60 Minutes of Un-Racist-Ness

December 06, 2006

You may have gotten an email in the last few weeks that some friend sends to you in a fit of righteous indignation. It’s a diatribe from America’s favorite old curmudgeon Andy Rooney. It’s been credited to him. It sounds like him, anyway.

The piece contains some pretty severe racist rhetoric, including: "I have the right not to be tolerant of others because they are different, weird or tick me off."

Yeah. Rooney totally didn’t write it. And he’s trying to make sure you know…it wasn’t him.

This has happened to Rooney a few times before. Most recently, Rooney tracked down a writer in Colorado who used his name on a missive about the virtues of “women over 30.”

"Someone on the street yesterday said 'I read your piece about older women,' " Rooney said. "All I ever say is 'I didn't write it and I'm trying to sue the guy who did.' "

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The Peacock Crows: NBC Wins News Sweeps

December 06, 2006

Broadcasting and Cable is claiming a winner in the news Sweeps for November, and it’s “NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. “ (We’ll go with full disclosure. NBC is our parent company, but that doesn't mean it ain't news and we do watch a lot (too much?) tv on other networks, but don't tell our bosses.)

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Battlestar Galactica Jumps to Sunday

December 05, 2006

Friday nights are usually reserved for dates, social events, and very little television viewing. Thus, networks usually reserve Friday nights as a dumping ground for shows it doesn’t have a lot of faith in. But somehow the Sci-Fi Channel has been able to grab an audience on Friday nights.

Don’t get us wrong. We’re hopeless nerds, too. We’re also usually home watching “Battlestar Galactica” on Friday nights. Unless we have some place to be (craft show, Rennaissance Fair), in which case we TiVo it.

Rumors had been circulating around the internet for weeks that Sci-Fi would be moving the show to the very popular Sunday night. Yesterday, Sci Fi made the news official, by announcing the news along with dates and times. When it begins the second half of its season on January 21st, “Battlestar Galactica” will be on Sunday nights at 10pm. It will follow the series premiere of the supernatural-detective drama "The Dresden Files."

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Rick Schroder joins "24"

December 05, 2006

There was an awkward period when Rick Schroder had to ask people to please call him “Rick” instead of “Ricky.”

He’s come a long way from the bedimpled moppet on "Silver Spoons." And his struggle to climb the ranks toward leading-man roles will continue with the premiere of this season’s "24."

Schroder will play Mike Doyle, a CTU operative who teams with Jack Bauer (Keifer Sutherland) to foil the bad guys.

This isn’t the first time he’s tried to erase his dimples and cheesy punchlines from our memories. He played a cop on “NYPD Blue” and appeared in a few episodes of “Scrubs.”

We’re waiting for the real star-making turn attempted by most former child-actors: we’ve got our fingers crossed for either “destitute junkie” or “square gay neighbor.”

Schroder is one of many casting miracles that the producers at “24” are whipping out this year. Actors with some serious chops will be appearing this season, such as Peter MacNicol, James Cromwell, Regina King, Chad Lowe, Powers Boothe, and pretty much everyone else in the whole wide world.

The two-night, four-hour premiere of Season Six of “24” will be on Sunday, Jan. 14 and Monday, Jan. 15.

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“Tweener” and the Car Accident

December 05, 2006

This whole thing is just unseemly, and keeps getting worse.

“Prison Break” actor Lane Garrison, 26, was driving n SUV full of teenagers over the weekend, when the vehicle went off the road and crashed into a tree killing a 17-year-old boy and seriously injuring two 15-year-old girls.
And now police and eyewitnesses say Garrison appeared to be drunk at the time.

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Letterman: Staying Put

December 04, 2006

CBS Corp. announced Monday that David Letterman has signed a contract to stay on the air until at least 2010. It was widely reported in September that Letterman had agreed to the deal. The contract means Letterman plans to stay on the air longer than late-night rival Jay Leno. NBC has said that Leno will give way to Conan O'Brien on the ''Tonight'' show in 2009.

''I'm thrilled to be continuing on at CBS,'' Letterman, 59, said. ''At my age you really don't want to have to learn a new commute.''

Letterman is expected to make somewhere north of $30 million a year. He's been competing with Leno since 1993, and the NBC comic has had the upper hand in the ratings for the past decade.

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CBS to Get “Fugly”

December 04, 2006

According to the TV Sleuths over at zap2it, CBS has ordered a pilot called “Fugly,” written by emmy-award winner Greg Garcia.

Garcia is the brains behind "My Name Is Earl" and “Yes, Dear.”

The idea behind "Fugly" is actually pretty genius: Three unattractive siblings spend thier enormous inheritance windfall to get elaborate plastic surgery for one sister, and try to make money off her looks in Hollywood.

It's like "The Beverly Hillbillies" meets "The Swan."

Apparantly, the script has been around for a while, and was originally written for Pam Anderson, who decided to take on “Stacked” instaead. The script sat on a shelf for a few years, and has now been given the go ahead.

Here’s the question posed by Zap2it that we thought was worth asking here: “Is a script by ‘My Name Is Earl’ creator Greg Garcia automatically funnier than the same script by ‘Yes, Dear’ creator Greg Garcia?”

It’s actually kind of a tough question.

Howie Mandel: No Thanks

December 04, 2006

Howie Mandel has rejected a deal by NBC Universal that would have taken his gameshow “Deal or No Deal” to a 30 minute syndication edition.

NBCU had already been turned down by Arsenio Hall, the network's first choice to host the 30 minute version. NBCU went back to Mandel, who would be a feather in the show's cap, while the network prepares the syndication deal. NBCU figures that “Deal or No Deal” could be as big as syndicated game-shows such as “Wheel of Fortune” or “Jeopardy” if it were a half-hour long and shown around the same time.

Most stations have said that they are uninterested in airing the show until they know who the host will be.

This is another in a series of cost-cutting measures that the networks are employing industry-wide: more game-shows. It turns out that giving money away to contestants is still cheaper than paying writers, actors, or crew to create scripted story-based television.

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"It's a Boy!" for Laura Bennet

December 04, 2006

Project Runway finalist Laura Bennett had her sixth child, a baby boy, on Friday, December 1.

In an exclusive with People.com, she announced that her new baby's name is Finn, he weighed in at 8 lbs., and he is "so cute." Bennett learned she was pregnant while a contestant on the third season of Runway.

Congratulations to Laura and her family!

Watch video of her baby shower, or check out some of Laura's views on motherhood in her blog, at our sister site, OUTzonetv.com.

Danny Devito Drunk on Telly

December 01, 2006

The ladies of ''The View'' are laughing off Danny DeVito's loopy behavior during his appearance on the daytime talk show. Apparantly, he stayed out late drinking with George Clooney the night before, and came in to the morning talk-show (according to Joy Behar) “drunk as a skunk.”

''I knew it was the last seven limoncellos that was going to get me.'' slurred Devito, just before launching into a long, rambling, wild story about sleeping in the Lincoln bedroom at the White House during the Clinton years. In talking about his stay there, with his wife, Rhea Perlman, Devito said, “We went in and made it our business to really wreck the joint.”

And then things got downright weird.

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Leno Not Laughing

December 01, 2006

''Tonight Show'' host Jay Leno and NBC Studios have sued humor editor Judy Brown and her publishers in U.S. District Court, claiming that her collection of joke books has profited from material filched from his standup routines.

Leno and other comics, including Rita Rudner, are seeking unspecified damages and a permanent injunction against Brown's 19 books, which are mainly compilations of jokes by comedians including Ellen DeGeneres, Joan Rivers, and Jerry Seinfeld, according to the lawsuit.

"Her books credit the comedians who wrote the jokes, which only serves to make the copyright violations more egregious: The books sell precisely because they include jokes by famous comedians,'' the lawsuit claims. ''Ms. Brown has even sent representatives to comedy clubs to record comedians' routines, so she can then copy the jokes into her books and profit from the original comedic works of others.”

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November Sweeps Ends

November 30, 2006

This year’s November sweeps came to an end last night. And it’s hard to say who’s coming out ahead. One thing’s for sure – it was a lot of fun.

This year’s sweeps had every imaginable form of entertainment, including what was arguably the best "Saturday Night Live" in ten years (Alec Baldwin and Christina Aguilera), the death of Mr. Eko on “Lost,” as well as plenty of exciting schedule shuffles. And who could forget the near miss of OJ Simpson talking about how he would have killed his former wife?

There are winners to be announced.

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Everybody Loves Chris

November 30, 2006

Last night in Beverly Hills, the Association of National Advertisers handed out their eighth annual awards for family-friendly programming. We’re not totally sure what “family friendly” means anymore, but the honors went to shows that we’re all pretty fond of.

The CBS crime drama ''Numb3rs'' and CW network comedy ''EverybodyHatesChris'' took top honors, while ABC’s ''Dancing with the Stars'' took reality show honors and ''Ugly Betty'' won the new series award.

The Family Friendly Programming Forum, which includes advertisers representing 43 companies, created the awards to promote the development and airing of family-oriented television programs during prime-time viewing hours.

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Canada’s Next Great Prime Minister

November 30, 2006

Oh Canada.

In a fascinating twist of Canadian pop culture magic, four Canadian ex-prime ministers are set to appear as judges on a new reality show from the CBC entitled: ''The Next Great PrimeMinister.''

Comedian Rick Mercer will host the one-hour special in which the former prime ministers will grill five finalists before a live audience March 18. The ex-leaders and members of the audience will then have an equal vote to pick the winner.

The CBC has set a Dec. 15 deadline for Canadians aged 18 to 25 to submit short videotaped speeches about why they should become primeminister and what they would do once in office.

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