| MSN TV's profileMSN TV BlogPhotosBlogLists |  Tools  Help |
MSN TV BlogAugust 26 Guess Who's Guest Hosting 'The View'? In case you've missed "The View" lately, cohost Elisabeth Hasselbeck recently gave birth to son Isaiah. She'll probably need someone to fill her chair for a while. Who will that be? Well, for part of the time it will be Kate Gosselin of "Jon and Kate Plus 8."The celebrity mom of 8 will guest host on "The View" September 14 and 15. No word yet on whether she'll bring any of her adorable kiddies along. You know Barbara likes having little ones on set, though! - Posted by Kate August 25 Look Like a TV AnchorMy wife hipped me to a site that specializes in selling clothes formerly owned by broadcast news people to other broadcast news people. Although I'm sure the site would happily take money from non-journalists.
Unfortunately for me, there's not likely to be much in my size except for ties, and my wife will probably kill me if I buy any more of those.
- posted by Raoul Paula Is Movin' On...Up? Paula Abdul has announced, via Twitter, that she'll be hosting this year's VH1 Divas special:"Hi guys! im really excited 2 announce ill b hosting this year's "Vh1 Divas"!The show will be live on Sept 17th @ 9 pm EST" It's not exactly official, but it's certainly plausible enough. What do you guys think, will post-"Idol" Paula show us all? - Posted by Kate August 24 Someone Wanted to Be a Millionaire Too Badly
I'm the sort of armchair game show fan who yells at contestants when they screw up and who feel in my heart of hearts that the money they lose was rightfully mine. So I feel compelled to talk about Ken Basin, who wrapped up the summer run of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" by blowing the million-dollar question. Not that I could claim that I would have gotten it right. You can see the whole affair above. Was the answer Fresca, V8, Yoo-Hoo or A&W? I got the this one wrong. Hint: The correct drink is mentioned in Caddyshack. There's a thin line between deserving praise for cajones big enough to go for a million and deserving mockery for giving up a sure-thing $500,000. I'm sure the poor sap will be kicking himself for the rest of his life. Any "Millionaire" fans, by the way, hoping the show gets yet another revival with Reege? - posted by Raoul 'Savage Love' to Become a TV Series?One of my favorite columns is Dan Savage's "Savage Love," appearing in alternative weeklies nationwide.
Now it's come out that Savage is in the middle of making a pilot of a show for HBO.
Since the show's only scheduled to be taped this week and since there's all sorts of things that can happen between even a successful pilot and a series that airs, it may be premature to get one's hopes up.
But I think anything Savage would be involved in would likely be the right combination of funny, sexy and intelligent.
- posted by Raoul It Takes Two to Tango ABC announced the professional pairings for the new season of "Dancing with the Stars" today. Here's who will be waltzing who:Aaron Carter/Karina Smirnoff Natalie Coughlin/Alec Mazo Mark Dacascos/Lacey Schwimmer Tom DeLay/Cheryl Burke Macy Gray/Jonathan Roberts Ashley Hamilton/Edyta Slwinska Melissa Joan Hart/Mark Ballas Kathy Ireland/Tony Dovolani Michael Irvin/Anna Demidova (new this season) Joanna Krupa/Derek Hough Chuck Liddell/Anna Trebunskaya Debi Mazar/Maksim Chmerkovskiy Mya/Dmitry Chaplin Kelly Osbourne/Louis Van Amstel Donny Osmond/Kym Johnson Louie Vito/Chelsie Hightower Only a couple more weeks, guys! - Posted by Kate 'Game' Over? Maybe Not Last May "The Game" was canceled by The CW after three seasons. Now BET is in talks with the show's producers to bring it back - for good! - on cable. The Hollywood Reporter has the story:"Following "Game's" cancellation, BET began preliminary talks with CBS Studios about possibly taking in the series with new originals. The cable net already runs repeats of both "Game" and "Girfriends." "The options on the "Game" actors have lapsed, so if a deal is reached with BET, CBS Studios would have to make new pacts with them. BET's only previous stab at launching an original scripted series was the 2008 comedy "Somebodies," which ran for one season." This is great news, though obviously it's not a done deal. Let's hope they'll go after "Girlfriends" next, eh? - Posted by Kate August 21 Meet the New 'PR,' Same As the Old 'PR' I admit I was upset when I first heard of "Project Runway's" move to Lifetime well over a year ago. It didn't help that the producers ended up in court over who had the right to air season five of the show. Now, though? Now the show is back, on Lifetime, and most of what's good about it is still good about it.Lifetime kicked things off in style with a four-hour premiere event last night: a two-hour all-star special, the first episode of season six and then a new series "Models of the Runway," which I totally did not watch because three hours in the world of couture is enough for me. More than enough! Let me start off by saying that due to Lifetime's legal woes, the sixth season's Fashion Week runway show has come and gone. Spoilers are out there for anyone who cares to find them. I'm choosing to stay spoiler-free about who will be in the final three, because, hey, it's more fun that way! I'm not, however, gonna preserve the sanctity of last night's episode. If you haven't watched yet, come back when you have. On to last night's episode! First off, I have to say that I think it was a bit rich of guest judge Lindsay Lohan to lecture anyone on restraint and responsibility. And she was wearing her signature leggings. Haha! So was Heidi, and I wonder if it was her subtle way of taking the piss out of LiLo. The new contestants seem like an okay bunch, certainly better than the weirdos who competed in Bravo's "Project Runway" knockoff "The Fashion Show." We had the usual drama that arises when you fail to measure twice and cut once: Mitchell pretty much sent a model down the runway naked. We had the usual total meltdown over the pressure: ex-addict Johnny felt overwhelmed even though his design was one of the best. And we had the usual fashion philosophy meltdown: Ari's 2088 Nobel Peace Prize red carpet dress was a flop. And...she was cut. Boo! I think this was a weird move, actually. Remember how long the producers, er, judges! I mean judges! Anyway, remember how long Angela got to stay with her kooky bows and lofty justifications for them? Judging the first week's looks I say that Christopher, Johnny and Ra'mon are the strongest designers with Malvin and Carol Hannah as likely dark horses. Nobody totally sucked, which was a pleasant surprise. Even Ari's losing look wasn't a total travesty. Qristyl's mess-on-purple dress may have showed "a lack of taste" as Michael Kors oh-so-eagerly pointed out, but I feel like she might surprise us next week. What did you guys think? Are we excited about this show again? - Posted by Kate August 20 I'm Excited About 'Top Chef' Again I didn't make much of a secret about the fact that last season of "Top Chef" bored me. I just couldn't stay interested. I didn't end up loving "Top Chef Masters," either, so I was feeling kind of disillusioned with the whole franchise.But... Last night's episode was awesome, and I think this is gonna be a really good season. Well, this new batch of cooks clearly came to play. And: spoiler alert, so shoo on elsewhere if you haven't watched yet. Last night each chef was asked to make a dish based on his or her vices. Apparently we've got a lot of people working on their drinking problems, some with bad tempers and a couple of procrastinators. It was a cutesy, weird little challenge, but it wasn't all bad. Kevin, the winner, rightly pointed out that in 3 out of 5 seasons the winner of the first challenge went on to win the whole shebang. He's definitely one to watch, as are ultracompetitive Jen, soft-spoken Ron and sartorially challenged Mattin. Jennifer's defense of her seriously gross-looking "Vegan Bar Midnight Special" seitan chile relleno was pretty funny. Hot tempered, indeed. I know that we can't actually taste the food, but that was one of the worst-looking things I've seen on TV and I'm considering all of Sandra Lee's oeuvre when I say that. I wasn't sorry to see her go. - Posted by Kate VH1 Pulls the Plug On 'Megan Wants a Millionaire' VH1 has officially canceled "Megan Wants a Millionaire" in light of an ongoing criminal investigation into the affairs of contestant Ryan Jenkins. It turns out that Jenkins was also a contestant on the wrapped, but not yet aired series "I Love Money 3." It will presumably have the same fate as "Megan Wants a Millionaire."The Futon Critic has VH1's official statement: "Ryan Jenkins was a contestant on Megan Wants A Millionaire, an outside production, produced and owned by 51 Minds, that is licensed to VH1. The show completed production at the end of March. Given the unfortunate circumstances, VH1 has postponed any future airings. This is a tragic situation and our thoughts go out to the victim's family." They say "postponed," but I don't think we should be holding our breaths. I have to hand it to the folks at Viacom: they could cash in big on this (cough: Jon and Kate) but they're staying classy. - Posted by Kate August 19 The Future of Advertising Is Here!?!?An upcoming issue of EW is going to contain a video advertisement for CBS's Monday night comedies and Pepsi Max.
Its modern technology confuses and frightens me. But it still seems kind of cool, no?
- posted by Raoul 'Shaq Vs' Has Some Redeeming QualitiesI tuned into "Shaq Vs" with a lot of trepidation. I'm not a big fan of the Cleveland Cav's new big man.
I mean, I don't have anything in particular against him (other than having watched his "acting" turn in "Steel") but I don't have any particular love for him. Plus, the premise of the show (Shaq "competes" against other world-class athletes in their sport with a handicap) seemed like it was prime for 60 minutes of ego-stroking.
But I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with the first installment last night. There were enough fun moments that I would consider tuning into future episodes.
Last night had Shaq face off againt the Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger in a gridiron challenge. There was trash talk aplenty as the two competed in Horse (which Shaq lost on purpose to give Ben false confidence, or so he said), and then a 7-on-7 touch football match where each of the marquee players served as quarterback. Shaq had to drive his team 20 yards for a touchdown compared to 40 for Ben.
The actual competition wasn't all that exciting, particularly when neither of the men had to deal with a pass rush. If you give just about any NFL caliber quarterback unlimited time to have one of their five receivers get open, I'm thinking they can make a 40 yard drive happen. Shaq managed to throw two touchdown passes on his shorter field, but then threw an end-zone interception to miss his chance to beat Big Ben.
What made it worth watching were a lot of the lighter moments of the two stars joking around with each other. Little goofy things like Shaq pretending to plan on selling one of Ben's jerseys on eBay, or threatening to bust out a victory lap.
Given the right matchup, I might give it another looksee.
- posted by Raoul 'Megan Wants a Millionaire' Gets A Lot Less Bubbly I've been secretly enjoying VH1's "Megan Wants a Millionare," a dating reality show wherein former "Rock of Love" contestant Megan Hauserman puts a bunch of apparent millionaries through their paces. It's silly, fluffy fun. Even Megan herself doesn't seem to take it too seriously.Now things have gotten serious. Ryan Jenkins, one of the show's hot shots, has been named as a "person of interest" in a murder investigation. The victim is Jenkins' wife, Jasmine Fiore. Megan, of course, was quick to dissociate herself from the tragedy in an interview. Reality TV World has all the deets: "'He met her after the show... They're married. It was his wife. They got married in Vegas,' Hauserman told TMZ in a Tuesday interview, adding Jenkins and Fiore met at the Las Vegas club where Fiore worked as a dancer. 'I think they got married after two days.'" - Posted by Kate Nicole Kidman to Class Up 'Project Runway All-Stars' Lifetime has done a pretty impressive job marketing the new season of "Project Runway" what with all the adorable spots of regular women in Times Square explaining why they love the show. Well, they're giving the upcoming all-star special the royal treatment, too!Nicole Kidman will help design and guest-judge a challenge for the eight designers from previous seasons! The special airs tomorrow night at 10:00 on Lifetime. Is it lame old lady of me to wish that Lifetime would have given the show an earlier timeslot? I mean, I think we were expected to stay up late as "fabulous" Bravo viewers but now the late hour seems unnecessary! - Posted by Kate August 18 'Smallville' Adds the Wonder TwinsI really should just give up on "Smallville." But for some reason I just can't quit it.
The latest apparent misstep: the show is going to give us a live-action version of the Wonder Twins from the old "Super Friends" cartoon. You may remember "Wonder Twin powers activate!" Zan could turn into various forms of water and Jayna could turn into various animals. And then there was space monkey Gleek. Because what's a cartoon show without space monkeys?
Of all 80 or so years of Superman history to borrow from, not to mention the possibility of the "Smallville" writers' own creative efforts, this is what we get?
- posted by Raoul Don't Forget, 'Big Brother' Really Is Watching
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? "24" has added some impressive actors to the roster for its upcoming eighth (and final?) season - Freddie Prinze, Jr. and Katee Sackhoff a.k.a. Starbuck - and now they've gone back to the well for...David Anders!E! is reporting that the actor will be a recurring character on "24" this season. You may remember him as Julian Sark from "Alias" or Adam Monroe on "Heroes." On "24" he'll play "Josef." And that's all I know for now. Obviously I'll keep you guys posted as we get closer to the premiere date. - Posted by Kate August 17 Nice Guys From Vermont (Presumably) Finish Last Oh, happy day after! "Mad Men" is back for its third season and we just can't wait to get back to business. Raoul and I both loved last night's season opener, even if things did get off to rather a slow start. Here's the switchboard gossip on last night's episode. Obviously there are spoilers, so I don't want to hear a word about it in the comments! Raoul: Lots and lots of pieces, very interesting overall. But am I spacing out? Duck got shown up by Don, but I thought he would still be part of the new Sterling Cooper. Kate: I did, too. I guess we should have interpreted "He never could hold his liquor" as "He's outta here, doomed to roam the streets hunting for Chauncey forever." Raoul: I was looking forward to one of the plot lines of his trying to get revenge for Don outmaneuvering him, with him failing to realize no one outmaneuvers Don. What do you make of the revelation that Don is an adopted child whose parents had trouble conceiving? Does that mean his little brother is also adopted? Kate: Was adopted? I sort of doubt it. Mrs. Whitman named him Adam as in the first man, and I think that means he was "hers." I'm not sure why we got that storyline, but I'm sure it will come back in some important way. One thing to consider...Season 2 opened with Don getting a check-up. Then the season finale opened with Betty at the doc finding out she's knocked up. I hope there won't be a similar parallel structure here, because that means a lot of heartache for the Drapers. Raoul: Hmm...do you think this is foreshadowing a stillbirth/abortion for Betts? Kate: I hope not, but yeah. Raoul: Am I silly to think that Don would have reformed his adulterous ways after all he went through, and with a pregnant wife? Kate: I don't think he can help it. He might as well be Humbert Humbert. Not that I'm condoning any shenanigans. Raoul: And how evil and clever was Matthew Weiner to give us the hot Don/stewardess scene and then follow it up with Sal and his new boy pal? I bet thousands of viewers went on a quick emotional rollercoaster with that. Kate: Oh, poor Sal! I wish that fire alarm could have gone off about 10 minutes later. Raoul: Kudos especially to the show for not doing the "Melrose Place" thing of "guys hugging"=sex Kate: Yeah, agreed. Raoul: Don seemed surprised about Sal. One would think in his omniscience when it comes to human behavior he would have deduced that. I was a little let down by his London Fog ad, truth to tell. I don't think you want to equate your product with flashers. Kate: I think Don just doesn't care about what other men want/think unless he needs something from them. OMG, though. Didn't you love it when he was all "I need the truth" and then laid an ad campaign on Sal? Hahaha. Girl flashers are hott. Raoul: If they look anything like Peggy or Joan, yeah. Which was a slight downside to the episode. I wanted more of both of them. But then, I always do. Kate: I think we'll get plenty more, especially with Joan's upcoming (or not) marriage. Were you weirded out by Betty's almost manic happiness throughout the episode? Raoul: Hormones. What are you going to do? Kate: You think? It was jarring, but I'm not complaining. Raoul: Just so I'm not sounding sexist, I wanted more Roger as well. He was in like what, two scenes for like 10 seconds? Kate: He's at his best when he's in two scenes for like 10 seconds! "Ohhh, this meeting." Raoul: What do you think of the new British overlords and their setting up the Campbell/Cosgrove death match? Kate: I love it! Raoul: Or their firing that guy who then went beserk? Kate: Campbell vs. Cosgrove is like the essential battle in "Mad Men." Except we know who wins, because look at our world right now. Raoul: Don't you have moments when you wish you could be that guy? Minus the spouse with cancer thing, I mean. Kate: I have been known to lose my temper. I guess not quite in that way. Raoul: How do you mean? I think there's some execs of both the Campbellesque and Cosgrovian mold in most corporations these days. Kate: Not the corporation, but the individual worker and his attitude, fears, etc. We're all supposed to pretend to be Ken Cosgroves but really be Pete Campbells. And Don Drapers all smoked themselves to death, I guess. Or founded software companies. Raoul: I have to say I'm rooting for Cosgrove. Kate: Of course, me too. And I bet he'll lose. That's why this show is so awesome! Raoul: Pete is such a whiny weasel. Trying to go to Don after he found out he had to share the job, and wanting to leverage his knowing Don's secret. Kate: OMG,
though! How much did you love Trudy telling him to quit whining. I
can't wait to see what happened there! I think she's waking up. What
year did The Feminine Mystique come out? [ed: February 1963!] Raoul: I
find myself wondering how much of my disdain for him is a product of
the writing and how much it is carried over from my disliking the
actor's character on "Angel." Kate: I didn't realize he was on "Angel." I think he's a wonderful actor...I think he's got maybe the toughest part on the show. Raoul: On
"Angel," he played a pretty tough role as well: Angel's superhuman son
Connor, who did things like lock his dad in a coffin at the bottom of
the ocean and back up a deity who ate people. Well, I feel like we covered just about
everything but my sudden urge to buy a BMW. Kate: Diesel...who knew? And now we're shilling for them too. Raoul: I would have thought "MM" would have gotten a brand that would have been just as big in the 60s so there could be double product placement. Kate: Maybe. I thought it was odd. Honestly, though, I don't care if they start doing anachronistic product placement for American Spirits as long as it keeps the show on the air. - Posted by Kate and Raoul Let's Get Ready to Dance ABC announced the celebrities who will compete in the upcoming season of "Dancing with the Stars" (set to premiere September 21). So without further ado:Aaron Carter, brother of Nick. "House of Carters" forever! Natalie Coughlin, Olympic swimmer. Olympic gold sure helped Shawn out last season, so Natalie's probably one to watch. Mark Dacascos...who? He's "the chairman" of "Iron Chef America." Allez cuisine! Tom DeLay, former House Majority Leader. So many jokes I'm not gonna make any of 'em. Macy Gray, pop superstar. I bet she has moves. Ashley Hamilton, son of George Hamilton. Also an actor/songwriter/comedian/television personality/possible ambassador to the International Space Station. I made that last one up. Melissa Joan Hart, actress. Oooh, Clarissa! Sabrina the Teenage Witch, for you youngins. Kathy Ireland, supermodel. Those long legs will give her a huge advantage with the judges! Michael Irvin, former Dallas Cowboy. Obligatory football player to appease boyfriends/husbands. Joanna Krupa, model. She posed naked for PETA and has guest-starred on "C.S.I." Why not go on "Dancing with the Stars"? Chuck Liddell, mixed martial arts fighter. These guys are so tough I can't imagine him being bad. Debi Mazar, actress. In the words of Michael C. Scott: "Entourage!" Mya, pop superstar. Grammies sure seem to help on "Dancing with the Stars." Kelly Osbourne, daughter of Ozzy Osbourne. Well, she's used to being in front of cameras and taking crap from people, so let's not count her out. Donny Osmond, performer. It's time for a little sibling rivalry, eh? Louie Vito, snowboarder. Will he be this season's Ty Murray? Patton Oswalt Makes a Surprise Career Move Well, frak me! Comedian Patton Oswalt is joining the cast of "Caprica." He'll play a talk-show host.I love Patton Oswalt and I'm sure he'll be great...but, seriously, how weird is this? Who goes from stand-up, "The King of Queens" and "The United States of Tara" to "Battlestar Galactica?" He must just really dig the show, right? Is "BSG" fandom Hollywood's new Scientology? It seems like fans are just crawling out of the woodwork. Who's next, Lindsay Lohan? - Posted by Kate
|
|
||||||||
Send a private message
Tell a friend
Add to My MSN
Add to your network
Sign up for alerts
|
|
