Jon Stewart Hosting Autism Benefit
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Comedy, Specials, Cable, Cable/Satellite, Internet,
As if you need more proof that Jon Stewart is a good guy… The Daily Show anchor will be hosting an upcoming autism benefit event, titled Night of Too Many Stars: An Overbooked Benefit for Autism Education. Too many stars indeed. Tune in to Comedy Central on October 15th at 8:00 p.m. to see Bob Odenkirk, Adam Sandler, Jack Black, David Cross, Sacha Baron Cohen, Ricky Gervais, Will Ferrell, Norm MacDonald, Steve Carell, Jimmy Fallon, Mike Myers, Amy Poehler, Ben Stiller, Stephen Colbert and Paul Rudd (among others). I’m practically salivating at the thought of the entertainment factor. And all for charity too, benefiting autism education and research programs—what could be better? The benefit will air live from New York City’s Beacon Theater on Comedy Central, with a live simulcast on comedycentral.com. Tune in for this special event.
Read More 
| Comedy Central
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Weekend Update Co-anchor Announced
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Comedy, Late Night, NBC, News, Rumors,
Despite the rumors that Jason Sudeikis would be taking over for Tina Fey on Saturday Night Live‘s Weekend Update, it’s just been announced that Seth Meyers will be taking on the job. This comes from show creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels today, so it seems the rumors have finally been put to rest. Amy Poehler will continue her co-anchor spot on the Update segment. There were four cast members who auditioned for the job, but Michaels found Meyers to have the best chemistry with Poehler. Meyers is also one of the head writers for the show. Of the recent cast downsizing at SNL, Michaels said: “The show has succeeded and prospered to some degree on its ability to reinvent itself, and this was a time for everything to be re-examined.” Check out all the big changes when SNL begins on September 30th. Comic Dane Cook hosts.
Read More | Yahoo! News
New Characters Join Desperate Housewives
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Comedy, Drama, Prime Time, CBS, Desperate Housewives,
Coming soon to Wisteria Lane—a couple of new neighbors. Well, let’s hope they make for a better storyline than the Applewhites. The third season of Desperate Housewives kicks off this Sunday, and has added a couple of recurring players to the roster. Kathleen York will come on board as “a beautiful redhead mystery woman,” according to a Housewives source. Matt Roth will play the new owner of Paul Young’s home. Lynette becomes fast friends with him after he comes to her aid in a “tense situation.”
Roth was on a number of episodes of Roseanne, as well as in the film Blink, and made appearances on Grey’s Anatomy and Crossing Jordan, among others. He is married to Roseanne cast member Laurie Metcalf—who, interestingly enough, will also show up on Desperate Housewives this season.
Kathleen York has appeared on a number of series, including The West Wing and The O.C. Her song, “In the Deep,” from the movie Crash, earned an Academy Award nomination.
Read More | Zap2it
Too Many TVs? Nielsen Research Tells the Tale
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: ABC, Cable, CBS, FOX, NBC, UPN, WB, Cable/Satellite, News, Ratings,
A recent Nielsen Media Research study found that the average American home has more TV sets than people. The average number of people per home is 2.55, while the number of TVs averages 2.73. The availability of flat-screen TVs impacts the results, since it’s easier than ever to put sets most anywhere.
The research shows that half of American homes have three or more TVs, with 19 percent having just one. Compared to 1975, the number of single sets per home was 57 percent and having three or more was a minority—just 11 percent.
Nielsen also reports that the average person watches four hours and 35 minutes of TV per day. What are people watching? The ratings over the years have shown a lot of change with the multitude of channels available, so the the big networks’ ratings have shown a steady decline.
Read More | AOL News
Madonna Concert Special—Pulling Crucifixion Stunt?
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Music, Prime Time, Specials, NBC,
The upcoming Madonna concert special—Confessions—will air soon on NBC, however, the network is still undecided about whether or not it will include the crucifixion “stunt” that many protested. The mock crucifixion has Madonna hanging by wires on a cross while wearing a crown of thorns. Madonna—controversial? As you may have heard, the Roman Catholic Church and Russian Orthodox Church were not too happy with the scene, calling it blasphemy. With an endorsement like that, it would seem likely that NBC would edit out the stunt and air the concert blasphemy-free. Executives at NBC, however, are waiting to review the concert before making their decision about whether to air it or not. “We’re awaiting the delivery of it, and once we’ve seen it in its entirety, we’ll make a decision,” an NBC spokeswoman told Reuters. NBC Entertainment President Kevin Reilly was quoted in July as saying, “We’ve discussed what content will be in and what is out, and we’ve come to a healthy place that represents her show but is appropriate for television.” The Madonna concert special is set to air in November.
Read More | Reuters
CBS’ Smith: Lacking the Ummph for High-Stakes Drama
Posted by Monica Edwards Categories: Action, Drama, Prime Time, CBS, 24, Editorial,
I was undecided about whether I wanted to tune into the new drama on CBS called Smith starring Ray Liotta and a noteworthy ensemble cast, but made the decision to give it a chance largely due to my female insensibility; basing my decision merely on the fact that the cast included one Simon Baker, the hunky Aussie that I had just “fell in love” with (if I were not already married to my wonderful husband), while watching a silly romantic comedy a few weeks back entitled Something New . Of course that is not what I told my husband. I just asked if he wanted to watch with me, in which case he did since he enjoyed Ray Liotta’s performance in Goodfellas.
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Is Studio 60 Must See TV?
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Drama, Prime Time, NBC, Desperate Housewives, West Wing, The,
Now that I’ve had time to digest the series premiere of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, it’s time for a little post-mortem analysis:
What Will Make Me Watch Again:
-Thanks to creator/writer Aaron Sorkin and director Thomas Schlamme, Studio 60 very much has the feel of a West Wing episode. The quick, witty banter is always refreshing after a week’s worth of reality shows
-Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford are tried and true likeable actors who know how to deliver
-we are reunited with characters from the West Wing that we had grown to love (Timothy Busfield, Perry, Whitford) and we were even treated with a cameo from Felicity Huffman (from Sorkin’s Sports Night)
-It gives us a perspective we haven’t really seen. Makes us wonder what’s really going on backstage at the real-SNL
What Will Make Me Think Twice:
-This is too much like the West Wing...even the title fonts are recycled!! And I swear the hotel room scene was filmed on the WW lot.
-I love that Sorkin is loyal to the actors he has worked with before… but it’s a new show. He needs new people.
-Perry and Whitford are delivering the exact same routine we’ve seen from them before
-Is there some reason Sorkin loves to do ‘behind-the-scenes’ based series? Sports Night, West Wing and now this. Me thinks he might need to start branching out soon.
-Last but not least, I am in no way buying Amanda Peet as the NBS President… and this has nothing to do with her being a young woman. She just doesn’t have the presence to pull that role off.
Final Analysis: It’s neither here nor there. If I’m free and without anything else to watch on my Tivo, I’ll probably watch the show again. But I’m not going to hurt myself trying to find the time.
Funny Guy Will Ferrell Developing Comedy for HBO
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Comedy, Cable, HBO, Saturday Night Live, Cable/Satellite,
And speaking of former SNL cast members (see article below about the recent firings), Will Ferrell will bring the comedy P.E. to HBO. The premise of the series is a major league baseball pitcher who, after failing at professional sports, returns to his hometown to teach phys ed at his former middle school. He’ll also have to make up with the people from his town that he snubbed when he left to become a ball player. Along with his production company partner Adam McKay, Ferrell was able to sign on with HBO—the Hollywood Reporter is reporting that the deal is “one of the pay cable network’s richest development deals.” Writers Jody Hill, Ben Best and Danny McBride will pen the series; they wrote and starred in “The Foot Fist Way,” an indie kung fu comedy. McKay and Ferrell wrote this summer’s hit, “Talladega Nights: The Legend of Ricky Bobby,” starring Ferrell and directed by McKay. Got all that? At any rate, funny people behind a funny premise—on HBO. Oh, and I couldn’t resist this picture of Will playing the cowbell.
Read More | Yahoo! News
Three SNL Cast Members Get Pink Slips
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Comedy, Late Night, NBC, Saturday Night Live, Rumors,
Early SNL firing rumors are now official. E! Online is reporting that a press release for the upcoming 32nd season omitted the names of three cast members’ names: unfortunately, Chris Parnell, Horatio Sanz and Finesse Mitchell will not be returning this season. The news comes as a “non-announcement,” since neither NBC nor Saturday Night Live released any official statement about the cast. Early rumors pegged Parnell and Sanz as fired, but did not predict Mitchell would not be returning. Instead, most were reporting that it would be Kenan Thompson or Darrell Hammond that would get the axe. Sanz had made a statement about a month ago to the Chicago Sun-Times, saying “I haven’t been approached with anything that’s led me to believe I won’t be back.” Seems the decision may have come as a surprise to him. NBC rep Marc Liepis doesn’t believe there is any ill-will about the decision, saying “I believe there were mutual choices made. When you’re on the show for eight years, I don’t think you look at it as a firing.” Both Parnell and Sanz have been on SNL for eight years, while Mitchell had only a three year run.
Saturday Night Live will air on September 30th, with host Dane Cook and musical guest The Killers. No official word yet on who will be taking over Tina Fey’s chair on Weekend Update, although early rumors pegged Jason Sudeikis. Guess we’ll know for sure on the 30th.
Read More | E! Online
Rock Star Band Gives New Name Little Thought
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Music, Prime Time, Reality, CBS, Rock Star,
You may recall that the name Supernova was already owned by another band, and so the courts ordered the band from the show Rock Star: Supernova to stop using the same name. Showing a complete lack of originality or creativity, the band has settled on their new name—Rock Star Supernova. I know, I know, it’s a subtle difference, what with the removal of the colon and all. Seems that’s all that Tommy Lee, Jason Newsted, Gilby Clarke and their new frontman Lukas Rossi could muster. So, rather than being called Supernova, it’s now Rockstar Supernova. Catchy, no? Well, I guess there are kookier names out there (Death Cab for Cutie comes to mind), but still I would have expected Gilby with his super songwriting abilities to have crafted something a little more interesting. For those itching to have the Rockstar Supernova album, you’ll have to settle for the two songs available on Yahoo Music. They won’t be recording their album until later this year.
Read More | Zap2it
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