Kanye West, True Blood
This was not a good week for Emily Post, as the week's top TV moments exhibited an alarming lack of etiquette. Kanye West crushed tender flower Taylor Swift's hopes and dreams by barging in on her VMA moment. Serena Williams unleashed a tirade of four-letter words at the U.S. Open. And True Blood's Maryann was in serious need of a wedding planner, as her Dionysian bachelorette party offended our delicate sensibilities. Welcome to Top Moments, Common Courtesy Edition.
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John McEnroe
John McEnroe is being serious when he says he thinks someone not named Roger Federer will hoist the 2009 U.S. Open trophy. The seven-time Grand Slam winner, who will call the tournament for ESPN2, is looking to a pair of Andys — Roddick and Murray — to dethrone the five-time defending champion. "I think Roddick can beat [Federer]," he tells TVGuide.com. "If he won the second set [at Wimbledon], I think he would've won it. He seems to be fit as he's ever been." Get more of McEnroe's thoughts on the final major of the year below. Plus: What doesn't he want to talk about?
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Venus Williams by Chris McGrath/Getty Images; Serena Williams by Al Bello/Getty Images
As expected, the Williams Sisters are set to meet in the U.S. Open quarterfinals Wednesday. Following their fourth-round victories on Labor Day, Venus and Serena will play under the lights at Arthur Ashe Stadium (Sept. 3, 7 pm/ET, USA Network).
Fourth-seeded Serena advanced to the quarters with a straight-set win over France's Severine Bremond. No. 7 Venus had an equally breezy triumph against Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland.
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Venus and Serena Williams facing off in a Grand Slam final is usually a ratings ace and Saturday's Wimbledon title match was no exception. Venus' 7-5, 6-4 win over her younger sister pulled a 3.4 overnight rating for NBC's broadcast, which began at 9 am/ET. That's a 21 percent rise from last year and the best overnight number since 2005.With the win Venus earned her fifth Wimbledon title and evened her professional record against Serena at 8-8. (Serena still holds the advantage in Grand Slam finals, 5-2.)UPDATE: Final Nielsen numbers show that 3.7 million viewers watched the match.
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Fast Cars & Superstars: The Young Guns Celebrity Race
On a steamy March afternoon, former NASCAR Nextel Cup champ Kurt Busch sits in a stock car at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina, revving his engine in anticipation. The question hangs in the air: Which of three nearby celebrities, decked out in racing jumpsuits, will be the first to gulp back fear, strap into the makeshift passenger seat, and join Busch in a three-lap, cement-wall-kissing 190 mph run around the famed 1.5-mile track?
Laird Hamilton, best known for riding 70-foot waves, finally stands and pulls a helmet over his long blond locks. "Oh, sure," Hamilton calls to NFL legend John Elway and tennis champ Serena Williams with a grin. "Get the stupid surfer to do it."
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Various-grade celebrities have already attempted dancing and skating on reality shows, and now a fresh slate of would-be winners will be mashing the gas for an ABC series set to air this summer. A dozen stars have signed on for the Fast Cars & Superstars — Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race, with the would-be leadfoots including William "Take Her to Warp 7" Shatner, tennis champ Serena Williams and singer Jewel. This week, each celeb is behind the wheel for speed trials at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, N.C., with top NASCAR drivers such as 2006 Nextel Cup champion Jimmie Johnson showing them the ropes.In Monday's first practice sessions, as half the stars got trial runs in, a clearly rattled Serena Williams was at the bottom of the speed chart — with her best time slower than her vaunted tennis serve. NFL legend John Elway made a very respectable showing for a newcomer, with a bubbly Krista Allen hot on his heels.The celebrity participants also include skateboard...
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William Shatner, Jewel and Serena Williams put the pedal to the metal.
Various-grade celebrities have already attempted dancing and skating on reality TV shows, and now a fresh slate of would-be winners will turn to driving, mashing the gas for an ABC series set to air this summer.A dozen stars have signed on for the Fast Cars & Superstars—Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race, with would-be leadfoots including athletes (2007 Australian Open tennis champion Serena Williams, bullrider Ty Murray, WWE champ John Cena) and performers (singer Jewel, actors William Shatner and
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Tennis great Serena Williams will guest-star on the April 7 episode of Fox's The Bernie Mac Show, playing an expert on (heh-heh) sibling rivalries. Hustle & Flow's Anthony Anderson and Shar Jackson also appear in the episode.
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ERFirst things first. Why all the hype about John Stamos? He was hardly featured this week or last and that's it — it was a two-week appearance. All those "Very Special Episode"-type promos that said "John Stamos joins ER…. " for what? Like Bette Midler brilliantly sings in her new Peggy Lee tribute CD: "Is That All There Is?" OK, I said it. Besides that let down (cue Debbie Downer noise), I quite enjoyed tonight's overly hyped "crash episode." This week certainly was a busy one for plane crashes, what with Wednesday night's Lost tailies flashback episode and now this. I knew from the promos that one of tonight's victims would be tennis star Serena Williams (she was pretty darned good), but who knew Uncle Leo from Seinfeld would be another crash victim
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