Friday, July 30, 2010

Obama's visit was the most-watched "The View" episode ever
About 6.59 million tuned in for the historic visit.

NBC's "Outsourced" is not mean-spirited, producers insist
The Indian call center comedy is loaded with Indian stereotypes, yet one-third of its writing staff is Indian. "We're gonna deal with culture clashes and some of those things come and both points of view will be presented," says exec producer Robert Borden.

Sarah Shahi: I'm glad to be playing something other than a bad girl
The "Facing Kate" star says of playing a mediator: "I wanted to play something that was similar to me in a way that it was upbeat. She's a beautiful mess. Her flaws, at the end of the day, are what make her interesting."

Mel Gibson's ex: "Dancing with the Stars"?
Oksana Grigorieva is the latest famous name being bandied about for a "Dancing" spot.

Emmys will try to finish on time
"We've got to hand out 27 of them in 2 hours, 6 minutes and 54 seconds — and we're already running over," says exec producer Don Mischer.

Eddie Cibrian joins NBC's" Chase"
He'll play a bounty hunter in at least two episodes.

What Jimmy Fallon learned from his "Late Night" predecessors
"The one thing I've learned from David Letterman and Conan O'Brien is hosting 'Late Night' is a one way ticket to not hosting 'The Tonight Show,'" Fallon jokes to TV critics while promoting his Emmy-hosting stint.

Is "Outlaw" the fall's worst new show?
The Conan O'Brien-produced NBC series starring a Jimmy Smits as a Supreme Court justice who quits to defend a death row inmate seems way too far-fetched.

"Hee-Haw" co-creator dies
John Aylesworth, 82, had just released a book titled "The Corn Was Green: The Inside Story of Hee-Haw" when he past away on Wednesday.

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Snooki arrested
The "Jersey Shore" star was busted this afternoon for disorderly conduct in Seaside Heights, New Jersey. Details to come. PLUS: "Jersey Shore" gets record ratings, 300% over Season 1's premiere.

Report: Steven Tyler's "Idol" deal is nearly done, J.Lo's contract finalized
Nigel Lythgoe has also finalized a deal to "American Idol" as executive producer, according to Broadcasting & Cable. PLUS: J.Lo has said in the past she'd take "Idol" job.

Dick Wolf confirms "Law & Order" is dead
There will be no cable home for the 20-year NBC series. PLUS: Wolf says "Law & Order: LA" will have some home life emphasis, but it will mostly stick to formula.

NBC: We're on the road to recovery
"We're taking more shots," says NBC Universal TV chief Jeff Gaspin, "we feel very good at progress we're making and we feel like we have a lot more stability at the network than we've had." In the past, he says, "We've taken too few chances in the past few years."

"Undercovers" didn't go out of its way to cast two black leads
"When we went to casting, we set out to see every possible incarnation of person," says exec producer Josh Reims. "We wanted to look different…. We didn't go out of our way by saying we're hiring two black leads, but we knew it would be great."

Check out the new "CSI:NY" cast
With Sela Ward.

"Chuck" pal Joshua Gomez joins Twitter
"The Bearded One has assimilated," tweets Zachary Levi.

NBC's "The Event" promises to deliver answers
"As a viewer and fan of 'Lost,' I ask for people's trust," says the show's creator.

It's official: ABC Family boss takes over ABC entertainment
Paul Lee replaces Steve McPherson as ABC entertainment president.

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Terrence Howard joins "Law & Order: LA"
In a casting coup for Dick Wolf, Howard will play a deputy district attorney alongside Alfred Molina.

NBC confirms Piers Morgan is joining CNN
NBC chairman Jeff Gaspin admitted today that the Peacock will be sharing the "America's Got Talent" judge with CNN.

Drew Carey to "Community," "The Office" will take time addressing Steve Carell's exit
"In terms of who will replace Michael, there will be a lot of storyline leading up to that," said NBC entertainment boss Angela Bromstad. She noted, as reported before, that NBC has known about Carell's departure for quite a while.

NBC's "Rockford Files" remake is still alive — without Dermot Mulroney
"We are actually redeveloping (the series), and we will be reshooting the pilot," says NBC's Angela Bromstad.

Reality TV hosts dumped from NBC's Emmy telecast
NBC, which has no reality host up for the category, and the TV Academy jointly decied to move to reality host category off primetime. So Tom Bergeron, Jeff Probst, Phil Keoghan, Heidi Klum and Ryan Seacrest will be honored at the Creative Emmys a week earlier.

Heidi Montag files for divorce from Spencer Pratt
Two months after their separation, Montag filed a divorce petition citing irreconcilable differences.

NBC will use "Got Talent" to boost its fall shows
"Parenthood" and "Outlaw" will debut after "America's Got Talent's" final shows of the season on Sept. 14 and 15.

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"30 Rock" will do a live episode from "SNL" studio — for each coast
NBC today announced that Studio 8H will be home to the special live episode, airing Oct. 14. "Tina is up for it, were just doing as much as we can to garner attention for the shows and stay true to them creatively," says NBC entertainment boss Angela Bromstad. The comedy, she says, will do "a West Coast original and an East Coast original and yes we did ask (them to do it)."

Rob Lowe promoted to "Parks and Rec" series regular
Chris Traeger will become a mainstay of the Parks and Recreation department.

"Cougar Town" will keep its title
"I'm not changing the title," says Bill Lawrence. "We never thought of a good new one, which kind of sucks. And when you look at the modern landscape of television, changing the title means changing your DVR and all this other stuff."

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Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler: "Are you kidding me?"
If, in fact, J.Lo and the Aerosmith singer are the new "American Idol" judges, then the show is doomed, says Heather Havrilesky. "Has Jenny on the block ever said anything sharp or witty on the record since she dragged her juicy, designer-festooned Fly Girl frame in front of a national audience almost two decades ago?" she says, adding: "With all of the other smart, sharp-tongued camera-loving extroverts in the universe, I just can't believe that we're going to be forced to listen to J. Lo and Steven Tyler prattle on each week. J. Lo giggles with Tyler, Tyler gently ribs Randy? Are you kidding me?"
Is this the end of "Idol"? // Ryan Seacrest confronts Nigel Lythgoe on "Idol" slip-up

Linda Hamilton lobbied for "Chuck's" mom role
"She had heard about the fact that we were looking for Chuck's mom and that a lot of people wanted her to be that part," reveals Josh Schwartz. "That was a great idea, somebody we were excited about and didn't know if we could get. We sat down with her and she's like, 'So, I hear I'm Chuck's mom.'" PLUS: Old Spice Guy is "on a Morgan."

New Jersey governor's office gets visit by "Jersey Shore" star
Days after Gov. Chris Christie blasted the MTV show, Angelina stopped by the New Jersey statehouse to make a tanning salon announcement and to tape a video for the governor, who was absent. PLUS: Season 2 of "Jersey Shore" suffers without Jersey.

MTV's "Laguna Beach" blamed for a rise in crime in Laguna Beach
Researchers found that the increased attention to Laguna Beach resulted in more tourists, which led to more crimes being committed.

Lizzy Caplan signs on for HBO comedy from Will Ferrell
Based on the memoir "I Don't Care About Your Band," the HBO series will follow Caplan as a 20-something in the dating world.

Claim: "Gossip Girl" has more viewers in China than in the U.S.
Problem is all those viewers in China are watching illegally, say producers, who are trying to get "Gossip Girl" on Chinese TV.

TNT renews "Leverage," "The Closer" and "Rizzoli & Isles"
They'll return for a respective 4th, 7th and 2nd seasons.

Is "Rubicon" too smart?
The new AMC series, making its formal debut on Sunday, is smart, maybe too smart — brooding and dense with a very slow pace, but without the camp quality of "Lost," says Mike Ryan. "Having watched the first four episodes, I can tell you that Rubicon  makes no apologies about being high brow. Watching it gave me the same awkward feeling I experience whenever people start discussing their academic credentials."
"Slow" doesn't equal "bad" // Will there be a payoff?
James Badge Dale answers four leaf clovers question // Dale is perfect lead

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Shark Week begins Sunday — and now you can Shark Yourself

New Jersey losing $55M from "SVU's" departure

Andy Griffith is helping Obama pitch his health-care plan to seniors

Obama didn't know who Snooki was because of "Daily Show" writers?

NBC changes premiere dates: "Paretnhood" and "Appretnice" will debut earlier

[Click to read the rest of Odds & Ends]

Syfy taps Kevin Sorbo to play "Kevin Sorbo" and Lee Majors as "Lee Majors"
Both actors will play Larry David-like versions of themselves in separate half-hour series. In "Me and Lee," from "Weeds" creator Jenji Kohan, a young man with a bad back is turned bionic by Lee Majors himself. In "Legendary," Sorbo plays Kevin Sorbo, a former syndicated star.

"90210's" gay character revealed?
Spoiler: How the CW tried to conceal "90210's" gay character. PLUS: "90210" guys on possibly playing gay.

Carnie Wilson sues GSN
She claims she's owed $277,500 from her reality show "Unstapled."

Ryan Seacrest: I'll miss Ellen
"She's one of the kindest and most talented people in Hollywood!" he said on Twitter. PLUS: "Idol" fans divided over Ellen's departure.

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Report: "Idol" dumps Kara DioGuardi
"American Idol" won't renew Kara DioGuardi's contract for a 3rd season, according to TMZ, which means that Randy Jackson is the last judge standing after Ellen's departure. Says TMZ: "We're told the show will be going back to a three-judge format and assuming all deals are finalized, the judge's panel will consist of Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler. We're told the only way Kara could get a reprieve is if the J-Lo deal falls apart — but we're told that deal is done."

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