Blog News!

In case you might not have noticed, I've updated the blog's sidebar. Blogger threw me into a rather forced update to their new version. I had been holding off due to bugs and the fact that I didn't want to lose (or muck up) content here. Despite my fears, the upgrade went fine and nothing seems to have gone missing. Phew!

One fantastic thing I can do now is apply labels (categories) to blog entries. I went through the history of this blog attaching labels to posts. And, then I added them to the sidebar. So, now if you follow a certain show I write about, you can easily pull up the posts about it in chronological order with the most recent entries listed first. Want a trip down Memory Lane about The Amazing Race 9? It's right there for your reading pleasure. You can relive Big Brother 7: All Stars or check out the latest on Survivor 14: Fiji merely by clicking on the links for them in the sidebar.

Both "TV Newsy Bits" and "Various and Sundry" categories include miscellaneous information regarding a lot of different shows. You can still search the blog for any term via either the search box atop the blog or the one you see in the sidebar. There are some posts with multiple categories. This is really going to simplify things a lot if you don't want to wade through American Idol to get at Survivor. You can also click on the label at the bottom of a post to bring up all of the entries in that category. Cool, eh?

Let me know what you think!

Those Precious Pants - This Week on 'The Late Show with David Letterman' - Feb. 5 - 9, 2007

It's hard to believe it's actually been 25 years of late night television with David Letterman. A few years more of Letterman on the whole if you include his original morning show and all of those appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, as well as his Mary Tyler Moore Show stint. Congratulations, Dave!

Guests we'll be seeing this week include:

• Monday, Feb. 5: Dr. Phil, always fun on the show - I love the way he and Letterman mix it up. Musical guest is Fall Out Boy, their CD is Infinity on High.
• Tuesday, Feb. 6: Harry Connick, Jr. will be promoting his new CD Oh, My Nola (a tribute to New Orleans) and American Idol judge Randy Jackson. Oh, now... that's worth staying up late to watch, right?
• Wednesday, Feb. 7: Chris Elliott, Kelly Ripa, and John Mellencamp (latest CD is Freedom's Road). I was disappointed in Chris the last time he was on the show. I usually find him funny, but found him basically juvenile. I hope he's back to being funny.
• Thursday, Feb. 8: Jack Hanna, Katherine Heigl (Grey's Anatomy), musical guest Patti Griffin (CD is Children Running Through). I cannot miss a Jack Hanna appearance on the show. Once again, this is a guest whose interaction with Dave is always entertaining and I'm just such a sucker for animal segments, too.
• Friday, Feb. 9: John Madden, Rachael Ray, musical guests The Fab Faux (a Beatles tribute band). Not quite a guest list I'd choose, but they didn't ask me. It'll still be good.

It's 10 PM. Do you know where your pants are?

Millionaires in the Making? Instant Celebrities

I recently read an article in which infamous American Idol reject William Hung admitted to a current status as "millionaire." Of course, his claim to fame was the horrendous version of "She-Bang" which aired everywhere. He's since released at least one CD and has a fan base.

So, who's next on the American Idol "I'm so bad but you can't stop watching" brigade?

It seems to be Jonathan Jayne and Kenneth Swale, the latter introduced on the show as Kenneth Briggs. Kenneth, if you recall, was likened to to a bush baby by Simon Cowell. No, not a progeny of George W. Bush. I'm talking a bush baby. Actually, I think they're kind of cute, but perhaps not as cute when translated to human.

Jayne and Swale-Briggs have made the circuit of talk shows and have become C-list celebrities in their own right. The show presented the image of a true friendship being formed. Sure enough, they've become a duo as they hit the road to infamy. Will they became the next big thing? Will the fame last for them?

Well, if videos on YouTube and articles like this one are any indication, this isn't the last we've heard of Jonathan and Kenneth. I, for one, don't think this is such a great thing when you consider America's taste. But it sure could be a great thing for the bank accounts of Jayne and Swale.

TV Newsy Bits - Friday, February 2, 2007

What? No American Idol tonight? How odd.

I came across a really nifty website for the caveman from the GEICO television commercials. It's a guided tour of his apartment, including things like going through his magazines, watching the commercials and more. I always got a kick out of the ads in their original campaign and the new ones never fail to catch my attention. The website is here at Caveman's Crib. Give it time to load and have some fun with it! "Another place in time..."

In other TV Newsy Bits:

• If you want some heavy reading delving into the reality show medium, you should peruse The Ideological Dangers of Reality TV from The American Chronicle. Since I have such an interest in the genre, I gave it a read. There are some aspects with which I agree, but I don't believe the situation is anywhere near as serious as the article indicates. I think many of the issues the article relates to reality television aren't wholely inclusive to the medium, but widespread throughout society due to several sociological changes over the decades. Hmmm... I may have to delve more into this myself. It is interesting.
• Now that Jennifer Hudson (ex-American Idol 6th place finalist) has hit the big time and is up for an Oscar, she claims that her experience on AI was "abusive." What do I think? I personally think if she hadn't gone through her "abusive" experience on the show, she wouldn't be up for an Oscar now. Hey, you gotta pay the dues if you want to sing the blues, right?
• The latest fired Apprentice candidate, Marisa DeMato, has really hit the interview circuit. (No, I didn't interview her.) TV Guide, The Inside Pulse, The Palm Beach Post and many others talked with her. The common theme is that she's "crying fowl." That sounds like a line I'd write about the situation or perhaps that pollo really is loco. I don't know.
• CANOE-JAM! spoke with Jeff Probst who promises that the new twists on Survivor 14: Fiji will change the game. ET Online also goes more into the new twists.
• Zap2It is reporting that we will indeed see Big Brother 8 this summer and it will be a "normal" cast (as opposed to last season's "All Stars"). No date was mentioned, but it traditionally starts around the 4th of July weekend.
• Do you miss the Evil Doctor Will and company from BB7? Jokers Updates has a new chat transcript from the other day just for you!
• CBS canned Armed and Famous after just four shows, and VH1 is picking it up. That's where it should have been all along anyway.
• Remember! There's a CBS special on at 9 PM ET/PT tonight with Superbowl Ads. Since I really don't like the game (I know - it's un-American or something), I'll be watching this. The ads are always cool.

Whatever Will I Watch Tonight? - Thursday, Feb. 1, 2007

Although the first thing I'll be mentioning here really comes on last, to me, it's the most important.

The Late Show with David Letterman. I mention it not only because it's a new show and the previous shows this week were repeats, but it's also Dave's 25th Anniversary on late night television. I'm sure we can expect highlights from (hopefully) the old NBC show and definitely from the CBS show. Bill Murray, who was the first guest on the NBC show (Late Night with David Letterman) in 1982 and also his first guest on the current show, will be on tonight. LeBron James (NBA) is also on. Be there with pants-o-plenty!

In the 8 PM ET/PT time slot, CBS has a repeat of C.S.I.; NBC has new episodes of My Name is Earl and The Office; FOX has new episodes of 'Til Death and The War at Home; ABC has a new Ugly Betty. CW is airing a new Smallville. Betty gets my personal vote for the hour.

9 PM ET/PT brings us a new C.S.I. on CBS; NBC has fresh Scrubs and 30 Rock. FOX is airing a new The O.C. (four more to go, I think). ABC has a new Grey's Anatomy while CW has a new Supernatural. Is this TIVO time? Also, BET has its "new" episode of The Wire (repeated Saturday evening). I'm following that last one, but catch it on the repeat (of the repeat, but it's all new to HBO-less me). I'll watch C.S.I.

In the 10 PM ET/PT hour, there are still plenty of new episodes for us! Shark (CBS), ER (NBC), Men in Trees (ABC) are all brand-spanking new. USA has a new Nashville Star, too. MTV has a new Juvies, but I haven't a clue about that one. Juvenile delinquents? I don't know.

Warm that set up and settle in for the night!