me.
There’s no word on how they decide who wins on this show or what they get for their efforts. Maybe they get to take home the rest of the class’s papier mache model of Plymouth Rock, or become the newest “American Idol” judge. Personally, I think just knowing that you’re the adult with the biggest “lack of knowledge” should be reward enough.
But that still doesn’t tell us how dumb the people watching are. Oh wait, yes it does …
Miss (Missing in) America
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
But can she bend time? Or kill a terrorist with a single bite to the jugular?
Sadly, that’s what I found myself thinking Sunday morning during Miss Massachusetts’ interview on Fox News. Like all the Miss America contestants, Michaela J. Gagne, 24, has adopted a “platform issue.” Having been diagnosed with a life-threatening heart condition at 17, Gagne would advocate for Heart Health if chosen Miss America. All the noble platforms will get an airing during Monday’s pageant, which airs live on CMT from 8-10 p.m. That’s so lovely, in a “No drunken, nitwitty Miss USA contestants allowed here” sort of way. Too bad nobody will be watching.
Poor Miss America. Not this year’s winner, whomever she may turn out to be. It’s the pageant itself that’s in trouble, going up against brand new episodes of “Heroes, “Two and a Half Men” and “24” at 9 p.m., along with about a bazillion other offerings on network TV and cable. What are the chances anyone’s gonna tune in for the chance of seeing Miss Georgia, Amanda Kozak, tap dance, when they could be watching Hiro or Jack Bauer perform larger-than-life stunts instead? About as good as the Serf’s chance of being named Miss Congeniality. And whose stupid idea was it to air the pageant on a Monday night in January, anyway?
I admit to having a soft spot in my heart for Miss America. We both were born and raised in New Jersey, from which the pageant was ripped away last year and sent to Las Vegas, where it’s now just one more over-the-top, overly-spangled event — something to fill the empty space between the Celine Dion show and Cirque du Soleil’s latest fire eating-while-tumbling naked extravaganza. Trust me when I tell you that the pageant always was a much bigger deal in Atlantic City, where salt water taffy and Steve and Eydie impersonators are pretty much what passes for glamour.
Meanwhile, as competitive events go, Miss America ranks right up there with the Super Bowl. Both involve young, incredibly physically fit young people using their respective skills (singing opera, stopping the pass rush) to try to win the big crown. And when push comes to shove, Miss America is the superior event because its contestants don’t all run around whining about being “disrespected” or pulling Sharpies out of their high heels to sign autographs during the swimsuit competition.
But the single best thing about Miss America - until now — was that it always aired on Saturday night. There was nothing else on TV then and nothing more fun than gathering family, friends or just you and your “I’m home alone on Saturday night” bitterness to hoot at (and occasionally hooray for) the one thing in life that never seemed to change: Every year, some young woman with abnormally shiny teeth and an alarmingly stiff bouffant hairdo played “Flight of the Bumblebee” on her violin and got ROBBED by the motley crew of celebrity judges (Exhibit A: This year’s include Chris Matthews and Delta Burke).
I already have enough trouble deciding whether to watch “Heroes” or “24.” Now throw in host Mario Lopez (speaking of abnormally shiny) announcing the name of the new Miss America at the same time and my head feels like it’s going to explode.
Sigh. If there’s a Miss America contestant out there whose platform issue is “Moving the pageant back to Saturday night,” I say, crown her now.
Just be careful not to muss her bouffant.
Super Bowl o’ Sobbing
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
There’s Super Bowl counterprogramming, and then there’s Super Bowl counterprogramming …
Actually, it’s the big game’s always bloated, sometimes controversial, usually “is that it?” halftime show that’s being targeted by the least likely of suspects — Hallmark Channel.
Yes, that’s right, the soft-focus cable network of apple blossoms, angel’s wings and happy endings has thrown its perky bonnet into the ring by coming up with a half-hour show that it will air during halftime of the game being played on CBS. And much as the Indianapolis Colts will rely on a Peyton Manning-led air attack to try and win the Super Bowl, Hallmark is going with its strength:
Tears. Comercially-induced ones.
Hallmark’s “Whole Lotta Love—Full Contact Edition” will consist of the best ever commercials for Hallmark Cards and Hallmark Hall of Fame movies. You know exactly the sort of thing we’re talking about: little boys rolling on the floor with newborn puppies, great-grannys being feted on their hundredth birthday, soldiers unexpectedly calling home at Christmas time … ack!, the Serf is tearing up already just thinking about it. Oh, my yes, she’ll be watching! And she suspects a whole lotta manly Super Bowl party hosts who’ll SAY they’re going out to the garage to tap a new keg will actually be sneaking off to an out-of-the-way bedroom to steal a tearful peek at Hallmark on the old black-and-white TV.
Speaking of which … just when you think things couldn’t get more mushy and retro, comes late word from Hallmark of who’s signed on to host “Whole Lotta Love” — Mr. Engelbert Humperdinck!
Last seen warbling his hits like “Release Me” and “Winter World of Love” around 1968, the poor man’s Tom Jones (and by “poor man’s,” we mean his tuxedo pants were loose enough that he could actually breathe) is, Hallmark says, “synonymous with love.” Why they didn’t just call him “groovy” or “superfly” is beyond us, but no matter. You can watch Prince (the performer on CBS’s halftime show) anytime, but if you miss Whole Lotta Humperdinck and Happiness, well, don’t come crying to us later.
We’ll be all cried out.
Super “Heroes” Finally Stop Jack Bauer
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Are you on the list?
Apparently lots of people were.
In the first head-to-head showdown between “24” and “Heroes” from 9-10 p.m. Monday, it was the folks with the superpowers who won out. According to Nielsen’s fast national ratings, the first original episode of “Heroes” to air in nearly two months attracted 14.8 million viewers compared to the 14.4 million who tuned in to see “24’s” Jack Bauer deal with the fallout from a suitcase nuke and — worse — family issues.
Taking down Fox and “24” represents a major triumph for “Heroes.” But there was still good news for “24,” which scored better than the 14.2 million viewers who watched it on the same Monday night a year ago, when “Heroes” was only a gleam in NBC’s eye.
And apparently, characters who can bend time and fly still are no match for a couple of randy bachelors cracking off-color jokes. “Heroes,” which returned with a new storyline surrounding a list of mutants (hence the new catchphrase, “Are you on the list?”) was only the No. 2-ranked show from 9-9:30 p.m. Coming in at No. 1 with 16 million viewers was the CBS sitcom “Two and a Half Men,” starring Charlie Sheen.
Dancing with Billy Ray?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Don’t break his feet, his achy-breaky feet…..
Celeb gossip web site TMZ.com is all over the news of who’ll be dipping and twirling on the upcoming season of “Dancing with the Stars.” ABC refused to confirm or deny any of TMZ’s scoop, but from Mel Gibson’s drunken rant to Michael Richards’ racial slurs, TMZ is usually first with the vital news and is hardly ever wrong.
That being said….Billy Ray Cyrus?
Sigh. The mullet may be gone but the memory lingers of him warbling “Achy-Breaky Heart” till we all wanted to cut off our own ears a few years ago. Nonetheless the former “Doc” star and father of “Hannah Montana” cutie-pie Miley will be gracing the “Dancing” stage when it returns on March 19. So will washed-up “Beverly Hills 90210”-er Ian Ziering, TMZ claims, along with Laila Ali (The Champ’s daughter, and a boxer in her own right, meaning her footwork should be excellent). Oh yeah, and another old ‘NSYNC-er, Joey Fatone.
That’s all so far, although TMZ felt confident enough to tell us that ex-Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, had taken a pass on “Dancing.” So, apparently have Sharon and Kelly Osbourne.
We’re still holding out hope for Ozzie, though …
“24” On the Hot Seat?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
When Islamic terrorists successfully detonated a nuclear bomb at the end of Episode 4 of “24” last week, the mushroom cloud rising over the Los Angeles area was one of the most powerful signoffs to an hour of television in recent memory.
But with Episode 5 set to air at 9 p.m. Monday on Fox, the reigning Emmy winner for best drama is experiencing some off-screen fallout as a result of its Season 6 plotline.
Two years after another “24” plotline about a nuclear missile attack on America focused heavily on a Muslim family, some people worry that TV is sending a dangerous message that all Muslims are to be feared.
“The raw emotional impact of fictional scenes that include widespread death and destruction in America may adversely affect the public’s attitude toward civil liberties, religious freedom and interfaith relations,” the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said in a statement released last week, after Fox launched the new “24” season with four episodes on Sunday and Monday. “The program’s repeated association of acts of terrorism with Islam will only serve to increase anti-Muslim prejudice in our society.”
Fox released its own statement describing “24” as “a heightened drama.” At the Television Critics Association meeting in Pasadena Saturday, Fox entertainment president Peter Liguori told the AJC’s Rodney Ho that over the past five seasons, “24” has had “Baltic bad guys, German bad guys, Russian bad guys and even an Anglo-American bad guy president. The writers don’t need to single out any specific group.”
Two years ago, CAIR met with Fox and the result was a public service announcement in which “24” star Kiefer Sutherland cautioned viewers against stereotyping Muslims. CAIR raised similar concerns during a conference call with Fox executives last week, spokeswoman Rabiah Ahmed said Friday.
The issue is not limited to “24.” Turn on television almost any week and you’re likely to find Islamic terrorists - real or imagined - figuring in the plotlines of shows, particularly military or procedural dramas. Is television reflecting legitimate fears, as some contend? Or merely enflaming them, as others suggest? Even Jack Bauer might not instantly know the answer to that one. [NOTE: For a story to run in the AJC this week, we’re interested in hearing what viewers think about the way TV handles this subject, particularly its depiction of Muslims. If you’d like to share your thoughts, e-mail jvejnoska@ajc.com. Please include a phone number or e-mail address.]
Thank you Serf for your pad
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This is Rodney Ho. I’ve pulled up my tent stakes, snuffed out my dwindling fire and bid adieu to Channel Serf, who was kind enough to allow me to post news from the TV Critics Association press tour in Pasadena. I hope y’all enjoyed it and don’t worry: Serf will be doing it all by herself when the next tour comes up in July. In the meantime, I’m continuing my work over at Radio Talk and the American Idol blogs.
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Prison Break back for season three?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Fox’s drama “Prison Break” was originally intended to wrap up after just two seasons with season one in the actual prison break and season two, the chase.
But the show has done well enough that producers are in talks with Fox to extend a third season. Fox execs wouldn’t say how this plotline could be logically extended once the conspiracy is resolved concerning Lincoln’s false imprisonment.
Peter Liguori, entertainment president for Fox, dangled the possibility Saturday before TV critics in Pasadena without saying he had fully committed to it.
Actors for “Prison Break” at a Fox-sponsored party Saturday night in Pasadena were optimistic the show will get the green light. Wentworth Miller, who plays the intense Michael Scofield, said he has heard plans that could take the show to five seasons.
“I don’t think there’s any doubt season three is going to happen,” said Dominic Purcell, who plays Lincoln Burrows, the brooding brother wrongly imprisoned for the murder of the vice president’s brother. “It’s just a question of what the writers come up with.”
“I have trust our writers are clever enough so if and when they choose to change up our playground, it will work,” Miller said.
Miller said he liked the prison setup season one but prefers the more open fugitive story in season two. In retrospect, “there was that slow click click click up the initial incline before taking off down that hill,” he said. “It feels more intense the second season. In terms of body count, the first season it was usually an inmate who died. Now when it’s someone who dies, it’s someone you care about. You feel that loss that much more.”
Most of the conspiracy will be wrapped up this season, Miller said, with “loose ends tied up, old scores settled but I think within the triumph there will be some tragedy. Some characters will inevitably wind up behind bars.”
“What they want is to recreate what we had in the first season, a bunch of desperate bickering cons who have competing agendas forced to work together toward a common goal, he noted. “If they can believably bring them back together even for an episode here or there, they’ll have the makings of a third season.”
He noted that in the U.S., “Prison Break” is a “moderate hit, a cult hit” but in many countries overseas such as Australia, France and the U.K., “we’re ‘Desperate Housewives.’ We’re ‘Lost.’ I think the show works on a slightly different level. Here, they appreciate it as a suspense thriller. Overseas, they may associate real or alleged hot-button issues such as death penalty and government conspiracy.”
Purcell said the Monday night episode, the first in nearly two months, will feature him getting a wee bit angry. “The rage is going to come out,” he said. (This is also the episode where former Atlanta morning personality Steve Barnes first appears in a small role as a Secret Service agent trying to help track Michael and Lincoln down.)
The network also confirmed it was moving its struggling sitcom “Til Death” starring Brad Garrett to the choice spot of 9:30 p.m. after “American Idol” on Wednesdays starting March 14.
“Creatively, we think the show is finding its footing with each and every episode,” Liguori said. “With comedies, you have to be more patient. We’ll give it a shot.”
Garrett said he feels the show has started to gel as he’s made his character less snarky, more human. And producers have added colorful side characters including Margaret Cho, who plays Joely Fischer’s character’s best friend and Anthony Anderson as Garrett’s buddy.
In the meantime, fresthman drama “Standoff” moves to Fridays at 8 p.m. starting March 30, a basic death zone in recent times for Fox.
Fox will also debut three new scripted shows in March and April: a romantic comedy from David E. Kelley called “The Wedding Bells,” an action drama about an underground cross-country road raced called “Drive” and coming-of-age comedy “The Winner” starring “The Daily Show’s” Rob Corddry.
The network is also planning to bring back nasty chef Gordon Ramsay and his show “Hell’s Kitchen” in March, which had aired the past two summers to decent ratings. It will likely be paired with a reality show where adults will compete with fifth graders over knowledge culled from fifth-grade textbooks.
Liguori also acknowledged the feast-and-famine problem Fox has had the past few years in which Fox gropes for ratings in the fall, then grabs its rivals by the throat in January with the “24”/”American Idol” combo.
“We could avoid that by having better shows in the fall network,” he said. “The only thing that will solve this is great work.” Fox struck out with virtually all its freshman shows this season, from “Justice” to “The Loop.” And as usual, he noted that Fox was handicapped by baseball playoffs, which interrupts much of its fall programming. He said fall 2007 may be easier to deal with since Fox won’t air one round of earlier playoffs, leaving only 14 potential days for preemptions as opposed to a more disruptive 26 this past fall.
He also couldn’t answer any questions about the aborted “O.J.” special a few weeks ago because of pending litigation.
The CW streaming… finally
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Rodney Ho reporting from Pasadena, CA: The CW, the combo network of the WB and UPN, is finally getting around to what the other networks have been doing for months: free streaming of its TV shows on the Net.
The streaming shows at www.cwtv.com are “Beauty & the Geek,” “Supernatural,” “Veronica Mars,” “One Tree Hill,” “Everybodya Hates Chris,” “All of Us,” “Girlfriends” and “The Game.” Not included: “Gilmore Girls,” “Smallville,” and “7th Heaven.”
Despite its younger, more tech-savvy audience, the CW was late to the free streaming game, said president Dawn Ostroff Friday, because it was focused so much on merging operations of the two old networks and getting the CW off the ground.
Although the CW’s ratings overall are no better than either UPN or the WB a year ago, the network can claim a few relative success stories: stronger numbers for “America’s Next Top Model”; modest upticks in “Veronica Mars” ratings; and “Beauty & the Geek” passably holding up against the onslaught that is “American Idol.”
In a sign of confidence for another show, the CW has officially given “Everybody Hates Chris” a full third-season run despite disappointing ratings this season on Monday nights.
Among other announcements, the new “Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search for the Next Doll” will take over the “Veronica Mars” spot starting March 6 for eight weeks, but “Mars” will return afterwards for five more episodes. And there’s another reality show on the way later in this year called “Crowned,” featuring mother-daughter teams competing in a beauty pageant.
What about the future of “7th Heaven,” which the CW brought back after the WB gave it a series sendoff last year? “I say, ‘never say never’,” Ostroff said in a noncommittal tone. It’s too early to say if veteran shows such as “Smallville” or “Gilmore Girls” will be back either. All three aging shows have seen erosion in ratings this year over last.
The Truthiness Factor
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The truth (truthiness?) can now be told: Bill O’Reilly and Stephen Colbert most definitely are not the same person.
We got the definitive proof Thursday night when they both appeared in the same place at the same time - twice - by guesting on each other’s hit cable shows. And for all their remarkable similarities (same dark suit with the merest hint of charcoal pinstripe, same dark and foreboding view of the world with nary a hint of self-doubt), one major difference stood out:
Colbert stabs you in the back. O’Reilly prefers the full frontal approach:
“It’s a very successful program that owes everything to me,” O’;Reilly, who got to fire first, said as he introduced the host of “The Colbert Report” on Fox News’ “The O’Reilly Factor.”
A little later to his guest, who was tongue-in-cheekily agreeing he was an O’Reilly ripoff: “Don’t you owe me an enormous amount of money?”
A little later, after bidding Colbert adieu: “Stephen Colbert owes his whole life to me”
Indeed. Some three hours later, Colbert couldn’t have been a more gracious host to the slightly resigned-looking visitor to his Comedy Central program. Oh, wait, maybe he could have been. Spying a copy of his latest book, “Culture Warrior” across the table, O’Reilly gamely asked, “Did you read my book?”
“Did I read your book?” This is a fantastic book,” Colbert enthused, holding up the book with a store’s “30 Percent Off” sticker prominently slapped across O’Reilly’s face on the cover. “By the way, you can get great deals at Barnes & Noble. This is, like, Day One, .I got 30 percent off.”
A little earlier, O’Reilly had tried to gin up a comic rivalry between Colbert and Jon Stewart, whose “The Daily Show” was a launching pad for “The Colbert Report.” Colbert visibly shuddered at the mention of his supposed mentor’s name - “We have a restraining order against Stewart” - to O’Reilly’s obvious delight.
“He’s jealous of you, Colbert,” O’Reilly crooned happily.
“He’s a sexual predator, that’s why I had to leave, Bill,” Colbert confided. “You have no idea what that’s like.”
Was that a not-so-subtle reference to a harrassment lawsuit brought against O’Reilly in October 2004 by a female former producer? You be the judge. (For the record, O’Reilly settled with the woman, Andrea Mackris, whose claims included that he had made explicit phone calls to her. O’Reilly also dropped an extortion suit he’d filed against Mackris and her lawyer. Both sides agreed to keep the settlement details confidential.)
Maybe Colbert was still stinging from a tense moment on O’Reilly’s show when the host had suggested the younger man was hiding the worst possible secret about himself.
“Col-BERT …” O’Reilly said, cocking his head suspiciously and training a laser stare on his guest. “That’s a French name, isn’t it…?”
Now you KNOW they’re not the same person.
(Did you watch the O’Reilly-Colbert showdown? Who do you think came out the winner? What other talk show hosts would you like to see venture into each other’s territory?)
Barker’s last bark
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Rodney Ho reporting from Pasadena, CA: Bob Barker, who began hosting “The Price is Right” when the Watergate break-in was still considered a minor robbery, explained to TV critics Thursday afternoon that at age 83, he just felt it was time to step down.
“I want to retire while I’m still young,” he joked.
Then Barker got more serious about why he’s leaving now: “It marks the 50th anniversary of my time on television. And it marks the 35th year of the ‘Price is Right.’ And we’re way up there in the ratings, right on top. And we have people lined up, sleeping out there on the sidewalk, to see our show. And I want to go out on top.”
Though his gait has slowed, the engaging Barker still exudes warmth with a sharp glint in his eye.
His scariest guest: He said there was a Samoan woman who lifted him up and thrashed him about. “Frankly,” he said, “I was terrified.” Then a second Samoan woman did the same thing. When a third one came along, he told her not to touch him. But when she won a new car, he said she lifted him up even higher than the other two. “I’m never going to Samoa,” he cracked. “My feet would never touch the sand.”
His personal abilities at guessing prices: “I would be a terrible contestant. I know nothing about prices. I’ve never paid any attention because I can’t win. Why should I? So sometimes when I go and do interviews, the writer will show up with a brown paper bag and say, ‘I’m going to test you, Bob.’ And I make a damn fool of myself every time they do it.”
Why do college students love his show so much?: “If I could explain that, I could make millions of dollars!” He said one time 15 years ago, he saw a group of college students and pointed them out. Then other groups came and soon it became a tradition, with students wearing matching T-shirts and chanting his name. He said his hilarious appearance punching out Adam Sandler in the film “Happy Gilmore” a decade ago may have also fueled his popularity. Young adults are always asking him at tapings to say his line, “The price is wrong, b——!” (During the press conference, though, he kept misquoting the line, saying it was “The price is right, b——!”)
How does he stay so peppy?: “Booze.” Pause. “Not actually.” Pause again. “Well, actually yeah.” In reality, he says he exercises regularly and is a vegetarian to boot, which he thinks gave him the energy to stay on the show five extra years.
**Why did he settle out of court those spate of lawsuits by former employees?: “These were frivolous lawsuits based on distortions, exaggerations and outright falsehoods. And we could prove that in court.” But he said it made more sense to settle from a financial standpoint.
He and CBS are planning a huge “Price is Right” farewell special in May on primetime with a million-dollar wheel though his final original episode will likely air in June.
No replacement has been named.
The Question Oprah Didn’t Ask
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
You gotta hand it to Oprah. She played by the rules in her just-aired exclusive interview with 15-year-old Shawn Hornbeck (the boy allegedly kidnapped over four years ago) and his parents, Craig and Pam Akers: The rules set down by Shawn’s family and maybe the authorities (“I agreed to respect certain boundaries and not ask what went on during that four-year period.”) And the rules of journalism that say sometimes you have to ask the tough questions (“I’m gonna go there and ask what do you think happened?,” Winfrey calmly asked the Akers nine minutes into the show. “Do you think he was sexually abused?”)
Sadly, they do. Craig Akers also said there were different types of abuse and that “I have no doubt that mentally he’s not the same boy he was.” But they couldn’t say much more than that because as they’d already explained to Oprah, they haven’t yet asked Shawn anything about what happened on the day he disappeared or during the 51 months he was gone. On the advice of child advocacy experts, they said, they “were advised not to ask Shawn any questions” and to have trained professionals on hand when he is finally ready to talk.
So, um, what were they doing letting Oprah ask them questions about it instead?
Seriously, maybe there was a completely good explanation for this family that’s been through so much going on the most popular TV talk program in history to sort of share their pain and tiptoe up to the edges of off-limits topics like sexual abuse. Maybe they wanted to show the world they were doing OK, considering (really, it was heartwarming to see Shawn nestled between his parents on Oprah’s couch, smiling shyly and gripping their hands out of what sincerely seemed like love); Maybe, as Craig Akers said rthe day Shawn was found and reiterated to Winfrey, they want to give hope to other families of missing children. Maybe, understandably, they just wanted to do something nice for themselves after four years of horror. Maybe it was a combination of all three. Who knows?
The point was, Oprah never asked. Which was sort of weird for the woman who never leaves a stone unturned. Along with all the other intriguing questions that have swirled about what’s been dubbed the “Missouri Miracle,” it sort of hung in the air uncomfortably throughout the show. Frankly, as good as it felt to see them all doing fairly well, I’d almost rather they’d stayed home and worked on these profoundly difficult issues in the privacy they so richly deserve. And with the professionals who will prove so helpful. Mostly, though, I wish Oprah — who, it must be said did an excellent job otherwise — had asked why they’d agreed to be on her show. The answer might have been enlightening. At the very least, it wouldn’t have left me with any doubts about the motives of anyone involved in this high-profile program. Including our own, for feeling a bit like voyeurs for being unable to turn away from the TV…
An Office romance
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“Office” fans are still buzzing about the recent episode in which Michael accidentally sent out a spicy photo of Jan and Michael from their Carribean vacation in an email to everybody in the office. The office employees even created a life-sized blowup of the photo.
The twist was that Jan, who plays Michael’s supervisor, still knew nothing about the photo by the end of the episode.
The actress who plays Jan, Melora Hardin, had a theory. “I don’t think anyone sent it to Jan. I think people are scared of her,” she said at an NBC party in Pasadena Thursday. “Deep down, nobody wants to hurt her. That would have put her over the top.”
Or maybe, Hardin said, they just thought: “She’s hot. We’ll just enjoy the poster!”
Taking her character to the psychiatrist’s couch, she thinks Jan has “created a persona that has gotten her far in the corporate world. But she’s still a woman. And [Michael] doesn’t mind the imbalance of power. If we had fantasy sequences on the show, you’d see her in a dominatrix outfit!”
Indeed, “I imagine [Michael] as a 17-year-old kid when they’re in bed together. His enthusiasm carries it all the way!”
In the next few episodes, she said the relationship will become more open even if it’s rather inappropriate since she’s his boss.
1/18: Survivor survives
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Rodney Ho reporting from Pasadena, Calif.: CBS didn’t offer much in the way of news Thursday morning at the Television Critics Association meeting, with no new dramas set to air the rest of the season and just one comedy, “Rules of Engagement.” In fact, the network announced that “Survivor” is getting two more cycles in 2007-08 the day before.
But CBS entertainment president Nina Tassler did get to brag to TV critics this morning that CBS is currently No. 1 among 18 to 49 year olds, a situation that would have been unheard of a few years ago when CBS’s reputation was rather dowdy. Its strategy of success is more akin to the more stable “steady as we go” approach rather than a handful of buzzworthy star shows on Fox and ABC.
The difference: a handful of criminal procedural type shows (“Criminal Minds,” “Without a Trace,” “CSI,” et.al.) that repeat well but don’t get a lot of heat because they aren’t serialized like “Grey’s Anatomy” or “Heroes.”
All in all, dull is good for CBS. One plaintive reporter, trying to milk something out of the session, asked what the media could write about CBS this spring.
“I think with the changes in ‘CSI’ and what’s happening with “Jericho,’ with ‘[The Adventures of Old] Christine’ moving to 8:30 [on Mondays], with ‘Rules of Engagement,’ we’re very excited about that,” Tessler offered. “Oh, and we’re sending off ‘King of Queens’ at the end of the year. They’ll be a lot to talk about.”
Or we can get back to gabbing about “Heroes” and “Lost.”
Tessler did talk about possible shows that might land on the fall schedule such as “Swingtown,” set in 1976 and featuring three couples who, well, swing. That could be a controversial show down the road.
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No “Scrub”-ing This Mission
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For six years, medical comedy “Scrubs” has been the quintessential “cult” show: middling ratings, constant schedule changes and critical raves, yet always on the verge of being cancelled.
But something changed this year. Ratings, while still middling at about 8 million viewers a week, are up from recent years and are pretty good for a comedy in this day and age. And it’s doing decently against two of the biggest shows on TV, “CSI” and “Grey’s Anatomy.”
Bill Lawrence, the boyish executive producer, told TV critics Wednesday that he is considering a seventh season and NBC appears amenable. The network even allowed them to do an over-the-top musical episode, which airs Thursday, and cost twice as much as a typical show.
The cast spent a week in rehearsal and he brought in a vocal coach with Broadway experience. “I’m still having fun doing the show,” Lawrence said, who loves musical theater, especially “Les Miserables.”
But Lawrence did note that unlike his past show “Spin City,” “Scrubs” never became that huge hit so he always has to cater to the core fans and the critics. That means, for instance, having stars Zach Braff and Sarah Chalke do podcasts online and interact directly with the fans, as well as attend sessions to schmooze with media.
“I’m truly here hoping to keep “Scrubs” relevant even though it’s been on six years,” he said.
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“Oprah On the Case”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
What’s that? You’ve got questions about those two Missouri boys who were allegedly kidnapped by the same man and then found over the weekend? Well, fear not, because America’s own version of Agatha Christie-meets-Mother-Teresa is going to get to the bottom of things for us Thursday.
The families of Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby both will be featured on Thursday’s edition of “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” The e-mail announcement just landed in the Serf’s humble in-box, with the words “All-New & Exclusive” bandied across the top in letters big enough to attract, well, even the attention of all those folks who couldn’t find Shawn hidden practically under their noses for four years.
Even as I type this, a CNN correspondent is reporting that the Hornbecks are in Chicago today taping the interview, and that the belief is that Shawn won’t take part because both boys “on the urging of police have said very little.” Well, there’s the police, and then there’s Oprah. Quoting from the Winfrey show’s release, “in his first interview, Shawn Hornbeck talks openly about reuniting with his family after more than four years missing.”
All kidding aside, this will be an extraordinarily interesting interview to watch, as Winfrey has to navigate a fine line. On the one hand, nobody wants to make life harder for a 15-year-old whose undergone Shawn’s four-year ordeal. On the other hand, a lot of tough questions still need to be asked and answered about this horrible event.
Heroes, Earl, Office, SVU will be back next year
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With football gone and rival “American Idol” hitting the stage, NBC’s spring may not be quite as fruitful as their fall. NBC entertainment president Kevin Reilly even joked to TV critics Wednesday that the season is now officially over for the network.
More seriously, he gave four shows very early green lights for the 2007-08 season: breakout hit “Heroes,” two comedies “My Name is Earl” and “The Office” and steady player “Law & Order: SVU.” After an okay performance this past December in a test run, the game show “Identity” will get seven more episodes in March.
And Reilly said an improv-based show will debut later in the spring, an import from Australia, called “Thank God You’re Here.” Improv artists will be dressed up and placed in situations they aren’t aware of until that phrase is uttered. David Alan Grier will host and Dave Foley will be the judge of sorts, he said. This sounds kind of like ABC’s former “Who’s Line is it Anyway?”
Overall, he feels NBC has turned the corner after a few dark years thanks to the likes of “Heroes” and “The Office.” He believes the network is one hit show away from hitting its stride.
He also said he’s confident ‘Heroes,” which returns next Monday, will hold its own against “24.” “We’re not going to blink on that or move that show or run,” he said.
Reilly also expressed confidence on three shows with problematic ratings: “30 Rock,” “Studio 60,” and “Friday Night Lights.”
And he knows the network has to just get by with “Idol” in the way. “You have to rope a dope there a bit” with “Idol” in the way, he said.
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Today gets a fourth hour
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
NBC’s massively successful moneymaker “Today” is adding a fourth hour this September at 10 a.m. It would be focused on entertainment and lifestyle. NBC News president Steve Capus wouldn’t say who would be the hosts. USA Today surmised that regulars Natalie Morales and Campbell Brown are expected to have roles, along with ex-Giants running back Tiki Barber. It’s unclear how much Matt Lauer, Ann Curry or Al Roker will do in the fourth hour.
Meredith Vieira, because of her hosting of “Who Wants to Be a Milliionaire,” already is not allowed to be on “Today” after 9 a.m. EST so she certainly won’t be on the fourth hour.
WXIA general manager Bob Walker said Wednesday that he just found out the day before and wasn’t sure yet what this means for its current 10 a.m. occupant “The Martha Stewart Show” or its local TV show at 11 a.m. “Atlanta & Company,” with hosts Holly Firfer and Ryan Cameron.
“We’re going to have to explore our options and see how it impacts Martha Stewart and our own show,” he said. WXIA recently gave Stewart a green light for a third season but there’s no word yet on the future of “Atlanta & Company.”
In 2000, “Today” added a third hour, which has done well, but ratings do drop off sharply after 9 a.m. when a bulk of people leave for work. Lauer, in a “TV Week” magazine interview, said he had “mixed emotions” about the move and might dilute the very lucrative brand.
Locally, “Martha” came in third among households this past November. The competition at 10 a.m., if the other networks don’t switch shows come fall, include typically top-rated “The Montell Williams Show” on WSB-TV, a double dose of “Judge Hatchett” on WAGA-TV (ranked No. 2 this past November), “The People’s Court” on WGCL-TV (ranked fifth) and “Jerry Springer” on MyNetworkTV (ranked fourth).
The soap “Passions” in the meantime will be snuffed out by the fall. This leaves NBC with only one soap on its lineup, “Days of Our Lives.” Locally in November, “Passions” came in third behind “One Life to Live” on WSB-TV and “As the World Turns” on WGCL-TV but ahead of other competitors such as Christina’s Court, Steve Harvey and Greg Behrendt.
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On the set of 24
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Rodney Ho, reporting from Los Angeles:
The dark, cramped coldness that emanates out of the set of “24’s” Counter Terrorism Unit is, of course, an illusion.
The actual studio set is actually bright, open and just plain cool. TV critics got to check out Jack Bauer’s home away from home Tuesday, marking the spot where Edgar died from nerve gas last season, the meeting room where Chloe tearfully watched him die and the interrogation room where Jack threatened Audrey.
Jon Cassar, a director and producer, gave us a giddy grand tour. He noted that the camera shots always stay tight on the characters to keep the feel of the scenes deliberately claustrophobic. They use a foreboding blueish tint on screen allows for quick transitions and cues to the viewer that they are at CTU.
He showed how the single interrogation room can become a second one by simply swapping a door and a wall. A secret side room where Chloe and others often go to pow wow is actually in a rather open area. He noted that what appears to be concrete all over CTU is merely hollow wood with painted plaster. He even pointed out the exact spot where a fictional terrorist placed the nerve gas that killed off 40 percent of the CTU staff last season.
And he happily showed us the computer equipment and the fact the phones are actually operational so when actors are talking to each other, they are doing it for real. The phones had the date January 23, 2012 on them but Cassar said he had no idea. “We avoid date and time references as much as possible,” he said. “We’ve learned not to say, ‘We’ll be back in three minutes’ and just say, ‘We’ll be back soon.’ “
Two actors who haven’t shown up yet on screen were at the set. Rick Schroeder (NYPD Blue, Silver Spoons) said he’s going to play a tough CTU operative working with Jack starting at 6 p.m., or the 13th episode. Starting with the sixth episode, Emmy winning actor Chad Lowe will be a deputy to the chief of staff who wants to tighten up civil liberties to help stop terrorism.
As for the shocking nuclear bomb that went off in Valencia in Monday night’s episode, actor Kiefer Sutherland said they had to let something really catastrophic finally happen to prove that Bauer can’t stop everything. He also noted that obsessives on the Internet surmise that CTU is near where the bomb occurred but it’s doubtful CTU will be affected.
Take two for Studio 60?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On the fake writer’s desk on the set of “Studio 60” sat a bottle of aspirin. Creator Aaron Sorkin, best known as the man behind “West Wing,” probably needed to a pop a few before facing off against more than 40 TV critics surrounding him as he went into “grasping at straws” mode for his struggling TV show.
He noted that it’s the show most likely to be TiVoed, but groused that advertisers don’t count the extra 10 percent who catch the show up to a week later. He bragged about the high-end nature of his viewers and the fact NBC has given the show a full-season run despite the fact it has averaged fewer than 8 million viweers since its fifth episode.
After a relatively long break for Christmas, “Studio 60” returns this Monday with seven straight original episodes, its last chance to give NBC a true reason to bring it back for a second season. Sorkin interestingly seems to care about what critics say and bristled that the Los Angeles Times has been particularly harsh. He is especially annoyed when journalists quote random bloggers online to prove their point. And the focus on ratings, he says, perpetuates the perception among readers that the show isn’t worth sampling.
Another common criticism is the bits of comedy sketches viewers have seen on the show aren’t particularly funny. Sorkin said he understood the criticism but says they never show full sketches and that they are usually works in progress anyway and aren’t necessarily going to be a laugh riot.
Matthew Perry, who plays “Studio 60” writer Matt on the show, said he understood the challenges of the genre, that life behind a sketch comedy show might be too niche for Middle America. He hopes that the show in its second half will focus more on relationships.
Off-topic, I did manage to ask Perry for a few seconds about Atlanta educator Ron Clark, the man Perry played on the hit TNT film last summer “The Ron Clark Story.” “I haven’t had a chance to talk to him but I’ve been thinking about him lately,” Perry said. He also seemed glad to hear that Clark’s academy in South Atlanta is set to open its doors later this year.
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Rebecca Romijn, Tim Gunn on Ugly Betty
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The morning after winning the Golden Globes for best comedy, the members of “Ugly Betty” hosted more than 50 TV critics on the set. The publicists fed us some tidbits: Rebecca Romijn (fresh off the failed WB show “Pepper Dennis”) will be joining the show this Thursday but she refused to divulge any details on her character. And Tim Gunn, the “Project Runway” fashion guru, will be making a special two-episode appearance February 1 and 8.
Gunn will play a Fashion TV correspondent.
Eric Mabius, who plays Daniel Meade on the show, said he hadn’t slept a wink. “It was sleep or going to Prince’s party,” he said. “Prince won out.” He said Prince likes “Ugly Betty” -thus, the invite.
The Mode set itself seems smaller than it does in real life but is still impressive. It’s actuallly a light gray palette, which shows up as whtie on the screen.
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Ex-Fayetteville resident goes Legal
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Former Fayetteville resident Gary Anthony Williams, best known as Stevie’s dad on “Malcolm in the Middle,” is sometimes mistaken for another Atlantan Kenan Thompson or Cedric the Entertainer. And he has done his fair share of sketch comedy both in Atlanta’s local troupe Laughing Matters and on Jeff Foxworthy’s WB show “Blue Collar TV.”
But that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. He nabbed a regular role on ABC’s “Boston Legal” this season as a saucy, but not terribly attractive, transvestite thanks partly to his experience playing drag roles on “Blue Collar.” Originally, his Clarence/Clarice role was offered to Cedric, who wasn’t available, he said earlier this week at a party for ABC talent and TV critics.
In his first appearance on “Legal,” he played Clarence, a shy man who as a woman fights to get maternity leave. Williams figured it was a nice one-off appearance but a few weeks later, out of the blue, he was offered a regular role on the show, joining the firm as a legal secretary. “I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’ ” he said.
He’s also the outspoken Uncle Ruckus on the Adult Swim cartoon “The Boondocks,” whose second season may come out later this year but creator Aaron McGruder isn’t rushing. “It will be worth the wait,” Williams promised. “Whoever Aaron has a problem with, he uses Uncle Ruckus as his outlet. I get to light into people!”
Finally, he’s joining Adult Swim’s first live-action show set to debut next month “Saul of the Mole Men.” “It looks like an old Sid and Marty Croft show, purposelly cheap looking of this guy who goes to the center of the earth,” Williams said. “I’m one of the guys on the surface of the earth communicating with him. Then we have to save him. It’s crazy!”
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Highlights from the Globes
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I spent several hours at the Beverly Hilton covering the Globes. It was, as expected, a bit surreal because I wasn’t anywhere near the red carpet or the ballroom where the stars were hanging out getting drunk. No, as a poor print scribe, I lived in a cordoned off press area, most of it in a press room where winners were herded in and out in quick succession for short Q & As. I barely watched any of the actual awards show, which may or may not have been entertaining. I couldn’t tell! And I wasn’t “Entertainment Tonight” or “Access Hollywood,” who were able to get one-on-ones.
Nonetheless, all was not lost.
Some of the most heartfelt comments came from America Ferrara winning for best actress on “Ugly Betty,” who teared up again with the media after her sweet acceptance speech. “I feel free to embrace this role… I am not concerned if I’m looking okay and what I’m wearing. If I gained a pound or lost a pound or have food in my teeth, it all works for the show.” Nonetheless, Ferrara without all the makeup, the wig and questionable clothing, looks beautiful.
The other most gratified person was perhaps Jennifer Hudson, who won supporting actress for “Dreamgirls” after struggling to make a name for herself after coming in seventh on “American Idol” in 2004. She came across as truly amazed she was even there.
Meryl Streep, winning her fifth Golden Globe, was incredibly charming as always and led to the most fawning non-question of the night from a reporter who said, “You look 25 years old tonight. You look fabulous!” The quick wit that she is, she responded, “You’re so far in the back though!”
Warren Beatty, a lifetime achivement award winner, was his usual “above it all” self, answering questions with a certain disdain. Eddie Murphy seemed a wee bit defensive about his movie track record but did joke about his music career, assuring us that “Party All the Time 2” will never happen.
Hugh Laurie, winning for best actor for a second time, was exceptionally droll, noting that such victories are like a “parachute jump” and you can’t underestimate the thrill, even when it happens again.
It was jarring to see best actor for a comedy Sasha Baron Cohen in his normal voice and appearance after mostly playing his character on TV talk shows and in print interviews. When asked why he is now playing himself instead of his Borat character, he said, “I woke up one morning and was quite hungover. I accidentally shaved my mustache off and I had no alternative.” Okay, so he’s not sidesplittingly funny as himself but he tried.
And a particularly tense moment occurred when the “Grey’s Anatomy” crew hit the stage after winning best drama, a minor upset over past winner “24” and hot newcomer “Heroes.” An intrepid reporter asked about a months-old incident in which actor Isaiah Washington supposedly got into a fight with T.R. Knight and called him a derogatory term for gay. Washington strode up to the single mike and said, “I did not call T.R. a f——. It never happened.”
Knight, who later came out publicly, stood back silently while “Grey’s” creator and diplomat Shonda Rhimes said, “These [stories] were created in a very odd way by the press and were not necessarilly reported as true.”
The funniest line came from Clint Eastwood, who was told to pose for the TV cameras after he finished answering questions. He mock-scoffed, “I don’t pose. Am I Paris Hilton or something?”
Naturally, as I walked out of the Hilton after the awards were over and the parties were starting, guess who brushed right by me? Paris Hilton! She was alone and looked ready to, indeed, party. I wasn’t.
Overall, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association security was comically over the top. They not only had me come to the Beverly Hilton last Thursday to get my picture taken. (I couldn’t just email one). But I had to come back early this morning to pick up my credentials before making a third trip for the actual event. Then they had a coterie of people using some sort of tracking technology to zap my ID to make sure I was legit. Every time I left the press room and returned, the same woman would do it again and again even though she knew who I was and was (hopefully) not a threat to the integrity of the, um, organization. Pres. Bush would have had a hard time getting through this gauntlet.
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Desperate teasers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Nashville native James Denton, best known as Mike the plumber on “Desperate Housewives,” is last seen stuck in jail for a murder he may or may not have committed. (Thanks to a handy case of amnesia, Mike can’t remember the situation after getting hit by a car by Bree’s sketchy current husband Orson.)
Denton told the AJC that his storyline will be wrapped up quicker than expected because of Marcia Cross’s pregnancy. Cross, whose pregnancy has not been written into the show, was placed on bedrest for the final three months, earlier than the show had anticipated.
“I’m not in jail very long,” he said. “They had to wrap up the mystery fast.”
And he admitted the whole amnesia was a bit silly:. “In a comedy, they couldn’t dedicate the time to it. He got well a little bit too fast for my taste.”
Earlier, Marc Cherry, creator of “Desperate Housewives,” fed the TV critics some amusing anecdotes.
For instance, his favorite censorship questionw as early on when Eva Longeria had cheated on her husband with the high-school-age gardener. She was holding a cigarette. The censor told him, “Does she have to smoke?” “And I went, ‘So you’re good with the statutory rape thing?’ “
He noted that the has to spend seemingly $100,000 an episode taking nipples out of the show because “Standards & Practices” (the censorship department) is fearful of the Federal Communications Commission post Janet Jackson. A couple of actresses, he said, don’t like to wear bras so that creates a problem. “Then I’l turn on ‘Friends,’ ” he said, “and it’s a nipple-fest!”
Cherry, who was literally living his parent’s basement before “Desperate” became a hit, also said he placed the criticism of his show’s second season into perspective: “People not liking the second season of your hit show, piece of cake. Borrowing $50,000 from your mother, not so easy.”
He also noted that with Bree gone for several episodes, Nicollette Sheridan’s character’s “going to be promoted and be front and center for the remainder of the season. She’s going to have a fascinating romance with someone who already lives on the street and we’re going to be meeting her son that was mentioned in the pilot.”
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How much more Lost can we get?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Why are the Others there and why don’t they just leave the island? What do those lottery numbers really mean? And what the heck is that deathly black cloud?
Naturally, a trio of “Lost” executive directors and 11 actors before more than 100 TV critics Sunday failed to conjure up answers to the dozens of questions swirling in the heads of fans losing patience with the perplexing ABC drama, which returns after a three-month hiatus on Feb. 7.
But they tried to explain why the show moves the plotlines forward so slowly, why so many mysteries are piled on with seemingly no resolution.
“We don’t allow the characters to focus on the mythology,” said executive producer Carlton Cuse. “We want the characters to focus on primarily their relationships with each other.” This means answering why there’s a polar bear or a four-toed statue isn’t the focal point of the show.
Fellow executive producer Damon Lindelof said when they’ve shot scenes where the characters discuss the mysteries, “they are incredible boring.”
But Cuse admitted that a show like this, unlike, say “Law & Order” or “E.R.,” needs an “end point.” “We’ve always discussed it would have a beginning, middle and end,” he said. “Once we figure out when that is going to be, I think a lot of these concerns are going away.”
While Cuse wouldn’t say what he thought was the right end point, Lindelof later told a smaller group of reporters that five seasons seemed to be about right but it will depend on a collaboration between the creators and ABC. In reality, it will depend on the ratings and whether the show will be able to maintain a size audience to make it financially feasible to survive until 2009.
Cuse admits there’s a fine balance trying to please a broad audience where individuals are seeking different things from the show. “People do get angry at us but we’re glad that people care enough to be angry,” he said.
Ratings this past fall were down about 15 percent from a year earlier, averaging about 17 million viewers, which Cuse describes as “natural attrition. This show requires sort of vigilant maintenance… It’s hard to drop in and out.”
The producers meted out very small plot droplets. Cuse said the relationship between surgeon Jack (Matthew Fox) and the Other Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell) “is very interesting to us.” And the Claire/Charlie story will too develop. Sawyer’s addiction to nicknames for fellow castaways will be addressed, too.
Plus, the odd addition of characters Nikki and Paulo earlier this season will be addressed on the 14th episode. And though flashbacks just as often drag the stories as provide insight into the characters, the producers have no intention of stopping them.
“We do believe that we have enough stories left to tell for all these characters that will take us through the remainder of the series,” Cuse said.
Dancing away from Idol
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
ABC smartly moved “Dancing With the Stars” out of the “American Idol” military assault. The show will launch on Mondays at 8 p.m. starting March 19, with results shows airing Tuesday March 27 from 9 to 10 p.m. In the fall, “Dancing” had aired from 8 to 10 p.m. Tuesdays and 8 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays.
The network had already moved “Lost” to 10 p.m. on Wednesdays to get out of “Idol’s” way.
“We didn’t want people to choose between Idol and Dancing,” said Stephen McPherson, president of ABC Entertainment, Sunday morning at the Television Critics Association winter tour in Pasadena. “We spend a lot of time beating up on each other. We think both are good shows. There’s room for both of them on the schedule.”
He’s not worried that “Dancing” will partially compete against “24” since he thinks the audiences are distinct.
He also said that “October Road,” a drama starring Laura Prepon which was shot in Atlanta in November and December, will appear sometime before May but didn’t provide a specific start date. McPherson called it a “male ensemble” show in which a best-selling author returns to the hometown he had written about.
Plus, McPherson said ABC still plans to burn off the remaining episodes of poorly rated “The Nine” and “Six Degrees” this year but wasn’t specifc. And he promised that the remaining “Day Break” episodes will be available online once some music rights issues are cleared.
Sting: armed and famous?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The elegant and positively sublime Sting turned usually hardboiled TV critics into mush Saturday night during a PBS-sponsored concert and Q&A promoting his “Great Performances” set to air Feb. 26. And since dabbling in reggae, world and jazz music wasn’t enough, he’s now promoting his successful “Songs From the Labyrinth” CD packed with classical songs from 16th century lute player John Dowland.
Sting also dangled a carrot in front of hungry Police fans who have been awaiting a reunion tour for more than two decades. Sting told the reporters that 30 years have passed since the Police formed so he would be open to doing something special this year. He just didn’t say what he would be willing to do. Naturally, a reunion tour would rake in incredible amounts of money, but Sting has plenty of loot (or is that lute?) and hasn’t been enticed to cash in the way the Rolling Stones or the Who have done. When a reporter implied that he perhaps didn’t get along with former bandmates Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers, he said that wasn’t the case at all (at least now) and that he simply left the group back in the ’80s because he felt constricted.
For now, Sting is hitting Europe for a few weeks with the man who taught him the lute, Edin Karamazov. The Bosnian played the instrument (he had several vintage replicas at his grasp) with dexterity and didn’t even blink an eye when a string broke. Sting didn’t look nearly as comfortable when he played his lute, but his vocal stylings fit Dowland’s melancholy tunes.
Surrounded by more than 70 candles, Sting finished off with a bluesy Robert Johnson tune “Hellhound on My Trail” and two hits of his own: 1993’s evocative “Fields of Gold” and a Police classic from 30 years ago (as opposed to, say, 430 years ago), “Message in a Bottle,” which he dedicated to his former bandmates Copeland and Summers.
Jack Bauer 24-Ever!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
BUHM-bum! BUHM-bum! BUHM-bum!
Sorry, that’s the best the Serf can do when it comes to imitating the ticking “24” clock. There’s nothing like the original, and fortunately, there are only (check your watch and insert correct number here) hours left till Season 6 kicks off Sunday night at 8 on Fox.
Not to sound ghoulish, but one of the things that makes “24” so good is its willingness to kill off key characters in order to keep the storyline moving and believable (well, in the let’s-face-it fairly unbelievable universe that is “24”). Jack Bauer’s not going anywhere (see our “24” story online to hear the show’s executive producer all but promise as much); but you can pretty much count on 1, 2 or 107 other major players biting the dust in a typical season.
Who do you think might be, uh, “eliminated” in Season 6? Which characters would you like to see go most or least. Or come back from the dead (Edgar, sniff!)
Tell us here. And take our “24” quiz on ajc.com if you haven’t done so already. Heck, take it again and see how well you score the second time around.
Tick…Tick…Tick…
An angel not in disguise
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jaclyn Smith, arguably the most successful of the ’70s era “Charlie’s Angels,” lit up the Bravo/USA/SciFi party Friday night at the Ritz-Carlton in Pasadena, a party relatively dull in star wattage (unless you include the members of the “Real Housewives of Orange County.”)
Her role? She signed on to host and judge yet another permutation of “Project Runway” dubbed “Sheer Genius” as the franchise seeks the best hairstylist. Production starts next week.
Wearing a vintage Chanel jacket and her own KMart jeans, Smith looked smashing for her age, though a check online shows no consistency what that may be. It’s either 59 or 61 depending on the source.
“I’d been a fan of ‘Project Runway,’ ” Smith said. “I love making something out of nothing. So it isn’t just about pretty dresses or pretty hair, it’s the technical as well as the artistic.”
Smith, who has been known for great hair, said she started her acting career doing ads for Breck. “Hair has always been part of my history,” she said. “I’ve worked with some of the best hairdressers of all time.”
Her hair is naturally curly but she’s frequently seen with it straight. She uses a round brush to keep the locks flowing. “I don’t take an iron to my hair every day,” she said. Sometimes, she’ll let it go curlier to let it rest.
“I don’t want to be a slave to my hair,” she said. “That’s why I keep sort of the same layered cut that’s easy for me and I sort of know how to handle my hair. I don’t even wash it every day. That can be harsh on the hair.”
Besides her existing clothing collection for KMart, which has been a very lucrative business for her, she’s working on a home collection. “It’s very challenging, very time consuming,” Smith said. “I’m a collector of antiques. Most of it is based and inspired by antiques. I have bedding and mattresses and an exclusive line of fabrics.” Then she dropped her Web site name, www.jaclynsmith.com, because she knows she’s there to promote, promote, promote.
Smith also noted that tabloid stories to the contrary, fellow “Charlie’s Angels” alum Farrah Fawcett, who is suffering intestinal cancer, is doing better.
In other Bravo-related news, the publicists for Bravo still couldn’t say if Tim Gunn will be back for the next season of “Project Runway,” although he is getting his own spinoff show, fueling speculation that Gunn is either holding out for more money or truly wanting to jump ship.
Law & Order creator goes native
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
HBO offered TV critics a heavy dose of weighty topics Friday, from AIDS to the Evangelical movement to a serial killer. And Dick Wolf, uber-creator of the ubiquitous “Law & Order” franchise, maintained the thematics, showing up to give his pet project, the film version of “Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee,” his stamp of approval.
The film spans the late 19th century as the Sioux Indians struggled between assimilation and annnihilation in the hands of the U.S. government. As befits a big HBO production, it stars the likes of Anna Paquin (“X Men,” “The Piano”), Aidan Quinn (“An Early Frost,” “The Book of Daniel”) and “Law & Order” chief prosecutor and former U.S. senator Fred Dalton Thompson. (Thompson plays Pres. Ulysses S. Grant.)
Wolf said back around 2001, his former boss Tom Thayer asked him if he had read the seminal 1971 book “Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee.” Wolf said yes. Thayer asked him if he wanted to jump aboard a film project based on the book. “I immediately wanted to get involved,” he told the media. “And we went to HBO and it was fast-track from there and here we are five and a half years later. Maybe a new record for HBO.”
As he made clear, HBO likes to take its time on projects it cares about and he lavished praise on the pay cable’s distinct culture.
“I’d do anything that HBO wanted me to do given the strictures that I’m under contractually,” Wolf said. “I would love to find more ways to work with them because it has been an amazing experience. But I would love to send some network people in to intern there for awhile.”
The audience laughed. He later apologized for being so flippant about the broadcast networks who have made him fabulously wealthy, noting that HBO’s business model is so different from, say, NBC. HBO can pick and choose a handful of projects a year while the big three networks have to fill 22 hours a week of mostly original programming.
“They [the broadcast networks] are in the numbers game, the daily numbers game, and that leads to the decisions that are not necessarily artistic or what is best,” Wolf noted.
HBO relies solely on subscribers so while it’s immune to advertiser pressure, it still needs buzz-worthy, appointment TV series, something the network has failed to conjure up lately with the possible exception of “Entourage.”
Wolf even noted HBO’s extravagant period-piece drama “Rome,” which ends after just two seasons this year after modest ratings in relation to its cost. ” ‘Rome’ is one of the most awesome television achievements to me in the past 20 years,” he said. “Again, it was that you look at it and go, boy, they really didn’t care how much it cost.”
The HBO beancounters probably twisted uncomfortably in their seats after hearing that comment.
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Let’s Hug It Out
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Can you stand a little more “Sopranos” news?
Now that reruns are off to a roaring success on A&E (see earlier item), HBO has finally squealed about when we can expect to see new original episodes. Mark your calendars for Sunday, April 8. That’s when Tony and the gang will return at 9 p.m. for the second part of its sixth and final season. There’ll be nine episodes at all, with series godfather, er, creator David Chase writing and directing the finale.
“Entourage” also returns with new episodes on April 8. Airing immediately after “The Sopranos” at 10 p.m. on HBO, the sitcom revolves around rising movie star Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier), his three best buds and his beyond-high-strung agent Ari Gold (Emmy winner Jeremy Piven). There’ll be eight new episodes of “Entourage,” now in its third season. The good news is, it’s already been renewed for a fourth. Let’s hope Ari’s beleagured assistant “LLOYD!” (Rex Lee) has been signed to a longterm deal as well.
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Breakfast with Joan & Melissa
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The TV Guide Channel publicists shepherded three of us print schlubs for coffee Friday morning with Melissa and Joan Rivers to talk about awards season. Proud recipients of plastic surgery, both look a bit tight in the face but it’s not offputting because as journalists, we enjoy outspoken people and these two don’t mince words.
And since I’m not the fashion guy by any stretch of the imagination, we meandered through other topics.
I first asked Joan, after she popped a peppermint Altoid in her mouth, about the recent decision by the Globes and the Oscars to stop giving swag bags to presenters after the IRS cracked down on paying taxes for the freebies, often worth thousands of dollars, from vacation vouchers to designer handbags.
“I think the idea they give you gifts and have to pay taxes is insane,” Joan said. “Let the government not worry so much about us and go after the guys getting $82 million bonuses. Don’t worry somebody got a free watch.”
Will this affect presenters? “The presenters won’t be so generous next Christmas,” Rivers said, referencing the common act of “regifting.” And as correspondents on the red carpet, she said she has gotten the “leftovers” or the cheaper gift bags.
“Sometimes you get some drunk star that leaves their swag and I grab it!” Rivers said. “Oh, look! I got an Omega!” Her favorite swag? A pricey Chopard watch. How much is it worth? “I’ll let you know when I put it on eBay,” she cracked.
Then she dished: “Dinah Shore, may she rest in peace, used to give you gifts in Saks boxes that didn’t come from Saks. You have to give someone a gift they can return.”
But Joan has no compunction about regifting. Her only caveat: “I always make sure my initals are not on it so they think it’s new.”
Another scribe asked Melissa and Joan, “What’s your favorite awards show?”
Melissa said, “The Golden Globes. It’s a big party and it’s TV and movies together.”
“Even though it’s fake?” the reporter asked. (I’m guessing he’s implying some voting members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association harbor dubious qualifications.)
“Fake? Like the business isn’t?” Joan scoffed.
“So are my boobs. And it doesn’t bother any of my dates!” Melissa cracked.
Joan noted that “The Grammy’s are fabulous. A lot of them are there the first time. They’re so excited. My grandma knows I’m here!”
Is Joan forced to listen to the CDs of the likes of past nominees such as 50 Cent or Eminem?
“They send them to me. But my elevator man loves me. I give them away so fast!”
And we couldn’t leave Joan without her ragging on a big star. In this case, it was comic actor Will Ferrell. She said she was interviewing live on camera director Mike Nichols (“Closer,” “The Birdcage”) on the red carpet at one awards show and Ferrell came right up and started talking to Nichols, ignoring Joan. She called him on it right then and there.
“He may dress as an elf but he’s not stupid,” she said. “He’s on my baaad list.” Pause. “Unless he gives me an interview. Then God love him!”
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“‘Sopranos’ Rubs Out Ratings Marks”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A&E made viewers an offer they couldn’t refuse.
Wednesday night’s much-ballyhooed debut of “The Sopranos” outside the family — i.e. any network other than anything-goes HBO — paid off big time for ithe show and A&E. Episode No. 1 (entitled, cleverly enough, “The Sopranos”) of the 18-time Emmy-winning drama series attracted 4.3 million viewers. That’s the biggest audience ever for an “off-network” series premiere (translation: a series airing off its original network. Think: “Sex and the City” when it first jumped from HBO to TBS, “24” when it went to FX or “Law & Order” when its reruns left NBC for, well, everywhere).
This was a big gamble for everyone involved, starting with A&E, which paid a reported $2.5 million per episode for the rights to all episodes of the series that launched in 1999 on HBO and will supposedly wrap up its sixth and final season sometime this spring there (You never know with those wily “Sopranos.” They’re always coming and going at the oddest times). Also, since some (OK, lots) of the show’s more *&!#$!% graphic language and scenes had to be altered to conform to basic cable standards, there’d been some question about whether longtime viewers would come along to A&E and newcomers would find the show as appealing.
As Tony would say, “Whaddayou kiddin’ me?” Besides being the No. 1 show Wednesday for all ad-supported entertainment cable networks, “The Sopranos” bested A&E’s average 2006 primetime viewership by a whopping 291 percent. And, in what matters most to youth-obsessed ad buyers and sellers, it led all cable in the desirous 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54 age groups. In other words, everybody younger than Uncle Junior.
A&E is airing two episodes of “The Sopranos” chronologically Wednesdays at 9 p.m. The same episodes repeat the following Monday at 9 p.m.
NOTE: Since this item was posted, HBO announced the final nine new episodes of “The Sopranos” will start airing Sunday April 8. Check the item on this blog titled “Let’s Hug It Out” for more info on that and the return of “Entourage.” — The Serf
J. Lo easing back into the limelight
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jennifer Lopez is no longer the “it” girl for the voracious tabloids, who currently feast on the likes of Lindsay Lohan, Nicole Richie and Britney Spears. Now that Lopez is a 30-something married woman, it’s much easier to stay out of the limelight.
“It was a choice,” said Lopez, who came to the Ritz Carlton in Pasadena before print media to talk about her executive producing role on the new MTV reality show “Dancelife” debuting Monday, January 15. “My life for me had become uncomfortable in the way it was affecting my personal life and the people in it.”
So she stopped going to the trendy hotspots where the papparazzi congregate. “If you want to be in those magazines, you can. And if you don’t, you don’t have to be. And so I chose to pull back a little bit, go a little bit underground.”
But she said she’s got a new album and two new films coming up so the “J. Lo” headlines will inevitably come back in force.
In “Dancelife,” cameras follow the paths of six dancers struggling to make it as professionals in the business, auditioning for acts such as Nelly Furtado, Omarion and Ashlee Simpson. Lopez appears only in the first episode and perhaps one other one.
Lopez feels for the dancers because she was one of them in her early years. “They are doing it because they love to dance… They’ll be starving. They will not have booked a gig for six months or a year and they will keep doing it. That’s one of the beautiful things about dancers.”
Interestingly, she and her hubby Marc Anthony don’t dance together. “We’re homebodies,” she said. Instead, she watches dancing on TV — both ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” and her preferable choice, Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance.”
Burnett on Rosie/Donald
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Since Rosie O’Donnell and Donald Trump have inexplicably stretched a barely one-day story into three weeks (and we the media are partly to blame), “Survivor”/”The Apprentice” creator Mark Burnett weighed in on this important issue Thursday at the Television Critics Association tour while promoting his executive producing role in this year’s MTV Movie Awards.
The somewhat dopey question from one critic: “Have you talked to him about any of this stuff or given him any direction on how he should comport himself?”
Burnett’s appropriate response: “That’s a great question. Have I given him any direction? You think he’d [expletive] listen to me?”
He said he’s friends with both O’Donnell and Trump: “I’m sitting back like everybody else, and it’s quiet today. I’m really kind of happy that it’s quiet.”
For now, Burnett’s taking this absurd brouhaha with bemusement. “This is not about me,” he noted. “When he starts taking me on, it will be horror. Right now, it’s bemusement!”
Boys to Man Band?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
VH1 has become the land where has-beens try to resurrect their careers (Flavor Flav anybody?), can’t can’t decide whether to call their latest project the cheesy “Man Band” moniker or the more noble “Band of Men.”
Either way, it’s a TV-created combination of four former boy band members: a man from the top of the food chain (‘N Sync’s Chris Kirkpatrick), another from an act nipping at ‘N Sync’s heels (98 Degrees’ Jeff Timmons), a third from a group that made 98 Degrees sound like the Beatles (LFO’s Rich Cronin) and a fourth from an act well forgotten since the days when Paula Abdul was known as a singer (Color Me Badd’s Bryan Adams). They’ll record some music in hopes of getting back in the spotlight.
Since their heydays, their fates have diverged. Based on clips shown to writers at the TV Critics Association tour in Pasadena Thursday, a bloated Kirkpatrick wiles away his days partying at his mansion. Adams, who is not the Canadian singer who sang “Heaven,” lugs around tires at his family business. Cronin was diagnosed with leukemia and has been in remission since he was treated with stem cell therapy.
Financially, Kirkpatrick said he felt “lucky” he ended up in a band that did so well and avoided the fate of MC Hammer, another 1990s-era star who overspent his “U Can’t Touch This” fortunes straight into bankruptcy protection. Timmons said he’s doing okay financially “but I didn’t exactly hit the jackpot.” Adams has the most reason to be bitter: “We sold over 12 million records. Where was our money? We never saw it.” At the same time, he said “I’m not ashamed to work a regular job.”
Ironically, Color Me Badd was recently mocked by a fellow boy band alum Justin Timberlake, a man who has truly transcended his roots. Timberlake on “Saturday Night Live” last month wore Color Me Badd-era facial hair and did dance moves that evoked the “I Wanna Sex You Up” era. The raunchy “Gift in a Box” parody has become an online sensation, amusing Adams. “I loved it,” he said. “I thought it was the most hilarious [expletive] I’ve seen in a long time.”
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Need a Nora Roberts fix?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Author Nora Roberts makes Tom Clancy look like a lazy slacker with her astonishingly prolific writing: 170 romance/thriller novels over 25 years with more than 295 million books in print.
But she’s been reluctant to translate those stories into film until Lifetime and Peter Gruber’s Mandalay Television convinced her after a year of negotiations. The result were four films with decent talent involved: “Angels Fall” starring Heather Locklear, “Montana Sky” featuring John Corbett, “Blue Smoke” with Scott Bakula and “Carolina Moon” with Claire Forlani and Oliver Hudson. Gruber’s company filmed the movies back to back and Lifetime will air them every Monday starting January 29 for four weeks.
If Lifetime were to translate every Roberts novel into a movie and air them weekly, it would take them more than three years. And by then, they’d have another 20 films to shoot.
“She just wrote a novel while we’re talking here,” joked Susanne Daniels, president of Lifetime networks during a session at TCA. “And she sold a million of them as well.”
For the unitiated, her books typically feature strong female characters, typically career women seeking love. They frequently confront a murder mystery. In the end, the mystery is solved and she gets her man.
The network’s goal, Daniels said, is “give women what they want. It sounds simple and obvious.”
Then Locklear, who plays a chef in “Angels Fall,” piped in by repeating Daniels’ mantra. “Just give women what they want.” Pause. “We’ll all be happy!”
When asked about whether any of the male actors actually read Roberts voluntarily, Corbett turned it back to the journalists. “How many men here read her? Raise your hands.” None did.
Congenial Corbett, who has done many female-friendly roles in “Northern Exposure, “Sex & the City” and “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” said he has been touring the past year with his band but liked the idea of playing a rancher in “Montana Sky,” so he shot his role while on vacation. (That’s a vacation?)
Then Locklear, who was in a quippy mood, jumped in again. “I never knew you were a rock star.” The crowd laughed, knowing her past romances with the likes of Richie Sambora and Tommy Lee. “But right on!”
And the Oscar (Title) Goes to … Oprah? Barbara?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Looks like Barbara Walters might have more to worry about than defending herself and Rosie O’Donnell from attacks by Donald Trump (or NOT defending Rosie sufficiently at first, based on the rumors flying around). ABC just announced that Oprah Winfrey will present her first ever “Primetime Oscar Special” on its airwaves February 22.
Not clear yet whether La Winfrey will actually make an appearance on the special, or just hide behind a curtain like the great Oz. Her gimmick …. er, her refreshing approach, is to have Oscar winners interview other Oscar winners. Thus, Julia Roberts (“Erin Brockovich”) will take on George Clooney (“Syriana”), Nicole Kidman (“The Hours”) will tackle Russell Crowe (“Gladiator”) and Jamie Foxx (“Ray”) will probe the mind of Sidney Poitier (“Lillies of the Field” and a second, honorary Oscar in 2002).
Let’s leave aside the whole question of whether, considering how these duos comprise either close friends or mutual admirers, we’ll get anything more substantive than “What’s your favorite color?” asked. The REAL question here is, what does Winfrey muscling onto Walters’ Oscar special turf really and truly mean?
Walters again will host her traditional pre-Oscar sitdown this year (no word yet on who her big “gets” are). And considering it will air on the actual night of the Academy Awards, February 25, maybe we should still consider her the big winner.
And yet, Walters’ show will air in the distinctively pre-primetime, “I’m too busy bathing the kids to watch TV” hour of 7-8 p.m. Whereas Winfrey’s special gets the primo, post-“Grey’s Anatomy” slot on Thursday night.
And the winner is …. ? Your guess is as good as ours’. Maybe the loser can get a consolation slot as a contestant on Trump’s “The Apprentice.”
Spelling tries to stay in spotlight
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The track record for celebrity couples who do reality shows is dismal. See Jessica Simpson/Nick Lachey (“The Newlyweds”), Britney Spears/K-Fed (“Chaotic”) and Travis Barker/Shanna Moakler (“Meet the Barkers”). All have since divorced.
But that hasn’t stopped a recently married Tori Spelling and her actor Dean McDermott from trying their hand at an upcoming reality show for Oxygen. The gimmick? They run their very own bed and breakfast inn in southern California, gambling her $800,000 inheritance from her late father and legendary TV producer Aaron Spelling. Thus the pun-inflected name: “Tori and Dean: Inn Love.”
Spelling, the former “Beverly Hills 90210” star who appeared in a frothy white dress seven months pregnant with her first child, told the media at TCA she knew about reality show jinx but didn’t break the news to her husband.
“I had no idea,” McDermott said. “We’re going to be the exception, not the rule, and prove everyone wrong.”
The pair had met in Ottawa shooting a film and stayed at a bed and breakfast, instead of the usual four-star hotel because it was closer to the set. Spelling had never been to one. “I had some trepidations because my makeup artist at the time said, ‘Oh, B&Bs are just creepy and they’re old [with] people’s used things.”
And indeed, that’s what they saw. She described the inn as “old and musty” with things like “decrepit teddy bears with eyes hanging out.”
“Smelled a bit like pee,” McDermott added.
But Spelling said they came away wanting to “reinvent” the B&B for a new generation with chic designs and happy hours. If the first one is successful, McDermott even envisions opening multiple inns.
The cameras will capture the couple cleaning, cooking and entertaining guests.
Spelling does draw the line: “I don’t clean toilets.”
And she didn’t recoil at the comparison to MTV’s “Newlyweds,” which elevated Simpson to a pop culture figure with her ditzy comments, including her now-famous inability to identify the meat in Chicken of the Sea.
“We are still newlyweds,” Spelling said, “but we have a baby on the way and we’re juggling our careers in the new business so it’s kind of ‘Newlyweds: Part Deux.’ “
And, she noted, “I know what tuna is.”
View alum Ling rings in
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Lisa Ling, a journalist who spent three years on Barbara Walters’ “The View” back in its early days, speaks in measured, thoughtful sentences, the complete opposite of current headline-grabbing “View” gabber Rosie O’Donnell.
And Ling maintained her poised mien even when journalists at the Television Critics Association gathering in Pasadena inevitably peppered her with questions about “The View” while she was promoting her new documentary series “Who Cares About Girls” on Oxygen about the plight of young women around the world.
“I don’t begrudge anyone for their interest in ‘The View’ or anything going on in entertainment because, listen, at the end of the day, I’m as much a pop culture junkie as anyone else,” she said Wednesday. Ling, who also works with the National Geographic Channel and “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” admits people bring up “The View” to her virtually every day. “I’m astounded people really care,” she said in a baffled tone.
At the same time, she said she harbors no regrets doing “The View,” saying the experience made her a known name, allowing her to do what she does now, pursuing weighty topics such as child prostitution and girls whose moms are in prison.
“The View,” Ling noted, is “extremely empowering. It’s women of different generations who have this forum to talk about everything from what’s going on in presidential politics to Donald Trump’s combover.”
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Camping out on Serf’s turf
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This is Rodney Ho, TV/radio writer. I write two blogs already, one on Atlanta radio and another on American Idol. I feel quite honored to be camping out here on the fine turf of Channel Serf. Jill has set up a sturdy tent in the backyard and I’ve got a campfire going, with marshmallows ready at hand.
Why am I here?
The Television Critics Association holds a gathering twice a year in Los Angeles where broadcast and cable networks wine and dine us, hoping we’ll promote their TV shows. We’ll likely slam some of their shows, too, but they know that comes with the territory. So I’ll be posting items here for the next 10 days or so. Among the highlights include scheduled appearances by Jennifer Lopez to promote her new MTV “Dancelife” show, Jamie Foxx and Queen Latifah on an HBO film about AIDS in the inner city, set visits to “24,” “Ugly Betty” and “Heroes,” and a significant portion of the “Lost” cast. So stay tuned!
In the meantime, Jill will continue to provide her insights into TV happenings herself. In other words, this is going to be a busy blog for a few days. And since I’m on the West Coast, items will be popping up at all hours.
Jill, I promise not to trample the grass too much!
The Full-Spin Zone
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s sorta like “Godzilla vs. King Kong” … You don’t know who to root for, but you hope there’s a lot of hitting and spitting and all-around mayhem involved.
Fox News said Tuesday that Bill O’Reilly and Stephen Colbert will make guest appearances on each other’s shows on the same night. The Great Meeting of the Semi-Great Minds will take place on Thursday, January 18.
It’s not known what the two men will talk about — only that they’ll both talk and talk — over, under and around each other. O’Reilly is the opinionated host of the top-rated “The O’Reilly Factor” (8 p.m. weeknights, Fox News) whom legions of fans swear by and plenty of detractors swear at. Colbert, the hotter-than-hot host of “The Colbert Report” (11:30 p.m. Mon-Thurs., Comedy Central), is performing either a laudatory homage to O’Reilly or a purposely over-pompous imitation of him, depending on which side of the couch you sit on.
Said O’Reilly Tuesday: “I’m really looking forward to speaking to a man who owes his entire career to me.”
Opined Colbert: “”I look forward to the evening. It is an honor to speak face-to-face with a broadcasting legend, and I feel the same way about Mr. O’Reilly.”
May the best man win. We’re sure they each know exactly who that is.
That Sinking Feeling Down Under
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Everyone holding their breath till they turn blue to try and convince MTV to make “The Real World: Snellville” can exhale now. The Network Formerly Known For Showing Music Videos announced Tuesday that it’s taking its act Down Under.
Production will begin soon in Australia on “The Real World: Sydney,” with plans for the 24-episode extravaganza to air sometime next fall. (Although given how the seasons are all upside-down down there, maybe it’ll actually be spring. Who knows? I’m not even sure what side of the road they drive on in Australia).
There was no word on whether the cast will be American, Australian, a mixture of the two or perhaps All-Kangaroo. What we do know is that this country bows to no one in its ability to churn out brave young people who are willing to share a house with complete strangers, drink too much and frolic naked in hot tubs for TV cameras. We’re the Real World Power and no one should ever forget that!)
(Oh, and Australia? Sorry about this, mate. “The Real World” is one of those things that should only be inflicted on our worst enemies.)
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In Support of Tap-Dancing Cupcakes!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“You’re NOT Sandy.”
It’s been almost 11 hours since “Grease: You’re the One That I Want” went off the air, and I’m still haunted by those words.
NBC debuted the show last night as the appetizer on its new Sunday Reality Banquet (it was followed by the return of “The Apprentice,” starring Donald Trump looking increasingly like a roasted pig with an apple in his mouth. Oh wait, forget the apple. It would inhibit his nonstop talking). Anyway, “GYTOTIW,” as the Serf now babbling-ly refers to it, is a sorta “American Idol”-meets-Mickey Rooney “Hey kids, let’s put on a show!” televised contest aimed at finding the stars of an upcoming Broadway production of “Grease.”
I’ll admit, I went into this exercise with some trepidation. Which is just fancy journalist talk for “The Evil Overlord (aka my editor) made me watch it.” It could be big, he suggested with the supreme assurance of a man who is from New York and approves my vacation requests.
Big, it may be. But did it have to break my heart?
The first episode found the sooo-not-Paula-Abdul-caliber trio of judges - including “Grease” creator Jim Jacobs himself and Kathleen Marshall, the multiple Tony-winning director of the Broadway show - auditioning hopefuls in Los Angeles and Chicago for the roles of Danny and Sandy (John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John in the movie). There was something touching about seeing these creative stalwarts light up when they periodically encountered someone they thought might have that certain something.
Unfortunately, some of the best performers didn’t look the part(s). The strongest female singer of the night works professionally as a tap-dancing cupcake, not a dainty petit-four. The second best was a 17-year-old girl with the irresistible don’t-kick-my-puppy name of “Sunshine.” She also had the sort of wild hair that comes from repeatedly sticking your finger in a light socket. But the judges must not have heard of this modern new invention called a blow dryer and they gave her the boot, too. The also-rans all got GYTOTIW’s signature kiss-off: “You’re NOT Danny” or “You’re NOT Sandy.” Argh! That’s NOT human!
As my favorites progressively bit the dust, I resolved not to watch future episodes. But when host Billy Bush kept nattering on about the top 50 candidates from this and upcoming auditions going on to “Grease Academy,” I’ll admit, my curiosity was piqued. Does Grease Academy have other students, I wondered? Is there a football team with GYTOTIW letter sweaters?
So I’ll keep watching. But only if they promise to be nicer to the “Dance 10, Looks 3” types and transfer out co-hosts Bush and Denise Van Outen (I know, who?) before they darken the doors of Grease Academy. Do we really need their uninformed voiceovers to figure out what’s a fairly self-explanatory process? In particular, after 90 minutes of listening to Bush lifelessly bleat, “Will (insert name of auditioner here) please the judges?” I found myself thinking, “You’re NOT Danny. You’re not even that annoying Donald Trump.”
So keep looking for stars, GYTOTIW. And find a better host. I happen to know there’s a good tap-dancing cupcake looking for her big break.
The “Widow” Brown Speaks!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Was she or wasn’t she married to James Brown? We’ll likely get an earful about that tonight when Tomi Rae Hynie appears on “Larry King Live.” The show, promising “stories you’ve never heard” about Brown, airs at 9 p.m. on CNN.
The late Godfather of Soul’s grown children will appear with the King too, but sadly for fans of melodrama, they’ll be in a separate studio from their late father’s romantic companion. Hynie, whom we last saw Saturday singing a sad song of farewell and kissing the casket during Brown’s public funeral in Augusta, will be on the set with Larry in L.A. Brown’s three daughters — Yamma, Vanesha and Deanna — and his adult son Darryl (not to be confused with the 5-year-old son he had with Hynie) all will appear from Atlanta. The Rev. Al Sharpton’s also scheduled to be on the show, but don’t ask us where he’ll be. All we know is we’ll be glued to our TV.
