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Best of TV 2005Now that the worst is over, we move on to the best. We take a look at the various events and situations that made us turn our heads this year.

And be sure to stay tuned for our Golden Globes picks! Full article after the jump.

Click to continue reading A Look At The Best of TV 2005

Gallery: A Look At The Best of TV 2005


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Beauty and Geek 2In perhaps a first in television history, the WB network has hired actors to portray the real-life beauties and geeks from its hit show, The Beauty and the Geek.Conceived as a “walking billboard,” the show’s producers are hoping the stunt will increase ratings for both the show, and for the struggling WB network overall.

The WB Network, which has had a dismal season so far, is taking to the streets to promote the upcoming second season of its reality hit “Beauty and the Geek.”

It has hired teams of eight actors and eight actresses in Los Angeles, New York and Chicago to portray “over-the-top” babes and nerds in some of those cities’ hottest night spots.

Read More | ABC Entertainment

Gallery: The WB Breaks New Ground With Beauty And The Geek 2


Ethiopian IdolThe pervasive power of television never fails to amaze me. Where is the absolute last place you might expect to find a new version of American Idol? How about Ethiopia?

“Ethiopian Idols” is a far cry from the glamour and glitz of its U.S. and British inspirations.

Yellowed satin sheets and signs taped to the walls provide the backdrop for a set hastily constructed each week in a shabby hotel restaurant while waiters peer in. Performers have to contend with frequent power cuts, feedback from poor sound equipment and ringing cell phones.

But “Ethiopian Idols” has its own answer to Simon Cowell the acerbic judge on the American and British versions. Feleke Hailu disses contestants by telling them they “sing like donkeys.”

The show has fast won the highest ratings on otherwise dull state-run TV.

While “Ethiopian Idols” cannot promise the riches or fame enjoyed by American and British winners, it does offer hope in an impoverished country where most of the 77 million people cannot afford a TV set.

The show also has broken new cultural ground in the Horn of Africa nation.

Feleke’s catch phrase “alta fakedem,” or “you didn’t make it” in Amharic may seem positively meek compared to Cowell’s biting reviews. But it has caused a sensation in this tradition-bound culture.

Truly amazing.


Read More | Yahoo! TV News

Gallery: Ethiopian Idols Causing A Sensation


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This time of the year is the perfect time for ‘Best and Worst’ lists, so we present our Best and Worst of TV 2005. Worst first, because we all know that’s the most fun. We take a look at the various events and situations that made us turn our heads this year. Full article after the jump.

Click to continue reading A Look At The Worst of TV 2005

Gallery: A Look At The Worst of TV 2005


Bravo Desperate Housewives
Five wealthy, beautiful housewives get together to gossip among million-dollar homes and picture-perfect lawns. Does this sound familiar? It’s not Desperate Housewives; it’s ‘The Real Housewives,’ which will debut on Bravo this March. Reality TV fans have been anxiously awaiting its arrival since Bravo first announced plans for the show in May 2005.

Bravo has announced a new reality TV series called the “The Real Housewives” that is planned for first quarter of 2006.  Bravo says “The Real Housewives” is a wildly entertaining, larger-than-life look within one of the most affluent gated communities in America. All aspects of the “richer than thou” OC life that prevails among the families of the community will be exposed.

The Real Housewives” will follow a mix of families and personalities within this extraordinary, picture perfect contained “set.”

With its mix of Desperate Housewives and The O.C.—both extremely successful television shows—The Real Housewives seem like a sure thing. I wonder if there are any cute gardeners around for the wives to get cozy with?


Read More | Reality TV Magazine

Gallery: Bravo To Launch Real-Life Desperate Housewives


Dancing With The StarsThe surprise smash hit of last season, ABC’s Dancing With The Stars, returns Thursday, January 5th, at 8pm. Nearly obsessed with the controversy over the winners chosen last season and the subsequent “dance-off,” fans are no doubt ready for some fireworks this time around. This season will feature a diverse mix of celebrities, including the always-tan George Hamilton and the always-dramatic Tatum O’Neal. ABC gives some hints about new developments for the second season, saying “This season of Dancing with the Stars sees 10 couples taking to the floor on the first show—and one will be knocked out in the very first week! There’ll be more dancing, more well-loved classic tunes and lots more rhinestones.”


Read More | ABC

Gallery: Fans Applaud Return of Dancing With The Stars


Janice DickinsonJanice Dickinson, self-proclaimed “first supermodel” and the judge everyone loved to hate on America’s Next Top Model, has scored her own reality show. On her new show, which will air on Oxygen, Janice will start her own modeling agency, slashing 500 hopeful models down to five. Should be a bloodbath…no doubt viewers will love it.


Read More | jam!

Gallery: Janice Dickinson To Star In Her Own Reality Show


American IdolPopular talent reality show American Idol has finally decided on its air day and time. After announcing late last month that it would keep the blockbuster reality series in its original Tuesday and Thursday slots—ending weeks of speculation about a possible move of the results show to Thursday—Fox said Monday that during the three-week semifinal round, the live results show will air Thursdays. As previously announced, the audition stage of the singing competition will air at 8-9 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays beginning January 17. No doubt, fans are already setting their DVRs and TiVos.

Gallery: American Idol Announces Time Slot


Deal or No DealThanks to the excellent ratings its game show Deal Or No Deal is pulling in, NBC is enjoying its highest audience rating in the 8pm time slot to date. The show is hosted by 1980s favorite Howie Mandel, now without the famous plastic glove…or his hair.

NBC notes that both shows compare favorably to the early days of ABC’s “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” which averaged a little better than 10 million viewers in its first two airings in August 1999. That show, of course, developed into a runaway hit before ABC’s over-reliance on it—it aired four nights a week at its peak—helped send the network into a tailspin from which it took several years to recover.

Read More | Zap2it

 

Gallery: NBC Celebrates Success Of Deal Or No Deal


Ryan Seacrest reported that viewers are in for more than ever before this season. Apparently, the selected hopefuls are more determined than ever to win, and refuse to let anything stand in their way. Not even fellow competitors. Will backstabbing and scheming light up American Idol’s stage this time around? We’ll find out on January 17, when the new season premieres. This kind of buzz certainly whets the appetite:

This new round of Idol, however, may finally cross over into a reality-TV staple that it has since quite admirably dodged: backstage backstabbing. As host Ryan Seacrest recently told reporters — and Randy Jackson now confirms — that this flock of songbirds is more like a committee of vultures. “Every season, when we go out on the audition tour, we never know what we’re going to get,” Jackson reports. “I think the kids this time probably want this worse than ever, so there’s quite a bit of interesting fighting and dialogue going on amongst them. People’s egos are saying, ‘We’re friends and we’re all in this together, but hey, I want to win this — and I don’t want anybody to stand in my way.’”

Read More | TV Guide Insider

Gallery: American Idol Promises Most Intense Season Ever


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