Well, that's it, we're done. We have picked the 10. Now, I haven't been reading the NBC blogs or any other LCS blogs, so I don't know what people think of our choices. But I think we did pretty well. I'm also pretty sure some people have crucified us, but oh well.It's always weird watching myself on TV. I don't know how many of you have experienced this, but it's kind of funny trying to remember what I was thinking during the moments they show me on air.But enough about me, let's get back to the show. Lavell killed. I think he was sending a notice to everyone that he wanted to win this thing. I was disappointed that Mel Silverback didn't do well. I guess he must have run out of clean gorilla material. Now there's a sentence I never thought I would use in my lifetime. Amy will represent the new comics on the show. She was surprisingly funny. Jon Reep made the cut. Do they have TV in Hickory? Do the hometown fans know? Matt Kirshen was funny and I like the little guy. I'd love to see ...
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Jul 26, 2007 01:14 AM ET
- by m roush
To quote myself, as I’ve been known to do: “Reality television creates celebrities out of almost anyone.” That line, spoken during the judging panel, pretty much sums up the theme of this episode.It also applies to this week’s guest judge, Chris Moore, who became famous as the no-holds-barred taskmaster of HBO’s pioneering docu-reality series Project Greenlight. Chris is a larger-than-life personality, as anyone knows who's watched Greenlight. He’s funny and bawdy, yet as I get to know him during the long course of a shoot on a balmy Sunday night, he still seems genuinely surprised that he became a recognizable TV personality by being on a reality show.He’s the perfect choice to guide us through this challenge, which took on an unexpectedly wacky dimension when one of the guest celebs “backed out” — as in threw out his back. As we arrive at the stage, we’re told of the unusual circumstances: Lorenzo Lamas had dropped out at the ...
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I knew I loved this show! For anyone who has ever wondered how TV gets made and what goes on behind the scenes, let me tell you: This stuff is the real deal! I can’t count how many arguments I have witnessed behind the scenes, when the cameras are off, when there’s no studio audience around. Heck I’ve been involved in many of them… started some of them.The fact is that television is just like any other industry that puts different personalities together who then have to reach a goal. You probably have a lot of disagreements and fights at your job, too, but the difference is you have a boss and these nine producers are the bosses! So tonight, they had to create a reality series around a celebrity. It happens every day but, as you can see for yourself, is not as easy as it looks. Can you imagine how many ideas are thrown around in this town daily that never see the light of day? Oh! The egos!! To be honest, I had no idea while we shot these shows that so much went ...
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Matthew Bomer, Logan Marshall-Green and Aaron Stanford by Bob D'Amico/ABC
Hello, Porters! I figured there might be a few fans out there itching for a Traveler fix today. It's the first Wednesday in a while without an episode of the show, so I figured I would come online and say hello to everyone and give you an update.First off, thank you for all of the reaction to last week's finale. There was a lot of food for thought in those 80-plus responses. And all of the feedback, positive and negative, has been processed by yours truly.For those who were upset by the cliff-hanger ending, all I can tell you is that we certainly did not expect it to be a series finale. If you've read this blog, you know that we made that show at the end of last year under near-impossible time constraints, and we did our best to wrap five episodes of story line into a one-hour thrill ride. The cliff-hanger finale was part of the construction of the series, which is meant to pose one large question for each season. The first season asked, "Who is Will Traveler?" And the second asks, ...
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Well, it was pure stand-up last week. The pressure was on and the attitudes were different. You had Dante talking about winning for a puppy to Tommy Johnagin making babies cry just to warm up. I like the Tommy Johnagin method — no prisoners.We judges, I mean scouts, never got so little airtime. There was a portion when we would talk to the comics and ask them questions. Tom Arnold asked about everything from lesbians to which women comics should hit on after the show. I don't think Tom quite understood the NBC prime-time thing. We definitely wouldn't have picked him to move on.Back to the show. Does Debra Digiovanni remind anyone else of John Candy?It was fun to watch the difference between the comics based on how long they have been doing it. We had Spencer from England, three years in, with lots of enthusiasm and not much material. Then we had Dwayne Kennedy, a 20-year vet who had the act down but didn't seem like his future was riding on it. I actually think they had to wake...
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Hey everyone! Well it is time for another installation of Bill’s Blog. I have been asked several times how we decide what storyline we use for a show. Well, I will try to explain this, because to be honest with you, I did not know myself until I started working on this show. See, before The Bill Engvall Show, I was just another actor on a show. So I would show up on Monday, be handed a script and that was the story we were doing that week. When we started production on my new show, we had no storylines. We had to come up with eight shows. So the process began: I would sit in a room with the writers and basically we would just talk. I would convey different ideas that I had come up with over the previous few weeks. Now, in this room there was me, Mike Leeson and four other writers. There is also a person who sits at a laptop and writes down every idea that comes out of our mouths. We would do this for about three hours and then we would break for lunch. When we would come back f...
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So, everyone who watched the season finale of My Boys last year has been asking me, "What's gonna happen with PJ and Brendan?" Good question. In this season's premiere episode, that and many other questions will be answered. Is that enough of a tease?Seriously though, I think everyone that saw "the kiss" is really going to dig this new episode. We get into it right away, see where Brando and Peej take things, and in true My Boys fashion... have some laughs. You're not gonna want to miss this.Check it out Monday, July 30, at 10 pm on TBS. And be sure to stop back in here at TVGuide.com afterwards to join in the blog.See ya Monday!
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Hey everyone! Hope that you all enjoyed the pilot episode of The Bill Engvall Show (Tuesdays at 9 pm/ET, on TBS). When I am traveling around the country doing my live shows, people are always asking me how long it takes to shoot a show like ours, so I thought that we would dedicate this blog to telling you how a typical sitcom is made.Usually we receive the next week's scripts on Thursday night, after the taping of the previous week's show. Then we all show up Friday morning and do what we call a table read. It is basically exactly what it sounds like: We all sit around a table and read the script out loud. I always enjoy this because it is funny to me to see everyone come dragging in after a late night of taping. Needless to say, the coffee is the first thing to go. After the reading, which usually takes about an hour even though the show is only 30 minutes (I never figured that one out), we — meaning me, Nancy and the kids — all go home for the weekend. The writers then ...
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Jul 19, 2007 01:06 AM ET
- by m roush
Being on the inside of a reality-competition show, as a judge for TV Guide Network’s America’s Next Producer, has one major disadvantage: As it’s happening, I’m only seeing half the show. When watching at home and seeing what went into the execution of each of these challenges, you may well come up with a different decision some weeks on who should stay and who should go. We on the judges’ panel only are able to see the final result and have to use that, as well as whatever info we glean from the Q&A on the stage, to make the tough call on who to send home.First elimination taping, and it’s a warm Friday afternoon in early May. The judges convene in a spartan green room. The regulars are myself and David Hill, the wonderfully outspoken CEO of Fox Sports. The guest judge is David Friedman, the boyish executive producer of NBC’s Last Call with Carson Daly. (The name seems familiar, and I soon discover his father is renowned news executive Paul Fr...
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Whew! First elimination down! Sending someone home is, honestly, the worst part for me. I will say that I am so relieved to have such a talented and creative group of contestants on this show! You know, you never can tell what you might get when it comes to reality TV, and you know what I'm talking about. But we have 10 (well, now nine) smart, creative, fun people! Yay!!And still, as I’m sure you noticed, the drama has already begun. David H., Matt [Roush], David F. and I were downstairs deliberating and all of the sudden we heard "BOOM! CRASH!" upstairs, like there was a real fight going on. Then we find out: there was! Well, a verbal one, anyway, but it felt like it could've come to blows for a minute there. In case you didn’t see it, Gwen said to Sharon, "Shut the f--k up," which set Sharon off! Some people may not have gotten upset at this, but everyone is not the same. What's always been crazy to me is that we’re a nation made up of all these wonderfully d...
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