Dancing With the Stars Contestants Announced
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Prime Time, Reality, ABC, Dancing With The Stars, Internet, Rumors,
You’ve been waiting for the big announcement, reading Internet rumors until you could get the official word. Good news for Dancing With the Stars fans: the official contestant roster was revealed today. Place your bets now on who will win the big event. And the cheesy trophy. Here are the choices:
- Heather Mills, ex-wife of Paul McCartney
- Apolo Anton Ohno, Olympian
- Shandi Finnessey, Miss USA 2004
- Clyde Drexler, former basketball star
- Vincent Pastore, actor from The Sopranos
- Ian Ziering, actor
- Laila Ali, boxer
- Billy Ray Cyrus, country singer
- Joey Fatone, formerly of ‘N Sync
- Leeza Gibbons, former host of Entertainment Tonight
- Paulina Porizkova, model
The two-hour season premiere airs on March 19th.
Read More 
| Yahoo! News
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Former Survivor Contestant Joins Rachael Ray Show
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Daytime, Reality, Talk Shows, Syndication, Survivor,
Following in the footsteps of Survivor contestant Elisabeth Hasselbeck, who co-hosts on The View, Survivor castaway Colby Donaldson will be joining Rachael Ray. Perhaps an effort to appeal to the male demographic, or just another personality to cut Ray’s over-the-top persona? His job is “content buddy”—he’ll give viewers more of a male perspective and conduct interviews. Donaldson told Us magazine that he is “thrilled to now be with Rachael Ray enjoying this daytime adventure with real people. I love hanging out with Rachael and the food perks are pretty great too! It’s good to know my days of eating bugs are over!” Ray’s show has done very well in the ratings and earned a renewal, so seems Donaldson will be sitting pretty on the daytime talk show. You may remember him from his runner-up status on the Australian edition of Survivor, or from the all-stars edition, where he was the seventh to be booted. You could have seen him on Curb Your Enthusiasm, or maybe you know him from the razor ads. At any rate, he will be a handsome addition to the show.
Read More | Reality TV World
Soap Star Takes Over Hosting Duties on Biggest Loser
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Prime Time, Reality, NBC,
The Biggest Loser is about to get a new host. Caroline Rhea, who has hosted the show for three seasons, will be passing the torch to soap star Alison Sweeney. Sweeney, who has played Sami Brady on Days of Our Lives since 1993, will begin hosting The Biggest Loser next season, airing in the fall. NBC said the reason for the replacement is that Rhea is going to work on other projects. “Alison is an incredible talent and will bring not only a great fresh face to the show but a huge, loyal fan base,” executive producer Ben Silverman says. Sweeney has appeared on Las Vegas and Friends,as well as a contestant on Fear Factor. Sweeney, who is just 30, has chronicled her struggles with weight in her 2004 memoir All the Days of My Life (So Far). Seems strange that she should have a memoir, but she apparently has a large fan base, as soap stars generally do. NBC is certainly banking on the fact that her appeal will bring in more ratings.
Read More | Zap2it
Rainn Wilson to Host SNL
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Comedy, Late Night, Prime Time, NBC, Saturday Night Live, The Office,
I just came across this online today—why am I always the last to know? Rainn Wilson, aka Dwight Schrute on The Office, will be hosting this weekend’s edition of Saturday Night Live. I’m thrilled. I’m ecstatic. Questions abound: Will there be a skit about The Office? Will Wilson be featured in a Digital Short (oh please?)? Will any of his Office co-workers make an appearance? I’m excited to see what he does—it’ll be fun to see him outside the word of Dwight Schrute. I know that SNL gets its fair share of criticisms, but I still think it’s worth tuning into, at least for the first half of the show. Even if there’s just one good sketch, it’s worth it. It’s always going to have ups and downs, but I’ve been watching since I was a kid and have no intention of giving up on it yet. Let’s hope that Lorne Michaels invites more Office cast members to host… come on, I would be so on board for John Krasinski (Jim) hosting. And while we’re suggesting dream SNL hosts, how about the creator of the british Office, Ricky Gervais? He would be a perfect match for SNL.
Read More | Watchingtheoffice.com
Entertainment News Overtaken by Britney’s Bald Head
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Music, Reality, Gossip, News, Rumors,
In my quest to find worthy TV news fit for blogging today, it seems that Britney Spears’ shaving her head is top news. There’s no room for anything else interesting in the entertainment world. Between her and the circus that’s unfolding following Anna Nicole Smith’s death, there’s not much left for us to talk about. Anna Nicole, I can understand. There are so many unanswered questions, including the custody of her baby, that I see why the entertainment media has a lot of ground to cover. A pop star shaving her head and getting a tattoo? I don’t get it. It’s strange, yes. But, is it so newsworthy that the media has to keep covering the story? I would prefer seeing less of her shaved head until they actually have some news about why she did it. Perhaps we’ll never know. Here’s the thing—it will grow back. And when it does, that will be the top entertainment story of the day!
Read More | MSNBC
Switcheroo for ‘Deal’ and ‘Crossing Jordan’
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Drama, Games, Music, Prime Time, Reality, FOX, NBC, American Idol, Apprentice, The - Donald, Medium, Ratings,
Here’s one of those things that totally confuses viewers—moving a show to another day and time. The latest is the switch in days between Deal or No Deal and Crossing Jordan. So, the Wednesday night edition of Deal will move to Sundays, and Crossing Jordan will get the bump to Wednesdays at 9 p.m. The change will make Sundays a bit different, with Grease: You’re the One That I Want at 8:00, Deal or No Deal at 9:00, and The Apprentice at 10:00. Whether or not the move will increase ratings, we’ll just have to see. Jordan will now be in good company with the other Wednesday dramas: Friday Night Lights and Medium. Of course, that also puts Jordan in competition with American Idol, which is currently the ratings king.
Read More | Zap2it
Will ‘Lost’ Get Canned?
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Drama, Prime Time, ABC, Lost, Ratings, Renewals,
I’ve been reading too much doom-and-gloom about the falling ratings that Lost has been experiencing. Many are predicting that the series won’t last much longer because less people are watching these days. I would love to know why people aren’t tuning in anymore. Is it the sheer frustration that some questions get answered while creating new questions… with still so many unsolved mysteries? To me, that just keeps me tuning in for more. There’s a lot of confusing information, but it’s heading somewhere. And don’t viewers want to be there in the end, when all of the information we’ve been presented with clicks into place?
This latest article, posted on Yahoo, predicts that Lost may be “killed off before its time.” Marc Berman, a TV analyst for Media Week Online, says that “Lost is the tragedy of the season.” He adds that ABC “really prematurely put the nail in the coffin. It’s too late to save it.” Ratings have gone from over 20 million in the beginning, to just 12.8 million for this week’s show. That is a significant drop, to be sure… but come on, there are so many sub-par shows out there that keep getting renewed. Are we to believe that viewership for these shows is stellar, or is Lost just too dang expensive to keep producing if the ratings don’t support it? Berman is predicting that the show will be back for one more season, but doesn’t expect it to go beyond that. Other reasons for the slip in ratings—the new 10:00 p.m. time, without a strong lead-in, and the break between “mini-seasons” that caused the series to lose momentum.
Read More | Yahoo! News
Amazing Race All Stars Premieres Sunday
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Prime Time, Reality, CBS, Amazing Race, The, Internet,
And I call myself an Amazing Race fan? I have been anticipating the all-star installment of the popular reality show (in my book, the best reality show around) and yet, had no idea it would be premiering this Sunday. That’s right, prepare yourself for the return of some of your favorites and not-so-favorites when the all-stars start globetrotting on February 18th. One thing’s for certain—the all-star concept is likely to do better than their family edition. OK, to refresh you on the contestants again:
- Dustin Seltzer and Kandice Pelletier (“the beauty queens”), Season 10
- Joe Baldassare and Bill Bartek (“Team Guido”), Season 1
- Kevin O’Connor and Drew Feinberg, Season 1
- Ozwald Mendez and Danilo Jimenez, Season 2
- John Vito Pietanza and Jill Aquilino, Season 3
- Uchenna Agu and Joyce Agu, the winners of Season 7
- David Conley, Jr. and Mary Conley (“team Kentucky”), Season 10
- Charla Baklayan Faddoul and Mirna Hindoyan, Season 5
- Rob Mariano and Amber Mariano, Season 7
- Teri Pollack and Ian Pollack, Season 3
- Eric Sanchez and Danielle Turner, Season 9
Who knows what twists host Phil Keoghan will have in store for these stars? Tune in to find out. And visit the new “Elimination Station” on CBS.com/innertube. This gives a look at what happens when contestants get eliminated from The Amazing Race and have to live in the sequester house. The webisodes will appear following each episode of the all-stars season, beginning on February 18th. Find out what happens when The Amazing Race all-stars stop being polite, and start getting real.
Read More | Comingsoon.net
New Celebrity Impersonator Show Holds Auditions
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Games, Music, Prime Time, Reality, ABC,
Here’s another new entry into the talent contest genre—The Next Best Thing, looking for the “greatest celebrity impersonator.” I must admit, I’m intrigued by celebrity impersonators, but not so sure an entire show devoted to finding the best one is going to hold my interest. The Next Best Thing has announced auditions, so get out your Cher wig or Elvis jumpsuit and try out beginning on March 5 in Los Angeles, followed by other dates in Las Vegas (naturally), New York City and Orlando. This show originally was conceived as The Imposter, and I’m having a déjà vu moment because I think I may have written about it before. The call backs are eventually whittled down to 10 finalists, competing when the show premieres this summer. Michele Merkin, model and host of Style Network’s Foody Call, will be on hand to host. And, of course, there will be three judges to oversee the whole shebang. The first judge that has been announced is actress and comedian Lisa Ann Walter. The other two judges have yet to be named. You know, it could be a nice cure for the summertime television blahs. Just as long as they don’t make a whole American Idol bad audition thing out of it.
Read More | Reality TV World
‘Identity’ Game Show Returns in March
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Games, Prime Time, NBC, Ratings, Renewals,
Remember that new game show, Identity, with Penn Jillette? It only aired for a week, then seemed to vanish into oblivion. If you’ve been missing it, fear not—it returns to the schedule in March. The week it aired earned decent ratings, debuting with 12.3 million viewers on December 18th. Overall, the show averaged 9.3 million viewers during the week. Good enough to bring it back, it seems. Identity will return to the roster on Friday, March 16th at 9:00 p.m. Subsequent weeks, it will air on Fridays at 8:00 p.m., replacing 1 vs. 100. If you didn’t catch the show, it’s basically a game of first-impressions and stereotypes. Contestants must identify which of 12 strangers fits a certain trait—the episode I saw had contestants determining the occupation of each person. The prize for correctly matching the trait with each person is $500,000. Eh, not a thrilling show, but Penn makes it entertaining and it could easily become a guilty pleasure.
Read More | Zap2it
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