Fox has announced that "Idol Gives Back," the fund-raiser that in its inaugural edition generated $76 million for charity, this season will be broadcast Wednesday, April 9, from 8 to 10 pm/ET.Promising an event "bigger and more ambitious than ever," Fox thus far has lined up Bono, Brad Pitt, Reese Witherspoon, Miley Cyrus, Mariah Carey, Eli Manning, Peyton Manning, Fergie, Chris Daughtry, Carrie Underwood, Annie Lennox, John Legend and Snoop Dogg to participate. Kelly Clarkson must be busy. — Matt Mitovich
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Question: I don't imagine Saturday Night Live is on your radar, but I'm still a big fan of the show and rarely miss it. (Thank heaven for my DVR, which allows me to record the show and zip past the lamer sketches and lousy musical guests.) The last couple of years I've noticed a trend that's starting to irk me, and I'll use last week's show with Brian Williams as an example. He was a terrific host. The first two sketches he appeared in were hilarious (as a firefighter with a spot-on "New Yawk" accent and an underwhelmed Publishers Clearing House winner), but the rest of the night he only played "himself." Admittedly, he got off a great one-liner in the sketch about the Democratic debate: "The media's decided we just like Hillary better," or words to that effect. But I've noticed that almost every week now, the guest host is reduced to playing him- or herself in a preponderance of the sketches. Perhaps this technique works when the host is a nonperformer (say, Al Gore or Derek Jeter), ...
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It’s a clash of NFL titans on Sunday, when the 7-0 Indianapolis Colts host the 8-0 New England Patriots in what’s already being billed as "the game of the century" (Nov. 4, 4:15 pm/ET, on CBS). The match-up marks the first-ever meeting between two teams with records of 7-0 or better."This game speaks for itself," said CBS announcer Jim Nantz, who will be calling the game alongside Phil Simms. "It’s going to be magnificent, we don’t need to hype it. What you have here is the rivalry of its era."The AFC rivals have played 70 times, with the Patriots leading the series 43-27. Quarterbacks Tom Brady and Peyton Manning have faced off nine times in their careers, with Brady holding a 6-3 edge.The showdown is a rematch of last season’s AFC Championship game, where the Colts beat the Patriots, 38-34, and advanced to Super Bowl XLI. Sunday’s game "will be every bit as exciting and high scoring as in January," Nantz predicts. CBS will debut new "FreezeCam" techno...
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For additional NFL preview, read "Brett Favre's Back and Chasing New Records" and "Big Name QBs Under Fire".
And you thought Memorial Day weekend was the time to be in Indy? Tonight, the racing capital is football central. John Mellencamp, Faith Hill and Kelly Clarkson provide the music for the NFL Opening Kickoff 2007 (NBC and NFLNET, 8 pm/ET), and then the defending Super Bowl champion Colts host the New Orleans Saints on NFL Football (NBC, 8:30 pm/ET). “I was always impressed with baseball and the way they celebrated the opening day,” says Peacock analyst John Madden. “Now we’ve got the great opening as well.”
QB
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NBC's Saturday Night Live tackled its largest audience in 10 months this past weekend, with Super Bowl MVP Peyton Manning carrying the ball as guest host and American Idol Carrie Underwood crooning. The real highlight, though, as any parent will tell you, was TV Funhouse's Dora the Explorer spoof. Biting, simply biting. (See video here.)On April 14, Shia LaBeouf (rhymes with LaWhof) hosts, with phone-book-adjacent musical guest Avril Lavigne.
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