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day

off.

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wtf

your first listen to liza minelli's take on beyonce's "single ladies" from sex and the city 2. yeah.

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last day of the upfonts

and we've come to my last day of upfront posts. cbs and its sister network the cw released their new schedules over the past two days. these two networks had the least wiggle room for change and, not surprisingly, only have a few new shows.

cbs added just five new shows: 2 comedies and three dramas. the comedies look a lot better than the dramas, so i'll start there. the first comes from chuck lorre, the mind behind two and a half men and the big bang theory. it's called mike and molly and revolves around a couple who meets at overeaters anonymous. i'd say its cbs' best bet for a hit come fall. the cast is made up of people you'll recognize, but have no clue what the hell their names are. here's the preview.

the other new comedy from cbs is $#*! my dad says, based on this twitter account. it stars william shatner and mad tv vets nicole sullivan and will sasso. the pilot featured ryan devlin in the main son role, but he's been booted and they're looking to recast. i'd say that's a good decision, because devlin's performance in the preview is just so-so. you need a big personality to go head-to-head with shatner.

out of the three dramas cbs added to their schedule, the defenders looks the best. it stars traditionally comedic actors jim belushi and jerry o'connell as las vegas defense attorneys. when i first heard about the show, i didn't think it was going to work. jim belushi in a drama? say what? but it actually makes sense.

cbs' other new dramas are the hawaii-five-o reboot (the clip they posted online is just the opening credits, which screams "it's not ready yet" to me - are there no new ideas!? and couldn't they have just done ncis: hawaii?) and blue bloods, about a family of cops from the people behind the sopranos starring tom selleck (and his mustache) and bridget moynahan. it looks good, but i don't know how i feel about the shaky-cam look.

the biggest change coming to cbs is the line-up switch-er-oo they're doing. instead of trying to create comedy magic on wednesdays again, they're taking their hour-long comedy block to thursdays. the big bang theory and $#*! my dad says will go head to head with nbc's community and 30 rock come fall. csi:miami is off to sundays, with hawaii-five-o taking its monday night slot. blue bloods takes a friday slot, bumping medium and csi: new york up an hour each. and survivor is now on wednesdays. should be interesting how this plays out for the eye net.

the cw only has 2 new scripted shows. the first is nikita, a relaunch of the movie series and syndicated show la femme nikita. maggie q stars as the first non-caucasion nikita and this time the secret agent has gone rogue. it looks a lot like alias, which makes me excited. it's getting paired with the cw's vampire diaries, which means the net has big expectations for the show. tvd was the cw's biggest hit this last fall and whatever is paired with it is expected to do well.

the net's other new show is hellcats, which is bring it on meets 90210. back by smallville's tom welling, hellcats revolves around a southern university cheerleading squad. disney vets aly michalka and ashley tisdale star. hellcats is being paired with the cw's other big hitter, america's next top model (which will get a big of a makeover come fall, with the big prize being upped to the cover of italian vogue). you can tell the cw wants their new shows to succeed, not get lost in the clutter that is the tv landscape. the clip below doesn't reveal much about the show, but the tiz's involvement is enough to get a buzz going.

and that is what you have to look forward to in the fall. happy channel surfing.

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upfront with abc (and cbs)

the alphabet net and the eye net have released their fall schedules. first up, abc.

it looks like abc will have the strongest schedule come fall. that's mainly because not much is changing. the network canceled very few series - ugly betty and lost were told ahead of time they would be ending; while flash forward, scrubs, better off ted and romantically challenged were all expected casualties. so what does abc have in store for fall? here are my picks for their new show best bets.

better together - this is the show i'm most looking forward to. starring jennifer finnigan and joanna garcia, the show focuses on two sisters (the aforementioned finnigan and garcia) who are in very different relationships. finnigan's character has been in a long-term, 9-year relationship. garcia's character has been dating a guy for less than 2 months and they're already engaged. throw in the sisters' 35-years-together parents, and comedy ensues. it's a standard sitcom that will fit right in with comedy night wednesdays on the alphabet net. check out the trailer below.

no ordinary family - this is abc's biggest risk. it could either pay off big time or be canceled within weeks. the show stars michael chiklis and julie benz as a suburban couple whose lives get flipped upside down when their entire family acquires super powers. it's heroes meets modern family.

body of proof - abc is getting back into the scripted friday night game with this dana delany procedural. delany stars as a nuero-surgeon turned medical examiner who is trying to get both her personal and professional life in check. hopefully the show doesn't get lost on fridays.

something that could help delany's body of proof is the possible addition of cbs' ghost whisperer to the alphabet net's friday night line-up. cbs canceled the jennifer love hewitt supernatural dramedy, but hope isn't lost for it. ghost whisperer has consistently been the number one show on friday nights and is owned by abc. they could easily pick it up and have a major incentive to do so: the show has been sold into syndication, which means the more new episodes abc studios makes, the more money the show brings in.

there's also a chance abc will pick up cbs' other big casualty, the new adventures of old christine. while julia louis-dreyfus survived the seinfeld curse with the series, it was just too expensive for cbs to keep. having been on five years, the show comes with a hefty price tag. and because abc doesn't own it, it's less likely to pick it up, even though the network has been eyeing the series for the past couple of years as its sat on cbs' cancelation bubble. an official word should be out by next week, but because abc has their schedule set, the new adventures could soon be old ones.

check back tomorrow for previews of cbs' new line-up. to see previews of the rest of abc's new shows, click here. abc has some sure-to-be-hits lined up for midseason, including a new medical drama from grey's anatomy creator shonda rhimes (off the map, starring meryl streep's daughter) and mr. sunshine, a new comedy starring matthew perry and allison janney.

and in returning abc show news, it looks like desperate housewives may have its new vixen. vanessa williams, fresh from the dearly departed ugly betty, will be filling the stilettos left behind by nicolette sheridan's edie brit on wisteria lane. it's genius casting, so hopefully they don't waste williams talents (a la alfrie woodard or this year's drea de mateo).

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fox-y fall
forgive me for the attempt at a punny title. really, what can you do with "fox?" the "hippest" network released their fall schedule and it looks...like a fox schedule. fox has success in creating one hit a year (24, house, glee, etc.), but the rest of their programming is pretty blah. i'll get to that in a minute. the biggest news from the net relates to its biggest hit: american idol. the past-its-prime singing competition will be losing some airtime in order to make room for more shows and a more focused program. when idol returns midseason, the performance show will only be an hour and a half, while the result show will be 30 minutes. that's cutting an hour off the total running time for idol, which is a pretty big deal. the other big news is that glee is getting a prime spot: idol's. in the fall, glee will be the lead series on tuesdays, starting the night for fox at 8/7c. joining it will be two new comedy series: raising hope and running wilde.

i was excited for raising hope based solely on its premise: a teen winds up being a single dad to a baby and his whole white trash family - including cloris leachman - helps raise the baby. but note the word was - after seeing the preview, i'm less interested. it looks like it's shot similarly to malcolm in the middle (one camera, shaky, dimly lit). i'm a sitcom traditionalist - i like my three cameras and bright lights. here's the preview.


running wilde is more promising and the biggest contender for fox's breakout show. it's biggest damper is that it follows raising hope instead of leading it. wilde comes from the mind of mr. amy poehler, will arnett. arnett plays a dimwitted playboy who realizes money isn't everything. that's when he decides to win back his childhood crush, played by felicity herself, keri russell. arnett is also responsible for arrested development, fox's last hit 30 minute comedy.

the biggest contender for drama breakout is either ride along (a cop serial set in chicago and starring flashdance/l-word alum jennifer beals) or lonestar, a primetime soap set in the lonestar state. check out their previews below.



to check out what else fox has in store and see previews for the net's other new shows, click here.

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nbc's fall preview

i might have been wrong about nbc's fall schedule. while the shows didn't sound great, they look like they'll actually be pretty good. there's still the little thing of getting viewers, which has been a challenge for the network, but here's my picks for what could be successful. nbc's biggest problem is they tend to save what would be big hits until midseason - and that record holds true with shows friends with benefits, harry's law, perfect couples and the paul reiser show. hopefully people will be looking for new tv come january? anyway, here are the shows...

love bites - this dramedy stars ugly betty's becki newtown. that was where it had me. it's also pretty funny, at least from the preview. the biggest problem i see with it is that the series will have vignettes featuring loosely tied in love stories. it's better to stick with the main cast...but maybe it'll work.

the undercovers - this is latest series from j.j. abrams. it looks like an update of abrams' first hit, alias - one of my favorites. this could be the biggest hit - or liability - for the net.

harry's law - david e. kelley, the mind behind the practice, ally mcbeal and boston legal brings the network harry's law. the show stars kathy bates and brittany snow, a good start casting wise. rumor has it a new pilot has been ordered with a new ensemble cast, so the flaws i see in the preview could be fixed. sadly, this show doesn't pop up until midseason.

check out the rest of nbc's line-up and previews for other new shows here. what will you be watching on the peacock net come fall?

day 2.274

the upfronts are coming!

this week is going to be a big one. lots of shows are getting the axe and lots of shows are getting a chance. but, it doesn't start until tomorrow. so, there's not much to talk about today. in the meantime, here's a sneak peak of nbc's new line-up:

mondays: chuck, the event, chase

tuesdays: the biggest loser, parenthood

wednesdays: undercovers, law and order: svu, law and order: l.a.

thursdays: community, 30 rock, the office, outsourced, love bites

fridays: who do you think you are?, dateline, outlaw

sundays: football

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meet greyson chance

you've probably already seen tweenager greyson chance's rendition of lady gaga's "paparazzi," but you haven't seen his interview with ellen, have you? check out greyson's chat and performance on ms. degeneres' show above. he's really well spoken (it's like he's already had media training! he doesn't "like" or "um" or "you know") and personable. plus, he's humble - his flight out to the show was his first flight! crazy, i know. reports are saying justin bieber's manager is really interested in greyson. expect big things.

day 2.275

it's upfront season

oh upfront season, how i love you. for those of you not in the know, upfront season (technically it's just a week and it doesn't happen until next week...) is when the big networks (nbc, cbs, abc, fox and the cw) along with a couple cablers announce what shows will be coming back in the fall, what's been canceled and what new shows we all have to look forward (or not) to. a lot of spoilers have leaked out about network pick-ups and cancelations over the past couple of day - here's what i've heard.

nbc: it doesn't look like the peacock net will be doing much to come back from the year that was leno-gate. nbc has really, really struggled since friends clocked out six years ago and i don't think they've quite nailed down their comeback strategy. one good thing they've decided to do is axe heroes. the supernatural series has lost millions of viewers since it premiered four seasons ago and was more of a liability than an asset to the network. the good news for fans who have stuck it out is that nbc is reportedly planning a movie or mini-series event to wrap up any and all loose ends. the peacock also axed law and order, just one season short of breaking the record for longest running drama (it ties gunsmoke with 20 seasons). there's a rumor that tnt may pick-up the flagship series, but i doubt it. in l&o's place will be new spin-off law and order: los angeles (needless to say i think they're ripping off cbs' ncis: los angeles, the highest rated freshman drama). as for new show pick-ups, nbc has greenlit only one show i think will make it, a law-firm dramedy from david e. kelly starring oscar winner kathy bates called harry's law.

abc: abc has picked up what is sure to be the newest big hit, body of proof. the procedural follows dana delany (yep, she's off wisteria lane for good...or at least the time being) as a nuerosurgeon-turned-medical examiner. they've also picked up another medical drama from grey's anatomy (has that show jumped the shark or is it just me?) creator shonda rhimes, off the map. as for cancelations, it looks like scrubs, better off ted and romantically challenged are all done along with flashforward. v, the alien-invaders remake, did get a pick-up for a second season, however. my guess is abc will have the strongest line-up yet again.

cbs: cbs won't be messing with much. cold case looks to be dead (thanks for waning viewership and increasing production costs) and jenna elfman's accidentally on purpose is probably done, too. and, should cbs axe wednesday night comedy new adventures of old christine, abc is ready to pick it up as a partner to cougar town (which is probably getting a name change!) or the middle. hawaii-five-o will most likely get a pick-up. cbs' biggest casualties may be its friday night line-up (ghost whisperer and medium). while ghost whisperer has been surprise friday hit and medium has done well since cbs saved it from nbc's axe, i'm seeing a lot of rumors that the net wants to free up more space to try new programming. but who knows if they'll gamble losing the number one friday night.

fox: fox has greenlit a couple of comedies, but not much else. they have a pretty good schedule as is, so why mess with it? the biggest rumor going around is that fox may switch american idol to a wednesday-thursday line-up instead of its usual tuesday/wednesday. but, idol time slot switcheroos happen every year and they never turn out to be true. i guess we'll find out next week.

the cw: the least watched network is looking to find more viewers. after finding its biggest success in the vampire diaries, the network is hoping another female empowerment series will bring in viewers. nikita, a reboot of movie series and '90s syndication favorite la femme nikita, is said to already have a spot on the schedule. melrose place is dead. it was thought one tree hill or new series life unexpected would join m.p. in the tv graveyard, but now it looks like both those shows will get shortened 12 or 13 episode orders. if so, it will probably be oth's last go-around. sophia bush filmed a comedy pilot for abc and should that get picked up, she might leave the hill. that pretty much means no star power for the struggling series.

day 2.274

i haven't even seen this movie and i love it

i really cannot wait to see this movie. easy a stars emma stone and basically everyone else in hollywood. it's a modern update to the scarlet letter (which i really could have done without in high school, but that's behind us) and i laughed out loud (that's l.o.l. for those of you unfamiliar with actually spelling out phrases) multiple times during the trailer. i rarely produce laughter. it's usually more of this weird huffing noise. but i made audible noise this time. anyway, back to the movie - it's a retelling of the scarlet letter, but with a twist: no one is actually having illicit relations. emma stone's character turns into the school's pseudo slut when she fakes having sex with multiple boys who want to create non-virginal reputations. it co-stars amanda bynes (as an uber religious mean girl no less), penn badgley, that kid from cougar town, phoebe buffay (lisa kudrow)...and even more. check out the trailer above and try not to laugh.

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i'll be...

back tomorrow

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sorry

i got nothin'.

day 2.271

the other sound of summer

if katy perry's "california gurls" wasn't exactly your cup of tea then maybe you'll like this. and maybe you're a little weird because you don't like that song, but that's a different story. anyway, sara bareilles is back with a new track after nearly three years of no new music. "king of anything" is the lead single off barielles' upcoming release (it's not until september, sadly), kaleidoscope heart. the song sounds like it would fit in with barielles' last effort, little voice, which makes me happy. i'm all for artists exploring news sounds and getting creative, but sometimes you just want someone you can rely on. and barielles' is definitely reliable. check out the tune above - it's just as catchy as "love song." and it's stuck in my head. hopefully it will get stuck in yours, too.

speaking of miss perry, a second single from her upcoming album (teenage dream) has hit the interwebs. "e.t" has a harder, edgier sound, but still fits into the katy perry aesthetic. it's very now. it's very on the curve. check it out below.

it will be interesting to listen to teenage dream in whole because "california gurls" and "e.t" are on opposite ends of the pop spectrum. the disc doesn't hit shelves until august, so we'll just have to see what else leaks out between now and then to get a feel for the record.

really, this is it?

continuing today's musical theme, here's "love is your color," a much anticipated duet between leona lewis and jennifer hudson for the sex and the city 2 soundtrack. to be honest, it's kind of a big disappointment. it's slow. it's ballady. it's boring. i'm not sure j hud and leona's voices compliment each other. they more so sound really odd together. they both have very soulful voices, but in very different ways. the song would probably be better if it were just leona or just jennifer belting it out. check out the track for yourself above. p.s. leona is touring with christina aguilera this summer if that's your sort of thing.

ok, so i was just reminded about this track, christina aguilera's "woohoo" featuring nicki minaj. i haven't decided how i feel about it yet. i really like the beat and the whole "woohoo" thing gets stuck in your head, but i feel like christina's vocals are wasted here. like had a britney or miley done this - someone without the range and more about performance - then maybe i'd be more instantly attached to it. for now, i'm unsure. decide for yourself below.

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betty white.

i was going to post clips from last night's snl, like i do every sunday after a new episode, but last night's was too good to choose from. betty white hosted and it was an hour and a half of laughter. check it out above.

and check out some not-seen-on-tv sketches from dress rehearsal below.

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the sound of summer

katy perry is back with new music. her latest single "california gurls" (which features snoop dog) is sure to be the song of the summer. it's just the right mix of dance pop goodness that i can't see many hating the tune. check out "california gurls" yourself above. it'll be hard not to get it stuck in your head.

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happy cinco de mayo!

no blog-o.

day 2.267

beyonce, "why don't you love me?"

the first single from the soon-to-be released deluxe re-release of beyonce's i am...sasha fierce "why don't you love me" has dropped along with a new video. i really like the song (even though it's been floating around the internet for a while now) and the video concept, i just don't know if i like them together. maybe it'll grow on me, but i don't know. the two are very christina aguilera's back to basics, which i like. check it out above and tell me what you think.

miley cyrus "can't be tamed"

miley cyrus also debuted her latest music vid today and it is...ridiculous. miley is definitely trying to shed any inkling of hannah montana from her persona. the video is super edgy and sexed up (though miley says the point isn't the sexiness, it's about embodying the lyrics. um, ok). check it out for yourself. it's definitely not going to run on the disney channel.

day 2.265

busy day...

in my life, not in hollywood. no blog.

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britney "gaga" spears

before lady gaga the pop phenomenon we all know her as, she was just a girl trying to make it in the music biz. gaga sold a couple of her songs to other artists, including miss britney spears. brit brit recorded "telephone" - gaga's current megahit with beyonce - for either her blackout or circus album - but decided against using the track. but now brit's demo of the song has hit the internet and you get to hear it. it is a demo, so it's not very polished and there are some weird sounds. but, nonetheless, you can indulge in the song guilt free. while it's not as good as the gaga-version, it's still worth a three-minute listen. or at least three minutes of procrastination, right?

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christina aguilera is not herself tonight

she's lady gaga. aguilera's "comeback" video is eerily similar to lady gaga's video for "bad romance." people have even gone as far to compare then shot for shot. check it out for yourself above.