Ellen DeGeneres by Jeff Vespa/WireImage.com
The ratings for Ellen DeGeneres' talker in the wake of her on-air breakdown after the whole dog thing were up almost 10 percent.... The Price Is Right is seeing 10 percent year-over-year growth in its 18-49 crowd, with Drew Carey now playing the Plink-O.... Owen Wilson will give director Wes Anderson his first interview since... that... tonight at midnight as part of the MySpace Artist on Artist series, says USA Today.... In related-ish news, Kate Hudson's divorce from rocker Chris Robinson was finalized in court on Thursday.... The Best of the Colbert Report arrives on DVD Nov. 6 (shop Amazon).
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So, did this episode live up to its predecessor? I think it did a pretty good job. With a show like this, built on what I now believe to be the very specific premise of guy-gets-vessel, guy-tussles-with-ghouls, guy-saves-the-day, I realize that there might not be so much room for the plot to stretch beyond that specific formula. Hmm. But even still, we keep learning more about these characters and how they're hilariously interwoven with each other, and I find myself still excited for what's going to happen the next week. In tonight's episode, after Sam spends much of it expertly avoiding the Devil's new vessel for him, he and Sock purposely ditch it in odd locales around town only for it to magically reappear and stalk the fellas in places like Sam's backseat, at his front door, and pretty much everywhere despite his efforts. "Sam, I'm in love with this box," comments Sock. Too bad he's not the one whose job it is to make sure the vessel collects itself some souls.I love that the he...
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Colin Ferguson in Eureka by Matthias Clamer/Sci Fi Channel
Warner Bros. syndicated division has cleared a fall 2008 daytime talker to be hosted by actress-comedian Bonnie Hunt. The Reporter also reports deal extensions for Ellen (through 2011) and Extra (through 2012).... Sci Fi Channel has ordered a third season of Eureka, to launch in summer '08, and a second round of Destination Truth.... Showtime has erected or modified fountains in 14 U.S cities, including in Times Square and Hollywood & Highland, to flow red, promoting the Season 2 premiere of Dexter. The cabler, though, insists the color choice is to match its logo, not to symbolize blood. Uh-huh. Tell it to Doakes.
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Whoopi Goldberg and Barbara Walters by Steve Fenn/ABC
Whoopi Goldberg has always had a wonderfully distinct point of view, and one that’s probably just right for her new job on The View. But unlike her immediate predecessor in the cohost seat, this POV is not trained entirely on herself. For me, that’s a relief.Tuesday’s 11th-season opening of ABC’s daytime squawk show was a pretty low-key lovefest, as the gang embraced Whoopi while catching fans up on how they spent their summer vacation: Elisabeth Hasselbeck became more noticeably pregnant, Joy Behar nursed a virus and Barbara Walters made progress on her memoirs. Elizabeth and Joy displayed family photos. And Whoopi? Didn’t have much to reveal about herself (though she did sit for a pro forma taped biographical profile at the end). She’s just a hardworking gal these days, spending four hours on the radio each early a.m. before heading over to the Hot Topics table.Are these back-to-back morning gigs going to stretch her too thin? Whoopi seemed almost too...
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Bob Barker courtesy Monty Brinton/CBS
Talk about your fabulous prizes. Bob Barker reaped his 19th Emmy for outstanding game-show host on Friday night, synching up precisely with his final appearance as the Price Is Right host. "This proves that the judges have sympathy for an old man who doesn't have a job," Barker quipped when accepting the award. Backstage, the TV icon confirmed that Rosie O'Donnell, despite the View alum's coldly received trade-mag campaign to get the gig, may still be in the running to come on down as the gamer's new host. "She knows the show!" Barker says of O'Donnell. "So far as doing it, there's no doubt in my mind that she could. Now, whether they want a lady host, I don't know. As far as I know, they've only auditioned men. Although I do believe they're going to have a meeting with Rosie." Sigh. Give a kiss goodbye to all the heterosexual sex talk during Plinko.The 34th-annual Daytime Emmys also saw Ellen DeGeneres once again best The View in the talk-show and talk-show-host contests. The kudos...
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Racking up 53 total nominations, CBS is the network to beat at the 34th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards, to be held June 15 in Hollywood. While my sudsy counterpart Daniel Coleridge sums up the soap categories, I can tell you here that the talk show competition has Ellen DeGeneres (with 12 nominations) and The View (10) as front-runners, with the rivals going head-to-head with Rachael Ray in such primo contests as best show and host. (No assemblage of View gabbers has ever won for best host, in nine tries.) Sesame Street was the most-recognized nonsoap program, counting to 12 with its own collection of nods, and Bob Barker stands to collect his 18th Emmy before stepping down in June as host of The Price Is Right. Again, Daniel is compiling a full list of the major races here.
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In his first one-on-one interview since the early-October incident on the Grey's Anatomy set, and since he publicly came out, T.R. Knight reveals on Wednesday's The Ellen DeGeneres Show that cast mate Isaiah Washington was (badly) lying at Monday night's Golden Globes.Recalling Washington's original verbal clash with Patrick Dempsey, Knight says the former "referred to me as a f----t," and loud enough for everyone to overhear. "I could've just let it slide and not said anything," Knight tells DeGeneres during the must-see sit-down, "but it became important," as word spread and the press latched on. Three months later, Washington tried to whitewash what was said, while backstage at the Globes. "Yeah, he denied that he said it," Knight marvels. "I don’t know what to say, really, about that." Well, our Mike Ausiello does, and he says it in this week's Ask Ausiello.
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Kelly Clarkson
48th Annual Grammy AwardsAfter proudly watching my pals Kimberly Caldwell and Rosanna Tavarez on TV Guide Channel's Countdown to the Grammys, followed, of course, by Joan and Melissa Rivers on our Grammy red-carpet show, I made sure my roommate's VCR was taping Idol and my own VCR was set for Lost. All systems go! Time for the Grammys.8:00 pm The animated group Gorillaz open with their hit "Feel Good Inc.," and since I love the song, guess what? It makes me feel good. But I totally picture my mother in Chicago being very confused.8:03 The goddess Madonna enters and I'm loving every minute of it. Can I please look that fabulous when I'm 47? After a brief lip-synched intro, she sings the rest of "Hung Up" live, and her hair looks like Lydia Cornell circa Too Close for Comfort.8:13 Kelly Clarkson s
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I learned on the Ellen DeGeneres show earlier that How I Met Your Mother's Neil Patrick Harris was an avid juggler. That doesn't have much to do with anything in tonight's episode of Mother, but I thought it was a neat fact to keep in mind while I was watching the Doogster's perfectly timed delivery. Loved when he was talking about why he and Ted should go to the matchmaking service. "These chicks are desperate and hot. That's a perfect cocktail. Shake well and then sleep with." Then when dopey Ted didn't take that bait, Barney lied that his boat was sinking and then told him that this was a chance for them to meet their "soul mates, nail them and never call them again." Which was all followed up by a smarmy "Is there any way that I can let it be known that I love cuddling?" when he was talking to Camryn Manheim's matchmaking maven. Oh, and watch out for the dangerous rare cockamouse if you live in an urban environment. I hear
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I'm beginning to wonder if NBC is going to torture us all season with live episodes of shows that are pretty much on life support, creating prime-time stunts in hopes of compelling us to watch (although it rarely works out that way).
First came the underwhelming live season opener of Will & Grace, with its tittering and mugging. Now we have The West Wing showing that it can stage a fake debate that looks and sounds pretty much like the real thing, only with a bit more animation as old-school Senator Vinick (Alan Alda) demanded the "stupid rules" be dropped in favor of "a debate Lincoln would have been proud of."
(Which brought to mind, after sitting through the long and tedious hour that followed, the old joke: "Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the show?")
There was no assassination, or really even any
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