NEWS
The View: Oprah’s Half Sister
Jan 25th
We haven’t featured those ladies from The View for a while now – but here they are discussing Oprah’s big bombshell from yesterday!
Yep, in case you missed it – or live under a rock – Oprah revealed on Monday’s show that she had a secret half sister that she had recently been reunited with. It was a powerful, episode in a Farewell Season that has already produced numerous OMG moments (the Season Opener, The Australia Trip, A Double Favorite Things Special, The Return To Williamson episode and many more)
What you may not know is that Oprah’s headline making special attracted her best ratings in 6 years…Wow! Now just imagine how the final Oprah episode EVER is going to rate! And what Oprah will have up her sleeve for her big send-off…
But that’s all come! In the meantime here’s The View ladies in action…
The Golden Globes: Ricky Gervais Skewers Hollywood
Jan 17th
Well I guess he won’t be invited back for a THIRD time!
In case you missed it, here’s Ricky Gervais‘s opening monologue from last night’s Golden Globes Awards.
I’m a big Ricky fan but I’ll admit I wasn’t wowed by his performance last year which was uncharacteristically tame. But Gervais certainly didn’t bite his tongue this time around. Even Robert Downey Jr commented later in the event how ‘mean spirited’ the evening was (before promptly launching into a rather creepy turn revolving around all the women he’d like to sleep with – yuck!)
Gervais took potshots at The Tourist, The Angelina Jolie / Johnny Depp flop that mysteriously earned itself a Golden Globe nomination. Most uncomfortable the two stars were in the room (though notably off camera for this segment). Later Ricky poked fun at Hugh Hefner – an easy target admittedly – with a funny but pretty edgy gag for 8 o clock in the evening revolving around his 20-something wife and hand jobs. And then there was Ricky’s gag introducing the Golden Globes head honcho – “Next up Eva Longoria has the daunting task of introducing the head of the Hollywood Foreign Press. That’s nothing – I just had to help him More >
The View: Tragedy in Tucson
Jan 10th
The ladies of The View are back – and straight into a burning Hot Topic today…
Following the weekends tragic events in Tucson which left congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords fighting for her life and a federal judge and a 9 year old girl dead (among several others) – everyone is talking about Sarah Palin and that infamous ‘crosshairs’ map.
Well today Whoopi, Sherri, Elisabeth and Barbara jumped into the issue for their take… was Palin wrong to produce such an image, will the political climate in America start to change and are there any lessons that can be learned from the tragedy?
It’s an interesting and intelligent debate – though I did miss Joy Behar’s presence – I would love to have heard her thoughts…
Check out the clip below – and send over your own comments!
NETWORK SCORECARD: CBS
Jan 8th
It’s the final day of our Network Scorecards and last to go is CBS, the network currently in pole position and undoubtedly in the best shape of all the broadcast nets – though with one key fly in the ointment.
WHAT’S WORKING:
CBS COMEDY: Critics (myself included) may take potshots at the likes of Two And A Half Men and Rules of Engagement but no one can deny they’re working from a ratings perspective. 8 seasons in and despite star Charlie Sheen’s many scandals, Men is still a Monday night powerhouse, averaging over 14 million viewers this season, and elevating newbie Mike and Molly to a freshman hit. How I Met Your Mother and Rules also deliver solid, though not spectacular figures. And over on Thursdays, The Big Bang Theory has gone on to become the biggest comedy on network TV among the 18-49 demo (though its overall ratings are actually down slightly year to year). CBS’s only comedy fumble? $#*! My Dad Says, which is struggling on the ultra competitive Thursday night and may not see a second season…
REALITY: Who would have thought that the older skewing CBS would enjoy the longest running reality series? But it’s true. While Fox may have American More >
HISTORY PULLS THE KENNEDYS
Jan 8th
Big breaking news from Hollywood yesterday as the History Channel pulled the plug on its costly upcoming mini-series, The Kennedys.
The 8 hour televised event didn’t have a set air date but had been making headlines for months, mainly due to on set images of Katie Holmes as Jackie Kennedy. The series also starred Greg Kinnear as JFK, Barry Pepper as Bobby and Tom Wilkinson as Joseph Kennedy. For the History channel this was big news.
But yesterday the show was canceled by the network. Their main gripe – the show wasn’t factually accurate enough for the standards of History Channel.
Hmm, sounds good on paper, but here’s my question. Who the heck was reading the scripts and signing them off? Where were the History execs on set? Wasn’t anyone watching the edit?
In my experience networks aren’t exactly hands off when it comes to shows – if anything they can get TOO involved. But this isn’t a reality show we’re talking about where you sometimes never know what you’re going to get. This is a scripted mini-series which must have gone through countless rewrites and months of planning before even a frame of film was shot.
Of course there is another explanation… namely that the Kennedys themselves weren’t happy More >
CHANGE OF PLANS: BROOKE WHITE
Jan 6th
What Happens When You Don’t Win American Idol…
So the other day I was flicking through TV Guide when I came across the poster for Fox’s new TV movie, Change of Plans, starring Brooke White…
Brooke White… as in the American Idol contestants from a few years back who reminded everyone of a young Carly Simon? What the heck is she doing in a Saturday night TV movie?
I was big fan of Brooke’s on Season 7 and had hoped she’d go on to a big music career. But first post-Idol single ‘Hold On My Heart’ stalled at number 47 (and that was largely due to an Idol promotional appearance) and the album ‘High Hopes And Heartbreak’ likewise under-performed, shifting a mere 45,000 copies. So I guess Brooke is trying her hand at acting now. And to be fair there are a lot worse things than a TV movie on Fox… who knows maybe it will open up another career for her down the line…
Still it’s another sign that Idol’s star making ability is beginning to wane. Let’s hope Randy, Jennifer and Steven can rustle up some future stars this season…
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: DAMAGES ON DIRECT TV
Jan 5th
Hmm, TV is kind of sleepy at the moment isn’t it?
Last night saw the return of V and Biggest Loser - both of which underwhelmed in the ratings (I’ll have more in my usual Ratings Roundup on Saturday). And then there was Live To Dance with Paula Abdul – which CBS are touting as a big hit but really isn’t! Slim pickings indeed…
Anyway we were contacted by the guys at DIRECTV who wanted to let us know they’re repeating the first three seasons of the Glenn Close legal thrilled Damages, starting tonight at 10pm and running through to the summer when they’ll be premiering the brand new Season 4…
I’ve raved about Damages here on Remote Patrolled before and think it just gets better and better – so if you haven’t caught the show yet and have DIRECTV, do yourself a favor and check it out. It’s a VERY twisty, turny show so make sure you watch it from the start – cause who knows how you’ll catch up otherwise. The show resurrected Ted Danson’s career, launched Rose Byrne’s and proved once again that Close is in a league of her own…
Here’s a clip of Glenn and Rose going head to head – love it!
More >
DOWNTON ABBEY: DUMBED DOWN FOR AMERICA!!!
Jan 3rd
Sorry my American friends!
You all know how much I’ve been raving over the last 6 months about superior UK import Downton Abbey which starts this Sunday on PBS.
I noticed that the 7 episode series had been trimmed down to just 4 episodes for the US version but had assumed this was just a case of UK / US timing adjustments. But now I hear news that the series has actually been CUT from 8 to 6 hours because PBS doesn’t think Americans are smart enough to follow the plot… wow, patronizing, much?
COMING SOON: LIVE TO DANCE
Jan 2nd
When Does It Start: Tuesday 4th January at 8pm / 7c on CBS
In a nutshell: Paula Abdul is back! And she wants you to dance…
What’s It About: Live To Dance is a dance competition show with contestants from across America competing to win a grand prize of $500,000. The series is based on a UK format called Got To Dance, but basically all you need to know is that anyone can enter (singles, groups, kids and oldsters), Paula is judging, alongside Pussycat Doll, Kimberley Wyatt, and Travis Payne, choreographer for Michael’s Jackson’s This Is It, and there’s an Australian host you’ve likely never heard off, Andrew Gunsberg. Oh and Paula swears she won’t be slurring her words this time around… though expect a few seal claps!
TAKE THE POLL: ON THE BUBBLE
Jan 2nd
Happy New Year everyone…
We took a quick break yesterday but now we’re back – with lots of good stuff planned for the coming weeks and months – and some exciting announcements on the way for ourselves and our sister sites, Good Enough Mother and Angry Trainer Fitness (including one this week!)
But before we get to all that it’s time to finish up our end of year poll. You remember we asked you what your favorite show of 2010 was? Well Modern Family was tops – with almost 39% of the vote. While trailing in last place was poor Rubicon, without a single vote! Hmm, no wonder AMC pulled the plug…
So now it’s time for our first poll of 2011 – and this time around we’re looking at those shows that are ‘on the bubble’. Yep, we’re midway through the TV season and there are quite a few shows that only stand a 50-50 chance – at best – of returning in the Fall. But which show most deserves another season? Is it:
