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March 31, 2006
Matt LeBlanc divorcing? Whatever.
Former Friends and semi-present Joey star Matt LeBlanc, 38, and his wife, Melissa, 41, are divorcing. But, as with many Hollywood "fix-ups" (i.e. Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban; Renee Zelwegger and Kenney Chesney), I nevery bought the union in the first place...Speaking of break-ups, Jenny McCarthy, who recently split from hubby John Asher (son of original Bewitched producer/director Bill Asher, widow to Elizabeth Montgomery, who first played twitch-witch Samantha brilliantly on TV before Kidman destroyed her at the movies; whew!), has been hired to co-star opposite Patricia Heaton in the latter's yet-to-be-titled ABC comedy pilot...Richard Kind (who played neighbor Abner Kravitz in the Bewitched feature film) has joined the CBS comedy pilot The Angriest Man in Suburbia...Arrested Development star Jeffrey Tambor (who also would have made a good Mr. Kravitz) has been cast in the NBC comedy pilot called Twenty Good YearsThe Drama League has announced its 2006 Special Award recipients, which will be distributed at the League luncheon hosted by Alan Cumming on May 5. Patti LuPone, best known to TV viewers as Libby Thacher on ABC's classic, ground-breaking family series, Life Goes On (and who would have made a great Endora on Bewitched), will receive the Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theatre Award. LuPone has earned the amulet due to her massive body of work, which not only includes her present stage run as Mrs. Lovett in the multied-musically-revived Sweeney Todd (which is now playing at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre), but also due to her iconic performances in other hit musicals, like Evita (for which she racked-up a Tony Award in 1980), The Robber Bridegroom (for which she earned a Featured Actress Tony nomination), and Anything Goes (which netted her a 1988 Best Actress Tony nomination). In any event, namely the Drama Leqgue one (ha, ha), Todd composer Stephen Sondheim will present LuPone with her much-deserved accolade...Meanwhile, Ghost Whisperer returns to CBS tonight, thank the Good Lord...Peace, please.
Posted by HerbieJP at 08:11 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 30, 2006
Britney, Will, Grace, Teri & Ryan
Britney Spears makes her scripted-television-character debut on tonight's episode of NBC's Will & Grace (entitled, Buy Buy Baby), in which she plays a conservative new co-host opposite Jack (Sean Hayes) on his OutTV talk show...Looks like ABC just may have a lock on Thursday night's with it's new line-up of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition - After the Storm (which, as of today, is TV's longest-titled regular weekly series) followed by American Inventor...David Shore, the Emmy-winning creator and executive producer of the unique FOX medical drama House, has signed a two-year overall development agreement with the show's producer, NBC Universal Television...Scribe/producer Larry Wilmore commences n acting career with a co-starring role in a yet-to-be-titled CBS comedy pilot...Alicia Witt is now officially out as the lead for the FOX comedy pilot, More, Patience...Matthew Glave has been hired for the CBS comedy pilot called The Angriest Man in Suburbia...Amy Carlson will appaer in the ABC drama pilot Drift...George Lopez just received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, while, tonight, his self-titled ABC sitcom marks its 100th episode...Commencing next month, VH-1 will air the remaining episodes of the short-lived CBS series Love Monkey...Rumor has it that Desperate Housewives/Lois & Clark star Teri Hatcher is hot and heavy with American Idol/E! News host Ryan Seacrest...Richard Dean Anderson (MacGyver) is returning to Stargate SG-1 for the filming of its 200th episode, and will probably make future appearances on the show, as well as it's sequel, Stargate Atlantis. Anderson, by the way, is also executive producer of both of the hit shows (which are on the Sci-Fi Channel)...Peace, please.
Posted by HerbieJP at 07:27 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
March 29, 2006
Reading into Vilo and Alexis
Ex-Mrs. Simpson Nick Lachey has allegedly hooked up with Entertainment Tonight/MTV hottie Vanessa Minnillo. Good move, Dude!...Meanwhile, I'm still ain't buyin' all of that Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban stuff...The Bedford Diaries, starring Vilo Mentimiglia (who's clearly Irish), tonight on The WB. At one point, Mentimiglia was supposed to do another WB series about a father and son, but it was too similar to the soon-to-be-dead network's Everwood, and it was canned. Meanwhile, Vilo is still hot and heavy with Alexis Bledel, the pretty co-star of Gilmore Girls, on which he once periodically appeared - and where the two met. Actually (and this particular news thread just became a little bit too long), VM and AB have been hooked up for quite a while, as I remember seeing them browsin' the books at the Santa Monica Barnes and Noble way back in 2003...Veronica Mars was it's good ol' awesome self last night on UPN, and there's another (new) episode on UPN again tonight - followeing my new favorite show ever: Everybody Hates Chris...Frasier and Cheers wing-man Kelsey Grammer will direct the CBS pilot for comedy My Ex-Life, starring Tom Cavanagh. Last Fall, Grammer helmed the initial segment of the Eye Network's very funny Out of Practice sitcom, and before that, globs of episodes of his long-running Frasier hit...The CW has given the greenlight to the comedy pilot called Flirt - and starring the Emmy-winning Wayne Brady...Bo Derek (still a hot ten at any age) has joined My Network TV's drama series Secret Obsessions...Constance Zimmer has been hired for ABC's comedy pilot 52 Fights...Danielle Panabaker will appear in the CBS drama pilot entitled Shark...PBS talk show host Charlie Rose is having heart surgery today in Paris and will be off the air for a number of weeks to heal. Our prayers are with him...Peace, please.
Posted by HerbieJP at 07:30 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 28, 2006
Lindsay, Lindsay, "Jaime" & "Diana"
Once more, British thespian Daniel Craig (who first popped into the mainstream of American culture starring opposite with Angelina Jolie in Laura Croft: Tomb Raider) is still getting heat for being cast as the new James Bond in the upcoming 007 feature film Casino Royale (set for release in November). Man - people need to leave that dude alone and at least wait until they see the movie...I love Lindsay Lohan, but she needs to stay as far away as possible from Joss Whedon's new Wonder Woman feature film. Rumour has it, that she wants to take the lead as the new Diana Prince. Nope. That coveted role should go to the aforementioned Angelina Jolie - or a brand new-comer. However, maybe Lindsay L. could play the new Jaime Sommers in a Bionic Woman feature film. Now, that would be more suited to her (body-wise, anyway). And how cool would it be that one Lindsay (Lohan) would take over the Jaime role from another Lindsay (Wagner - the original BW)...There's a double dose of Gilmore Girls tonight on The WB. The second GG hour plays opposite Veronica Mars on UPN. So this means it's a heated competition to find out which show will make it to The CW when The WB and UPN combine in the fall?...Former Today executive producer Steve Friedman returns to CBS News this morning...Time Warner Cable is in negotiations with ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX to formulate some kind of "hits" network that would allow watchers to view immediate repeats of TV's most popular shows...Peri Gilpin (Frasier) has joined Heather Locklear (Spin City) in ABC's comedy pilot Women of a Certain Age...Gillian Vigman has been hired to star with Tom Cavanagh (Love Monkey, Ed) in the CBS comedy pilot My Ex-Life...Connie Stevens (once married to Eddie Fisher, both of whom gave birth to Joely Fisher) will co-star in the FOX comedy pilot The Wedding Album...Writer/Producer David E. Kelley (Boston Legal, Ally McBeal) is going high-concept with his next vehicle, which is a new pilot for ABC based on the BBC 2006 sci-fi crime drama Life on Mars (about a 21st century detective who, following an automobile accident, mysteriously finds himself on the police beat in the 1970s)...EVERYONE beware - American Idol's Simon Cowell will soon be on the prowel with new TV talent competition show. This one's called America's Got Talent, it's set for NBC, and it's open to any kind of talent of any age...Peace, please (and that means you, too, Simon).
Posted by HerbieJP at 07:34 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
March 27, 2006
"Christine" shoots for 3; "Everwood" returns
Silly repeat tonight on CBS when The King of Queens when Doug (Kevin James) and Carrie (Leigh Remini) visit a bed-and-breakfast (which they've done WAY too many times on the show anyhow)...Let's hope Julia Louis-Drefuss and The New Adventures of Old Christine (also on CBS) hits it big tonight with three times in a row...Everwood returns tonight on The WB. But now the question is, will it become part of The CW next fall?...It's Kenny Chesney night, all night on CMT, which is airing all kinds of specials about the country music sensation...Kaley Cuoco (Charmed, 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Daughter) has been hired for one of the leads in a yet-to-be-titled pilot for ABC...Oliver Hudson (brother to Kate) has been cast in the CBS comedy pilot called The Weekend...Marion Ross (Happy Days), God love her, will appear in the NBC comedy pilot Community Service...Luke Perry, Lana Parrilla, Jason Gedrick, Sarah Wynter and D.J. Cotrona star in the new drama series Windfall, about twenty lottery winners who find just how much change comes about via $386 million. The show debuts June 8 on NBC...Speaking of the Peacock Network, NBC/Universal is developing a new daytime show with a live studio audience and Tony Potts (Access Hollywood) in the mix somehow...Keith Carradine (David's younger brother who played the "middle Caine" on the original Kung Fu series) is suing Anthony Pellicano claiming the indicted Hollywood detective conspired with the actor's ex-wife and two former phone company workers to illegally eavesdrop on their conversations...Peace, please.
Posted by HerbieJP at 08:07 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 25, 2006
"The Shakira Variety Show?" Come on, let's make it happen!
Former North Shore and Baywatch babe Brooke Burns (who also hosted the early editions of Fear Factor on NBC for a while) is back on weekly television playing playing the sister of Rebecca Romijn's in The WB's new comedy Pepper Dennis. Burns, if one recalls, broke her neck last year in a very nasty miscalculated dive into her pool. It's good to see her healthy and returning to work...The Wedding Date, starring Debra Messing (Will & Grace) and Dermot Mulroney (My Best Friend's Wedding, which is in rotation this weekend on TBS) clocks in at 8 PM tonight on HBO...Also, tonight look out for E! True Hollywood Stories on the cast of Saved by the Bell and Tori Spelling (the latter of whom soon debuts her new E! semi-sitcom, NorTORIous - co-starring Loni Anderson as her mom!)...The Hallmark Channel's new Our House TV-movie starring Doris Roberts...What I Like About You's season finale last night on The WB was sweet and fitting. Gonna' miss the show. Very funny and talented cast...Following Like, I consistently laughed out-loud while watching Living With Fran last night on The WB. That show has imrpoved immensely - and love all the references to The Nanny...screeKevin James and Leah Remini seriously need to be Emmy-nominated for their brilliant performances on The King of Queens (despite whatever issues I have with the show's creative development this season)...I'm waiting for the Shakira Variety Show on ABC. She's so friggin' talented. LOVE her. Come on, alphabet network - DO IT! (just remember where you got the idea)...Peace, please.
Posted by HerbieJP at 08:07 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 24, 2006
What's with all these really short actresses loving too-tall guys?
Former Everybody Loves Raymond star Patricia Heaton just may be the next thespian in line (following Will & Graces' Megan Mullally) to take the reigns over a daytime talk show. Apparently, the Emmy Award winning actress is in negotiations with Buena Vista Television for a new chat show that would debut in the Fall of 2007 (or with the fall of 2007, however you wanna' word it; wink, wink)...Meanwhile, Heaton's former Loves co-star, Ray Romano, isn't exactly getting rave reviews for 95 Miles to Go - his new feature documentary about life on the road for a comedian...TBS commences tonight with a weekend fest of My Best Friend's Wedding screenings...Meanwhile, over at HBO, there's a double dose of the new hit, Big Love...Then, of course, there's the Dukes of Hazzard Reunion on CMT...What?! No Ghost Whisperer tonight on CBS?! I'm pissed!!...Smallville will probably make it on to The CW line-up next season, but that will be it's final year...I wonder how Zza Zza Gabor is doing these days?...Thank the Good Lord for the great programming of TV Land, the Hallmark Channel, and I-Television...First there was Will Smith and Jada Pickett-Smith. Then there was Eva Langoria and Tony Parker. Now comes Paula Abdul and Tony Schiena? What's the deal? I mean, do all of these short-women/too-tall-men couples realize just how stupid they look together? Maybe, maybe not. Either way, I guess whatever floats your boat...Peace, please.
Posted by HerbieJP at 08:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 23, 2006
"Extreme Makeover" does it right for Katrina victims
Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden has joined the cast of ABC's drama pilot Drift as a detective's therapist...Emmy victress Jane Alexander will appear in CBS drama pilot The Way...NBC has completed casting for its new reality show, Celebrity Cooking Showdown, now including Naomi Campbell, Days of Our Lives star Alison Sweeney and country music performer Big Kenny, among others. The celebrity chefs include Wolfgang Puck and Cat Cora...MTV has greenlighted the reality series Fast Incorporated, about a group of car hunters, will soon premiere its new Jamie Kennedy comedy-reality show, Blowin' Up, and will air the 23rd Annual MTV Video Music Awards (once again from NYC) on August 31st...Former Wonder Years star Fred Savage and his honey of a wife Jennifer Stone Savage (who he's known since kid-dom), are expecting their first child in August...And watch ABC tonight for the debute of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition - After the Storm - the new reality show hosted by Ty Pennington to help those who lost homes to the devestation of Katrina (though ABC really needs to find a shorter title for all of the the Home shows. How 'bout Extreme Home Makeover for the original show and Extreme Home Makeover: After the Storm for the sequel?)...Peace, please.
Posted by HerbieJP at 07:38 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 22, 2006
Peter Breck owes my Aunt Mary five dollars
The TV Land Awards are on tonight...Then again, so is a repeat of the classic 1960s western, The Big Valley (which starred the late, great film queen Barbara Stanwyck -and Peter Breck, the latter of whom once borrowed five dollars from my Aunt Mary and never paid her back (they once worked together at Hickey Freeman in Rochester, NY). But she's gone now, so I guess he owes me...Prince is being sued because he painted purple one of his recently rented homes...CBS has now scheduled Out of Practice and Courting Alex to open its Wednesday night line-up - opposite George Lopez and Freddie on ABC. I SO hope CBS wins the night...I wonder how Merv Griffin is doing these days?...It's Everybody Loves Raymond night on TBS...Director Charles Shyer has been hired to helm ABC's comedy pilot Him and Us...Arlene Sanford will direct the FOX comedy pilot More, Patience...Jessica Lucas (presently playing opposite Amanda What I Like About You Bynes in the big-screen flick She's the Man) and Alona Tal (Veronica Mars) will appear in The CW's drama pilot Split Decision...Comedy Central star Stephen Colbert, host of the laugh network's The Colbert Report, has signed a million-dollar contract to write a book for Warner Books...Really, really like Twins, The WB-soon-to-be-The CW new comedy. Though at first, I hated it...Lifetime is prepping a biopic based on the life of American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino...Peace, please.
Posted by HerbieJP at 07:53 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 21, 2006
Tobey, Leo, Pam, Brad & more...
Spiderman Tobey Maguire, Aviator actor Leonardo DiCaprio, and former Baywatch babe Pamela Anderson have each allegedly purchased a brand new 2000 square-foot condo in Las Vegas for about $2 million a piece. Though none of their units (i.e. abodes) will be ready to live in until late in 2008...Joely Fisher (Ellen) has been hired as Brad Garrett's wife in the FOX comedy pilot, 'Til Death...Esai Morales has joined the CBS drama pilot Company Town...Steven Eckholdt and Susan Walters have been cast in The CW drama pilot Split Decision...Lifetime has given the go-ahead to Election - a new reality series starring married political consultants James Carville and Mary Matalin as opposing campaign managers (he's a Democrat, she's Republican) in a real-life high school election...Speaking of Lifetime, the ladies' net starts rerunning NBC's Medium on Sunday night at 11 PM...Cartoon Network will expand its late-night block by a half-hour Monday-Thursday starting next week. As of March 27, the Monday-Thursday Adult Swim commence at 10:30 PM (instead of 11) and run through 5 AM. The extension will begin with an hour of Futurama, followed by a rotating lineup of Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Robot Chicken, Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law and The Boondocks...Strangely, the title of the syndicated new show, Da Vinci's Inquist, is a perfect title for the court battle that is transpiring over Dan Brown's controversial novel, The Da Vinci Code (which will soon be a feature film that bears absolutely no relationship to the small screen series with the similar name)...Tim Matheson (who's been around since before the original 1968 Yours, Mine and Ours feature film (starring Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda - and which kinda'sorta was the basis for The Brady Bunch on TV) is probably one of the most underrated actors in the business...Very funny King of Queens last night, but again, they keep blowing it with stupid tag endings...Peace, please.
Posted by HerbieJP at 07:15 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 20, 2006
"Prison Break" returns to FX tonight
Prison Break returns to FX tonight with an episode that has the crew sneaking BACK INTO the slammer...Catherine Bell (JAG) and Gary Cole (Midnight Caller, The Brady Bunch feature films) are been added to the cast of Company Town, a drama pilot for CBS...Mercedes Ruehl is thisclose to being hired for a co-lead in CBS' untitled Paul Reiser comedy pilot...Apparently, Robert Blake is planning some kind of comeback. Can't wait to see that show (for it can't be any worse then his last "real-life" one...Bruce Davison (Harry and the Hendersons) has been added to ABC's comedy pilot Southern Comfort...Cheryl White and D.W. Moffett will appear in The CW's untitled drama pilot from Kevin Williamson (Dawson's Creek)...Meanwhile, in actual pilot greenlight news, CBS has granted the go-ahead to My Ex Life, from scribe-executive producer Rich Appel...FOX has ordered two more years of The Simpsons (its 18th and 19th seasons), and one more year of King of the Hill (the show's 11th season). The agreement with Simpsons producers 20th Century Fox TV and Gracie Films certifies the show will be around through the 2007-08 season - and will ultimately mark the animated program's landmark 400th episode...Where is Hal Barney Miller Linden these days?...Shallow Hal is one of my favorite movies of all-time...WABC News anchor Bill Beutel has passed away at age 75. In the mid-1970s, Beutel, along with Stephanie Edwards, co-hosted AM America, the precursor to Good Morning, America...The Sci Fi Channel has reconfigured the staff of its Scifi.com Web site, which will now be supervised by multimedia director Matthew Chiavelli, who will watch over web director Marlon Jackson (no, not Michael's older brother) and project director Shara Zoll...If CBS keeps things as they are, their Monday night line-up (The King of Queens, How I Met Your Mother, Two and a Half Men, The New Adventures of Old Christine) is a one-two-three-four punch. Now, all the network has to do is please, please put Yes, Dear out of its - and our - misery...Peace, please.
Posted by HerbieJP at 08:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 18, 2006
Gleason, a "Duke," "Seinfeld" and the Oscars
The motion picture, Live Free or Die, penned by from former Seinfeld scribes Gregg Kavet and Andy Robin, won the jury prize for best narrative feature film after following its world premiere at the South by Southwest film festival this week...According to Nielson Media Research, viewership for Comedy Central's Daily Show averaged 1.6 million for the six episodes after host Jon Stewart's Oscar duties. Daily had been averaging 1.5 million viewers each night before the Academy Awards (which were broadcast on ABC, March 5)...Speaking of the the Oscards, and speaking Thursday at a Kent County Republican Party fundraising dinner, political Conservative, humorist and writer Ben Stein (who also once offered a dead-on, dead-pan performance as a teacher on The Wonder Years), says movie stars and film industry professionals failed to highlight the sacrifices of soldiers during the Academy Awards...Is CNN really considering dumping Larry King Live?...Stargate SG-1 is still so superior to any of the Star Treks (except the original series), not to mention the new Battlestar Galactica...The 20th Annual Soul Trains Awards are syndicated tonight around the country...Jackie Gleason: Genius At Work debuts tonight on PBS so many decades after CBS aired Gleason's extremely popular variety hour every Saturday night...Tom Wopat, who played Luke Duke on the TV's classic The Dukes of Hazzard series, faces a drunken driving charge in northern New Jersey...Peace, please.
Posted by HerbieJP at 07:50 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 17, 2006
Victoria's Secret model Adriana Lim would make awesome new "Wonder Woman"
Victoria's Secret model Adriana Lim just may be the ideal choice for the big-screen version of Wonder Woman (should Angelina Jolie ever be asked and turn the role down). And as with the big-screen version of The Bionic Woman, the people involved with both super-female films better make sure that they original stars (WW's Lynda Carter and BW's Lindsay Wagner) somehow have an on-screen role in each of the respective movies...Bruno Campos has exited ABC's comedy pilot Southern Comfort and has taken the lead in the FOX one-hour pilot The Wedding Album...Charlotte Ross has taken leave from ABC's drama pilot Ugly Betty and is in negotiations to join ABC's comedy pilot Pink Collar...Vanessa L. Williams has been hired to replace Ross in Ugly (which is now kind of like a misnomer, with the gorgeous Williams involved)...Shaquille O'Neal and his wife Shaunie Nelson are expecting their fourth child - a baby girl...There's a double dose of over-dosed dead-music-icon life and death profiles tonight, as A&E offers back to back Biographies of the late Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin...Meanwhile, on a ligher note (and on another channel): the latest edition of the BBC's legendary Dr. Who journeys onto the Sci-Fi Channel tonight...And speaking of the British coming and now going, rock musician Phil Collins is separating from his third wife after six years of marriage. The former Genesis drummer and his Swiss spouse Orianne confirmed they had been living apart since January. The couple, who have two children together, wedded in 1999...Peace, please.
Posted by HerbieJP at 07:40 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
March 16, 2006
Maria Menoudos would make awesome big-screen "Bionic Woman"
Entertainment Tonight/Access Hollywood reporter Maria Menoudos had such potential. Don't know exactly what happened to her. She was hot, hot, hot, and then - well, not. She tried acting for a while, but I guess that didn't work out. Wonder if it was her ego that destroyed her (as is what usually happens in Sizzletown. But dang - she would be awesome in the lead role of Jaime Sommers for a big-screen version of The Bionic Woman. She looks very much like original BW star Lindsay Wagner...Speaking of Bionics, how 'bout that idiot Joan Rivers misidentifying Six Milion Dollar Man Lee Majors on the red carpet for The TV Guide Channel. Will somebody now please force that woman into retirement?...The family of John Ritter, who succumbed much too young to a heart ailment in the Fall of 2003, has allegedly reached a tentative settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit against Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, where the Three's Company icon died...Caught a color episode last night on TV Land of The Andy Griffith Show, the series that starred Ritter's Company co-star, the late Don Knotts. The problem was, Knotts wasn't in this particular episode, and clearly, the Griffith show suffered without his presence (as are we all suffering without Knotts' real-life presence since his death two weeks ago)...NBC has given the series-greenlight to the drama pilot Kidnapped...HBO has granted the show-go-ahead to The Unsuccessful Thug, a single-camera comedy pilot starring Mike Epps...Diedrich Bader has taken the lead in ABC's Mr. Nice Guy pilot...Leslie Hope has signed on to star in The CW's drama Runaway pilot...Barry Bostwick (Spin City) has been hired for the FOX comedy pilot The 12th Man...Jere Burns has joined ABC's comedy pilot Help Me Help You...Rick Peters has surfaced in The CW's untitled Aquaman pilot...Dan Castellaneta, the lead voice of Homer Simpson in the unstoppable FOX animated comedy series The Simpsons, has joined the cast of the TBS half-hour pilot called The Jeff Garlin Project...Nancy Grace (CNNH) or Will and Grace (NBC)? It's your choice, as they play opposite one another at 8 PM tonight. But if you select W&G, that doesn't mean you have to stick with Four Kings on NBC. Man, that show needs to be off the air - and fast...And so was Maureen Stapleton, who recently passed away, Jean Stapleton's sister or not?...Peace, please.
Posted by HerbieJP at 07:37 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
March 15, 2006
"Seinfeld" curse, broken?
Mike Wallace is retiring from 60 Minutes after a long, very fine and healthy run. Enjoy your life, Mike!...I've never been a fan of Dr. Phil's, but I am now. He's none too happy with the self-indulgent excess of Oprah Winfrey, his boss (her Harpo - which is Oprah, spelled backwards - production company produces his show) and former client (he was her legal representation during that whole "mad cow" trial a few years back; that's how they met)...A twin debut of The New Adventures of Old Christine won their time-slots for CBS on Monday night...Now, let's see if that sticks. For, as you may recall, initial ratings were high for the debuts of Drefus' previous sitcom (Watching Ellie), not to mention the new sitcom debuts of the other Seinfeld alumni (Michael Richards with The Michael Richards Show, and Jason Alexander's Bob Patterson and Listen Up!, the latter of which even once held Christine's now new timeslot). Then, after a few weeks, they fell flat. Let's hope the Christine doesn't meet with the same fate (though I still want Andy Ackerman, the show's producer/director - and also a fellow Seinfeld alumni) outta' there...Stanley Tucci has taken the lead in CBS' untitled Peter Ocko drama pilot...Brittany Daniel will co-star with Jay Mohr in NBC's comedy pilot Community Service...Former AnBrat-Packer Andrew McCarthy has joined the CBS drama pilot The Way...Congrats to Desperate Houswives' Nicollette Sheridan and Michael Bolton, who just got engaged...And cheers to Jack Black and his honey-bunny Tanya Haden, who eloped...Peace, please.
Posted by HerbieJP at 08:11 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 14, 2006
"Jeannie" reunion on "Entertainment Tonight"
Bryan Greenberg has been hired to star along with Tom Berenger in the ABC drama pilot October Road...Ed O'Neill (Married with Children) and Christine Baranski (Cybill) will appear in the yet-to-be-titled CBS pilot...Hector Elizondo (Chicago Hope) will show up in CBS' other untitled comedy pilot, this one starring Paul Reiser (Mad About You)...Peter Strauss (Rich Man, Poor Man) will star in the CBS drama pilot known as The Way...Everyone's favorite comedian Kevin Pollak will appear in the cast of CBS' untitled Carol Mendelsohn drama pilot...John Amos (Good Times, The Mary Tyler Moore Show) has been added to the ABC sixty-minute pilot Men in Trees...Isaac Hayes has departed South Park on Comedy Central because of what he views as attacks on religious chocies...USA Network is creating its own social-networking headquarters with ShowUsYourCharacter.com, an online community where viewers not only can chat about the network's quirky TV personalities like Monk but also rival them with their own chance to be coined America's most unique character...Peter Tomarken, 63, who hosted the 1980s game show Press Your Luck, and his wife Kathleen Abigail Tomarken, 41, were killed Monday morning when their small plane crashed into Santa Monica Bay shortly after takeoff on a volunteer flight for a medical charity...Look for an I Dream of Jeannie reunion with Barbara Eden and Larry Hagman tonight on Entertainment Tonight...Last night, ET showed a clip of a Golden Girls reunion with Rue McClanhan and Betty White (at the Museum of Television), and minus Bea Arthur (who was fighthing the flu) and Estelle Getty (who, sadly, suffers from dimentia). It was great, and I still think they should do an all-out GG "scripted" reunion movie story of the Arthur, White and McClanhan in character...LOVED everything about last night's King of Queens except the rediculous tag...Peace, please.
Posted by HerbieJP at 08:55 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
March 13, 2006
Horton "hears a who and what" of a deal
Grey's Anatomy director-producer Peter Horton (also formerly of thirtysomething) has signed a two-year agreement with the show's production company Touchstone Television. He becomes executive producer this year, and remains so through next year. Horton is also partnering with Anatomy's creator-executive producer Shonda Rhimes to helm and exec produce on her yet-to-be-titled ABC drama pilot...Alicia Silverstone (who killed in Clueless and sucked as Batgirl) has been hired to to star in ABC's comedy pilot Pink Collar...Jennifer Coolidge will appear in the FOX comedy pilot If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home Now...Jennifer Aspen (and not Jennifer Aniston) has joined the CBS comedy pilot Welcome to the Jungle Gym...Speaking of Aspen (and not Aniston), well, at least Aspen, Colorado, the 12th annual HBO-organized U.S. Comedy Arts Festival wrapped this weekend in that beautiful city...Along Came Polly is on HBO tonight. Not one of the best career choices for the movie's stars Ben Stiller and (and yes, now we're really talking about) Jennifer Aniston...I've been catching reruns of The Simple Life on E! Ok - they got me. I'm hooked (and sorry it took me so long). Now, only if America could really get the message that the show ultimately was attempting to relay...Look for ABC's new Miracle Workers reality show on tonight at 10 PM. THAT's what television should be about...I'm crossing my fingers tonight for Julia Luis-Drefus and her new CBS sitcom, The New Adventures of Old Christine, which debuts tonight (with two episodes)...Also, crossing my index and middle finger for a new episode of The King of Queens, in which Deacon (Victor Williams) and Kelly (Merrin Dungey) give Doug (Kevin James) and Carrie (Leah Remini) a painting, of which the Heffernan's are not at all fond, so much so, that they subsequently set up a robbery to have it removed. Sounds very promising. Now, all it has to be is funny. I'll let you know tomorrow...Peace, please.
Posted by HerbieJP at 07:39 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 11, 2006
"Dallas" and "Peyton Place" at home on the big screen
Sandra Bullock has signed to take the lead in (and co-produce) a new feature film about by the late and controversial life of Grace Metalious, author of Peyton Place, which was first published in 1954, and subsequently became a movie itself (starring Hope Lange), and then a TV series and daytime soap...I'm sensing that Reba, now airing on The WB (Friday nights) will not be a part of the new CW network in the Fall...Has Merv Griffin or Mike Douglas made an appearance on The Ellen Degenerous Show yet? Or Rosie O'Donnell, for that matter?...Ghost Whisperer (CBS, Friday nights) is good and all, but something, not sure what (maybe the directing?) is off a little bit or missing...Do we really need a third season of Blow out on Bravo?...The Dallas Film Commission has launched the Shoot JR in Dallas campaign in hopes of seducing producers of the big-screen version of the classic TV show Dallas to film in North Texas. And rightly so...I wonder how Jacques Cousteau's family is doing these days? Though it used to piss me off whenever his Undersea World ABC series of specials used to pre-empt Bewitched on Thursday nights in the very early 1970s...I give Lost and Desperate Housewives maybe two more years at best on ABC, but that's it...I tried to watch the new Battlestar Galactica last night on the Sci-Fi Channel, but sorry - the thing just doesn't hold my interest. Why the heck can't they just forget about all of this arc-storyline stuff, and make a sci-fi adventure show like they used to - as with the original Star Trek (where the A-story was the adventure plotline, and the B-Story was the character development plotline (and not the other-way around)?...Shanghai Noon, which to me, merely offers a twist on the original Kung Fu TV series, is playing on TBS in prime-time all weekend...Other than that, The Banger Sisters on Oxygen, and a special 90-minute edition of The Lawrence Welk Show on PBS, there really is NOTHING on TV tonight...Peace, please.
Posted by HerbieJP at 09:02 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 10, 2006
"Golden Girls" gave birth to Whedon and Cherry
I remember when, like, me and maybe just two other people watched Stargate: SG-1 (when it initially aired on Showtime and then, subsequently, in syndication WAY back in 1999)...Spiderman and His Amazing Friends (featuring Iceman and Firestorm) was one of the first, great Saturday Morning animated adventure shows with depth, pre-X-Men...We all do realize that Joss Whedon (creator of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer) grew up on the set of The Golden Girls ('cause his Dad Tom was one of thes show's writer/producers)- and that the Girls also gave birth to writer Marc Cherry, creator of Desperate Housewives? Smart is, what smart does, for sure...Hey, when is USA gonna' start rerunning Murder, She Wrote again?...And has The Hallmark Channel picked up Dick Van Dyke's new Murder: 101 show as a regular movie series, or not...Dylan McDermott (The Practice) has been cast in ABC's drama pilot A House Divided...Kim Cattrall (Sex and the City) is taking the lead in ABC's comedy pilot Him and Us...Wendie Malick (Just Shoot Me, Baywatch, the latter on which Charisma Carpenter made her TV acting debut) has been hired for ABC's comedy pilot, A Day in the Life...Denise Richards, fresh from separation from Charlie Sheen, has been cast in ABC's drama pilot Secrets of a Small Town...John Heard (Home Alone) will appear in ABC's drama pilot Twenty Questions...Look for Annie Potts , way late of Designing Women, to appear in the FOX comedy pilot Julie Reno, Bounty Hunter...I'm sensing that Paramount and The CW are prepping a new Star Trek series for the Fall of 2008...Peace, please.
Posted by HerbieJP at 07:57 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 09, 2006
Two "Kings", and a "Trump"
Donald Trump is on CNN's Larry King Live! tonight...So sad about the split between David Hasselhoff and his beautiful wife Pamela...Really don't know what to think of Nancy Grace anymore...Not too happy with The Colbert Report's recent mocking of the sacred Ash Wednesday...Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock should do a movie together...Bonnie Hunt appeared with ex-Party of Fivers Lacey Chabertand Scott Wolf on Celebrity Poker this week. Now Chabert and Wolf should each do a guest spot with also-former-Fiver Jennifer Love Hewitt on her CBS hit Ghost Whisperer (which was just renewed by CBS); especially Chabert, who is eerily-looking an awful lot like Hewitt these days (maybe they can play sisters again on Ghost?)...Meanwhile, Bonnie Hunt and Don Lake are smoking with a high-level cast for their untitled ABC comedy pilot, which now includes Dennis Miller, Joe Mantegna and Lauren Tom...CBS has given the go-a-head to that Chris Elliott comedy pilot...Why isn't TVLand rerunning Maude -Bea Arthur's pre-Golden Girls hit?...The networks need to schedule a show at a certain time on a certain day, every week, and leave it there in order for it to find it's audience. Enough of this "switching around every week" stuff, and "numerous airings of the same episode" crap...According to the New York Post, a contract battle of the stars has commenced on the set of my beloved CBS Monday night comedy hit, The King of Queens. Leads Kevin James and Leah Remini, whose contracts are up at the end of this season, have not yet signed on for another year. Right now, they're each pulling in around $500,000 an episode. I say, "Stop screwin' around, you idiots, and sign on for two more years with a guaranteed 1.5 million an episode (whether or not the show is renewed throughout the 2007-2008 season. And make sure there's a clause in there that allows you to do feature films"...How can you NOT watch and enjoy a show like World's Strangest UFO Stories (which is on The Discovery Channel tonight)?...Peace, please.
Posted by HerbieJP at 07:11 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 08, 2006
Look what the "Stork" brought (on)...
Dr. Travis Stork, an emergency room physician, selected Sarah Stone, an elementary school teacher, in the finale of ABC's The Bachelor: Paris. Now, the two are through as one. Moral of the story? Don't invest your time in watching the next edition of The Bachelor. If there is one...John (Third Rock from the Sun) Lithgow is taking the lead in NBC's new comedy pilot Twenty Good Years...Jay Mohr will star in NBC's other major comedy pilot, Community Service (which also features Christopher Wiehl)...Justine (Family Ties) Bateman (and sister to Jason) has hitched on to ABC's yet-untitled pilot for their Patricia Heaton comedy...Desperate Housewife Teri Hatcher has revealed that she was sexually abused as a child...Tim (The Fugitive) Daly is taking the co-lead in a yet-to-be-titled CBS drama pilot...The new FX show, Black. White., could turn out to have one of the most outstanding effects on the American TV viewer in the history of television...The Wayans Bros. will showcase their talents in a series of animated specials, called Thugaboo on Nicktoons. Apparently, this new cartoon will offer a comedic perspective on the lives of nine very different kids growing up in the inner city...According to Good Morning, America, 44-year-old ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff is slowly making progress. The newsman and his cameraman, Doug Vogt (who's currently being treated in France), were injured in Iraq late January when their Iraqi mechanized vehicle encountered a roadside bomb. Meanwhile, rumour has it that Morning co-host Diane Sawyer wants ABC's night-time head anchor position - especially if NBC's Today host Katie Couric takes the Peacock network's lead evening news spot...God bless Dana Reeve, who now at least shares a place in heaven alongside her beautiful husband Christopher...Peace, please.
Posted by HerbieJP at 08:08 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 07, 2006
Charlize Theron is just a little bit too conscious of her beauty
CBS has renewed Criminal Minds, Ghost Whisperer, How I Met Your Mother, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, Without a Trace, Cold Case, NCIS, Numb3rs, Survivor, Amazing Race, 60 Minutes, and Two and a Half Men. No word yet, however, on my baby, The King of Queens, which has been faltering of late. Submitted for my continued disapproval: Last night's episode in which Carrie (Leah Remini) walked away from actually knocking Doug (Kevin James) unconscious. Such a scenario is highly unlikely for a TV couple in love, no matter how much they argue, and highly unlikable, period....Is it me, or is Charlize Theron just a little bit too conscious of how beautiful she is? I mean, the chick is always posing and tiping her head in the right light. And I think she plays those "real ugly" roles so people may comment even more about how attractive she (can be) in real life...Felicity Huffman would have won that Transamerica Oscar had she played it a little bit more cool during the "campaign"...I like Reese Witherspoon better as a brunette...Conan O'Brien and his former Late Night co-star Andy Richter will be together again on NBC's new Andy Barker P.I. pilot - a single-camera detective laugher pilot starring Richter, which O'Brien co-wrote and is executive producing...Look for Academy-Award victress Susan Sarandon to appear in a trio of segments of Dennis Leary's FX drama show Rescue Me...Mena Suvari and Blair Underwood have taken the leads in a pair of CBS drama pilots, Orpheus and Company Town, respectively...Josh Meyers will star in the FOX comedy pilot That Guy....Matt Letscher will co-star opposite Christine Taylor in ABC's comedy pilot 52 Fights...Lori Loughlin ( Full House) joined the cast of the ABC's laugher In Case of Emergency...Bill Smitrovich (Life Goes On) has been cast in ABC's drama pilot, A House Divided...Peace, please.
Posted by HerbieJP at 07:58 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 06, 2006
Advice for next year's Oscar's
Last night's telecast of the 78th Annual Academy Awards was just about as bad as it gets. It was the worst episode in the organization's history.
Jon Stewart was completely miscast and out of place. The show needs a classy, experienced, international, sophisticated star (Johnny Carson , we miss you more than ever).
The Kodak Theatre is too large an arena. The ceremony calls for a bigger star and a more intimate atmosphere.
All of those technical, wardrobe, make-up and animated awards needs to be delivered off-screen.
The program should open with a musical number of one of the nominated film songs, the rest of which should then be sprinkled throughout the telecast, which itself should run no longer than two-hours. If it does run over, then that will be fine. It would be because we would hear the great acceptance speeches of the stars, who should not be limited from their moment.
Do we really have to be reminded of when the Grammy's cut Frank Sinatra's time, and broke his heart during his Lifetime Acheivement Award speech?).
I didn't think so.
What should be limited is all of the other stuff (that I first mentioned above).
Either way, and all in all, last night's show was a travesty.
Yes, everyone won who should have won (except for Michelle Williams; she should have earned her amulet for her superior work in Brokeback Mountain).
I turned it off at 9 PM, when, thank the Good Lord, CNN was airing a rerun of Larry King Live! that featured a tribute to the late and awesome Don Knotts - with Andy Griffith, Ron Howard and Jim Nabors.
Now, THAT was great television.
Posted by HerbieJP at 06:50 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
March 04, 2006
"Creek's" Williams, Holmes vie for the same "gay" award
And the nominees for Best Supporting Former Dawson Creek Actress involved with Gay or Allegedly-Gay Men, On or Off-screen are: Michelle Williams, who went on to marry her Brokeback Moutain co-star Heath Ledger (who is straight in real life, but who plays a closeted gay cowboy the aforementioned film) - and Katie Holmes, who will soon marry Tom Cruise (who many suspect is just plain gay in real life)...Well, it's true. After eight seasons, The WB has cancelled Charmed, the poor-man's Buffy, the Vampire Slayer supernatural show , which stars Alyssa Milano, Rose McGowan and Holly Marie Combs (and, in earlier, pre-fired days, Shannen Doherty)...John Travolta (who commenced his career on TV's classic, Welcome back, Kotter) and Queen Latifah (of the not-so classic Living Single) will star opposite one another in the feature film version of the Tony-winning musical Hairspray, which will be directed by Adam Shankman (who guided Latifah through the feature, Bringing Down the House)...ABC's spy cult series, Alias, starring Jennifer Garner, will return April 19 with a two-hour episode featuring the birth of Sydney's baby and the reappearance of love interest/fellow spy Michael Vaughn (played by Michael Vartan, Garner's former real-life love). Garner, and her husband, Ben Affleck, gave birth to their first child in real life on Dec. 1...Failure to Launch (starring Matthew McConaughey and Sarah Jessica Parker, and set to launch in theatres this week) is probably one of the worst titles that any movie, feature film or television) has ever had (this side of Nora Ephron's dreadfully-titled - and just plain dreadful) 2000 flick, Hanging Up...Peace, please.
Posted by HerbieJP at 08:04 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 03, 2006
Carol Burnett gets "Desperate", Jessica Alba gets serious
The legendary Carol Burnett will portray an evil stepmother to Marcia Cross' Bree Van De Kamp on ABC's Desperate Housewives beginning in April. How cool is that!...Tyler Perry whose big-screen laugher, Madea's Family Reunion, was Number 1 at the box office this past weekend with a $30 million debut, has partnered with Debmar-Mercury to distribute and syndicate his original comedy series House of Payne , about a multigenerational family in the same household...David Arquette will appear in ABC's comedy called In Case of Emergency...Peter Facinelli is taking the co-lead in ABC's pilot Enemies...Sarah Clarke will appear in the ABC pilot for A House Divided...Charlotte Ross (not Charlotte Rae from The Facts of Life) will show her face in ABC's Ugly Betty pilot...Sean Patrick Flanery will appear in the Secrets of a Small Town pilot...Lenny Clarke will co-star with Rob Corddry in the FOX comedy pilot Becoming Glen... Cameron Richardson has been hired for FOX's comedy pilot If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home by Now...Natalie Garza will show up in the Fox comedy pilot called The 12th Man...CBS has hired Michael Gaston to appear in the drama pilot Jericho...Lesley Ann Warren (Cinderella, 1968/Desperate Houswives, 2005) will appear in USA's drama pilot In Plain Sight...And I hope Jessica Alba sues Playboy's ass off...Peace, please.
Posted by HerbieJP at 07:41 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
March 02, 2006
Some "West Wingers" on the rebound
Jesse Bradford is taking the lead in ABC's drama pilot, Twenty Questions...Eddie McClintock will co-star NBC's untitled Chris Sheridan comedy pilot...Star Trek's Colm Meaney and Sarah Jones will appear in ABC's drama pilot Sixty Minute Man...Former Major Dad and Promised Land star Gerald McRaney hitches a ride to CBS' drama pilot Jericho...Mo Collins is teaming with Patricia Heaton in her untitled comedy pilot at ABC...Michael Cassidy and Amber Heard are hooking up to star in The CW's untitled Kevin Williamson drama pilot...and Nichole Hiltz has been hired to star in USA Network's pilot In Plain Sight...TNT is developing a one-hour unscripted detective series with Bunim/Murray Prods. that would follow a real private dick conducting an investigation...Several former stars of NBC's The West Wing make cameous for the show's final segments, including the Emmy-nominated Rob Lowe, Mary-Louise Parker, Anna Deavere Smith, Emily Proctor, Marlee Matlin, Gary Cole, Tim Matheson, Timothy Busfield and Annabeth Gish...The Cartoon Network is going "live-action" with an original movie called Reanimated, which will be half live action/half animation...Sophia Bush is seeking to annul her short wedded-bliss to her One Tree Hill co-star Chad Michael Murray, citing fraud...Grey's Anatomy star Patrick Dempsey has recently revealed that he's dyslexic...Peace, please.
Posted by HerbieJP at 09:39 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 01, 2006
Griffith, Howard pay tribute to Knotts on "King"
CBS has given the greenlight to a pilot-order of The Big Bang Theory -a half-hour sitcom from Two and a Half Men co-creator/executive producer Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady. The series is about two brilliant theoretical physicists who learn about life from a woman...Months after founder Lowell Bud Paxson was forced out of his self-named network, the company's title is also changing. Paxson Communications Corp. , which ran PAX-TV-cum-i-television, will now become Ion Media Networks Inc. (which is probably where the "i"-part came from)...Courteney Cox has signed to take the lead in the FX drama pilot Dirt, about tabloid journalism (a fitting topic for an ex-Friends star) for which she is also serving as executive producing with husband David Arquette and creator Matthew Carnahan. Will McCormack will also appear in the show...Meanwhile, in other FX pilot news, Margo Martindale, Shannon Woodward, Aidan Mitchell and Noel Fisherhave been tapped for roles in a drama called Lowlife (another happy title)... Michael Douglas is claiming tthat the Family Television Studios and Paradigm Media Group (of Florida) has improperly used his name and image for their own agenda. The Oscar-winning actor (who got his start on TV's classic Streets of San Francisco series) claims he agreed to host the Learning About series on the basis that it was educational and non-commercial. But he says the segments he recorded were used to drum up sponsorship for episodes which were never broadcast. You mean he may have been duped? Naw. Of course not. Not by Hollywood (yeah, right)...Andy Griffith and Ron Howard appear tonight on Larry King Live to recall memories of their friend, Andy Griffith Show co-star and TV legend Don Knotts...Peace, please.
Posted by HerbieJP at 08:07 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack