Hugh Jackman
Barbara Walters Special
7 pm/ET ABC
Red carpet? Barbara Walters don't need no stinkin' red carpet to snag A-listers for her Oscar preshow. Tonight's lineup includes two of the most talked-about nominees: first-timers Anne Hathaway and Mickey Rourke. Guest Hugh Jackman wasn't nominated, but he is tonight's Oscar host. Besides, he won an Emmy in 2005 — for hosting the Tonys. (Jackman also won a Tony in 2004.) Then there are the Jonas Brothers. They may not have any ties to the Oscars, but does that really matter?
Read on for previews of 81st Academy Awards, Flight of the Conchords, Eastbound & Down and United States of Tara.
read more
Glenn Close, Damages
Damages
10 pm/ET FX
Patty Hewes has a new client (William Hurt) as Glenn Close's chilly and shadowy legal thriller begins its second season.
Read on for previews of People's Choice Awards, 13 — Fear is Real, Barbara Walters Special and The Real World.
read more
My Name Is Earl
Thursday's ratings rundown:
8 pm/ET
Survivor topped the hour with a typical 12.8 million total viewers, followed by Ugly Betty (8.47 mil). Placing third, My Name Is Earl dropped 10 percent week-to-week to hit 6.09 mil (it's second-smallest audience of the season), while lead-out Kath & Kim (4.88 mil) toppled 11 percent.
9 pm
CSI (17.4 million viewers) and Grey's Anatomy (15.15 mil, No. 1 in demos) both dipped five percent. NBC's The Office (8.34 mil) and 30 Rock (7.14 mil) also slipped a bit.
10 pm
Barbara Walters proved to be especially fascinating, delivering an audience of 13.2 million viewers - most of whom, I must assume, had you-know-who pegged for the No. 1 spot. Eleventh Hour placed second with 10.9 mil (showing a slight uptick from its previous outing), while ER (8.23 mil) dropped 10 percent.
read more
Will Smith and Barbara Walters
Barbara Walters Special: The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2008
10:01 pm/ET ABC
'Tis the season for Babs' annual Top 10 countdown (her 16th) of her most "fascinating" notables.
Read on for previews of CSI, Grey's Anatomy, Sarah Silverman Program and CNN Presents.
read more
Rosie Live!
Rosie Live
8 pm/ET NBC
Everything's coming up Rosie in this reinvention of the traditional variety show prominent in the 1970s.
Read on for previews of Naked Brothers Band, Top Chef, Barbara Walters Special and CSI: NY.
read more
Barbara Walters by Donna Svennevik/ABC
Barbara Walters' 27th annual pre-Oscars special, airing Feb. 24 at 7 pm/ET, will find the queen of the fuzzy lens gabbing with Ellen Page (Juno), Harrison Ford, Vanessa Williams (Ugly Betty) and Miley Cyrus (every inch of your daughter's bedroom walls).... Speaking of Calista's squeeze, Good Morning America will premiere the trailer for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull on Thursday's show, during the 8 o'clock hour.... Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story arrives on DVD April 8.
read more
Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Rosie O'Donnell and Barbara Walters by Yolanda Perez/ABC
On yesterday's episode of The View, Barbara Walters said that the ratings-grabbing gabber had not been fired and that she was welcome back any time. The split screen that so peeved O'D, Walters added, was a device that the show had used before (though, I would have noted, never to such hysterical effect). For her part, Hasselbeck, obviously thrilled to again be able to prattle on without anyone to stop her, contradicted what O'Donnell said in her blog — that they had exchanged a brief e-mail after the dustup, and that would probably be the last time they spoke. "This weekend we were in communication a lot," the Survivor alum said. It "gave us the opportunity to tackle our most important hot topic yet, and that is the power of forgiveness. And I believe we've started that process that will enable us to move in a very positive way, so I am very happy about that." Rosie, honey, lemme say it for ya: What. Ever.Today's News was written by Ben Katner.
read more
Dreamgirls' Jennifer Hudson and comeback kid Eddie Murphy, Dame Helen Mirren and Oscars host Ellen DeGeneres will sit down for the 26th edition of The Barbara Walters Special, airing Sunday, Feb. 25, at 7 pm/ET (and immediately following the kudoscast for West Coasters).In the Oscar Night Q&As, Hudson says that if she had won Idol, she probably would have never gotten the role of Effie; Mirren talks about disrobing on camera; Murphy shares what winning an Oscar would mean to him; and DeGeneres discusses her plan to differentiate herself from past hosts.
read more
CBS is taking it easy on us today, scheduling just four sessions, including the eagerly awaited Katie Couric panel and a Q&A with the cast of CSI (sans William Petersen). We're also having lunch with Rachael Ray, and my Aunt Joan will flay me if I don't hit her up for VIP. tickets to her new talk show. I cannot go back home to New York without those tickets. BREAKFAST9:10 am: Omelet stations! Egg-cellent! CBS NEWS Q&A WITH KATIE COURIC9:40 am: America's sweetheart is 10 minutes late. Maybe she's having last-minute wardrobe issues. Wow, could I be any more sexist? 9:45 am: America's sweetheart is 15 minutes late. Maybe she's on the phone renewing her restraining order against Ann Curry. 9:46 am: Katie's finally in the house — and she's eschewed her signature short skirt for a simple tan pantsuit that screams "serious newswoman!" A CBS publicist blames her tardiness on one of the omelet stations setting "off the fire alarm." Hmmm... I didn't hear a fire alarm. 9:47 am: ...
read more
My favorite TV moment this week (granted, I've been on the road and haven't watched a lot) occurred early Wednesday morning, as Matt Lauer defused the mawkish sentiment on the Today set in the wake of Katie Couric's long-awaited announcement that she would be leaving soon for CBS.
"Also coming up in this half hour..." Lauer quipped, as the Today crew (a great group, as I can attest to from the experience of being on the show a handful of times) broke into laughter.
What I loved about that gag was how it underscored the fact that life on Today would go on, no doubt quite robustly, after the Katie Couric era ends. (There have been so many: the Bryant Gumbel-Jane Pauley era; the Barbara Walters-Hugh Downs era; and so on).
This is a historic shift, no question, and shouldn't be underestimated even as it's overanaly
read more
