TV Alums Have Babies

Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Comedy, Drama, King of Queens, Internet,

Two big baby announcements—courtesy of two past television stars. First up, Felicity‘s Keri Russell and hubby Shane Deary welcomed baby boy River Russell on June 9th. This is the first baby for the pair, who were married on Valentine’s Day after dating for a few years. She recently appeared on the big screen in Waitress, and you may remember her from a guest-starring gig on Scrubs. Her appearance on the comedy only stands out to me because I thought she didn’t bring much to the role. And in other baby news… King of Queens’ star Kevin James added a second daughter to his growing family. Wife (and model—lucky guy!), Steffania De La Cruz, gave birth to baby Shea Joelle on June 14th. She’ll be joining big sis Sienna-Marie, who will be three this fall. James, you’ll recall, finished up the final season (number nine) of King of Queens this year and can be seen in theaters soon in I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry with Adam Sandler. On a side note, I checked out one episode of his co-star Leah Remini’s new web series In the Motherhood, and it’s very funny (also includes comedian Chelsea Handler, who is too funny). Anyway, worth checking out!

Read More | Zap2it

Big Brother Debuts July 5

Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Prime Time, Reality, CBS, Internet,

OK, normally I’d be frothing at the mouth for the next season of Big Brother to begin, but this year I’m feeling lukewarm about it. Maybe it’s because of the rather bland ‘All-Stars’ edition last year… maybe it’s because I’ve (shudder) gotten too old for it? Mostly, I think it’s because of the rigorous three-nights-per-week that occupy way too much of my summer! However, with the promise of a new season comes the promise of a new twist. This go-around, there hasn’t been much mention of what will happen in the house to change up the game, but viewers will have some uncensored access to the goings-on after dark. Dubbed “Big Brother: After Dark,” fans can access Showtime’s “Shotoo” live feed from midnight to 3 a.m. EST (so it’s actually the house happenings from 9 to midnight). This uncensored look has the potential for lots of racy stuff, including nudity, so I guess that should grab some viewers. Sounds like a lot of extra time wasted to me! Look for the eighth season of Big Brother, beginning July 5th, airing Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday nights. 24/7 feeds are also available on RealNetworks and SuperPass, plus “House Calls” and mobile phone content from CBS. Basically, Big Brother overload!

Read More | Zap2it

Housewives Hottie Campaigning to Remain on Show

Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Drama, Prime Time, ABC, Desperate Housewives, Internet,

Well, I guess he’s a hottie if you’re a teenager. Or Paris Hilton. Josh Henderson, who plays Austin McCann on Desperate Housewives, has made an online plea to bring his character back. On March 3rd, he was told to leave Wisteria Lane by Orson, played by Kyle MacLachlan, after getting his step-daughter pregnant. Was this the end for Austin on the show? It would seem there would be more of this story to tell, as he also came to the realization that he loved Susan’s (Teri Hatcher) daughter, Julie. Who knows? The actor has been enjoying the privileged life, including being seen about town with Paris Hilton. Henderson said in a recent interview, “It was sad to leave the show, but I don’t believe Desperate Housewives fans have seen the last of me.” Here’s where the fans come in, accessing the “Save Austin” petition from Henderson’s MySpace page. The petition received thousands of virtual signatures and Henderson said of the site, “I spend up to two hours a day on correspondence. Hearing from fans on the Internet and being able to directly respond to the fan base is exciting.”

Read More | AOL News

Alec Baldwin’s Disgraceful Voicemail

Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Comedy, Prime Time, NBC, Gossip, Internet, Rumors,

Oh, Alec. You’ve really let me down. After I’ve posted numerous blogs about your genius on 30 Rock… after watching yet another brilliant episode last night and wondering why people dislike you… I wake up this morning to read the news about the voicemail message you left for your daughter. Bad, bad Baldwin. If you haven’t heard yet, TMZ.com posted a voicemail message that Baldwin left for his 11-year-old daughter, Ireland. Apparently she missed their scheduled phone call and he went on a rant that included calling her a “rude little pig” and saying “You have humiliated me for the last time.” Oh, my heart just sank—I thought it must be some kind of joke. But, afraid not. Baldwin’s rep quickly made a statement that he “acknowledges that he should have used different language in parenting his child” but that “everyone who knows him privately knows what he has been put through for the past six years.” Uh, I don’t know—yes, he’s been through a lot fighting for custody of Ireland for three years (and the public will never really know the scope of his feud with Kim Basinger), but that’s no reason for speaking that way to your child. I’ve been over at the 30 Rock section of the NBC. com website and there are plenty of comments that people will not watch the show any longer and that Baldwin should be fired.

Read More | People

Leah Remini Stars in Mommy Webisodes

Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Comedy, Daytime, Prime Time, Talk Shows, King of Queens, Internet,

If you need a Leah Remini fix, look no further than MSN in May. She is, of course, on the verge of signing off from The King of Queens, after nine years on the air. Remini will appear in a webisode series about motherhood, with the story lines submitted by real-life moms. In the Motherhood begins May 11th on MSN at http://www.inthemotherhood.com. Over the course of five episodes, three women friends (who are moms) reveal their “ever-hectic but always humorous” lives. The webisodes are the result of visitor nominations for the best entries that have been submitted, including worst public meltdown and funniest potty training story. But that’s not all—the webisodes can also be seen on Suave and Sprint, as well as on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Each episode is just five minutes, so (while I’m not a big Remini fan), it may be worth a look.

Read More | Yahoo! News

Sanjaya a Hot Blog Topic

Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Prime Time, Reality, FOX, American Idol, Internet,

You’ve got to hand it to American Idol contestant Sanjaya Malakar—what he lacks in talent, he certainly makes up for in media exposure. He’s the talk of entertainment news shows and web sites, and of course, great fodder for blog discussions. Research firm Nielsen BuzzMetrics has seen significant references to the hairstyle chameleon, reporting that from February 18th to April 8th, there has been a 338% increase in blog references. With each passing week, even more chatter about Sanjaya is online—with many speculating how long he can survive in the contest and if Howard Stern is having any impact on voting. No one could have predicted that he would have made it this far, and every week he seems a step closer to getting the boot. But he’s been safe every week, despite others delivering stronger performances. Simon Cowell has even threatened to quit Idol if Sanjaya wins. Who knows, maybe that threat is what’s motivating people to vote for Sanjaya?

Read More | Reuters

Wikipedia Locks Contributions After Episode of The Office

Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Comedy, Prime Time, NBC, The Office, Internet,

If you watched last week’s episode of The Office called “The Negotiation,” you likely got a few laughs off of Michael Scott’s use of Wikipedia for his negotiating tactics. Wikipedia has become the go-to source for information, but most people take it with a grain of salt. Not clueless Michael Scott, who seemed to worship the knowledge site and rely heavily on its advice, saying, “Wikipedia is the best thing ever. Anyone in the world can write anything they want about any subject. So you know you are getting the best possible information.” So, with the exposure on The Office, you can bet that Wikipedia saw a jump in traffic—so much so that the site had to put the negotiation topic on lockdown after visitors started to add tactics that Michael Scott had talked about during the episode. “It’s definitely the result of that episode,” Wikipedia spokeswoman Sandra Ordonez said Thursday.

Read More | E! Online

Get Your Stand-up Schooling Online

Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Comedy, Cable, Cable/Satellite, Internet,

If you’ve ever dreamed of making it big in stand-up comedy, Comedy Central may just have your first step towards that dream. Today, Comedy Central has started a series of online classes to teach interested comedians-in-training about the finer points of the craft. This is a cool little feature, with 10 broadband video classes called “Crash Course in Comedy.” OK, so maybe it’s not the quick route to comedy stardom, but instructor Ted Alexandro of Comedy Central Presents will provide some helpful guidance on developing jokes, writing and overall stage presence. To further show just how it’s done, he’ll show past clips of Dave Attell, Lewis Black and Greg Giraldo. As a fun little extra, students can build a customized avatar and then have their virtual guy/gal read their jokes. Check it out, and maybe someday we’ll be seeing you on a Comedy Central special.

Read More | Yahoo! News

MADtv Recruits Through YouTube

Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Comedy, Late Night, Internet,

MADtv, which I didn’t even realize was still on, has recruited their latest cast member through YouTube. Lisa Donovan, who moved to Los Angeles to become an actor, previously auctioned for MADtv, but didn’t get the gig. She started her own production company, Zappin Productions, where she created a number of short films. Her videos are available on YouTube, and were popular enough to be featured on the home page. MADtv‘s casting director found the videos on YouTube and asked Donovan to audition again. This time, she nailed it. A Cinderella story in the making—get your stuff up on YouTube and see if it doesn’t land you a dream job. MADtv airs on Saturdays at 11:00 p.m. Donovan can be seen beginning on February 17th.

Read More | Comingsoon.net

American Idol Rules the Ratings

Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Music, Prime Time, Reality, FOX, American Idol, Internet, Ratings,

Despite my grumblings yesterday where I explained that I can’t watch the auditions of American Idol, the little talent show seemed to do just fine in the ratings. The premiere of the sixth season kicked off with 37.3 million viewers tuning in—a five percent jump from last year’s season premiere. Not bad, right? Well, seems some folks are becoming as disenchanted as I am, according to an article on Reuters. While the show garnered the highest viewership in American Idol‘s history, it still left some dissatisfied. Last night’s show included auditions from Minneapolis, with most of the wannabes not quite making the grade. One fan posted on Americanidol.com’s message board: “I think that we need to see more of the good with the bad. Not only did we get bad but it seemed to be longer segments of individuals… I’m not going to waste my time tonight.” So my critique yesterday was not too far off the mark—another fan on Yahoo’s message boards said, “Too much of a bad thing is not so entertaining… The bad ones are just mostly ridiculous, by this point.” Amen.

(You can find all the American Idol 6 posts here.)

Read More | Reuters