Guest EXPAT Posted January 6, 2012 Posted January 6, 2012 I love following popular culture and watching how entertainment is shaping especially since I moved to Southern California. And of course TV and movie news is major news on TV here in SoCal unlike anywhere else in the world. Even Breaking News can be something relating to a movie filming or contract disputes in the entertainment business since it represents so much of the local economy. 1. So the first piece of news that I find interesting is the possible contract ending of Matt Lauer on the Today Show. Rumors have Ryan Seacrest as the first choice by NBC to take his place. And Matt has been talking to producers of "60 minutes" about joining that show. Ryan would be an interesting choice for this early morning show in that he would bring a younger demographic but I'm not sure how he would do in the first 30 minutes when they focus on hard news and political news. But I wouldn't put anything past Ryan since he seems so versatile (no pun intended). http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2012/01/nbc-president-keeping-matt-lauer-on-today-is-number-one-priority.html Quote
Guest EXPAT Posted January 6, 2012 Posted January 6, 2012 2. The second interesting news item is that Harry Connick Jr. is about to join "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" as a love interest for Olivia and that he will be the new executive DA. He will be on 4 episodes. That is a just the jolt this aging show needs. We really miss the hottie Stabler who left this season. But no fear, he will show up next summer in the next season of HBO's True Blood as a vampire elder. http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2012/01/law-order-svu-harry-connick-jr-will-get-cozy-with-olivia.html Quote
Guest EXPAT Posted January 6, 2012 Posted January 6, 2012 3. For the first time in 12 seasons, we now have 3 major singing competition shows on network television this season. During the Fall season we had X Factor on Fox. Now in the winter, we will have "The Voice" on NBC and the return of "American Idol" on FOX. Can the networks sustain three major singing competition shows without losing a substantial audience? I think not. But I will continue to watch them because they are the only reality shows that will watch. I can't stand any other reality show. At least there are more like music variety shows tied to a singing competition. And I love music. So these are the only non scripted shows I will watch. Meanwhile Kelly Clarkson is going to be a guest mentor on "the Voice". Is she a traitor for not being on American Idol? I bet she is on both at some point. She does have a new album to promote. http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2012/01/the-voice-kelly-clarkson-miranda-lambert-and-more-to-guest-mentor.html Quote
Guest EXPAT Posted January 6, 2012 Posted January 6, 2012 4. MUST WATCH TELEVISION. NBC plans a 2 hour special 90th birthday special for Betty White on January 16th. I will definitely be in front of the TV for that special. She is such a special American treasure. And she seems stronger and more vital than ever. If you ever watch "Hot in Cleveland" she is at the top of her game as usual. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2012/01/06/betty-whites-90th-birthday-a-tribute-to-americas-golden-girl-airs-january-16/115627/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Tvbythenumbers+%28TVbytheNumbers%29 Quote
Guest CharliePS Posted January 6, 2012 Posted January 6, 2012 I didn't realize just how much the entertainment industry dominates life in SoCal till I moved here and started listening to local radio and reading local papers. The number of movie theaters per capita in my area is remarkable, and the local economic calendar in Palm Springs seems to be organized around two things: gay events and movie festivals--which, of course, are often connected. Quote
Guest EXPAT Posted January 6, 2012 Posted January 6, 2012 5. Darren Criss is taking a 3 week break from GLEE to star in "How to succeed in Business without really trying". He appeared on "Live with Kelly" yesterday and the crowd was screaming. It was a great show because Rob Lowe was the guest host for the day. Two for the price of one. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xk_xTVXjhb8 Quote
Guest EXPAT Posted January 6, 2012 Posted January 6, 2012 6. Speaking of GLEE, Ricky Martin is going to join the cast of GLEE as a guest Spanish Teacher later this season. This will be hot. Ricky Martin in a photo he tweeted late last night which shows the singer on the set of Glee. Martin is to play what a Glee insider called in November, “the hottest Spanish teacher ever in the history of Ohio.” He will reportedly headline two big musical numbers in the episode, which is supposed to air later this month. Here is an article on his guest appearance: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/06/glee-ricky-martin-photos_n_1190336.html?ref=tv Quote
Guest EXPAT Posted January 6, 2012 Posted January 6, 2012 7. There is a concerted effort to under the Netflix business model. HBO ended their contract with Netflix and will no longer be supplying original HBO series and movies to Netflix in favor of their own HBO GO offering linked to subscribing and your local cable company. In addition, Warner Brothers has decided to double the length of time that new releases will be available via Netflix. I think this trend will continue. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/06/warner-brothers-netflix-redbox-blockbuster_n_1189112.html Quote
Guest EXPAT Posted January 6, 2012 Posted January 6, 2012 8. "Downton Abbey, Season 2" premieres this Sunday on PBS. It's listed as "Masterpiece Classic". I absolutely loved the original season of this series. And of course our British friends have already seen the second season but it's new for us in America. You should really check it out. It's an amazing series and worth watching. Review: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maureen-ryan/downton-abbey-season-2_b_1186158.html?ref=tv Quote
Guest EXPAT Posted January 6, 2012 Posted January 6, 2012 9. "One Life To Live", the long-running soap opera on ABC will end it's run on Friday, January 13. Another TV treasure will come to an end. If you get the chance, you should check out the last five episodes. The last month of "All My Children" was interesting and I'm sure this will be the same. Costs are the real reason they are getting cancelled but you can hear Erika Slezak give her opinion on the whole cancellation thing. . . http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/05/erika-slezak-one-life-to-live-cancellation-bullshit_n_1186737.html?ref=tv Quote
Guest EXPAT Posted January 6, 2012 Posted January 6, 2012 10. One of my favorite books of all time is being made into an NBC drama. It premieres this Sunday night with a 2 hour premiere and then will settle in at 10PM on Thursday on NBC. "The Firm" looks to revisit this famous lawyer and his wife from one of the most popular books of all time. I think the show is very well cast and according to JOHn Grisham, the scripts are very well written and he is excited about it coming to TV. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2012/01/josh-lucas-dials-up-paranoia-in-nbcs-the-firm-.html Quote
Guest EXPAT Posted January 8, 2012 Posted January 8, 2012 11. Kathy Griffin to get new talk show on Bravo. Kathy Griffin is the OFFICIAL Queen of Bravo! Our favorite funny lady has just landed a new hour-long weekly talk show for the cable network, which will start this spring, titled "Kathy". She'll be ranting and raving about celebs, pop culture, and if we keep our fingers crossed, some more juicy Cher stories! This comes on the heels that Bravo will be extending their popular late-night show "Watch What Happens: Live" five nights a week AND will be adding Sandra Bernhard as a weekly correspondent to deliver her "Sandrology." Quote
Guest EXPAT Posted January 8, 2012 Posted January 8, 2012 12. Keifer Sutherland talks '24' movie http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/08/kiefer-sutherland-24-movie-fox-touch_n_1192599.html?ref=tv I for one am really looking forward to this movie. I loved the series so I'm sure the movie will be really interesting. Quote
Guest EXPAT Posted January 8, 2012 Posted January 8, 2012 13. Are you 'Absolutely Fabulous'? http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/01/07/DDOF1MJIAT.DTL BBCAmerica is debuting the new episode of AbFab tonight. I'm looking forward to seeing it. But I originally got tired of all the drunkenness. Quote
Members TampaYankee Posted January 9, 2012 Members Posted January 9, 2012 12. Keifer Sutherland talks '24' movie http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/08/kiefer-sutherland-24-movie-fox-touch_n_1192599.html?ref=tv I for one am really looking forward to this movie. I loved the series so I'm sure the movie will be really interesting. OMG fuck no!!! It'll take twenty fours hours of sitting on your ass in the theatre to get anything resolved. Quote
