day 3.28

god giveth, and god taketh away

at least he does when it comes to reality tv, especially on bravo. the pop-culture centric net lost two my favorite stars today - kathy griffin and camille grammer. griffin announced today, along with the net, that her emmy-winning series, my life on the d-list, won't be coming back for a 7th season. but, don't worry - the ginger funny lady isn't leaving the net anytime soon. she's set to film four comedy specials for bravo to run throughout 2011. griffin said she never meant to become a reality star, but don't call the d-list dead quite yet. griffin reportedly wants to create a curb your enthusiasm-style improvised faux-reality show that would incorporate some of the "characters" we've come to love on the d-list, as well as bringing on actors to play some of the other characters in griffin's life.

grammer reportedly wants off the real housewives train. the hollywood reporter claims the former wife of fraiser star kelsey grammer is done with the show, which has become a "let's all hate camille" party. i can't blame her - she's portrayed as a genuine crazy person who surrounds her self with other delusionoids (see: allison dubois) - but she's just so damn entertaining. the beverly hills cast met yesterday to film their reunion special, so i'm guessing something big went down between camille and her best frenemy kyle richards. while bravo has yet to make an announcement, a second season is sure to happen for the highly rated beverly hills bunch. let's just hope they can find someone just as crazy to fill in for camille should she decide to leave. but, if she doesn't get the $50 million pay-out she's expecting from kelsey, expect her back on the small screen.

one reality star set to get even more exposure is khloe kardashian. e! announced today that the youngest sister-kardashian will get her own spin-off from the net's successful keeping up with the kardashians alongside her la lakers' hubby lamar. while i know i'll probably watch it, is it necessary? hell to the no. and neither is khloe and kourtney take miami or the yet-to-premiere kim and kourntey take new york. they're all the same show! what's the point of having four different shows that all follow the same people? why not just show keeping up year round? with filming set to start in the next month or two, i don't understand when they'll ever film keeping up again. they might as well announce kylie and kendall, rob's world and kris & bruce forever while they're at it.

day 2.365

vh1's supports the troops

last night, vh1 brought some quality entertainment to the troops with the return of their divas series. this time around, the music channel formerly known as "old people mtv" brought along katy perry, nicki minaj, sugarland, paramore, keri hilson, heart and grace potter & the nocturnals (who i've never heard of...). funny lady kathy griffin hosted the special - here are some of my favorite highlights.

kathy griffin opened the show with - what else? - a comedy sketch, titled "operation ragin' cougar," where she basically gave some marines a bunch of crap, and made plenty of pop culture jokes.

then kathy made her grand entrance, showing off her self-proclaimed "hot bikini bod." and, of course, there are plenty more celeb-unfriendly jokes. oh, and plenty of dirty jokes involving military terminology, which seemed to go over really well with the audience. and, of course, kathy had to pull out her top-secret "don't even think about it" list of rules from the base to talk about.

my favorite performance of the night - katy perry and nicki minaj's take on "girls just wanna have fun" - wasn't posted on vh1's web site (all they had was a short :30 preview), but i was able to find this clip from someone who was live in the audience.

each act performed their own mini-concent, with katy perry performing three of her biggest hits.

check back later for more performances from vh1 divas. in the mean time, click here to see other highlights.

when worlds collide

day 359

more shows headed to the tv graveyard

on top of yesterday's news that abc will be axing eastwick, two more shows bit the big one today: abc's hank and fox's dollhouse. neither of the shows has been able to pick up steam or build an audience and aren't big surprises. the big surprise is that shows with so much star power didn't make it. dollhouse premiered last winter, the brainchild of buff the vampire slayer creator joss whedon and starring eliza dushku, as fox's "next big thing." well, fox plunked dollhouse on friday nights - not exactly a recipe for success. because of the show's clunker of a time slot, and losing its once strong lead-in of terminator: the sarah conner chronicles, fox is pulling the plug after this season's original 13 episode order. this makes the second fox-starring vehicle for dushku to on;y last 2 seasons. the first was tru calling. really, i just think neither dushku nor whedon are big draws - while they're big in the tv circuit and with tv junkies, they're really not all that well known. kelsey grammer's hank, on the other hand, should have worked. big star. big network. big night. hank was part of abc's wednesday comedy block, which launched standouts cougar town and modern family this year. so why didn't hank work? first, the show had production problems up until its premiere, with recasts taking place after the pilot was filmed. then hank was saddled alongside the middle, patricia heaton's abc comedy that's been doing just ok (and was picked up for a full, 22 episode season after just 2 episodes). hank is also the lead-in, meaning it's supposed to start off the hourlong block. the 8/7c timeslot is always a hard sell, with most people eating dinner during that time. add that to not-too-great reviews from critics and you have the recipe for failure. in hank's place, abc will air a series of holiday specials and reruns of modern family and cougar town. starting in january, it is expected that alyssa milano's new comedy, romantically challenged, will take over the slot. hopefully it will fare batter.

in more cancelation news, let's dance has been pulled from abc's schedule without even airing. the show was set to be hosted by kathy griffin and premiere right after dancing with the stars' finale on november 23rd. the premise of the show was to have celebrity contestants recreate famous dance routines from movies over 5 weeks, leading up to a major dance off. the show, like dwts and so many competition shows, was based off international programs. there is still some hope (with all this schedule shuffling at abc) that the show may live on midseason. abc's new hit v - about an alien invasion - will end it's first season run by then, there's the 30 minute opening from hank and the hour block opening from eastwick. and don't worry too much about miss griffin - her emmy winning reality show, bravo's my life on the d-list, was greenlit for a 6th season today.

jon gosselin continues to win people over

hi, jon? it's america. we'd like you to know that something is only funny if it's not sad. this is sad. in the spot that jon filmed for funny or die, he pokes fun at his image and dreams about going back in time to start over. basically, it's all about him poking fun at his former, squeaky clean image. well, jon, most of us would like that back. this would be better as a true story instead of a spoof. check out the not so funny clip above.

singer or filmmaker?

lady gaga doesn't do anything halfway. the modern era's madonna continues to impress me with where she's willing to go. her latest single, "bad romance," has been burning up the charts and is the lead track from her repackaged rerelease of her debut, now known as the fame monster. the package - which includes artwork, a coffee table book and a bunch of new tracks - doesn't hit stores until thanksgiving week, but you can watch the first video above. gaga doesn't make music videos, she makes mini-films - with a ton of special effects. this may be the creepiest, and best, of them yet.

in other music news, rihanna has leaked yet another new track from rated r, "hard," featuring young jeezy. out of the three songs we've gotten to hear, it's the best.

day 300

and the schmemmy goes to...

last night the "schmemmies," otherwise known as the creative arts emmys, were held in los angeles. this show is where all the awards not really cool or noteworthy enough to make it into the official telecast - airing next sunday, the 20th, on cbs - are handed out. this year, the show was hosted by 2-time emmy award winner kathy griffin (i'm currently reading her memoir, official book club selection, and it's hi-larious) and some big names actually showed up. kathy didn't actually pick up a 3rd statue this year for my life on the d-list (that honor went to a&e's intervention), but she did get to rub elbows with tina fey, justin timberlake, michael j fox ... and the list goes on (sort of). tina fey picked up her first emmy of the year (she's sure to add a whole lot more come next weekend as 30 rock has the most noms) for her guest work on saturday night live as sarah palin while justin timberlake was the first snl guest host to ever take home the coveted "guest actor in a comedy series" trophy. this is jt's second snl emmy, as he won last year for his collaboration with andy samberg on "dick in a box." michael j. fox took home the award for "guest actor in a drama series" for his guest stint in rescue me and ellen burnstyn took home the female trophy for her work on law and order: svu. in a sure-to-be rub-in-miley cyrus's face moment, the cast of wizards of waverly place took home the trophy for "children's program." selena gomez & co. was up against number one shows icarly and hannah montana so their win was surprising on a ratings stand-point, but not necessarily a quality standpoint. plus, an emmy is a great way to secure another season for your show. the full show will air (edited, of course) on e! september 18th at 1 p.m.

don't forget that mtv's music video awards starts tonight at 9/8c - tune in to see some sure-to-be great performances and just take in all the awkwardness that is russell brand's hosting style.

day 297

kathy goes kate

kathy griffin turned up on jimmy kimmel last night to talk up her recently released memoir, official book club selection, and brought with her what is sure to be the latest video to go viral. in a pre-taped sketch, kathy gets her lifetime on by playing kate gosselin in a faux made-for-tv movie, kate is enough: the kate gosselin story. check out the fake promo for the movie above and have a laugh.

idol's biggest news...ever

american idol just got a whole lot funnier. yesterday, ellen degeneres and fox announced that the spunky talk-show host/comedian would be taking over the fourth chair for the 9th installment of the series. ellen reportedly signed a 5-year deal with the talent competition. while many people thought this was initially a joke, they're dead wrong. once idol is done with auditions, ellen will be taking the permanent position over from guest judges like victoria beckham, kelly clarkson, katy perry, and joe jonas. in the vid above, ellen talks about how she's loved the show since day 1 and will go into judging in the mindset of a consumer, not a record executive. finally, someone who won't say things like "artistry" and "pitchy!" this is the biggest get idol could have gotten; people weren't going to tune in to see diana ross or some other performer who should be taking the retirement stage in vegas. the show needed a new punch, and degeneres is perfect. ellen will continue to host her daily talk show, which is sure to be the go-to spot for idol-exit interviews. i wonder how ryan feels about this - e! news won't be the only place with an official idol hook-up anymore. when paula announced she was leaving, i questioned whether or not i would really be interested in watching the next season. now, with ellen on board, i definitely will check it out. now if only randy jackson could either learn some new words or leave the show, too. that would be great.

day 239

blippity blurbs

there's not really a story worth writing today, so let's play catch-up. is that okay? no? too bad. okay, first up, mariah carey's latest singe - "obsessed" - has been released in music video form. well, kind of. the video will technically premiere tonight during nbc's america's got talent, which mariah's husband, nick cannon, just happens to host. hmm, i wonder how they worked out this whole premiere deal? if you just can't wait (which, i don't know why you couldn't - the video isn't all that great), then click here to check out the "early premiere." the video was accidentally published on yahoo music earlier today and someone was smart enough to video capture it ... as we head back into the start of awards season - i know, it feels like we just finished, right? - hosts are slowly being announced. neil patrick harris was officially confirmed yesterday as the host for this year's primetime emmys as was speculated last week. joining him as an emmy host will be kathy griffin. the d-list star has been tapped to host what she calls the "schmemmys," otherwise known as the creative arts primetime emmys, where all the behind the scenes work and some lesser awards - like guest actor and actress and best reality show (which griffin has won for the past 2 years) - are handed out. this is the first time an emmy winner has hosted the creative arts ceremony ... mtv has tapped comedian russell brand to helm the video music awards for the second year in a row. the british star gained record ratings for the show last year, which included britney spear's return from crazy land and a performance by the jobros, which led to a big virgin joke controversy involving brand, jorin sparks, as well as the brothers jonas. the show will move back to its home in new york this year - after moving to the paramount lot in california last year and the palms the year before - to radio city music hall. the only confirmed performer thus far is taylor swift, who will be doing a "never before heard" rendition of her new hit "you belong with me." that should be good - swift always brings it. i'll be interested to see how brand does this year; he wasn't my favorite last year. but, his scatterbrained style is probably the most appropriate for the add audience of today ... with scream 4's script being drafted right now, the cast list is starting to add up. the first two cast members to be confirmed for the project are husband and wife team david and courntey cox arquette. the couple met on the set of the first movie and will reprise their roles of deputy dewey and gale weathers, respectively. the announcement was made today on nbc's todat show by david, who added he is hoping that series star neve campbell will come back for the fourth go around. this move could either be great or horrible - it's been long enough that a new audience is there for the franchise, but if they don't show up, will the old fans? ... and a bromance is officially dead. okay, maybe not dead, but not quite as close as it used to be. mostly because the duo of ed westwick and chace crawford have decided to part realty ways, with chace moving out of the buds' shared apartment in new york.