While on the Today show promoting his show Nashville Star, Meredith couldn't resist asking Billy Ray what his take was on the passé issue of Miley's half-naked, provocative photos in Vanity Fair. Daddy Cyrus explained he didn't complain to the magazine by using the lovely metaphor, "The more you stomp in poop, the more it stinks." He even addressed what many called the "creepy" pose between him and his daughter which looked more like boyfriend and girlfriend.
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We forgot how scary lawyer Gloria Allred is! She and Rob Lowe's ex-nanny, Jessica Gibson, appeared on the Today show yesterday to address Gibson's countersuit and claims of sexual assault. Neither Jessica, nor Meredith, could get a word in edgewise once this lady got going. Granted we have no clue who's telling the truth in the "he said, she said" game, but it's safe to say that now that Gloria is on board, it's gonna get ug-ly. But don't worry; she'll make sure the cameras will be there every step of the way.Your take: Do you think Rob Lowe (notorious for these kinds of scandals) is telling the truth, or do you believe the nanny?
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Al Roker by Virginia Sherwood/NBC Photo
Today weatherman Al Roker could be in line to host an upcoming celebrity edition of Family Feud for NBC. NBC and FremantleMedia North insist no deal has been signed, but Variety reports both sides have been in talks.Today cohost Meredith Vieira already holds down double duty as host of the syndicated Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, and Roker has subbed for Vieira on the show from time to time.He also hosted the quiz show Remember This? on MSNBC in the mid-1990s. — J.R. WhalenUpdate: Celebrity Family Feud debuts on July 1 (8 pm/ET on NBC) with Al Roker as feudmaster.
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Al Gore by Heidi Gutman/NBC Universal Photo
Is NBC's 30 Rock at risk of going the way of stunt-casting addict Will & Grace? A piece in USA Today reveals that in addition to Edie Falco's upcoming three-episode stint (first reported by TVGuide.com), no less than former vice president Al Gore, Friends alum David Schwimmer (as an out-of-work actor, natch), Steve Buscemi (as a PI hired by Jack), Meredith Vieira and Carrie "I Now Guest-star for a Living" Fisher have been booked for appearances during Season 2. America's paper also reveals details on Falco's previously unspecified role: She's playing a Democratic congresswoman from New Hampshire who hooks up with... Jack?!As for 30 Rock's season-opener, airing tonight: as funny as it is — and it is funny — dare I opine that next week's episode, for me at least, was even more howl-worthy? Will Arnett slays me.
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Today coanchor Meredith Vieira will make her first return to ABC's The View — where she served as moderator for nine seasons — on Oct. 8, in the name of promoting Who Wants to Be a Millionaire's 1,000th episode and new DVD game.Other dates to save: • Entourage: Season 3 arrives on DVD Oct. 2.• Style Network's Fin-tastic How Do I Look? returns for an eighth season on Oct. 1.
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J.K. Rowling by Eamonn McCormack/WireImage.com
In her only television interview after Saturday's highly anticipated release of the seventh and final installment in the Harry Potter series, author J.K. Rowling will sit down with NBC's Meredith Vieira in Edinburgh, Scotland. This exclusive interview marks the first time Rowling will talk about the worldwide reaction to the series' much-anticipated and speculated-about finale, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. (Spoiler alert) Voldemort is a sled.The interview will air on Today on Thursday, July 26, and Friday, July 27 (before day camp), and during a one-hour Dateline special airing Sunday, July 29. (Parents, cut some slack on bedtimes.)
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NBC News has decided not to pursue a post-prison interview with Paris Hilton. "It's not happening," an NBC News insider said. "We pulled out."The news division had been in discussions with the Hilton family about having the jailed heiress talk with Today coanchor Meredith Vieira next week. The plans appeared to be on track until Friday afternoon, but insiders said the network had become frustrated with the family's demands. NBC News execs may have also been put off by the negative publicity surrounding reports that it was paying for the Hilton interview. At no time did NBC News offer money for the sitdown, sources said. But discussions Hilton reps had with the network's entertainment division about a separate project created the appearance that the news interview was part of the deal. — Reporting by Stephen BattaglioUPDATE: Larry King has since emerged as the one to get Paris Hilton's first out-of-jail sitdown; see Today's News for more.
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To hear the New York Post tell it, NBC may cough up a cool hot million dollars to score Today's Meredith Vieira the first post-jail sitdown with Paris Hilton. The heiress would chat with Mer — not ABC's Barbara Walters, as widely assumed — sometime next week, the day after getting sprung. (According to the New York Times, ABC offered in the nabe of $100,000 for the exclusive, and was basically laughed at.) Supposedly, NBC secured the Q&A by boxing out Matt Lauer, whom the Hiltons feel has dissed their daughter. Neither party, however, is confirming the Post's story... yet. "NBC News has not and will not pay for interviews," a network rep tells Reuters. Adds a spokesperson for NBC's entertainment arm, "We don't have an agreement in place." A Hilton-clan mouthpiece says, "Paris is not being paid for any television interview, nor is [she] being paid for any collateral, including video and photographs related to any television interview" (aka the usual workaround for a new...
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E! premieres Bedtime Stories: The Best of The Girls Next Door Monday at 9 pm/ET, leading into the new season of The Simple Life.... Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira will host and former 60 Minutes boss Don Hewitt will produce for NBC a one-hour celebration of the annual Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular, to air in prime time in December, says Variety.... Gay Robot, an Adam Sandler-produced Comedy Central pilot that never got picked up but instead has been dwelling on MySpace, may find new life as an animated series, says the Hollywood Reporter.... Speaking of Doug Jones (and I was), Pan's Labyrinth topped the DVD sales and rental charts last week. I still haven’t seen it, argh.
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The View by Heidi Gutman/ABC
The View is going to miss Rosie O’Donnell a lot more than I will. That's a minority viewpoint in this office and elsewhere, I’m sure, although there’s no question she is a polarizing figure for many: personally and politically, she’s all about ruffling feathers. This can make for good, or at least provocative, TV, which is why The View will miss her... a point made quite clear Wednesday morning, when Rosie announced she wasn’t able to work out a deal with ABC Daytime to continue beyond her one-year contract negotiations that Barbara Walters pointedly insisted did not not involve her; “This was not my doing and not my choice,” she said.Rosie tried to cushion the blow right off the bat, upon reflecting on the “breaking news” (as she put it ironically) by saying her association with The View is not altogether over. She promises to continue to guest-host, to do hourlong specials on issues that matter to her, and otherwise remain a part of the...
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