Austin360 blogs > TV Blog > Archives > 2007 > January
January 2007
Adult Swim: Powerful enough to call in the bomb squad
Boston authorities are not amused by an outdoor marketing campaign gone awry to promote “Aqua Teen Hunger Force.” Those familiar with the show might recognize the character also seen on Austin billboards giving the middle finger (in ’80s-sprite-based video-game style).
We love Adult Swim, but dropping electronic panels around town might not be the smartest move, guys.
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This is why you have to get it together, Jack
“24” is getting beaten by both “Heroes” and “Two and a Half Men.”
Which, of course, is a reminder that Kiefer Sutherland and Charlie Sheen worked together in both “Three Musketeers” and “Young Guns”. Check out the posters: Both feature Sutherland with hair that would make Jack Bauer shoot him in the knee.
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Armed and … gone
If you missed Erik Estrada and La Toya Jackson taking down criminals in Muncie, Ind., on “Armed & Famous,” sadly, your chance is gone. CBS closed shop on the cop show.
I’ll admit I watch some crazy reality TV shows. I even watched “I Love New York,” but this one I missed. Did anyone watch this show?
According to E! Online, Jackson threw a fit about a cat and Estrada threw one over being misidentified as Emilio Estevez. (He should only be so lucky.)
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UT, not LA Law
When you want to know about the U.S. Supreme Court, where do you turn?
Austin, of course. Four University of Texas professors are featured on a PBS series about the history of the Court (airs 8 p.m. Wednesday and Feb. 7 on KLRU Channel 18).
In fact, the university ranks No. 1 among institutions providing experts for the show, according to the UT Law School.
Look for Lucas A. Powe Jr., William Forbath, Louise Weinberg and Ernest Young — experts all on constitutional law — on the show.
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‘24’ recap
Sigh. After the big season premiere, which was officially awesome, “24” has been stumbling along lately. I concur with culture critic Dave Barry on what some of the key problems are:
Too much bureaucratic yammering. There aren’t many things more fun than being trapped in a bunker talking about policy. “See, this is why I never watched ‘The West Wing,’ ” my irritated viewing companion exclaimed last night.
Mystifying lack of panic over the nuke. The part that really got me was when Darren and that blond gal were checking into the hotel and you could see the maid a little farther down the hall. All while there’s a mushroom cloud on the horizon. Wouldn’t just about everyone, everywhere get to go home from work if there was a nuclear attack? The only thing that I can figure is that after the rash of terror attacks bosses aren’t accepting them as an excuse anymore for missing work. But I think the real reason things are business is usual is that “24” lacks a suitable mayhem budget. Which makes me sad.
The whole Sandra Palmer storyline. I like Walid, but Sandra can go. He’s better off without her.
Not enough Jack. Really, it all comes down to that.
Here’s what I did like:
- Jack’s pure, unbridled hatred for his brother Graem. I want to know more about the Bauer family dynamics. I mean, to begin with, I never suspected that Jack came from money. I always pictured Jack’s dad as a gruff guy who worked down at the mill and pulled things like drowning Jack’s kitten and then yelling at him when he cried. But I am willing to give James Cromwell a chance as the Bauer pater familias. There’s some interesting stuff going on. Like dad Bauer was all “We can’t let Graem go to jail,” but not really freaked out at all that Jack had been in a Chinese prison.
Hmmm, I was trying to think of a No. 2, but there isn’t one. Here are some suggestions, projections and fears for future episodes:
Bring Assad back. He and Jack are good together.
Don’t make Nadia bad.
No more Sandra Palmer. None. Let’s just pretend she didn’t happen.
Quit giving everything away in the scenes for next week.
Give more hints that Josh is Jack’s son.
Bring back the Logans. And Mike Novick. And Aaron Pierce. If there are budget issues, fire Morris.
Those are my grumpy thoughts. What do you think?
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Fiction is better than truth on ‘Grey’s’
Isaiah Washington has gone off to rehab to figure out why he keeps barking homophobic epithets at co-star T.R. Knight.
The incident, which occurred in October and resurfaced at last week’s Golden Globe Awards, allegedly has plunged “Grey’s Anatomy” into a state of disarray.
Will Washington be fired? Will the writers make his character, Dr. Burke, reveal that he’s gay? Will the actor open a future episode with an on-air apology? Will Knight even accept such an apology?
Maybe. Who knows. But in the meantime, last night’s episode was one of the season’s best. Too bad these folks are let loose in real life without benefit of script. We’d all be a lot safer if they just read their lines.
If you haven’t seen Thursday’s edition of “Grey’s” and plan to, consider this your official SPOILER ALERT.
The hour ended with a trio of bangs: Burke proposed to Cristina, who broke their silly silence but refused to apologize (which she didn’t need to do anyway); George ended his mourning-fueled sex-capade with Callie by asking her to marry him; and Chief Dr. Webber resigned to spend more time with his wife, who announced that she’s “moved on” and slammed the door in his face.
Lordy. The shocks just kept on coming … and, naturally, it was a cliffhanger. Neither Callie nor Cristina looked like they were about to say yes to their respective proposers. But maybe one or both will. Guess we’ll find out next week. Given “Grey’s” track record, it seems unlikely we’ll see a double wedding on the show any time soon. Or ever.
At least the painful rejection of Chief means he’s not leaving Grace Hospital after all, and we can look forward to the return of his steady influence on this band of semi-wacky docs.
And do we love Miranda Bailey most of all? Yes, we do … and not just because she wants to open a free clinic. We love that she’s not over-sexed and immature. We love her determination and well-concealed soft spots. Dr. Bailey, short in stature but toweringly tall in every other way, is the heart and soul of “Grey’s” — no doubt about it.
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Stalking Gladys, ‘Idol’-ing nicer
For the past couple of days, I’ve transformed myself from TV critic/writer to investigative journalist. My beat? Gladys. Just call me the Bob Woodward of Weird Austin.
This has been one bizarre story, but apparently the mysterious 88-year-old “Gladys Hardy” is a talker in our fair city. She’s the woman who talked with Ellen De Generes not once but twice and sparked national interest with her homespun humor.
Turns out Gladys has been a regular caller at KLBJ for nearly a year and “contributes” to other radio stations around Texas, too. She is, as far as we can tell, actually a funny guy impersonating a funny old woman. Which is why we hear but never see her.
For the time being, I’m finished stalking this poor fictitious character. It’s a whole different job crawling through neighborhoods and banging on the doors of unsuspecting (and more than a little grumpy) people. I’m gonna watch a little TV now.
Is ‘Idol’ toning down the mean?
Back to the real news in TV Land …
Is it my imagination, or has Simon Cowell toned down his personal criticisms since his season debut “American Idol” episodes last week were blasted by TV writers and viewers alike?
He’s not exactly nice these days, but his remarks in the Memphis and New York auditions were relatively tame. He certainly didn’t tell anyone they looked like a “bush baby.”
And whatever was causing Paula Abdul to slump over, giggle and continuously sip from that enormous glass seems to be subsiding, too. She actually tried to make sense last night in defending her sympathetic view of one contestant. She’s never going to be articulate, so we shouldn’t have unrealistic expectations.
But what’s the deal with last night’s guest judge Carol Bayer Sager? Has she had a Joan Collins makeover or what? Her face didn’t budge, her lips were puffed up and, really, that hairdo went out of style while “Dynasty” was still on.
This show gets stranger and stranger, doesn’t it?
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Has ‘Ellen’ been duped by Austin woman?
Is Gladys Hardy real or a hoax? Inquiring minds want to know.
Gladys, in case you missed it, is the 88-year-old Austin woman who phoned “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” last week and brought the host to her knees with a barrage of hilarious comments. The clips quickly spread across the Internet. (Scroll down to check it out.)
“Honey, I love Jesus, but I drink a little,” she told DeGeneres, prompting screams of laughter from the studio audience and causing the host to double over howling for several seconds.
The two new BFFs chatted again on today’s “Ellen.”
We thought Hardy would make a good story for the newspaper, so we checked the phone book and numerous other sources we have to locate people by name and approximate birthdate. We found no Gladys Hardy in Austin or surrounding areas.
Hardy has called into various Austin morning radio shows, including KLBJ-FM’s “Dudley & Bob.” And she has a Web site (gladyscalls.com) and a home on MySpace. Does this sound like an 88-year-old woman? Or someone pretending to be an 88-year-old woman?
We called the “Ellen” show in Los Angeles, leaving several messages requesting information on Austin’s newest sensation. While the spokeswoman who finally called back would not put us in touch with Hardy, she said the producers and DeGeneres enjoyed the “really fun chats” with her. Perhaps our question about whether Gladys might be a hoax prompted the spokeswoman’s concluding remark: “I’m not sure if we’ll call her again in the future.”
Gladys Hardy sounds suspiciously like one of the Greater Tuna guys — or maybe Liz Carpenter — and her lines sound scripted.
“Call me anything but don’t call me late for dinner,” Hardy quipped when DeGeneres asked if she could call her on a regular basis.
Hardy initially phoned “Ellen” last week to suggest that a potted plant behind DeGeneres be moved because it was sticking up behind her head. She left a funny voice mail message, so DeGeneres called her back on the air.
“Hello, this is Gladys,” Hardy bellowed into the phone. “If you’re sellin’ something, I ain’t interested.”
After DeGeneres identified herself, Hardy went into a harangue about KVUE pre-empting “Ellen” for extensive weather coverage during last week’s winter storm.
Hardy told DeGeneres she had been on TV before — she once called QVC to buy a ladybug brooch and wound up talking about ladybugs on the air.
DeGeneres invited Hardy to come to Los Angeles and appear on the show, but Hardy declined.
“I like to stay local,” she demurred, adding that she mainly goes out to “walk the malls” for exercise.
If Gladys Hardy is real, we would love to talk with her about her fabulous, raucous sense of humor and her new friendship with Ellen DeGeneres. We want to take her picture and share her with our readers.
So, Gladys, are you out there? Are Gladys’ neighbors, friends or family members out there? If so, help us get in touch with this funny phantom. We want to make her a star!
If Gladys is fiction, she’s managed to dupe a lot of folks watching “Ellen.”
State of the Union, HBO comedy and “The Shield”
We know it’s our civic duty to witness President Bush’s State of the Union address tonight, but that doesn’t mean we have to like it.
“Boston Legal” would have been so much more fun … and possibly more enlightening.
The broadcast and cable news networks have set aside a two-hour chunk — 8 to 10 p.m. — tonight for Bush’s address to Congress and the nation, followed by the Democratic response from Virginia’s newly elected Sen. Jim Webb.
Lily Tomlin in HBO comedy
At the winter gathering of TV critics in Los Angeles, HBO announced a new series that sounds promising.
Lily Tomlin will star in an hour-long comedy, created by the “Designing Women” team of Harry Thomason and Linda Bloodworth-Thomason. HBO is overdue for a funny newcomer.
Tomlin will play a real estate mogul and wealthy Dallas matriarch in “12 Miles of Bad Road.” She last appeared on TV as the acid-tongued assistant to President Bartlet on “The West Wing.” But comedy has always been her forté, and HBO will give her the freedom to let loose.
Mary Kay Place will play her sister. No debut date has been set. The Thomason team is known for its sharp wit and incisive political commentary (they’re bosom buddies of Bill and Hillary Clinton), so we can expect some current-events edge when the show debuts at the dawn of a presidential election season.
It’s spring-time for ‘The Shield’
FX has finally given a premiere date to the sixth season of “The Shield.” Mark you calendars for April 3. It will take over the 9 p.m. Tuesday spot currently held by Courteney Cox’s “Dirt.” (No word on whether “Dirt” will have a second season.)
Yes, it’s been more than a year since “The Shield” had its fifth season finale, the shocker in which Lem was murdered by partner Shane. Yikes. We knew these guys were borderline bad, but that killing took the cake.
The new season will run for 10 weeks and focus on Vic Mackey (Emmy winner Michael Chiklis) as he searches for Lem’s killer — unaware that a member of his own team has done the deed.
And yes, Forest Whitaker will be back, at least for a while, as super-creepy Internal Affairs Det. John Kavanaugh, whose crusade to nab rogue Mackey has become a psychotic obsession.
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‘Prison Break’ and ‘24’ — Two thrillers too many?
If you don’t want to have your nerves rattled, you might want to stay away from Fox tonight.
“Prison Break” returns at 7 p.m., followed by “24.” Both shows take suspense and action to the extreme, and both are guaranteed to leave you breathless.
A neighbor of mine thinks the double-whammy might be more than his nerves can stand, but he’s going to try. I’ll keep an eye on his door across the cul-de-sac to make sure he doesn’t run screaming into the night when the tension reaches panic level.
When last we saw the escaped convicts of “Prison Break,” they were on the lam and surprised to receive help from a previously lethal Secret Service agent named Kellerman.
In tonight’s installment, Kellerman’s connection to brothers Lincoln and Michael becomes clearer, and the conspiracy surrounding Lincoln’s wrongful murder conviction (the victim, you may recall, was the President’s brother who has turned out to be very much alive) takes yet another surprising turn.
The show was originally conceived as only a two-season drama, with the escape planning taking up the first season and this second season (the current one) following the brothers and some of their evil cohorts fleeing authorities. (By the way, isn’t T-Bag the creepiest villain you’ve ever seen on network TV?)
But Fox executives are now hinting that a third season is likely.
Meanwhile, “24” (at 8 p.m. on Fox) is on the fifth hour of the day-long crisis that began with the series’ two-night, four-hour season opener last week. Terrorists have exploded at least one nuclear bomb on U.S. soil, and others are sure to follow if Jack Bauer doesn’t claw his way into more heroic, super-violent action.
Maybe warm milk should be the beverage of choice tonight, given the high anxiety level of these back-to-back thrillers.
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Nastiness behind the scenes on ‘Grey’s,’ on-screen on ‘Idol’
It’s a dirty little mess over at “Grey’s Anatomy,” isn’t it?
Ensemble casts often melt into the occasional feud, but the stuff going on at “Grey’s” is especially nasty. The latest installment of a serial feud was Isaiah Washington, who plays sexy Dr. Burke, bellowing at a post-Golden Globes press conference that he “did not call T.R. (Knight, who plays Dr. O’Malley) a faggot.”
Which, according to several on-set reports and Knight himself on Tuesday’s “Ellen DeGeneres Show,” Washington most certainly did.
In another post-Globes interview, cast member Katherine Heigl (Dr. Stevens) lit into Washington, calling his post-Globe remarks “inappropriate” and suggesting that he keep his trap shut in public.
The original incident, way back in October, was apparently prompted by Knight’s tardiness on a day of filming. Washington is reported to have thus called Knight by the aforementioned nasty, homophobic epithet.
Before that ickiness broke in the press, Knight “outed” himself in a People magazine interview, an attempt to pre-empt hysterical press about his sexual orientation, which heretofore had not been public.
In October, Washington insisted he never used the offending word; Knight said things were “cool between us.”
That coolness apparently has dissolved into considerable heat, not to mention ugliness. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) has criticized Washington and is now asking to meet with him to discuss “the destructive impact of these kinds of anti-gay slurs.” So far, no response from the actor.
For the last time, Simon, zip it!
Judge Simon Cowell hit a new low Wednesday night when he referred to one auditioner in Seattle as “almost nonhuman,” another as “a bush baby” and still another as “a giraffe.”
Let’s stipulate that the Seattle wannabes were an especially weird look and sounding group. It’s hard to deny that. But these are actual human beings, some with rather apparent physical and mental problems. The other-worldly Nick from Seattle is a prime example. But it serves no purpose to humiliate them.
So here’s my new rule for Simon: Refrain absolutely and forever from commenting on any contestant’s physical appearance. Just don’t do it. There’s plenty of room to rip their singing skills, so stay away from mean remarks about personal appearance.
By the way, the sixth season “Idol” debut on Tuesday night pulled in the largest season premiere ratings ever — a whopping 37.3 million viewers.
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Early ‘Idol’ is terrifying
Happy as I am to have Fox’s “American Idol” back in my life, I dread the next few weeks of geek-filled auditions.
I know some people live for these excruciating performances — like last night’s totally delusional juggler/singer, the one who burst into four-letter words and then uncontrollable sobs.
But I just feel awful watching them. Why don’t I turn away, watch PBS? Well, because it’s my job to live and breathe “Idol” for the next four months. If I don’t watch, how can I write about a show that’s destined to be No. 1 from now through May?
The opening episode Tuesday night, showcasing the deadly auditions from Minneapolis, made my skin crawl from beginning to end. Previews of tonight’s freak show from Seattle looked even worse.
In Minneapolis there seemed to be a preponderance of untalented, unattractive men. There was at least one scary woman — the hefty blonde gal with the excessive black eye makeup who described herself as “Idol’s” No. 1 fan. But even she seemed mild compared to the dude in the cowboy hat who thought he was singing Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues.” Which he wasn’t.
Most of these people are so pathetic and so clearly unaware of how awful they look and how bad they sound that I worry about their grasps on reality.
I also worry about the brutal rejections they receive. Couldn’t such criticism set off a dire reaction? These people clearly are not living in the real world to begin with if they actually think they have a chance on “American Idol.” Making fun of the less fortunate, which is clearly what these episodes set out to do, seems cheap and cruel.
The trainwreck last night involved more than the contestants, however. I don’t know exactly what’s going on with Paula Abdul, but she was a mess. Was she loaded? Sleep-deprived? Wacked out on the frigid weather in Minneapolis? Something was wrong. She slurred and slumped for the entire two hours. Simon and Randy should do an intervention — before it’s too late.
Oh, and in other “Idol” developments, Diana Ross said on Tuesday’s “Late Show with David Letterman” that she will be functioning as “a mentor” on “Idol” this season. Talk about a job that needed filling!
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Panic and the ice
Let’s stipulate that an ice storm in tropical Central Texas is big news and a public safety concern.
But last night, in what was repeatedly referred to as “a lull” in the inclement weather, did we really need all those panic alerts in the middle of the Golden Globes?
I deeply appreciate the work that KXAN’s Jim Spencer and Laura Skirde do. I think they’re both first-rate at their jobs.
But, really, updates every 10 to 15 minutes, plus crawls (at one point there were two crawls on top of each other, moving along at different speeds), plus a map, just seemed excessive. Toward the end of the Globes, at exactly 9:51 (with only 9 minutes to go before the 10 p.m. newscast), a weather update was squeezed in. Couldn’t this have wanted until the newscast?
I’m not picking on KXAN, folks. Well, OK, I am a little. I’m sure every local station in town was doing the same thing, but I just happened to be watching NBC’s “Golden Globe Awards.”
Back to the Globes … The highlight of the evening for me was America Ferrera squealing like a little girl when “Ugly Betty” won the Best Comedy award and then bursting into tears she she won for Best Comic Actress.
And didn’t Ferrera look fabulous? Only in Hollywood would someone who looks like Ferrera be considered even remotely fat. Real women do have curves, and so does Fererra. I love it that she’s becoming America’s sweetheart.
Other highlights: Alec Baldwin winning Best Comic Actor for his hilarious work as the ego-infused network exec on “30 Rock” (he’s so much funnier than star Tina Fey), and Kyra Sedgwick winning Best Dramatic Actress for her drawling detective Brenda Johnson on “The Closer.”
“Grey’s Anatomy” winning for Best Drama was totally predictable and considerably less exciting.
Overall, the Golden Globes, famous for spontaneous silliness, was rather tame. Perhaps that’s because it turned into the Helen Mirren Show. Not that she isn’t enormously deserving for her work in the TV miniseries “Elizabeth I” and the movie “The Queen.” It just made for a strangely tame night — with the singular exception of Sacha Baron Cohen’s detailed description of his co-stars lower anatomy and flatulence.
Axed serial closures? Maybe
At the Television Critics Association winter confab in Los Angeles over the weekend, ABC entertainment chief Stephen McPherson said that three of the network’s highly-praised but little-watched (and quickly canceled) serial dramas might have resolutions after all.
“Day Break,” yanked after five weeks, will return with remaining episodes on ABC.com at the end of February. Online-only isn’t the best solution, but at least it’s something.
“The Nine” and “Six Degrees” might actually get back on the air to finish their 13-episode runs before the end of the season. No dates were announced, so who knows if this will really happen. McPherson may have just been testing the waters for interest.
Lance with Dr. Gupta on CNN
Look for our very own Lance Armstrong to join CNN’s medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta for a serious chat about cancer.
“Saving Your Life” airs 7 p.m. Saturday on CNN.
Joining our seven-time Tour de Fance champ and Gupta will be Dr. Harold Freeman, associate director of the National Cancer Institute and several other experts and cancer survivors.
You might recall that Gupta hosted an installment of his regular CNN series “Fit Nation” in Austin in April. Armstrong was a featured guest at the event, which was taped at Gregory Gym on the University of Texas campus.
“Lance’s defeat of cancer and his unprecedented seven Tour de France wins is a remarkable testament to his drive, motivation and passion for healthy living,” Gupta says in Saturday’s special. “It could be argued that he might be the fittest man on the planet.”
Stock up for the upcoming TV marathon
Boy, next week is going to be stuffed with must-see shows. And unless you want to be behind the curve on water-cooler discussions (or have certain things spoiled for you), it’s probably best not to lean on TiVo too heavily.
So clear the decks for the two-night, four-hour return of Fox’s “24” on Sunday and Monday. Monday nights’ “Golden Globes” on NBC will just have to either be recorded or checked on during “24” commercial breaks. It’s a fun awards show but not worth missing a single scene of “24” for.
Then Tuesday and Wednesday, for two hours each night, hunker down for “American Idol.” Unless, like me, you can’t stand the early installments featuring really awful wannabes.
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Rosie and Donald: And the beatings go on …
Call me shallow (OK, you can stop now), but I find this Donald-Rosie feud fascinating. It’s so juicy it’s almost as if the “Dynasty” writers were penning it.
In case you’ve been melting on a polar ice cap for the past month or so, Rosie O’Donnell made fun of Donald Trump’s come-over hair on “The View” and then criticized his handling of the scandal involving the hard-partying winner of his Miss USA pageant. The Donald retorted by calling Rosie any number of unattractive things, including “fat.”
A new round of ammo was fired this week when Barbara Walters and Rosie appeared together on “The View” to refer to Trump as “a poor, pathetic man.” In reply, Trump said both women were liars … and then he got ugly.
“Barbara Walters has taken the low road for the sake of her show,” Trump said in a statement. “Barbara has become a sad figurehead dominated by a third-rate comedian.”
The name-calling that has gotten the least attention, however, is Trump twice referring to O’Donnell as “a degenerate.” What exactly does he mean by that? Nobody has asked, not even Rosie, but it seems to be a thinly veiled homophobic remark. O’Donnell, of course, is a lesbian. She’s also legally married to her partner, and the couple is raising four children together.
Somebody should unmask Trump for what he really is: a sour, ego-bloated wacko with serious hate in his heart. Although he claimed the latest incarnation of his reality show, “The Apprentice: L.A.” was “No. 1, a huge hit,” Nielsen, which probably knows better, says it was third in its time period for Sunday’s debut. Hah! Donald, you’re fired!
When two egos collide, Part 2
Comedy Central star Stephen Colbert, who bases his on-air alter ego on cable pundit Bill O’Reilly, is scheduled to have a two-part meeting with his muse soon.
On Jan. 18, Colbert plans to visit Fox News’ “The O’Reilly Factor.” Since Colbert is rarely, if ever, out of character, this should be a rather startling event. How will we be able to tell them apart?
“It is an honor to speak face to face with a broadcasting legend, and I feel the same way about Mr. O’Reilly,” Colbert proclaimed in a statement.
Later on the night of Jan. 18, O’Reilly will return the favor by dropping in on “The Colbert Report.” Can the universe survive?
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Alternative reality
If the White House could spin tonight’s “Iraq strategy” speech by President Bush as a new reality show, maybe people would be more excited about the prime-time interruption.
Personally, I’m just glad the prez took the 8 p.m. time slot and not the earlier hour, which would have interrupted my weekly dose of “Friday Night Lights” — and ruined my entire week.
But I think too-GQ presidential spokesman Tony Snow should investigate the reality show approach to the war. With about a 35 percent approval rating, what have they got to lose?
Bush is, after all, “Armed & Famous” and is likely to play some version of “Deal or No Deal” with the new Democratic majority in Congress. The deal? Fork over 20,000 more troops for the war, to which the Congress could respond, “No deal!”
Maybe we could come up with a decent solution to this ongoing, tragic conflict if an innovative and patriotic reality producer concocted an appropriate game show. The winner would get to lead the parade down New York’s Fifth Avenue when our soldiers come home.
Something to consider …
Austin’s Birds fly onto ‘Tease’
Stylists from Austin’s Birds Barbershop on South Lamar Boulevard will compete on the debut episode of the Oxygen Network’s new reality hairstyling series, “Tease,” tonight at 8.
Hosted by “Dancing with the Stars” celeb Lisa Rinna, the premiere will feature Birds’ art director Laura Harkness, colorist Allie Barnard and co-owner Erin Portman.
In each episode. two aspiring stylists are pitted against each other to see who can produce the best hair makeover in just 30 minutes. A celebrity panel of judges critiques the models, while the audience picks their favorite. This winner then faces off against a high-profile celebrity stylist in a 90-minute race to win the show’s prize: The Silver Scissors!
“We’re very humbled that in just under a year in business, a national program like ‘Tease’ has chosen Birds Barbershop’s talent to represent Austin,” said Portman, who served as stylists’ assistant on the show. “I won’t spoil the ending, but suffice it to say that Laura and Allie rock on this episode.”
Tony Romo’s pain is NBC’s gain
By the narrowest of margins, NBC finished first in the latest Nielsen ratings.
Sunday’s prime-time NFL playoff game between the Dallas Cowboys and Seattle Seahawks, the one Dallas quarterback Tony Romo flubbed and wound up weeping about in the middle of the field, was almost solely responsible for the Peacock’s victory.
The game drew an audience of 26.77 million people, according to Nielsen Media Research. The only other NBC show in the top group was “Law & Order: SVU.”
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People! What’s Your Choice?
“The People’s Choice Awards,” tonight at 8 on CBS, don’t mean squat in terms of prestige or excellence. They are based on a popularity poll, which you, too, can participate in on the official People’s Web Site. You also can see the full list of nominees in music, movies and TV there.
The TV selections are pretty bare because The People acknowledge free, over-the-air TV only. No cable, so no “Wire,” “Shield” or “Nip/Tuck.”
Here are The People’s TV categories, such as they are:
Favorite New TV Drama: “Brothers & Sisters,” “Heroes,” “Ugly Betty.”
What, no “Friday Night Lights?” Any award category that fails to mention the best new drama of the season probably should be ignored. But of the pitiful choices given, “Ugly Betty” is the likely choice.
Favorite TV Drama: “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “House”
Glaring omissions in this category include “24,” “Boston Legal,” “ER” (enjoying a renaissance this season) and “Prison Break.” Because it’s such a super-hyped show, look for “Grey’s” to take home the ugly glass prize.
Favorite New TV Comedy: “30 Rock,” “The Class,” “‘Til Death.”
Too bad this list was compiled before “The Knights of Prosperity” debuted. Look for “30 Rock” to win this one, but pickings are really slim.
Favorite TV Comedy: “The King of Queens,” “My Name Is Earl,” “Two and a Half Men”
Oh, please. No “Office?” And who keeps thinking “King of Queens” is funny? Please confess and let me set you straight. Heck, even “How I Met Your Mother” is funnier than “King of Queens.” Given the sorry choices, “Earl” should win here.
Favorite TV Comedy — Animated: “Family Guy,” “King of the Hill,” “The Simpsons”
Without cable, there’s no “South Park,” but “King of the Hill,” the brainchild of Austin’s own Mike Judge, deserves any award available for this its final season.
* Favorite Competition/Reality Show*: “American Idol,” “Deal or No Deal,” “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”
Thank you, People, for totally ignoring Donald Trump. Can’t we all just ignore him? Unfortunately, The People also ignored “Amazing Race,” but at least “American Idol” would be a worthy winner.
Favorite Female TV Star: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Eva Longoria, Julia Louis-Dreyfus
The acting categories are almost too stupid to acknowledge. Three men and three women in all of TV? They’re not even divided between comedy and drama. How stupid is that? None of the three women nominated are worth considering, so I say we ignore them all. Connie Britton, coach’s down-home wife on “Friday Night Lights” should be up for and win this one.
Favorite Male TV Star: Patrick Dempsey, Charlie Sheen, Kiefer Sutherland
OK, give it to Sutherland for all the hard work he does on “24,” but why isn’t James Spader (“Boston Legal”) or John Stamos (“ER”) in the mix? Stupid.
Favorite Talk Show Host: Ellen DeGeneres, Jay Leno, Oprah Winfrey
Really, People, do you care?
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How good is your ‘gay-dar?’
Ladies, how good is your “gay-dar”?
Lifetime has concocted a reality show called “Gay, Straight or Taken” that sends one woman per episode on dates with three men with the goal of figuring out which one might be available to her needs.
Each week the cable network will air back-to-back episodes of this updated “Dating Game.” First up tonight at 7 is Jenner, a 28-year-old real estate agent who says her perfect date involves “wine, ice cream and a knock-out kiss.”
At 7:30, 24-year-old Jilina gets to evaluate three hunky guys. Jilina, by the way, describes herself as “honest and delicious.” We’ll be the judge of that.
Viewers know the premise of the show, but at the beginning of their three-part dating extravaganza, the women do not.
“I feel like I am at Toys ‘R’ Us, and you get to pick out which favorite toy you want,” coos Jenner upon meeting bartender Luciano, nightclub promoter Mike and personal trainer/actor Chris.
Then she gets a phone call from one of the guy’s girlfriends, followed by a call from a boyfriend. The goal of the game becomes apparent.
But how are these women supposed to measure availability and sexual orientation? Clues are allegedly found during a set of activities on the dates. Can you find homo hints in a game of touch football, swimming, salsa dancing, yoga and massage?
“Gay, Straight or Taken” is silly enough to draw a crowd, sort of like the sight of thong-wearing Leslie strolling on Sixth Street. Or maybe it’s silly enough to be offensive. The women contestants are decidedly ditzy, as are the male trios, so it’s safe to assume none of this is intended to be taken seriously. All in all, it’s an odd entry in the ever-odder reality genre.
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C’mon! Let’s dump Trump!
Some people just can’t take no for an answer, and apparently Donald Trump is one of those people.
Inexplicably the orange-haired real estate tycoon is still operating under the delusion that he’s a TV star and that his reality show, “The Apprentice,” is a top-rated show.
In his recent meltdown over Rosie O’Donnell, who had the unmitigated gall to criticize him on “The View,” Trump bragged that his show is “a huge hit.” In a week clearly designed to generate publicity, good or bad, before “The Apprentice” begins a new season on NBC this Sunday, Trump alternately bragged about himself and called O’Donnell a “fat slob” and “a degenerate.”
First things first: “The Apprentice” hasn’t been a hit since its 2004 season debut, and that had more to do with engaging vixen Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth than Trump. For about 10 minutes, popular culture was infused with the phrase, “You’re fired.” And then pretty much nobody cared.
But somehow Trump bullied NBC into sticking with him, even though last season’s show plummeted from 20 million viewers to less than 11 million viewers. And his personally promoted spinoff, featuring domestic diva Martha Stewart sending out hand-written termination notes, bit the dust in a hurry.
Like hydrilla, Trump keeps coming back. This time, “The Apprentice” will be based in Los Angeles, and the losing team will live in tents instead of the requisite Trump Tower-style mansion. Big whup. Carolyn Kepcher, Trump’s former protege, has been fired, replaced by Trump’s daughter Ivanka. So what?
One of my New Year’s resolutions is to curb my natural tendency to let mean-spirited people get the better of me, but I just can’t help myself when it comes to Trump. This is a guy whose towering ego drives everything he touches. He exaggerates his own success to the point of outright falsehood (is he really worth “billions and billions of dollars” as he claims?). And his slams against Rosie were unwarranted, pathetic and borderline homophobic.
If NBC had a spine, it would axe the new “Apprentice” before its new season debut. But The Donald is coming back, and now it’s up to us to show him just how popular he is.
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“O.C.” out, Grissom not …
“The O.C.,” Fox’s steamy soap about spoiled rich kids and their conniving parents, has been axed. The finale will air Feb. 22.
Creator-producer Josh Schwartz says in a statement that the conclusion will deliver “real closure” to the four-year-old steamy beach saga.
Set in Orange County’s Newport Beach, a wealthy community that previously not even Californians refer to as the O.C., the stories revolved around outsider Ryan, played by Austin’s own Benjamin McKenzie. Ryan became an adopted member of the Cohen family when lawyer Daddy Cohen (Peter Gallagher) defended him in a criminal case. Ryan and Cohen son Seth (Adam Brody) became bosom buddies.
After a scorching 2003-2004 season, “The O.C.” began to fade. Young viewers are notoriously fickle, and after the newness wore off — and after the show jumped the shark by killing off Ryan’s love Marissa (Mischa Barton) at the end of last season — the writing was on (off?) the wall.
The pop-culture phenom helped launch several careers, not the least of which was McKenzie, whose performance in the film “Junebug” was widely praised and who undoubtedly will move on to bigger and better things. We’ll stay tuned to him.
Grissom’s grand exit only temporary
Talk about false advertising! For weeks now we’ve seen the sorrowful, misty-eyed teases about Grissom leaving “CSI.”
“So, you’re really going?” a woeful Sarah says to him in one promo.
Well, tonight Grissom, the Columbo-like Las Vegas investigator, does indeed depart — but not for long. He’ll be back in about a month, after recharging his batteries with a teaching sabbatical on the East Coast.
Why the severe nonsweeps plot twist? Because William Petersen, who plays Grissom and frequently gripes about how unchallenging his “CSI” role is, decided to take a sabbatical himself. He’ll be starring in a play in Rhode Island.
Grissom/Petersen will be back on the hit CBS show before some viewers realize he was gone. In the meantime, Liev Schreiber will join the cast Jan. 18 for four episodes.
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A few good ‘Knights’
Given the sorry state of sitcoms this season, you’ve got to wonder why ABC held off so long on “Knights of Prosperity,” an actually funny comedy that debuts tonight at 8 on ABC.
Maybe it was the indecision on the title that held it up. When the show was first pitched last summer, it was called “Let’s Rob Mick Jagger.” That didn’t fly with the network, so producer Rob Burnett mulled several other titles until finally coming up with “Knights of Prosperity,” which isn’t nearly as descriptive as “Let’s Rob Mick.”
Donal Logue stars as Eugene Gurkin, a lovable lump and frustrated janitor who has been dreaming of the good life his whole less-than-good life. He finally comes up with a plan: robbing famous people who have more loot than they deserve or could ever use. First up, he decides, will be Mr. Rolling Stones Himself.
This is not a job that can be done alone, so Eugene enlists his merry band of thieves to assist, and that’s when the fun begins.
Jagger filmed his scenes, resplendent in gold lamé, while on tour in New Zealand. What began as about a 20-second cameo turned into much more.
“He couldn’t have been nicer or more professional,” Burnett told TV critics at the screening. “He ad libbed with a lot of energy. It was a breeze.”
If the show is successful, the plan is for Eugene and chums to rob other well-known, filthy-rich folks in New York. Donald Trump? Maybe. The actual Mick attack will take place at the end of the season; planning and various unsuccessful attempts will lead up to the real heist.
‘Dirt’ … never mind
OK, this is what happens when you work at home during your vacation.
I decided to take a gander at FX’s new drama “Dirt” while I was on my annual holiday nesting. I must have had way too much eggnog, because I blogged only Tuesday that the show was good.
Well, I caught part of the show again during last night’s FX debut, and discovered, to my horror, that “Dirt” is really two shows: one pretty good, one not so good.
The good one is the one that focuses on paparazzo Don Konkey, played by Ian Hart. He’s a sometimes-medicated schizophrenic with a heart of gold who gives this show, about sleazy Hollywood types and the tabloid rag that covers them, some heart and focus.
The bad part is just about any scene with star Courteney Cox. As the glamorous, steely editor of the scandal-fueled publication, she’s inordinately shallow and one-dimensional. It’s almost as if “Dirt” stops when she swoops into the picture and something more closely resembling “Dynasty” begins.
So I hereby eat my words of Tuesday. Barring dramatic improvements, “Dirt” isn’t worth the effort.
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Are you ready for some ‘Dirt?’
Sick of bowl games? Well, maybe not after last night’s Boise State vs. Oklahoma drama (in case you toddled off to bed too early, the Boise Broncos won in a heart-stopper).
But if you’ve pigged out on pigskin over the past week and long for something different, FX is serving up a juicy new drama about life in the doubly sleazy worlds of entertainment celebrity and tabloid journalism.
Courteney Cox, doffing her persona as the goofy, lovable Monica on “Friends,” takes a nasty turn in “Dirt,” which debuts tonight at 9. Like other FX dramas (“The Shield,” “Rescue Me” and “Nip/Tuck,” to name a trio), this newcomer is over-the-top and envelope-pushing.
Cox plays Lucy Spiller, the cold-hearted editor of two tabloids, one mainstream and one that revels in the lurid sins and scandals of Hollywood. Lucy is ambitious, consumed with her job and herself and, as far as we can tell, nearly devoid of human emotion.
Except when it comes to her loyal paparazzo, Don Konkey, played by Ian Hart. Lucy has a bit of a soft spot for Don, a schizophrenic whose mental battles are eased by Hawaiian music.
The weekly installments of “Dirt” will be driven by whatever star scandal is unfolding at the time: a young star’s substance abuse or pregnancy, a closeted gay popping out of the closet, etc. The spotlight will be on the sleazy celebs and the equally sleazy tabloid folks who pursue them.
Like other FX dramas, the show is stylish and quirky. Most of the main characters are too flawed and weird to be truly likeable. But they’re definitely intriguing, and Cox is surprisingly good at being repellent.
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