Question: I admit to watching Last Comic Standing and the very cheesy Who Wants to Be a Superhero?, and I caught Design Star last night, but overall, I wouldn't miss reality shows if they weren't on. When will this trend die? I know they are cheap to produce and apparently have an audience, but I feel like my eyes will fall out from just watching the ads for Big Brother. It's all so horrible. I would rather they program reruns, second-run movies or documentary-type fare than this junk.
Answer: I'm guessing you're responding to my summer-reality-roundup Dispatch, written after spending an entire week catching up with many (though certainly not all) of the summer's reality shows. Believe me, I won't make that mistake again, at least not until next summer's glut. The point I was trying to make in that column was that, as always, there is good and bad in every form of TV, and that includes reality. I'm actually looking forward to new episodes each week of Project Runway, So You Think You
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Last Comic Standing's Chris Porter and Michele Balan
They say dying is easy, comedy is hard. But dying while doing comedy? This quintet of Last Comic Standing cutups wouldn't know, since they've all aced their sets so far. The five funny finalists from the NBC series (new episodes air Tuesdays at 9 pm/ET) took time out to joke around with TV Guide before yukking their way toward the season finale, airing Aug. 8.
Name: Chris Porter
Hometown: Kansas City, Mo.
Age: 27
Years in the biz: Eight
Brand of comedy: Rock and roll
On getting into stand-up: "I went to see my friend at an open-mike night and was like, I'm funnier than half these people. A month later I tried it, and it was like crack — I wanted to do it all the time."
On how the show has changed his life: "
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Question: Summer TV is always bad, but this year I find myself watching virtually nothing. OK, I have used the rerun schedule to catch a few eps of My Name Is Earl (but not if I already saw them), and I have rewatched some Grey's Anatomy episodes, but otherwise I watch nothing. I can't face Gilmore Girls reruns this year. Somehow Lost reruns don't cut it. I'd rather pull my fingernails out one by one than watch moronic reality shows. I don't have cable. Am I doomed until September? Is there anything out there on broadcast TV that is worth watching?
Answer: Oh, David, this is so sad. I'm actually having a pretty good TV summer, but only because of the variety of cable choices, from Rescue Me on FX and The Closer on TNT to Hustle on AMC to HBO's Deadwood-Entourage combo on Sundays, with a chaser of The 4400 the same night. And in July there's the delightful new comedy-mystery
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Treasure Hunters host Laird Macintosh
Mix equal parts The Da Vinci Code and The Amazing Race, then sprinkle in Nicolas Cage's National Treasure, and you'd get NBC's Treasure Hunter
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Casting for Season 6 of The Apprentice, the first edition to be set in Southern California, begins March 10. For a complete list of tryout locations and an application, click this NBC.com link.... Late Night with Conan O'Brien is dedicating its March 10 show to the host's recent visit to Finland — including his meeting with his "look-alike," President Tarja Halonen.... Yes, Dear's Anthony Clark has been tapped to host this summer's edition of NBC's Last Comic Standing.
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A whole week after John Heffron won the coveted Last Comic Standing title, success still hasn't spoiled the manic funnyman. But make no mistake — he's ready for a diva trip! As his tongue-in-cheek interview with TV Guide Online suggests, he could get mighty comfortable sitting in the lap of luxury — provided that a certain competitor isn't around to, ahem, bug him.
TV Guide Online: You're a bundle of energy on stage. Can that possibly be good for the health of someone as laid-back as you are?
John Heffron: Well, I don't have a lot of time to run or do the Stairmaster, so this is my way of getting my heart rate up for 20 minutes a day.
TVGO: Speaking of things that are good for your heart... Tammy Pescatelli called you "a walking Everybody Loves Raymond." Guess she's guaranteed to be the first LCS alum on your sitcom.
Heffron: [Laughs] Yeah. Sometimes I get compared [to Ray Romano], but in
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Forget everything you think you know about Last Comic Standing runner-up Tammy Pescatelli. Although the funny lady appeared to be the joke-off's shrewdest manipulator and most gleeful backstabber, she's really a down-to-earth sweetheart who'd sooner dish out lasagna than insults. Or so she insisted when TV Guide Online recently caught up with her. We're inclined to believe her, too; the straight shooter wouldn't even cop to the competitor for whom she's rooting in tonight's finale (airing at 9 pm/ET on NBC). Um, there are also those Mafia ties at which she's always hinting.
TV Guide Online: Since being eliminated, have you met any interesting new fans?Tammy Pescatelli: Yeah, Garry Marshall [the Pretty Woman and Runaway Bride director]. I mean, you just go, "You've got to be kidding me. I grew up on your shows [like Happy Days and The Odd Couple]! Everything you've ever touched, I enjoyed." So that's huge for me. I was i
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Although stand-up guy Corey Holcomb was eliminated from Last Comic Standing seven days ago, he'll have a chance to get back into the competition in tonight's wild-card episode (9 pm/ET on NBC). But for a real cliffhanger, TV Guide Online turns to the self-aggrandizing lady-killer's personal life: Will his significant other give him a chance to get back in her good graces after she sees this interview? Read on, and draw your own conclusions.
TV Guide Online: In your final head-to-head with Alonzo and John, you came down pretty hard on the fairer sex. Do you think maybe that cost you the female vote?Corey Holcomb: Nah, I don't think so. On The Apollo Comedy Hour, [the emcee] just walks over [to the contestants] and says, "Clap if you like this guy. Clap if you like that guy." I just think that system works better than [Comic's computerized] voting. It's not like the audience is voting if somebody comes back [after a commercial break] with a v
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If you were sorry to see Last Comic Standing finalist Jay London get the hook in the reality contest's most recent episode, you weren't alone. Despite his off-putting appearance — he'd be the first to admit his style could've been swiped from a Neanderthal — London's warm demeanor and quirky delivery made him a real contender. Heck, head-to-head competitor Gary Gulman even got all misty-eyed over his ouster! So while the shaggy, self-deprecating funnyman looks for a way back into the spotlight — and before another of his housemates is banished in tonight's episode (airing at 9 pm/ET on NBC) — TV Guide Online sought him out to give him a great, big hug. Um... we mean, to conduct a serious and completely unbiased interview.
TV Guide Online: I've gotta tell you, in all sincerity, I think your act is really unique and funny. I hope being eliminated didn't discourage you.Jay London: I am not discouraged. The more torture I go th
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In last week's episode of Last Comic Standing, flamboyant funnyman Ant's hopes of winning the title were, ahem, squashed. (Cheap humor, yes, but we're on a budget, folks!) Not only that, but the former Unhappily Ever After costar had been portrayed as the most conniving queen bee since Joan Collins doffed her Dynasty shoulder pads. Yet, as TV Guide Online chatted him up just prior to this week's show (airing tonight at 9 pm/ET on NBC), we realized that he was the one Ant with whom we'd prefer to picnic than nitpick. Read on and decide for yourself: Doesn't he seem like the sort of fellow who's less likely to stab you in the back than to pat you on it?
TV Guide Online: Ant, to this day, I can't figure out why you were so scheming. Your final set was killer; you've got the goods!Ant: You thought I was scheming? I wouldn't call it scheming. I would call it having a great time and living the reality [TV] experience — the strong sur
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