From the daily archives:

Thursday, October 22, 2009

October 22, 2009

Soupy Sales is dead at 83
The comedian made 5,000 live TV appearances and had 20,000 pies to the face, according to the AP. Soupy was so famous in the '50s and '60s that "if President Eisenhower would have walked down the street, no one would have recognized him as much as Soupy," said his former manager Dave Usher. Soupy, who was an inspiration for Pee-wee Herman, wrote in his memoir, “Our shows were not actually written, but they were precisely thought out." PLUS: Watch "The Soupy Sales Show" from 1965.


"Survivor" Russell: The day after

Russell says that being evacuated was "the worst thing that could happen for a guy … It is one of the most demoralizing things I've ever felt in my life." If it wasn't for his family back home, he says, "I would've rather died that day."


ABC's "Obese" will document extreme weight loss

From "The Biggest Loser" producer comes a reality show that captures an obese person losing 50% of their body fat over the course of a year.


TNT brings Angie Harmon back to crime TV

She'll play Boston detective Jane Rizzoli in the pilot "Rizzoli."


Fired "Melrose Place" star: "I had a multiyear contract"

Colin Egglesfield got the news from producers this morning: "They said it was a network decision, and they said the network thought Auggie was a little too dark, with his alcoholism," he said.


NBC signs up Adam Carolla, Don Cheadle, Aaron McGruder

Jimmy Kimmel will co-exec produce an NBC comedy in which Carolla plays a contractor and father. Meanwhile, Cheadle and "Boondocks" creator McGruder are teaming up to create a comedy about two mismatched brothers who open a private security company.


Joss Whedon not "as depressed" about yanked "Dollhouse"

"We weren't about to rock sweeps anyway," he said on the Whedonesque fan site devoted to him, adding, "and though there's a chilly November, December is CRAZY. It's like an Advent calendar of episodes!"

[Permalink]

October 22, 2009

"Melrose Place" dumps Ashlee Simpson and Colin Egglesfield
The struggling CW spinoff is being revamped for the spring, with Ashlee Simpson-Wentz and Colin Egglesfield getting the boot by January while the "Who Killed Sydney?" will get wrapped up. With Heather Locklear and several other new characters coming aboard, "Melrose" will take on a more fun, more upbeat tone during the 2nd half of the season. Exec producer Todd Slavkin says it was always the plan to get rid of Ashlee. "Because we felt that once the murder mystery was resolved," he says, "the tone of the show was going to shift into a much more fun, romantic, sexy upbeat kind of show, and (her) character would move on."


"Party Down" bringing back Jane Lynch & Kristen Bell

Despite their busy careers, both blondes will return to the Starz series.


Trent Reznor helps promote "Fringe"

The Nine Inch Nails frontman is lending his voice and music for a new "Fringe" promo.


"The Hills" has lost 1/3 of its viewers since Lauren Conrad left

Apparently Lauren was the lynchpin for the MTV reality show.

[Permalink]

October 22, 2009

Jeff Probst: Tonight's "Survivor" scared me like never before
Spoiler: Probst says "I'm still affected by it this day" after this episode's shocking turn of events.


Check out Wisteria Lane, destroyed

Here are the results of the "Desperate Housewives" plane crash.


"Full House's" Jodie Sweetin writes tell-all: "Unsweetined"

At age 14, Sweetin recalls, she got drunk at Candace Cameron's wedding and passed out in the restroom. The next day, she realized, "I was Jodie Sweetin and I was an alcoholic."


Hulu to begin charging in 2010

A News Corps exec says that Hulu "needs to evolve to have a meaningful subscription model as part of its business."


A 3rd season for "In Treatment"?

The creator of the original Israeli version of the show says HBO has just renewed the therapy show for Season 3.


FCC hires "Survivor" champ Yul Kwon as a "deputy chief"

The "Survivor: Cook Islands" winner has been appointed deputy chief of the FCC's Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, where he says his job will be to make the commission more consumer-friendly and to educate the public on "why telecom issues are relevant to their lives."

[Permalink]

October 22, 2009

How did "FlashForward" screw up its genius premise?
Rather than offer a compelling drama with fantastic details, "FlashForward" has been "utterly casual about the particulars of its speculative time-tripping and post-catastrophe atmospherics," says Troy Patterson. "Where it should be riddling, it is merely opaque. Where it should be eerie, it is contentedly bland. In the gentle acoustic-guitar moments, I hear the sounds of artistic compromise. Instead of slipping tantalizing clues into the dialogue, FlashForward gives us in-jokes about the stars' resumes." PLUS: "FlashForward" has devolved from  an "eerie big bang of a pilot into a big sopping mess of nothingness."


"Fight Club" director David Fincher is making a political drama

"House of Cards" will be based on the British book and miniseries.


Why didn't "Lost" invite Harold Perrineau to return for the final season?

Perrineau says he "would love to go back and hang out a little bit," but he hasn't been asked back.


Spice Girls to star in UK reality show to find their stage show counterparts

They'll select five girls to star in a Spice Girls Musical.


"SYTYCD" is wooing Tom Cruise

After his wife Katie's performance, would Cruise be willing to sit in as a guest judge?


"The Jeff Dunham Show" isn't for automatonophobes

If you fear humanoid figures, or just doing get Dunham's comedy, his new Comedy Central show isn't for you. PLUS: Dunham puts puppets into real-world situations.

[Permalink]

ODDS & ENDS

October 22, 2009

"South Park" is addicted to abortion

USA taps Sarah Shahi for "Facing Kate" pilot

Ex-"Daily Show" star Rob Corddry signs rich TV deal

Neil Diamond tweets his love for "Glee"

Should Catholics be offended by "The Simpsons"?

[Click to read the rest of Odds & Ends]


Recommended Sites

Driver Access
Your source for information on updating your computer drivers - from graphics and sound cards to mice, keyboards and printer drivers.
www.driveraccess.com

Free Online Dating
The only source for reviews and listing of the best free online dating websites.
www.FreeDatingUSA.com

Dating Articles
For a great selection of dating and online dating articles there really is only one place.
www.DrDating.com