TV Newsy Bits - Monday, June 11, 2007

Greetings! Happy Monday to y'all. Well, if there is such a thing as a "happy" Monday. I suppose it could be an oxymoron like "jumbo shrimp."

Do you realize that by this time next month we'll have already picked our favorites on Big Brother 8?

Here are today's TV Newsy Bits...

• Remember... The Closer third season premiere is next Monday, June 18 at 9 PM ET/PT on TNT. Did you miss some episodes of the second season? Not to worry! TNT is holding a fifteen-hour The Closer marathon starting at 6 AM leading into the season premiere. All of the second season will be shown. And, thanks to TBS, I was given a screener copy of the premiere episode -- it's a mind-boggler indeed.
• Yikes! There was a bit of controversy over the Sopranos finale, eh?
• Hide Harry! The man who was jailed in a kidnap plot to abduct David Letterman's son has escaped from prison. Don't go to Montana, Dave. Stay here on the East Coast and give us fresh pants.
• Speaking of late-night television hosts, it's dawning on me who Lonnie Quinn -- ex-soap opera actor, transplant from a Florida station, dubiously credentialed meteorologist (certifcate, no degree) new WCBS2 (NYC) evening "meteorologist" -- reminds me of... Conan O'Brien with blondish hair. Ack.
• Are you a fan of body art? Tomorrow night at 10 PM ET/PT, TLC will air the season premiere of Miami Ink. The show seems to be more about the art behind the tattoos than folks getting them. Check out the website for lots of cool show-related doings!
• Oh... those poor Law and Order: Criminal Intent stars! According to this AOL TV News article, the show's major actors including Vincent D'Onofrio, will be returning next season without a raise. For some odd reason, I think they're still in a higher salary tier than most folks.

Pants To Make Your Butt Look Big - This Week on 'The Late Show with David Letterman' - June 11-15, 2007

It's a new week and it's a new list o' guests!

Fresh pants!

Here's who's scheduled to be on the show this week:

• Monday, June 11: Denis Leary promoting the new season of Rescue Me, Flight of the Conchords (HBO's Flight of the Conchords).
• Tuesday, June 12: Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer), Sir Richard Branson, Maroon 5 (latest CD is It Won't Be Soon Before Long).
• Wednesday, June 13: Bear Grylls (Man vs. Wild), Jeremy Piven (Entourage), Elvis Perkins (CD is Ash Wednesday).
• Thursday, June 14: John Cusack promoting 1408, musical guest Pink Martini (CD is Hey, Eugene).
• Friday, June 15: Michael Moore promoting Sicko and comedian Bill Burr.

'Big Brother 8' Programming Schedule Announced

According to The Futon Critic, Big Brother 8 will return to the same scheduled evenings as last season -- the season premiere will be Thursday, July 5 at 8 PM ET/PT. On Sunday evenings, the show will air at 8 PM ET/PT while the Tuesday night show will start at 9 PM ET/PT, an hour later than last year.

Pirate Master will follow BB8 on the premiere night, then settle into the 10 PM ET/PT slot on Tuesday evenings. It seems that it's been cast adrift, mateys.

There's still no casting news, nor news on the live feeds.

TV Newsy Bits - Thursday, June 7, 2007

Whoa... lots of news out there today!

Unfortunately, no new news on the upcoming Big Brother 8 cast, twists, or air times...!

There's good news, bad news, and odd news.

Here we go:

• Jericho fans can rejoice! Due to pressure from the fan community, CBS has ordered seven more episodes of the show after making the announcement that the show was cancelled. The New Jersey Star Ledger is just one of the sources for this story. So, it's true -- fan reaction actually mattered for once!
  


• It appears that someone has broken the non-disclosure clause of their contract over in Hell's Kitchen. Online betting venues have stopped action on the show due to "suspicious patterns." This Reality TV World article has more, but be warned -- the spoiler for the possible/probable winner is within the article. If you don't want the show spoiled for you, don't read the article.
  


• Nicole Ritchie was on The Late Show with David Letterman last night. He gave her a bit of the third degree (justifiably) about getting arrested, possible jail time down the road and more. What world does this girl live in, I ask? She thinks "everyone goes to jail." Say what? I have never been in jail and I'm twice her age. I even did some stupid things in my more youthful years and managed to not get arrested and not go to jail. AOL TV's Top Five has a clip of her appearance on the show. I'm still scratching my head over the girl.


• While you're at the AOL Top Five clips page, check out the one for So You Think You Can Dance. Twitch was amazing!
  
  
• In more So You Think You Can Dance news, here's Hok's MySpace page.
  

'Big Brother 8' News (And Lack Thereof) and Rumors

Thanks to graphic artist Zoetawny, I have a new fancy Big Brother 8 graphic! So, I'm ready for the season. Now, where's the news? What's the skinny on the show?

Alas, more of the news out there right at the moment is rumor and/or speculation rather than anything concrete.

If we go by the history of the show, it's likely that the houseguests themselves don't know if they made the cut or not. It's usually not until mid-June, a bit later even, when the houseguests are whisked away to sequester pre-show, pre-entering the Big Brother house.

So, cast announcements probably won't be made before the third week of June or thereabouts. But usually there's more news at this time, at least about the schedule of the show. For some reason this year, CBS is being mum about things. We know that Julie Chen (the Chenbot) will be hosting again. We know that Arnold Shapiro stepped out and Alison Grodner will be the sole executive producer. We know the premiere date -- Thursday, July 5.

But... but... what about Pirate Master? Our friends at Buddy TV asked the very same question in this article. After all, that airs in the same Thursday night slot where BB usually resides. Perhaps C.S.I reruns will be bumped for the summer? I doubt that as even the reruns are a cash cow for CBS.

The TV Grapevine website has the rumor that this season's twist is going to revolve around high school bullies. I hope that's just a rumor -- that wouldn't be my idea of good television. The MSNBC site has a blurb mentioning the show (with a pic of Mike Boogie), but tells us nothing new besides the fact that Rock Star doesn't seem to be returning.

So, that's where we stand. Rumors, speculation, but all we really know for sure is that July 5 we'll be watching the show. As news about the feeds is released, as well as news about the cast or showtimes or twists, I'll let you know!