‘Kidnapped’ Latest TV Casualty
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Drama, NBC, The CW, Cancellations, Ratings,
Kidnapped seemed ill-fated when NBC switched it from Wednesday to Saturday nights—the proverbial “kiss of death.” Well, the series has been kissed, and it’s now officially dead. NBC has removed the show from the schedule permanently. Good news for fans, however—NBC will air the eight remaining episodes on NBC.com. I saw a commercial for Kidnapped the other day, and it’s a surprise that it didn’t take off—with stars like Jeremy Sisto, Delroy Lindo, Dana Delany and Timothy Hutton, there was plenty of star power. The original timeslot averaged under 7 million viewers per week; the move to Saturday proved lethal, with numbers dropping to 4 million. So far, we’ve seen the passing of CBS’ Smith and The CW’s Runaway. Twenty Good Years will reportedly get the axe as well, since it will be leaving the air in a couple of weeks. Warner Bros. TV, however, says the show is still in production.
Read More 
| Zap2it
Advertisement
Colbert Portrait to Grace Restaurant Wall
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Comedy, Cable, Cable/Satellite, Internet,
A portrait of The Colbert Report‘s Stephen Colbert was recently auctioned on e-Bay for charity. Turns out the highest bidder was Chad Walldorf’s chain of barbecue restaurants—bidding $50,605 for the painting which once hung above the fireplace on the set of Colbert’s show. Kooky lil’ painting, showing Colbert standing in front of a portrait of himself—so when he stands in front of it in reality, it’s Colbert standing in front of Colbert… standing in front of Colbert. Colbert announced Walldorf and his business partners as the winning bidder on Tuesday’s show. The partners, who oversee 17 Sticky Fingers restaurants, plan to put the painting in their Charleston, S.C. restaurant. An homage to Colbert, who calls Charleston his hometown.
“We don’t know much about art, but figured any time you can get two portraits for the price of one, then it must be a great deal,” Walldorf told The Associated Press. Proceeds for the sale will go to Save the Children.
Read More | Yahoo! News
Tyra Banks Dresses as a Dude
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Talk Shows, Cable, Syndication, Cable/Satellite,
Oh Tyra, what are you up to this time around? You may recall last season on her show, Tyra Banks dressed as a 350-pound woman to experience what it was like to be an overweight person. And now, she’s going to see what it’s like to be a guy—going undercover as a member of rapper Chingy’s entourage. The 32-year-old model has already donned the makeup and filmed her experience for an episode of The Tyra Banks Show scheduled to air on November 13th. Banks endured five hours of makeup and prep to become a man, saying, “I actually had a suit thing that went over me that made me have pecs and, like, a six-pack. And I was so muscular that it covered all of that breast tissue underneath it. We had to give me like, a heavier brow bone and a man’s chin and bone structure.” Tune in for Tyra’s transformation and see how people perceived her as a dude. And know that underneath, she’s gorgeous—no fair.
Read More | Yahoo! News
VH1 Plans Six New Reality Series
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Music, Reality, Cable, Cable/Satellite,
There can never be enough celebreality, at least not to music station VH1. The network will bring six new reality series, collectively known as VH1’s Wild Life. The focus on this group of series is music—hey, great idea for a music station! Brian Graden, MTV Networks Music Group President said of the new shows, “The breadth of this slate of music-based series illustrates, once again, that VH-1 is the only place for adults to go to see the kinds of music and storytelling that speaks only to them.”
The new shows include: Rags to Riches, Bridging the Gap, Ego Trip’s White Rapper Show, Man Band, and the Irv Gotti Project. No word yet on when the shows will air. Sigh. All of this reality show programming has me longing for the “good ole days” of MTV and VH1—you know, when they actually aired music videos.
Read More | Reality TV World
Martha Stewart Signs on For Third Season
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Daytime, Talk Shows, Syndication, Ratings, Renewals,
Yesterday, reports said that Martha Stewart had fired a co-executive producer—but that didn’t stop the news that her syndicated show has been picked up for a third season. Mark Burnett, executive producer for The Martha Stewart Show, said of the news, “Thanks to NBC Universal and our station partners for showing such incredible support so early in this, our second season. We look forward to a third year of entertaining content, filled with great storytelling and how-to information that will make a difference in the daily lives of our viewers.”
Is there nothing this woman can’t do? I’m glad to hear she’s getting another season—while I’m not a regular watcher, I do enjoy catching her shows from time to time. It’s always interesting to see her guests try to crack through her icy exterior. She is a domestic robot!
Read More | Zap2it
Bob Barker Planning Retirement
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Daytime, Games, Syndication,
“Come on down!”... to retirement. The news is spreading that Bob Barker will be retiring from The Price is Right come June. Barker turns 83 years old in December and says, “I’ve decided to retire while I’m still young.” Barker has hosted the game show for 35 years, and has spent an amazing 50 years on television. While he’s considered retiring time and again during the last 10 years, this will be Barker’s final year. “I’ve gone on and on and on to this ancient age because I’ve enjoyed it,” he said. “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it and I’m going to miss it.”
Barker cites the physical and mental rigors of the show as reasons for leaving, saying “I’m just reaching the age where the constant effort to be there and do the show physically is a lot for me. I might be able to do the show another year, but better (to leave) a year too soon than a year too late.”
Barker started in television in 1956, hosting the show Truth or Consequences. The Price is Right featured Barker as host on Sept. 4, 1972 and he has stuck with it for the long haul. Don’t worry though—he’ll still be spreading the word about getting pets spayed or neutered, working with animal-rights causes during his retirement.
Read More | Yahoo! News
‘Little People, Big World’ Star Injured
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Prime Time, Reality, Cable, Cable/Satellite, News,
The Learning Channel’s Little People, Big World has become an unexpected reality show hit. Following the lives of the Roloff family—with parents and one son who are dwarfs and two children of normal size—people took notice of their story and tuned in to see their challenges. Their 9-year-old son, Jacob Roloff, was seriously injured Saturday from a pumpkin launcher on the Roloff farm. The Associated Press reports that Jacob was hit in the face when the catapult inadvertently triggered. Monday morning, he was listed in serious condition at Legacy Emanuel Hospital in Portland, Oregon. A family friend was also involved in the accident and is in serious condition. Matt Roloff, Jacob’s father, posted on the TLC message boards that both his son and the family friend would require surgery but are expected to make a full recovery.
Read More | People
Dick Clark Returns For ‘New Year’s Rockin’ Eve’
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Specials, American Idol, News,
Never fear, Dick Clark will be with you to ring in the new year. The 76-year-old has no plans of stopping his New Year’s Rockin’ Eve gig—at least not this year. He will, however, be joined by co-host Ryan Seacrest and musical guest Christina Aguilera for the evening’s festivities. The only year he missed was in 2004, following his December 6, 2004 stroke. Seacrest, of course, seems to model himself after Clark—and is rumored to take over the New Year’s gig once Clark retires. Seacrest also co-hosted last year’s show, so I guess he’s getting some on-the-job training. It’s only a matter of time until the torch is passed on to the young-ling. The show began in 1972.
Read More | AOL
Oprah Pays it Forward—With Debit Cards
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Daytime, Talk Shows, Syndication,
Ever the gift-giver, Oprah gave the audience of Monday’s show something a little bit different. Each member of the audience received a $1,000 debit card. But here’s the catch—each person must donate that money in some way to someone else. While it’s not a car or extravagant gift, the debit cards are, as she puts it, the “gift of giving back.” The 300 audience members received the cards, sponsored by Bank of America, to donate to the charity of their choice. “I can honestly say that every gift I’ve ever given has brought at least as much happiness to me as it has to the person I’ve given it to,” Oprah said. “That’s the feeling I want to pass on to you.”
To keep people honest, they are not allowed to give the money to a relative, but they can divide it among several charities. They also received a DVD recorder for taping the experience of donating their money. The stories will air on a future show. Oprah told her audience, “You’re going to open your hearts, you’re going to be really creative, and you’re going to spend it all at once on one stranger or spend a dollar on every person. Imagine the love and kindness you can spread with $1,000.”
Read More | Yahoo! News
NBC has refused to air a TV commercial for the new Dixie Chicks’ documentary, Shut Up & Sing due to the subject of the film. NBC’s policy is to prohibit ads that show “public controversy.” The film looks at the slide from the top the Dixie Chicks experienced after they criticized President George W. Bush during a London concert in March 2003. If you recall the incident, lead singer Natalie Maines told the audience that they were “ashamed” to come from the same state as Bush. Following that, some radio stations refused to play the bands’ records and boycotted ads for their “Accidents & Accusations” tour.
The documentary opened on Friday in New York and Los Angeles, and local affiliates of the big five broadcasters did run promos for the movie in those cities. The Weinstein Co., who is distributing the film, said of the rejection that they are “exploring taking legal action.” Harvey Weinstein made a statement saying, “It’s a sad commentary about the level of fear in our society that a movie about a group of courageous entertainers who were blacklisted for exercising their right of free speech is now itself being blacklisted by corporate America.”
Following suit, the CW network also refused to air the ads, saying they had “concerns we do not have appropriate programing in which to schedule this spot.”
Read More | Yahoo! News
Advertisement
© Gear Live Media, LLC. 2007 – User-posted content, unless source is quoted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Public Domain License. Gear Live graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, videos, articles, blogs, forums, scripts and other service names are the trademarks of Gear Live Inc.