Blogs&News
NewsWire
One Second of Jackson's Nipple = $183,333
July 31, 2006
CBS paid the fine, but is appealing. They said the FCC is stupid. The FCC says CBS is indecent-immoral-and-out-of-touch-with-America.
We really have little to add to this maelstrom of mediocrity. But let’s do the math.
CBS paid $550,000 to the FCC because of Janet Jackson’s breast-flashing episode during the Super Bowl.
The “episode” lasted about 3 seconds. So that means Janet Jackson’s nipple is worth $183,333 per second.
If she ever decided to throw in the towel on the singing career, well, she’s got a very valuable asset.
More “Huff” Knock-0ffs Coming Out
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Maybe.
HBO announced that Mark Wahlberg, executive producer of “Entourage” (and star the show is based on) will executive produce “In Treatment” -- a show about a therapist who can listen calmly to his patients while having a very hard time dealing with his own anger issues.
Wasn’t there an Emmy-winning, superbly written and flawlessly executed show just like this?
We’ve been getting a lot of traffic at BBCancelled about “Huff” and it’s about time we addressed it. Yes, we totally agree. It was brilliant and cancelled. After being nominated for seven Emmys, and winning a Best Supporting Actress Emmy for Blythe Danner, Showtime pulled the plug on “Huff,” citing low ratings.
It’s like the Big Bang. We don’t really understand it.
Something else we don’t understand: Last week we reported at least three stories about new shows for the fall about troubled therapists starring notables like Ted Danson and Anne Heche. Major networks are stumbling over themselves to get a show on television based on this premise, and Showtime had Hank Azaria! (Not to mention Emmy-nominated Oliver Platt, Paget Brewster, and the phenomenal Anton Yelchin.) And they killed it.
MTV Video Award Nominees Announced
Maybe the impending 25th anniversary has MTV in a retro funk -- the just-released Video Award nominations for 2006 are a Who's Who of 1990.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers scored seven nods and Madonna is up for five, including best video of the year.
Some newcomer will surely be recognized. (Does Nick Lachey count as new?)
Or maybe MTV judges have gone Grammy on us and are giving out the awards to all the old-timers.
We’ll have to wait and see. The 2006 MTV Video Music Awards air live August 31 at Radio City Music Hall in New York.
Viewers can vote on the awards' general categories, such as best male video and best hip hop video, through Aug. 20 by visiting MTV Overdrive, an internet channel launched last year, at the Web site www.vma.mtv.com. Voting for the viewer's choice award runs Aug. 7 through Aug. 31.
Vice Survives Jump to Big Screen
Surprising to us (the trailers and ads around looked boring and blue), Miami Vice shot to the number one spot at the box office this weekend, pulling in a $25 million.
Every critic has said pretty much the same thing -- what made it genius on television (it was laughably cheesy) is exactly what’s missing from the movie. And yet they liked the “mood” of the film. Un-huh.
Don’t movies based on TV shows depend on a shout-out to what made the TV show memorable? Nicole Kidman had to learn how to twitch her nose like Samantha on Bewitched and Tom Cruise has had all sorts of trouble with making a believable character out of Mission Impossible because the movies have nothing to do with the show, except the music.
Then again, Cruise’s non-Mission Impossibleness hasn’t hurt the box office tallies. So maybe he's smarter than us.
Anyway, we like “Miami Vice” -- on TV! -- because of the opening title shots with bikinis and boats and those (god help us) pink shirts, coupled with the 80s pop songs. Plus the stubble and the tame love scenes.
Now we have Collin Farrell and Gong Li in the shower together. Oh, that's why it's number one.
Al Gore Invented YouTube
July 28, 2006
It’s a bad joke just waiting to be uttered, but the ex-president-elect did invent Current TV, a viewer-created channel.
You just may not be paying attention because not many people watch it.
But, now that stuff like YouTube and Bravotv.com’s “video mash-ups” (and other sundry examples) are the hottest thing on the 'net, Current TV is getting attention.
“Obviously they didn't get what we were doing,” says Joel Hyatt, CEO and co-founder of San Francisco-based Current TV. “Now, just shy of our first anniversary, the entire industry is copying us -- how we are engaging our audience to contribute to the content they consume. Those executives that scoffed at us are now saying to their teams: Go figure out how to do what Current is doing.”
Indeed, in the year since the 24-hour network premiered on Aug. 1, 2005, Current TV is seeing its model readily duplicated by such major cable players as MTV and VH1, and, soon, the newly formed CW broadcast network.
Although Current is by no means the creator of the viewer-contributed genre, the channel has done much to integrate and showcase such content into both its on-air and online programming.
“We really set out to be at the cutting edge,” says Hyatt, “to be at the intersection of television and the Internet, bringing what we felt was badly needed innovation to television and doing so by borrowing much of what one could learn from the experience of the Internet. We want to be the television home page of the Internet generation.”
At the moment, Current still appears to be more of a zap-by-it channel than appointment television. And its newfangled idea of quick-hit pod programs might have to be incorporated with old-school 30-minute and hour-long series.
“What MTV and The CW are doing,” says Robert Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University in New York, “is taking this concept that Current is developing and putting it within actual programming."
“My guess is,” Thompson continues, “that Current TV is going to do exactly what virtually every other cable network has done: diversifying their schedules, diversifying their genres and depending on scheduled
series. That's the way, for over half a century, programming works on television.”
But, says David Neuman, president of programming for Current, “if you stick to the notion of half-hour and hour shows and set a schedule, you're disenfranchising all those people that may actually be able to contribute. We want to create compelling television for the audience while radically innovating and facilitating the contributions of the audience creating this product.”
Nearly a third of Current's nonfiction programming, aimed at 18- to 34-year-olds, is derived from viewer contributions. Most of these pods, which are tagged “VC2” (VC squared), are about five to nine minutes long and viewers can select their favorites online for future play on the channel.
This is by no means a unique phenomenon. On a recent sojourn to Italy, BBCancelled did an interview on All Music.
On the distribution end, Current recently signed a deal with Comcast Digital Cable that almost doubles the channel's reach from its initial 17 million U.S. households to about 30 million.
$300 Million For Stupid Parents
Television broadcasters and other entertainment providers unveiled a $300 million ad campaign Thursday to teach parents how to shield their children from objectionable television shows.
Standing in front of the television with their stomach in the way is not an option proposed.
Nor is simply turning off the television. Or throwing it away. Unplugging it. Setting a time limit. Or taking the child to the park and playing outside you know, spending "quality time" together in any old-school sense of the word.
Instead, the public service announcements urge parents to visit a web site that offers information on how to use the “v-chip” and cable set-top boxes to keep sex and violence out of their living rooms.
Oh, so really it’s about buying something new -- or at least a new TV with a V-chip inside. Ugh.
Jack Valenti, former president and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America, and the single most ridiculous person ever allowed in charge of movie ratings (he invented NC-17, gave movies PG-13 rating for sex but not violence, because killing is better than making love) unveiled the ads to congress yesterday.
Oh great, get them involved. Because they are so useful when it comes to parenting.
Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, said the campaign will work “if people listen.”
Please! Somebody! Spend $300 dollars to put Valenti and Stevens on a plane to a very small island. One way. No return. Getting rid of them and their money-wasting ideas could be the most important thing we do it.
If you’d like to contribute to the BBCancelled Stop Wasting Money campaign, email us. If you’d like to laugh at their ridiculous, useless advertisements, watch them here.
Leno Dissed by Landis
Instead of going on "The Tonight Show" as if it were "Larry King Live" -- you know, shed a tear, say you're sorry, be in Page Six tomorrow -- Floyd Landis cancelled his appearance with Jay Leno scheduled for tonight.
Not that we’re surprised. He won the Tour de France after the race was so (!) dominated by Lance Armstrong for a zillion years. He’s American. He came back from behind in the standings. It was a good race. Everyone was excited.
Well, everyone into cycling.
Now he failed a drug test. Sort of. His testosterone was elevated during at least one stage of the race. He’s under a media thunderstorm. His mom is even in hiding, supposedly. Floyd is in Europe.
So maybe it’s not such a surprise to cancel on Leno.
But if he’s super-innocent, then why wouldn’t he want to just show up and chatter on about how innocent he is and show no fear? "Take my medal," he could say. "I know that I’m clear and that I won."
Maybe that’s just wishful thinking here at BBCancelled. Then again, we are prone to outrageous fantasies.
MTV Rewinds. You Record
July 27, 2006
Clear out some space on your TiVo.
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of MTV’s launch, VH1 Classic will air the entire first day of the channel’s life in 1981. At midnight on Monday July 31st, you can catch the first-ever aired video “Video Killed the Radio Star," by the Buggles, and then just keep your déjà vu in check until midnight, Tuesday, August 1st.
This is good news for those in a certain age bracket to relive their youth, but also for those too young to remember what videos are (since they are so hard to find on MTV today).
The day-long tribute will also feature most of the original VJ’s, including Martha Quinn, Mark Goodman, and Nina Blackwood.
Microsoft Loves Arrested Development, Too
Go ahead, Bill Gates. Just try and take on BBCancelled.
Later this year, Microsoft will offer free episodes of “Arrested Development” through it’s MSN Video service.
A spokesman for the software giant said, “'Arrested Development' created an incredibly passionate and dedicated fan base, and we're thrilled to bring this series to the global MSN audience.''
Yeah no kidding.
It goes without saying that this was a show cut down WAY before it’s time. At only three years and 53 episodes of comic genius, it was one of Fox’s most phenomenal blunders. We can only hope that like “Family Guy” the newly generated interest in this show will resurrect it.
Beside the MSN showing, HDNet will begin airing ''Arrested Development'' episodes in September on its high-definition network, which is offered on some cable and satellite systems.
Okay, but we started it.
Scotty Beams Up … For Good
In what could become a trend among dead “Star Trek” cast members, the ashes of James “Scotty” Doohan will be blasted 70 miles into space.
Doohan’s deed is unique, but not rare, actually, the company has already shot-up a few dozen folks.
A Houston-based company called Space Services, Inc. will shoot your ashes into space for anywhere between $500 and $1500. No word as to what makes it more or less expensive, but it appears to be Rocket Adjacency, or something like that. According to a spokeswoman, “everyone wants to be in the same rocket as James Doohan, he was so beloved.”
The October 21st “memorial spaceflight” that Doohan’s dust will be on is also slated to carry the ashes of Gordon Cooper, one of the original seven Mercury astronauts.
Says Doohan’s widow: “It’s a way to honor something he would have loved to have done.”
Sweet. A little spooky. But sweet.
Nerd Jokes Gone Wrong, Very Wrong
Alright, here’s what happened.
Ken Jennings, former $2.5 million Jeopardy champion said on his blog that “Jeopardy” is the “Dorian Gray of Gameshows” and needs an updating.
Then he goes on to make a few suggestions: work with any other color than blue, include physical challenges, use angry bees as motivators.
And it was clearly a joke. And some if it was even a little bit funny.
Not to Michael Starr, over at the New York Post who accused (link:
We know how the Post really hates an intellectual, but the story was picked up and run all over the place. (Damn Internet!) Headline: Obscure nerd who used to be on TV is ungrateful about a show that old people watch, and where he won A LOT of money.
Hopefully people will go to Ken Jennings blog and read the missive for themselves. Then again, this is so boring, we’d actually rather watch a rerun of “Jeopardy.”
Barney Fife Statue...Gone
July 26, 2006
We can’t believe we’re talking about this again, but it broke our jaded little hearts.
First the Mayberry town was going to get a statue of Barney Fife. Then the bastards who control the rights to Gomer Pyle's image said "No way!" Paramount yanked the rights to the actor’s likeness.
Sad, yes, but now this is become ridiculous.
Until yesterday -- when the sculptor destroyed his creation by crushing it to pieces. If nobody wanted it, then no one should see it, he figured.
Now this episode is staring to feel like a tragedy.
ABC Viewers On Hiatus. Seriously.
The network finished a distant fourth last week in the broadcast ratings among all television viewers and those aged 18 to 49, according to Nielsen.
Late July ratings are about as meaningless as they come for broadcast networks.
But hey, who wants to be in fourth place? That’s like getting a tin medal. No gold, silver, bronze…but tin.
ABC laid an egg with ''Making a Music Star,'' which drew fewer than 3.1 million viewers for its premiere last week. Even fewer people -- 2.6 million -- bothered watching the results show the next night. The network was undoubtedly hurt by Fox's ''So You Think You Can Dance,'' NBC's ''America's Got Talent'' and CBS' ''Rock Star: Supernova'' getting to the air faster.
Better? Not necessarily, but they were on faster.
ABC's two most-watched prime-time programs last week were the news shows ''Primetime'' and ''20/20.'' The most popular entertainment show was a rerun of ''America's Funniest Home Videos.''
And “they” say news magazine shows are dead!
Play Housewives Without Dressing Up
July 25, 2006
The previously-rock solid hit show has fallen on hard times (one Emmy nod and critical drubbings, as well as sliding ratings).
But the licensing juggernaut continues.
Coming this fall: Desperate Housewise PC Game “starring” Brenda Strong. Buena Vista Games, the interactive wing of Disney, will publish the “lifestyle simulation PC game.
Sounds hokey, but could be a hoot. Players get be a new housewife on Wisteria Lane and “unlock the delicious scandals hidden in the seemingly ‘perfect’ neighborhood.”
Ms. Strong will reprise her narrating voice from the series on the game. No word on whose voice “you” get to be while playing. Nor is there any word on how many male characters will waltz through the game without their shirts on.
But folks doing press on the game said they’d send a copy to BBCancelled ASAP to try out. We’ll let you know as soon as possible.
Crazy Gigantic Television Screen
Just in time for Christmas, the largest flat screen television will be available. It’s six-feet by nine-feet and weighs 450 pounds.
And it’ll set you back $70,000.
But can you imagine how AWESOME “24 will look on a screen the size of a queen-size bed?
Panasonic is behind the behemoth. They’re calling it a “103 inch television.” The resolution is 1080p, or about two million pixels.
Simpsons Family Grows Exponentially
It’s not enough to be the coolest, freshest, and brightest (color-wise) show on TV. “The Simpsons” is adding superstar guests.
Natalie Portman, Kiefer Sutherland, the White Stripes and Dr. Phil McGraw will be among the guest voices on the upcoming season of ''The Simpsons.''
Joe Mantegna will reprise his role as Springfield's infamous mob boss Fat Tony when the animated Fox show begins its 18th season Sept. 10. Joe Pantoliano and Michael Imperioli guest-star as Fat Tony's main thugs, the network announced Monday.
As David Letterman would say: “Simpsons, Sopranos. Sopranos, Simpsons.”
The White Stripes voice themselves in the Sept. 17 episode when Bart organizes a benefit concert to repair his arm that was mangled by a tiger Lisa rescued from the local pound.
McGraw, Fran Drescher and comedian Richard Lewis guest-star in a Halloween episode on Nov. 5. Sutherland voices a hard-nosed colonel when Homer lands in basic training on Nov. 12.
Also paying a visit to Springfield will be authors Tom Wolfe, Gore Vidal, Michael Chabon and Jonathan Franzen.
In May, the Emmy-winning series will air its 400th episode.
400! In TV time, that’s about a million.
Super-Size Show Reordered
July 24, 2006
Morgan Spurlock -- who created the documentary ''Super Size Me'' and the television show ''30 Days' --' says the reality TV boom has been good for documentaries.
And good for his own wallet. "30 Days" is coming back for season two.
He promised more unusual switches in the second season of his own reality show, ''30 Days,'' in which people on different sides of an issue trade lives for 30 days.
But he said one person who won't be making more switches is his wife, who last season lived with him on minimum wage for the show's debut episode.
''She said, 'you're on your own this time, pal.' In this season's finale, I get locked up in jail for 30 days. She sees me off before I go, visits me and greets me when I get out. So she makes cameos.''
Carol Burnett
“Does this mean I'll never get another bad review?'' the 73-year-old actress-comedian joked Sunday as she accepted a career achievement award from the Television Critics Association.
Burnett then recounted how ''The Carol Burnett Show,'' which aired from 1967-78, got started. A pay-or-play clause in her regular contract with CBS offered a deal for 30 hour-long variety shows—yes 30! Can you imagine a network making a commitment like that today?—was about to run out and she decided to exercise it.
The network, she said, wasn't thrilled. A CBS executive told her that variety was the proper domain of male stars like Jackie Gleason, Sid Caesar and Milton Berle and suggested she consider a proposed sitcom titled ''Here's Agnes,'' Burnett said.
''I'm so glad I didn't do 'Here's Agnes,''' she said, dryly.The variety show represented ''the greatest years of my professional life'' and the TV critics' honor rightly belongs to the show's cast and crew, she said.
Burnett, also a singer, starred in a series of musical specials with guests including Julie Andrews, Beverly Sills and Dolly Parton and in three TV adaptations of the Broadway musical ''Once Upon a Mattress,'' most recently in 2005.
Not one to rest on her laurels, Carol Burnett was a guest star on ''Desperate Housewives” last year.
Amazon.com to Launch Video Downloading
Lookout iTunes, Amazon wants your business.
Looking to replicate the success of iTunes, and Netflix, but without the snail mail and red envelopes, Amazon.com is launching “Amazon DV.”
The new program will be a combination of both, Ad Age is reporting today. Folks can buy videos outright, or they can download them, or they can subscribe, so they’d get each new episode everyweek without having to ask.
Experts are enthusiastic that Amazon.com, with a history of making their site user friendly, will be able to create a seamless interface that audiences will enjoy.
The best quote is from Rob Enderle, principle analyst at Enderle Group. "Right now we've got music services all over the place, but video is not cooked yet."
And, something we didn’t know here at BBCancelled. Yes, it’s true, there are things we don’t know. Is that Amazon owns IMDB. So they’ve already got a serious finger-on-the-pulse of the video/film/content business.
300,000 Webizens Watch Nobody
July 21, 2006
Americans love a Cinderella story. Variety reports today that NBC is picking up the rejected sitcom “Nobody’s Watching” after it found new life on YouTube.com.
The quasi-comedy/reality show was created for the WB Network, which no longer exists -- although it wasn’t tapped as a promising prospect regardless.
So the producers put the show on YouTube in three 9-minute segments and -- ta-da! -- it's been downloaded over 300,000 times in less than a month. The chattering classes were discussing if it would be rescued, and now it has.
(Yes, NBC does own BBCancelled.com, but they did not ask us to write about this story. We don’t know if that means they don’t care about us, or whether or not they just forgot about us, but we’re not taking it personally.)
One interesting note about the new life of “Nobody’s Watching” is that a new website devoted to the show is in the works, one where viewers can offer feedback on what did and didn’t work.
Well, we already have a website, so go HERE and watch the show. And then leave a comment here. Tell us if you think NW is a hit or a miss? A television navel-gazing breakthrough or a bust in the making?
Sex & The Nissan
If you hire Samantha, what do you expect -- Kim Cattrall playing a buttoned-up librarian or a nun?
No, the “Sex & The City” star is gonna be sexy. And that’s exactly what Ms. Cattrall is in the new Nissan advertisements airing in New Zealand.
Well, they were airing until a few days ago, when the previously approved spots inspired complaints from prudes, er, viewers.
Cattrall appears in the ad purring with excitement about Nissan's new sedan.
''Why didn't you tell me it was so big? I just wasn't prepared for it,'' she gushes. ''The all-new Nissan Tilda makes you feel really, really, really good inside.''
She tells a salesman: ''Ah! That was amazing. Absolutely fabulous! I mean the great body and the way you moved it.''
Nissan said it was taking the commercial off the air before the board could consider the objections.
''We made this decision in the interest of self-regulation and in response to public feedback,'' Nissan said in a statement.
Watch for excerpts online any second now.
Kelsey Grammer Wins Early Emmy
If it’s drawn, then it’s not in prime time. But that's cool, 'cause we love us some good cartoons.
A few Emmy award winners were announced yesterday -- mostly in animated categories. The biggest name was Kelsey Grammer, who won a statuette for his voiceover performance as Sideshow Bob on Fox's ''The Simpsons.''
Other juried award winners announced Wednesday -- Costumes for a variety or music program: Wendy Benbrook, Wanda Leavey, ''MADtv,'' Fox; Erin Lareau, ''Benise: Nights of Fire!'' PBS; Dana Campbell, Randall Christensen, ''Dancing with the Stars,'' ABC. (They actually dress those fools on “Dancing with the Stars?” We thought folks just showed up in whatever they wanted.)
Individual achievement in animation: Jarek Szyszko, ''Classical Baby 2,'' Hippo Dance segment, HBO; Sarah E. Meyer, ''Robot Chicken,'' Easter Basket episode, Cartoon Network; Frederick Gardner, ''The Life and Times of Juniper Lee,'' Adventures in Babysitting episode, Cartoon Network; Bryan Arnett, ''Escape From Cluster Prime,'' Nickelodeon; Shannon Tindle, ''Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends,'' Go Goo Go episode, Cartoon Network; Mike Diederich, ''The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy,'' Cartoon Network.
Jay Leno Doesn’t Watch “The Tonight Show”
How else to explain his comment last night from Leno to Colin Farrell? A stalker approached Farrell on the set, and Leno said: “Welcome to celebrity.”
Hunh? Does Leno think Farrell is new to the Hollywood game? Didn’t he watch the sex tape? The Alexander debacle?
He has to know about Miami Vice because that’s the reason Farrell showed up to tape a segment, and that’s when things went “unscripted,” as they say in the biz.
A woman from the audience walked up to Colin Farrell as he was talking to Leno. The 30-year-old actor quickly escorted her off stage and asked for security.
''She said something to Colin Farrell that no one heard, then he took her by the elbow, led her off stage, asked the cameramen to turn off their cameras and asked for security,'' said Molly Mattaini, who was in the audience and visiting from St. Paul, Minn.
Mattaini, 16, said Farrell returned to the stage and apologized to the audience.
Classy, eh? Farrell remained on stage the rest of the show, appearing ''very calm, very collected,'' Mattaini said. Later in the evening, he appeared at the premiere of his new movie, Miami Vice.
After the woman, Farrell sat back down and said, "My first stalker," and that’s when Jay Leno said, "Welcome to celebrity.”
And that’s when our eyes rolled back inside our head.
Generous Biel "Not a Cheap Date"
July 20, 2006
Colorado girls stick together.
Former “7th Heaven” star Jessica Biel let herself be auctioned off to raise money for a Boulder, Colorado, high school girl hurt in a car accident.
Although Biel told attendees that she is a “cheap date,” an evening with the young woman Esquire magazine once called the “sexiest woman alive” went for $30,000.
Molly Bloom was hurt in May on her prom night when she was run over and dragged 30+ feet by a Hummer Stretch limo. The event, dubbed “Mollypalooza,” raked in $44,000 to help Bloom’s family with medical expenses.
See, Hummer’s aren’t just gas-guzzlers, but they’re dangerous. And stars from Colorado are nice. Maybe Hollywood should relocate.
Previously … on Netflix
NBC will let Netflix subscribers sneak a peek at their two most buzzed-about new series -- ''Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,'' as well as ''Kidnapped'' -- before the shows premiere in September.
Starting August 5th, Netflix subscribers can rent DVDs ofthe debut episodes, along with previews of other shows from the fall line-up. That’s six weeks before the shows can be seen anywhere else -- for anyone counting.
The project is risky. Yet probably a worthy experiment. On the one hand, if the shows are good, they will find an eager audience from the get-go. But what if they’re slow-starters, like “Lost,” which benefited from being able to watch the entire first season on DVD. Or heck, Bravo’s “Project Runway,” which didn’t become a mega-hit until the second season ran marathon like all weekend long?
Bottom line: It's innovative, and we love innovative.
Anne Gives Advice to "Men In Trees"
Ex-lesbian, ex-ecstasy-using wanderer, Anne Heche has a new job. Relationship coach.
Really. Heche will play a couple’s advisor on a new one-hour drama, “Men in Trees,” for ABC this fall.
Heche, who has guest-starred on ''Nip/Tuck,'' ''Everwood'' and ''Ally McBeal,'' says she’s thinks her life is okay at the moment. I’ve “stumbled through and made so many mistakes, but I'm pretty good with where I am.”
Does that mean she’s qualified to give relationship advice. The girl married her girlfriend’s cameraman … remember?
The new show is set in Alaska where, perhaps, relationship advice is needed most. The male-female ratio is something like 2-1 with males on top.
Cheers to Danson
July 19, 2006
The ultimate 80s bartender, Ted Danson, is returning to TV. He'll be playing a therapist who’s got some problems of his own.
Hmm, bartender or therapist: Is there a difference?
The show, “Help Me Help You” will debut in September on ABC.
Unlike ''Cheers'' and ''Becker,'' Danson's new gig won't have a live studio audience. Which is kind of a shame, because Ted can really work a laugh track, er, room.
So, why the return? Because Danson loves acting? No. ''I have, like the rest of the world, mortgages to pay. There's a reason to work,”
And a Jiggly Mazel-Tov to You!
Pamela Anderson and Kid Rock are getting hitched next week.
The ex-"Baywatch" star confirmed in her rambling online diary: ''It's been a whirlwind ... spontaneous but well thought through.'' It is her relationship.
But then Pammy goes on. And it’s her (kinda heartbreaking) elaboration on the story that makes us wonder: “How well thought through?”
''It feels like I've been stuck in a time warp…Not able to let go of MY family picture ... it's been sad and lonely and frustrating ... I've raised my kids alone in hope of a miracle. Well my miracle came and went. And came back and back because he knew that I'd wake up one day and realize that I was waiting for nothing.''
Well, Pam, honey. Congratulations. We…think?
BTW: Is there a group for celebrities who ramble online? We vote for Rosie and Pammy to be the charter members.
Muchas Love for Las Desperadas
“Desperate Housewives,” in Spanish. Take that conservative, English-only senators!
ABC is expanding its number of programs dubbed into Spanish, including “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Lost," "Desperate Housewives," and ''Dancing With the Stars.'' (Can you dance in Spanish?)
''No other English language network serves the Spanish-speaking audience the way we do,'' ABC said, citing examples such as ''George Lopez'' and the newly announced, Selma Hayek-produced, America Ferrara-starring, comedy ''Ugly Betty.''
Viewers will be able to access the Spanish-dubbed programs via the SAP (secondary audio program) option on their televisions. That is, if they can figure out that part of the remote control.
But we know BBCancelled readers can do ANYTHING with their remote controls. Right?
Will, Grace, Jack, Karen and ...
July 18, 2006
It happened to the gang from "Seinfeld." And those “Friends” are all doing good work that keeps getting cancelled. So what about “Will and Grace?”
The answer comes from an unlikely source. Fonzie.
Henry Winkler, who became a cultural icon over 30 years ago as ''The Fonz,'' in ABC's ''Happy Days,'' knows all too well what the ''Will & Grace'' actors are facing: the notion that television audiences respond to characters, not the actors who portray them.
"You have to think if I'm good at what I do and they like me in this, then, hopefully, they will come along with me as I try out new stuff," Winkler said. However, being “The Fonz” was not always helpful in being … well, anything else. It was mainly luck and courage that during ''Happy Days'' long run, Winkler took his lawyer's advice and created a production company. It's first success was ABC's hit spy adventure series ''MacGyver.''
And so, instead of immediately aiming for a spin-off or rolling the dice with another sitcom: Eric McCormack, Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally are diversifying their roles by starting production companies.
Sean Hayes has started “Hazy Mills” with Todd Milliner. Eric McCormack went with “Big Cattle Productions” and Megan Mullaly named hers “Ton of Bricks.”
First up, Mullally will host a syndicated talk show “The Megan Mullaly Show.”
Fall In To The Gap Again
Will the first television advertisements from retail chain, The Gap, in over a year stop our fingers from fast forwarding?
Or will they be exciting enough--like some of the earliest dance-only ads years ago--to make us watch?
Beginning July 20, the brand is introducing the first of three campaigns this year. First up is a denim ad with wriggling bodies getting into jeans.
The focus: denim.
Good luck, Gap. You'll need it. The "denim" market is crazy. And that's just us here at BBCancelled News talking. We wear whatever new cool brand we find on sale. If we can't imagine going back to The Gap for jeans, who will?
Nonetheless, we like the ads you've made in the past. We're glad you're ditching the celebrity spokesmodel plan.
We love Sarah Jessica Parker. But did you really think anyone believed she shopped at The Gap?
And Joss Stone: Who was that?
Forced to Watch Springer
The battle over a Jerry Springer contract may force a judge to watch 400 episodes of Mr. Springer’s show.
Lord Justice David Neuberger ruled that In order to determine whether or not the ''vast majority'' of episodes contain content "unsuitable for daytime viewing," a trial judge will have to watch multiple episodes in order to decide.
The Justice urged everyone to agree on ''a sensible basis'' how many episodes the judge will have to watch: Somewhere less than 400, to be sure.
But we’ll have to wait to find out. So stay tuned.
Commercials or Bathroom Breaks
The newly created CW network is introducing a novel way of showing commercials. The goal: Make them more interesting than the television show.
So this fall, look for mini-shows that are really adverts. For example, on CW a boy and girl are set up on a blind date. They buy ''fabulous'' cosmetics and ''brand new'' contact lenses, fall in love to the latest soon-to-be-released song, and the result is long commercial in disguise; replacing the usual 30 second spots.
Paul Morningstar, executive vice president of media sales for the CW says, “Why should consumers say at the commercial break, “I can go to the bathroom? Why shouldn't they say, 'I see something entertaining worth watching'?''
KISS Clan to Become New Osbournes
July 17, 2006
By night, Gene Simmons wears (a lot) of makeup and spitts up blood as a member of the heavy metal band Kiss. By day, he's downright normal. Well, at least when it comes to parenting.
Simmons, his partner, actress Shannon Tweed, and their children -- 17-year-old Nick Tweed-Simmons and 14-year-old Sophie Tweed-Simmons -- let cameras into their home for the new A&E series ''Gene Simmons Family Jewels.''
''Our responsibility is to protect our kids, supply the money and the structure and the love,'' Simmons, 56, said.
''Their job is to do well in school and behave, period. This notion of parents having to go negotiate with their children who just learned to wipe their butts is out of the question.''
Tweed, no matter how bodacious, isn't one of those mothers who nag about picking up clothes off the floor, either.
''We focused more on the important things in life, like your schoolwork,'' said Tweed, 49, Playboy's Playmate of the Year in 1982. ''The kids have their priorities straight -- staying sober and paying attention.''
Simmons said he lives by the same rules he applies to his children.
''I've never been high, drunk, never smoked in my life,'' he said.
''Can't say the same for me,'' said Tweed.
90210 Star Dishes Love Advice
Breaking up is hard to do, even for Shannen Doherty.
The 35-year-old actress, who has two ex-husbands and a reputation for being difficult, needed her dad's help to dump a former boyfriend.
''Everybody thinks that I'm this really, really strong woman who would have absolutely no problem breaking up with somebody,'' Doherty said.
Doherty will help others through their break-ups in her new Oxygen show -- awesomely titled -- ''Breaking Up With Shannen Doherty,'' in which she helps lovers, best friends and roommates find the courage to end things.
Doherty said she ''felt a lot of guilt'' because it was a lengthy relationship in which the man -- she didn't name him -- was like a mentor to her.
''Every time I tried to break up with him, it sort of got a little bit emotional and we would stay together,'' she said. ''My dad went and got my stuff out of the house, and said, 'That's enough. You guys don't belong together anymore,' and it really helped.''
''A lot of it is a matter of guilt or feeling that attachment or the fear of being alone or all these sort of different emotional things that go into a breakup that sometimes it's hard for somebody,'' she said.
Doherty, who played bratty Brenda on ''Beverly Hills, 90210,'' has been married twice -- to Ashley Hamilton, son of actor George Hamilton, and to Richard Salomon, who appeared in the infamous sex tape with his then-girlfriend Paris Hilton.
Top Side-Kicks of All Time
Greatest sidekick of all time?
According to Entertainment Weekly, it's Johnny Carson's longtime couch-warmer, Ed McMahon.
The magazine picked what it deemed an all-time top-50 of second bananas.
Want to guess?
Rounding out the top five, in order: Robin (Batman's boy wonder), Jerry Seinfeld's pal George Costanza, Han Solo's buddy Chewbacca and Lucy Ricardo's partner-in-crime and sometimes slime, Ethel Mertz.
We'll give you one more guess. No. 6?
Elementary, dear reader: Dr. Watson, Sherlock Holmes' faithful companion. Speaking of which, Tonto, Lone Ranger's riding buddy, is, somehow, not on the list.
A few others who did make the list: The diminutive Tattoo, of ''Fantasy Island'' fame (No. 9); Howard Stern's second-in-command, Robin Quivers (13); Napoleon Dynamite's best bud, Pedro Sanchez (22) and Art Garfunkel, of Simon &... (25).
Mr. T to Gold: Good Riddance
July 14, 2006
While pitching his new show, "I Pity the Fool," to television critics, Mr. T. explained his recent costume change.
The former "A-Team" star has shed the piles of gold chains that were his signature look after witnessing the destruction from Hurricane Katrina.
“As a spiritual man, I felt it would be a sin against my God for me to wear all that gold again because I spent a lot of time with the less fortunate,” the actor said.
“I saw some, I call it 'sorry celebrities.' They'll go down there and hook up with the people to take a photo-op. I said, 'How disgusting.' If you're not going to go down there with a check and a hammer and a nail to help the people, don't go down there.”
Mr. T, whose real name is Lawrence Tero, stars in “I Pity the Fool” debuting in October on TV Land. He dispenses advice to viewers who are struggling with life's problems.
“Yes, I am qualified to beat people up. But I am pretty intelligent,” he said. “That's what throws people off. If you've been through something, that gives you an authority that you can speak on certain things. That's why people relate to me. I pull no punches.”
NBC to Broadcast "Project Runway"
In the beginning it was a guilty pleasure of fashion designers. Then it became a fave show among anyone fascinated with fashion.
Now Bravo’s “Project Runway” is going mainstream, so to speak.
After it’s record-breaking premiere on the cable network this past Wednesday, NBC announced that it will air the first two episodes July 17 and 24.
Such "collaboration/synergy" is not unheard of ... “Queer Eye” benefited from a one-time play on the Network ... but usually it’s the other way around. First on a network, then an afterlife on cable.
(Full Disclosure: BBCancelled is owned by GE/Universal, which also owns Bravo.)
Season Three’s premiere on Wednesday was the channel's highest-rated this year. And our sister site Bravotv.com was flush with traffic by fans ready to dish on the designers. So perhaps it should come as no surprise that the parent network would want a piece of the action.
BET Breeds New Company
The founder of the Black Entertainment Television and the brothers who started Miramax are teaming up to form a new company to distribute family comedies centered on black characters.
BET is a continually growing franchise that has taken advantage of the continued lack of African-Americans on television. Kudos to them for their perseverance; it will surely lead them to even greater success.
(No word on whether they’re looking at Mr. T’s new show -- see story above.)
The name is not the most original, but we have hope that the final products will be.
Our Stories Films is a co-production between Robert L. Johnson, founder of RLJ and BET and owner of the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats, and Bob and Harvey Weinstein. Johnson will oversee the creation of the entertainment; then the brothers Weinstein's Dimension Films will distribute.
Johnson has lined up $200 million in capital, including up to $175 million in financing from JP Morgan Chase.
''Never before has an African-American had green-light authority at a studio combined with this quality of financing and a distribution partner that has a proven track record in successful urban films,'' Johnson said.
The company expects to open for business within six months.
Britain, Germany to Welcome Nazis
July 13, 2006
Soup Nazis, that is.
New York chef Al Yeganeh, AKA the ''Soup Nazi'' character on ''Seinfeld,'' is taking his recipes to the UK.
Yeganeh and his partners plan to open 50 Original SoupMan franchises during the next year. He said the first franchises would be in central London, Manchester and Birmingham.
The company also hopes to open outlets in Germany, Italy and Japan.
Yeganeh's takeout restaurant, Soup Kitchen International, became a midtown Manhattan tourist attraction after the 1995 ''Seinfeld'' episode in which Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer have their soup orders abruptly cut off by a gruff man with a thick mustache.
Employees at the international locations will not yell the character's trademark ''No soup for you!'' at customers, but will enforce Yeganeh's strict rules: ''Have your money ready!'' and ''Move to the extreme left after ordering!''
''We think it will be an exciting concept that people in England will embrace,'' said the company’s owner. ''Al's an artist and very particular. His work is clearly soup. His life is his soup.''
And all of that somehow makes it kosher for someone with a nickname “nazi” to open business in the land where real Nazis once roamed?
This world is whack.
Falling Idol Sex Tape
A former ''American Idol'' contestant accused of videotaping sexual encounters with two teenage girls has been indicted on child pornography charges.
Oh, it’s so easy these days to write about reality show participants behaving badly. But it still feels right. Maybe because these people were average before they went on television, and they are average after they’ve been on television. It’s we that elevate them while they fill the small screen.
The story is: Daniel James ''DJ'' Boyd, 27, pleaded not guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court to charges of production of child pornography and possession of child pornography. A trial date was set for Sept. 18. Boyd faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted.
Boyd, a contestant on the popular TV talent competition two years ago, was arrested last month in West Valley City after a 14-year-old girl contacted police. He has remained in the Salt Lake County Jail since his arrest.
The Salt Lake County district attorney's office has also charged Boyd with unlawful sexual activity with a minor and unlawful supply of alcohol to minors. He is scheduled to appear in district court July 25 for a preliminary hearing on those charges.
Foo(l) Fighters
Does anyone believe that Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie are really not friends?
Plain and simple: They are colleagues, business partners and co-stars of ''The Simple Life.” If you don’t believe it, then why have they just signed up for a fifth season of their reality-style series
The show moved to E! after Fox declined to air a fourth season. A new format allows the feuding friends to have nothing to do with each other.
Yeah, and BBCancelled News has a bridge in Hoboken we'd like to sell you.
''The Simple Life -- 'til Death Do Us Part,'' has Hilton and Richie -- in separate scenes, of course -- playing a ''wife'' and running a household.
In one episode, Hilton characterized the two as ''complete opposites.''
''I'm the nice one, she's the evil one,'' she said.
Puhlease! After watching Barbara Walters last month admit to planning Star Jones exit from “The View” in a dishonest way ... is there any reason to believe anything we see on TV?
Epilepsy Shocker for "Y&R" Veteran
July 12, 2006
What do you do with a character after 26 seasons? You make him go crazy. That way he gets to become a totally different character and mix things up … a lot.
That’s what “The Young and The Restless” is doing with Eric Braeden’s character.
On Monday, the CBS show revealed that Victor Newman (Braeden) was affected by temporal lobe epilepsy from a head injury sustained in a carjacking several months ago. Thus his recent kindness, loving attention to his grandkids, and all that time he spent with his wife are explained away.
Braeden, and the fans, are lovin’ the ill trouble.
''I absolutely love it because it's uncharted territory,'' Braeden said. ''It's so interesting to play someone that is childlike and naive and not as calculated and hostile and angry as he usually is.''
And because this is the age of being nice — at least for the sake of not offending anyone and thus hurting your business — Braeden recorded a public-service announcement in cooperation with the Epilepsy Foundation that will air Monday and Tuesday.
''People with epilepsy can live very successful and seizure-free lives,'' he said.
In coming weeks, viewers will see how Victor deals with his diagnosis and how his family and business associates react, too.
More Siblings For Sally
Sally Field is signing on for a weekly TV series.
Gidget is joining ''Brothers & Sisters,'' a drama set to air this fall on ABC.
The drama, something Field excels at, follows a close-knit family socially and financially intertwined by love, business ... and secrets. Field will play the mother of five adult siblings.
The series also stars Calista Flockhart, Rachel Griffiths, Ron Rifkin, Balthazar Getty and Patricia Wettig.
Field, 59, won Oscars for her roles in 1984's Places in the Heart and 1979's Norma Rae. She won two Emmys: for ''Sybil'' in 1977 and for a guest role on NBC's ''ER'' in 2001.
Jay-S Back On Telly
Jessica Simpson's is co-hosting the Teen Choice awards on Fox, August 20. But they can't find a co-host.
Does that mean that a) no one wants to work with her? Or b) that she won’t agree to share the stage with any of their choices?
At ''Teen Choice 2006,'' Simpson is a nominee, too. She’s nominated for breakout performance for her role as Daisy Duke in ''The Dukes of Hazzard,'' choice red carpet fashion icon and choice hottie.
For those not quite teen-y enough: that’s three nominations. Winners take home awards in the shape of surfboards
Voters can cast their ballots until Aug. 11 on teenpeople.com, MySpace, Ign.com and Fox.com.
In other Jay-S news: Simpson, 26, stars in the comedy ''Employee of the Month,'' which opens Sept. 15. Her new album, ''A Public Affair,'' debuts Aug. 29.
The Real World Bites
A cast member on MTV's ''The Real World'' upcoming Key West season was arraigned on a misdemeanor assault charge after police said she bit her boyfriend during a domestic dispute.
Paula Ann Meronek, 25, allegedly bit her boyfriend several times when he refused to let her into their home early Sunday morning, police said.
''I think it was an argument that led to one thing then another,'' said Cromwell Police Chief Anthony Salvatore. ''He attempted to keep her from the house. It got physical and we were contacted.''
Share the keys, kids. Talk it out! Don’t be hittin’.
Meronek, who was arraigned Monday, was charged with third-degree assault, which carries a potential penalty of a year in prison. She is due back in court Aug. 11. No lawyer was listed in court documents. Her boyfriend, John Alyward, was charged with disorderly conduct.
Well, at least they are both busted. It does take two to tango — and to get into a really nasty fight.
A spokesman for the show's producers said filming is complete and the arrest will not affect the new season.
Thanks heavens!