Audrina Patridge is known as Lauren Conrad's cute BFF, but for one night in Vegas, she'll be donning lingerie and taking the stage with the Pussycat Dolls. Patridge is joining the other writhers March 28 to celebrate The Hills' new season. The specifics of her act have not been disclosed, but People says that past guest gyraters — including Paris Hilton, Denise Richards and Eva Longoria — have done everything from shimmy in a champagne glass to croon alongside the Dolls. What type of act can we expect from Patridge? Some ideas (if you're reading, Robin Antin): • Bring on Lil' Mama for some badass popping and locking. I know, it's not traditional for burlesque shows, but the Dolls should be "breaking" new ground.• Instead of just one Hills hottie to celebrate the new season, bring them all out. What's a "Pussycat" show without real cattiness?• How about a fully clothed "PCD Does The Nutcracker"? Imagine the educational possibilities for The Hills' audience.Go...
read more
On Monday, Feb. 18, a fresh crop of Pussycat Doll wannabes will compete in the season premiere of Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious (9 pm/ET, CW). And at the start of its second season, this year's roster of 15 hopefuls looks hotter — and younger — than ever. Among the first 15 to sing, dance and sass it up are four 18-year-olds, three 19-year-olds and a few more ladies who are over the hill, at ages ranging from 20 to 25. From the 18-year-old set is Megan, hailing from Sunset, Louisiana,who has musical tastes varying from soulful soft rocker Jack Johnson to Britney Spears (but only her "early days," Megan is careful to note). From Washington D.C. is 20-year-old Charlotte, who also has eclectic tastes, with faves including Billie Holiday and Bjork.And of course, PCD creator Robin Antin will be there to hand-pick the next ensemble member, along with Geffen records chairman Ron Fair and Lil' Kim — who may have the most sass of them all. — Anna Dimond
read more
It took a year, but the CW (the network cobbled together from the ashes of the WB and UPN) is finally starting to look like a real network, albeit one aggressively and obsessively focused on the 18-34 youth market. Which no doubt is causing more than a few existential crises among those longtime vets of the TCA press tour who said goodbye to that demo a while ago.Dawn Ostroff, the network’s relentlessly perky entertainment president, took a “no regrets” approach to her upbeat presentation Friday morning. She’s serious about tapping into trends with her programming and with various online/digital offshoots (especially where the new teen soap Gossip Girl is concerned), but otherwise, there’s something kind of refreshing about a network that doesn’t take itself too seriously.There was loud laughter in the room during clips of the CW’s various lightweight reality shows, including a first look at the new twist on guilty-pleasure fave Beauty and the Geek...
read more
A few thoughts after sitting through an L.A. satellite feed of CW’s Upfront presentation on Thursday, which was more impressive (the Pussycat Dolls performance aside) than I expected.The Reaper looks much funnier than I expected. Should have guessed given that the appealing lead, Bret Harrison as a schmo who learns his parents sold his soul to the devil, is best known for sitcom work (Grounded for Life, That ’70s Show, The Loop). Ray Wise is a scream as his demanding new boss, aka Lucifer. Only drawback: Reaper’s time-slot competition includes another largely comedic series about a reluctant nerdish hero, NBC’s Chuck. Is there room for two?Also getting a good response: Aliens in America, with its Muslim exchange student fish-out-of-water befriending his classmate/host, a nerdy social pariah. This looks perfectly suited as a companion piece to the similarly sardonic Everybody Hates Chris.Gossip Girl may well become a brand-appropriate hit, but I’m personally ...
read more
The question that has been keeping no one I know on the edge of their seat: What’s next for the CW, coming off its mostly dismal freshman year, in which the biggest news was made by posting closing notices on shows that had long ago peaked or lost much of their buzz (7th Heaven, Gilmore Girls, Veronica Mars, the latter still apparently having an itty-bitty chance of midseason resurrection). A year in which the closest thing to a new breakout hit that didn’t originate on either the WB or UPN was an insipid Pussycat Dolls reality show—slated for a midseason return, begging the question: How many Pussycat Dolls do we really need?It took the CW long enough to get busy in the reality game, which is actually rather puzzling considering its target demographic of young females has been weaned on the format on MTV, VH1, as well as the bigger networks. America’s Next Top Model has long been a signature show, first for UPN and now CW, and now the network is getting serious ...
read more
