Inside Pulse TV » Dancing with the Stars

Murtz Jaffer’s Reality Check Update On Virgin Radio 99.9

Murtz Jaffer — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 18:56:43 +0000

In this week’s update, I talk about the Dancing With The Stars controversy that saw Donnie Osmond beat out the heavily-favored Mya. I also discuss the American Idol premiere as well as the new Mark Burnett show that debuts right after it. Finally, I make my prediction for who is out next on The Amazing Race.

To listen to it, just click here.
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Susan Boyle To Sing On Dancing With The Stars

Josh Clinton — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:42:55 +0000

Just when you thought you had heard the Scottish sensation known as Susan Boyle for the first and last time on American television, the singer is set to take ABC’s Dancing with the Stars stage next week, reports People.

Boyle made her U.S. debut singing a cover of the Rolling Stones’ Wild Horses during the finale of America’s Got Talent in September.

Her brother, John tells the media, “she’s excited and happy,” to be coming back to the states to perform. “She loves America and loves the people,” he says.

The 48-year-old songstress also has a new CD, “I Dreamed A Dream” coming out this month on Tuesday, Nov. 24.

Source: Zap2It

ABC and Kathy Griffin Say Let’s Dance

Josh Clinton — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:29:08 +0000

ABC’s dance fever shows no signs of breaking. The network has ordered up a short-run celebrity competition called Let’s Dance that will premiere later this month.

Kathy Griffin has signed on to host the series, which will feature celebs re-creating famous dance routines from movies, musicals and music videos and trying to win money for their favorite charities. Let’s Dance will premiere at 9:30 p.m. ET Monday, Nov. 23 — following the final performance episode of Dancing with the Stars — and run for three more weeks after that at 9 p.m. Mondays. The finale is set for 8 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 15.

The network promises that “stars from all walks of life” will compete in the series, but it doesn’t name any names. Celebrities will also sit on the judging panel and will pick one routine from each of the first three episodes to advance to the finals. Votes from viewers will determine three more finalists, and the home audience will also pick the winner.

James Sunderland and Antonia Hurford-Jones are executive producing the series, which is based on a British format that debuted to strong ratings earlier this year.

Source: Zap2It

Murtz Jaffer’s Reality Check Update On Virgin Radio 99.9

Murtz Jaffer — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:58:18 +0000

In this week’s update, I talk about Kathy Griffin’s new reality show which will premiere directly after the Dancing With The Stars finale, the final four on America’s Next Top Model and discuss the love pentagon on The Ruins and why this makes it a contender for the best reality show of the year.

To listen to it, just click here
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Murtz Jaffer’s Reality Check Update On Virgin Radio 99.9

Murtz Jaffer — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:45:33 +0000

In this week’s update, I break news on the next season of Survivor, how The Hills is tanking in the ratings because of Kristen Cavallari and why Carrie Ann Inaba freaked out after the last episode of Dancing With The Stars.

2009 Fall TV Season Preview: Thoughts on New Shows and Season In General

Josh Clinton — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 01:32:06 +0000

The Fall TV Season officially kicks off tonight, Monday, September 21, and that means all your favorite shows should be returning. If not, they will in January, unless they were canceled of course. But the new Fall season also means plenty of new shows that probably won’t last a season. With that in mind, a few of the Inside Pulse TV writers gave me their thoughts about all the new shows this season and the Fall season’s lineup in general. Here is what they had to say, and also what I think as well:

Joe Corey

The Fall TV season is almost here and once more we get to see if the major broadcast networks can create shows that rival their cable siblings. Is anything as anticipated as this summer’s True Blood, Nurse Jackie, Mad Men or Ice Road Truckers? Not really. This is shaping up to be a season where the networks play it safe.

Sunday night has only two new programs for your approval. Fox gives us The Cleveland Show. The black pal of Family Guy’s Peter Griffin gets spun off with a new wife and her old kids. This means Seth McFarlane now controls Fox’s Sunday night after The Simpsons. I’m not even giving odds of the show’s survival simply because American Dad lasted more than 6 episodes. Why couldn’t they have given Quagmire his own show? Or is that going to be saved for a pay-per-view special. CBS’ Three Rivers will attempt to harvest lost E.R. viewers with this tale of organ transplants. The medical drama features plenty of freshly scrubbed faces with stars Alex O’Loughlin (Moonlight), Alfre Woodard (St. Elsewhere) and Justina Machado (Six Feet Under). CBS better be patient since the show will get trounced against NFL football and Desperate Housewives.

Monday Night is a combination of playing it safe and the big gamble. CBS shifts The Big Bang Theory back to 9:30 p.m. after Two and a Half Men. The replacement is Accidentally on Purpose. That titles seems to describe the fate of this show. Jenna Elfman (Dharma and Greg) gets knocked up by a younger putz. She decides to keep the baby and establish a relationship with the guy. What movie does this sound like? To make sure it doesn’t sound like Knocked Up, Elfman is a movie critic for a newspaper instead of an E! employee. How long does she expect to keep her job? Newspaper film critics are getting fired at an alarming rate. That poor baby is going to starve to death. The show just doesn’t feel like it’s going to do well after How I Met Your Mother. At the same time, The Big Bang Theory looks to be a major hit in its new timeslot. Rules of Engagement will have this slot by mid-season. NBC gives us the first of their two new medical shows with Trauma. Forget the E.R., here’s the Trauma medics. The show is from the folks who brought you Friday Night Lights. Expect to see this listed on upcoming “Save These Shows” web columns. But this isn’t the big gamble of the night for the Peacock Network. The Jay Leno Show is going to be the major wildcard. A few seasons back, the network gave up on Saturdays by making it a dumping ground for reruns and canceled shows that have episodes to burn. Now NBC has given up on the 10 p.m. slot when it comes to original programming. The network that gives us four hours of The Today Show will now give us three and a half hours of talkshows by moving Jay Leno up 90 minutes. Financially this move makes complete sense. Leno has made hundreds of millions of dollars from behind the desk. Why abandon the guy or let him take his schtick and audience to another network? However this entire move might completely backfire for Conan O’Brien. He’s already losing to Letterman in total viewers. Dave’s reruns beat fresh Conan during a two week period. The return of Leno might mean that his old fans will watch the 10 p.m. show, catch the first half of the 11 o’clock news up to tomorrow’s weather and go to bed. From 10 p.m. to 1 a.m., NBC is nothing, but people staring at the camera and talking. It’s almost like they’re programming a news channel instead of an entertainment network. Ultimately this is revolutionary move will be great for Leno, a cancer to Conan and hopefully a swift death for Jimmy Fallon and Carson Daly.

Tuesdays have plenty of new sights. ABC’s Shark Tank is kinda new having been started this summer. Do we really need to see people begging for their new mousetraps to be loved? When they eliminate an inventor, you kinda fear they’ll commit suicide since they’ve staked everything on their gadget salvation. This is like Discovery’s Pitchmen without the joy of the late Billy Mays. The Forgotten might be a really bad name for a TV show. Remember to watch The Forgotten! The show is about amateur sleuths investigating John and Jane Does. It stars Christian Slater who had a major bust last season for NBC. Now that show was forgotten. CBS plays it safe by greenlighting NCIS: Los Angeles. The show has the biggest star power of the Fall with L.L. Cool J and Chris O’Donnell in the spin-off leads. The Good Wife gives us E.R. Juliana Margulies and Law and Order’s Chris Noth in a tale of a corrupt politician and a wife getting back in the work force. The show’s summary is longer than a Jackie Collins novel. It might make it to thirteen episodes. CW’s Melrose Place will revive the apartment based series with Ashlee Simpson in the lead. Can’t wait for her to look like the star of a Godzilla flick with her words not matching the lips. Laura Leighton and Thomas Calabro from the original will pop in to make the new tenants feel the original’s heat. When will they revive Models Inc?

Wednesday Night has tons of new shows except on CBS which is keeping the old guard. ABC is all new starting with Hank starring Kelsey Grammer. Now that’s going to confuse people who think he’s supposed to be the real life version of Hank Hill from King of the Hill. Kelsey is a Wall Street executive who has to move out to the sticks when the market fails. I hate it when guys with mansions in Hawaii play poor people. This will die as fast as his Fox series. The Middle looks to be more quirky than a show on ABC needs to be. Modern Family has a few laughs as Al Bundy attempts to stay hip with the kids. This might make it through the season. Cougar Town has Courtney Cox on the prowl for fresh meat. Expect to see her Friends friends make guest appearances to pop the ratings. Eastwick will attempt to turn The Witches of Eastwick into the second coming of Charmed. This might be Jay Leno’s first victim. CW’s The Beautiful Life: TBL is Ashton Kutcher version of Models Inc! TBL does sound like the latest faux illness used to sell drugs on TV. It revives the career of The O.C.’s Mischa Barton so the negative coverage from Perez will make it a minor hit. Fox’s Glee had a great pilot debut last season after American Idol. It has the best chance to be the teen hit. NBC’s Mercy is a nurse show that appears to be a nicer version of Nurse Jackie. It’s going to need CPR in 4 weeks.

Thursdays Nights will feature a show that gives us a reason to love and hate at the same time in NBC’s Community. The series is a showcase for The Soup’s Joel McHale. Finally he gets a network time to shine. The bad news is they force us to watch Chevy Chase. Remember the last time you found Chevy Chase funny? And was he funny when your legally prescribed painkillers wore off? ABC’s FlashForward plays like a mini-series about everyone on the Earth passing out for 2 minutes and 17 seconds. What happened to us? Do we really need five years to get a solution? CW’s Vampire Diaries will be True Blood for people who don’t like nudity in their undead encounters.

Friday has only one new show with Brothers. After sitting behind the Fox Football desk, Michael Strahan is now a thespian. Luckily the producers landed him a good supporting team in Carl Weathers, Darryl “Chill” Mitchell and CCH Pounder. The show might actually survive because CW has completely gotten out of programming for people who enjoy Tyler Perry projects.

Saturday Night is a pit. The networks are either running college football or reruns of the shows from the week. Break out your wii if you want to be entertained by your TV.

The only predictable hits from the freshmen class should be Glee, Brothers and NCSI: Los Angeles. The shows that won’t survive October include Accidentally on Purpose, the hospital shows and ABC’s Wednesday night line up.

Sharon Tharp

ABC has some heavy hitters with Grey’s Anatomy, Dancing with the Stars, Brothers and Sisters, Desperate Housewives and Lost. I am excited and a little bit scared to see how Scrubs does since we’ve technically already had a series finale. The network did rid itself of a few lingering shows, but I was somewhat surprised when Samantha Who? and Pushing Daisies got the boot. Ugly Betty’s luster seems to be dwindling, and I’m not sure how much longer it will hold up on that weak Friday night timeslot. As for the seemingly boring Wednesday night (on all networks across the board), ABC’s new Cougartown may push through.

CBS seems to be holding up well with its CSI franchise, reality big wigs like Survivor (which boggles me as to why people still tune in) and the network’s ever-lovable comedies Two and a Half Men and How I Met you Mother—the staple of humor on Monday nights. As for the rest of the shows, I’ve never really bothered to watch, and I’ve honestly never watched a single episode of the ones that were canceled, so no biggie.

Sure, Fox has canceled King of the Hill, one of its three highly successful animated shows, but with American Idol losing Paula this upcoming season, I’m sure ratings will sky-rocket as the dynamic changes. Fringe is back on, which isn’t surprising as it brought in good numbers in its premiere season, but I’m a little worried about it’s new time at the ridiculously competitive 9 p.m. Thursday. Meanwhile, House still holds up the network’s medical drama quota nicely. The network did cancel two shows with a fairly decent following—Prison Break and Terminator: The Chronicles of Sarah Connor, but I’m not even sure how much they will be missed anyway.

I would argue NBC has the best comedic lineup on television right now with The Office and 30 Rock holding up strong. As far as the ever-competitive Thursdays go, NBC and ABC are the strongest by far. Heroes and Friday Night Lights are still hanging in there, while newbie Southland has seemed to catch on. The biggest shocker was the cancellation of My Name is Earl, despite its popularity and cast pleas to stay on-air.

The CW struck gold last season with the 90210 remake and I can bet the new Melrose Place will easily follow. Gossip Girl’s numbers aren’t the best and the network is trying to hang on tight by switching time slots with the stronger One Tree Hill, which was renewed much to the surprise of fans as Chad Michael Murray and Hilarie Burton called it quits. And of course, America’s Next Top Model, Smallville and Supernatural all hang in with decent viewership. Privileged seemed to catch a following, but didn’t make the cut.

NEW SHOW THOUGHTS:

*Shows I will probably check out
# Shows I wouldn’t waste time watching

Yay (most potential)

Melrose Place (The CW)
After seeing the popularity of the new 90210, this remake will also take off by capturing those same viewers. And I can guarantee it won’t have anything to do with Ashlee Simpson’s stellar acting abilities. *

The Vampire Diaries (The CW)
Let’s be honest, this show will make it based on genre alone. The Twilight Saga is a hit. True Blood is a hit. Even if the storylines are lacking, history has taught us hot vampires always win out in the end.

The Jay Leno Show (NBC)
People will tune in to see how Jay holds up without The Tonight Show. I’m rooting for him frankly because some of late night television is dwindling (cough cough Jimmy Fallon and Carson Daly cough cough). *

NCIS (CBS)
With the crime scene show popularity, it seems like a shoe-in—especially with the original NCIS as its lead-in on Tuesday nights. Besides Dancing with the Stars, the show doesn’t have too much competition either.

Cougartown (ABC)
Come on now, the fascination our society has with cougars and MILFs…I’m pretty sure Courtney Cox won’t have trouble bringing in viewers. *

Flash Forward (ABC)
Interesting concept and lined up on Thursday night right before Grey’s Anatomy. It could work as long as the translation from print to television isn’t lost.

Three Rivers (CBS)
A medical drama that looks more into the lives of organ donors. It’s a new angle and airs on Sundays, which of course is where Grey’s started. It all depends on those Desperate Housewives fans.

Community (NBC)
With The Office as its lead-in and Arrested Development directors involved, the show has a lot of potential. The story seems quirky and fresh, but how will it hold up against that brutal Thursday night competition? *

Accidentally on Purpose (CBS)
I think it’s dependent on the longevity factor—does the story warrant more than a few episodes worth of humor? Sandwiched in between How I Met Your Mother and Two and a Half Men, it definitely has the potential to stick. *

Es posible (possible potential)

Shark Tank (ABC)
The only power I see behind this show is the mind behind it. While Mark Burnett has found hits in Survivor and The Apprentice, I give it one season, maybe less. This kind of stuff tends to get old fast. #

The Forgotten (ABC)
With Dancing with the Stars as its lead-in, this Jerry Bruckheimer-produced crime show will probably draw in a decent amount of viewers. Other than Jay Leno, I don’t see much competition, but I’m not sure it will last.

Mercy (NBC)
Another medical drama hits primetime and as with all shows of the genre, staying power is equal to not only the writing, but the casting. As evident by other medical hits, the ensemble cast can make or break the show.

The Cleveland Show (FOX)
A good animated series can go far and with King of the Hill gone, it may have a fighting chance.

Trauma (NBC)
NBC must really want us to stop watching other networks’ medical dramas. Airing after Heroes could be its saving grace, but what Heroes fans would even watch this?

Hank (ABC)
Frasier fans will probably tune in on an otherwise boring night of television, but the actual concept of the show is still lost on me.

Modern Family (ABC)
The Office-like mockumentary style could help this otherwise seemingly average family comedy.

Nay (slim potential)

The Beautiful Life (The CW)
Mischa Barton….really? She’s a mess and not the best actress. People will tune in because it’s another Ashton Kutcher production, but as for staying power, I predict none. #

Eastwick (ABC)
Supernatural shows are either a hit or a miss, I doubt this will make it to season 2. Eli Stone was cancelled and I think some people actually watched that.

Brothers (FOX)
Could draw in some sports fans who are bored on Friday nights, but I think I’d rather be at the bar. #

The Middle (ABC)
Another half-hour comedy for ABC. Sounds like it will be a watered-down version of Malcolm in the Middle with a boring mother as its center. Yawn.

The Good Wife (CBS)
A scandal surrounding a public official because we’ve never seen that before. Though, it could see a second season thanks to the over-promotion and lack of competition on Tuesday nights.

V (ABC)
Ugh, I’d much rather tune into Fox’s Fringe.

Kevin Wong

Jay Leno Show -

What’s better than having an hour a day dedicated to reality TV? Apparently, an hour a day devoted to Jay Leno. We’ll never be rid of him, and now we’ll be subjected to his dated jokes at an earlier hour. Yay!

Shark Tank -

I’m not entirely sure why British/Canadian show Dragon’s Den needed to be renamed, but it was, with a bit of the Burnett flair we’ve come to expect from his shows. The show is actually a great idea, but what works in England and Canada has thus far not given the excitment and sensationalism that American audiences have come to expect from their reality shows. I’d expect that this show will work well in the summer months, but will die quickly during the regular season.

Accidentally on Purpose -

Jenna Elfman can bring the funny, and if you’ve seen Extras, you know that Ashley Jensen can play the sidekick perfectly. But everyone else is a wild card when it comes to comedy. But since CBS is confident enough in the show to place it in the Monday sitcom block, I expect that it will stick around at least for the year.

Mercy -

Will Michelle Trachtenberg, Kate Mulgrew and Delroy freaking Lindo be enough to make not E.R. a hit? Probably not – I think that most people would consider this to be something of a reboot for E.R., and won’t bother to watch.

Trauma -

Remember Third Watch? It got transplanted to San Francisco. This seems like a Perfectly Acceptable Show, but it’ll probably need to garner a following to survive.

N.C.I.S.: Los Angeles -

When NBC cancelled JAG, they probably didn’t anticipate the show lasting 9 more seasons, AND creating two spinoffs in NCIS and the creatively named NCIS: Los Angeles. This show essentially replaces Without a Trace in CBS’ ginormous lineup of procedurals, and I expect that it will do well, simply because of it’s connection to NCIS.

The Forgotten -

This show has the advantage of being a Bruckheimer production, but the disadvantage of NOT being on CBS. I don’t see this lasting long.

The Good Wife -

The show has some good actors in place, but this seems like it’ll be doomed like The Ex-List. But to be honest, I don’t really go for this sort of show.

Melrose Place -

Two things they’ve done right with this show so far – Michael Mancini and Sydney Andrews. But if 90210 is any indication, it’s downhill from there. I’d make a joke about Models, Inc being next on the remake list, but they already have America’s Next Top Model. Close enough.

Hank -

Did they come up with this title after watching Kelsey Grammer’s portrayal of Beast in X-Men: The Last Stand? Or is someone simply an X-Men fan? The fact that the daughter is named “Maddie Pryor” would seem to indicate so. Looks like your usual “fish out of water” sitcom. We know Grammer has done that before, but I don’t think it’s enough to keep this show around.

The Middle -

Curiously, Grammer’s Back to You co-star Patricia Heaton was also picked up for an ABC series. I have about as much hope for it as well.

The Modern Family -

And again linking to Kelsey Grammer is his Frasier producer, Christopher Lloyd with this Office-like show featuring Al Bundy. Probably the best of the trio here.

Cougar Town -

What’s with the obsession with cougars this fall season? We’ve got Jenna Elfman, Laura Leighton and Courtney Cox all portraying cougars. I suppose it’s better than having 40+ guys trying to hit on 20-something women though. This probably goes about as well as Swingtown, or Townies, or White Town.

Eastwick -

The Witches of Eastwick gets a TV remake, hitching a ride on the latest supernatural wave headed by Twilight. Not sure how this will do, as you’re essentially looking at a more serious version of Charmed. I’d say it gets burned at the stake in short order.

Glee -

It’s always hard to determine what shows Fox will stick with and what it will cancel. Glee has been heavily pushed, and if the ratings don’t immediately match up to the push (especially with the show getting preempted for baseball in October), I could see it getting killed quickly. On the other hand, it’s getting paired with the fall season debut of So You Think You Can Dance, a spiritual partner if there ever was one.

The Beautiful Life -

I take back what I said about America’s Next Top Model. THIS is clearly the successor to Models Inc. And since it’s on the CW, it’ll survive.

Community -

They dropped My Name is Earl for a sitcom about community college with the same “fish out of water” premise as Hank? Really? And you want it to anchor your Thurdsay comedy block? Really? Well, it’s safe to say that if it makes it that far (it’s set to debut in the 9:30pm slot) it’ll get obliterated by Survivor and probably Flash Forward. Really.

Flash Forward -

The executive producer team of Goyer, Braga and Guggenheim should mean that the quality of this show will be good. But there is the danger that the show will be too “smart” for the average viewer – witness the demise of Threshold. I don’t know that calling it the next Lost is necessarily a good thing – this would mean that seasons 2 and 3 will be giant clusters – but if it can generate that kind of buzz and maintain it throughout the fall, it’ll at least get to create those clusters.

The Vampire Diaries -

I’m guessing that this is the safe-for-network-television version of True Blood, or something. Or maybe Twilight. They’re all based on books, so who the heck knows. Who exactly decided to create teen romance books/movies/shows about vampires anyway? Give me Blade any day of the week.

Brothers -

I guess we’ll see what kind of acting chops Michael Strahan has. But seeing as this is being placed on a Friday, my guess is “not enough to save this show”.

Three Rivers -

Not particularly enthused about this show, but anything on CBS that isn’t a crime procedural is a welcome change in my book.

The Cleveland Show -

Anything from the mind of Seth Macfarlane is crap in my personal opinion, but even if you’re a fan of his shows, you have to worry that running three shows simultaneously (especially one that seems to invoke Russo booking like Family Guy) is going to lead to lesser quality overall. It’ll last the season, because Fox really doesn’t have a choice.

V -

Yet another remake of a cult show. I was a bit too young in 1983 to really get into the original, but I think that the concept can catch on in 2009. The showrunners previously helmed The 4400, so I fully expect some of those ideas to make their way into the ABC show. Should be interesting to see if it survives.

Josh Clinton

Jay Leno Show -

NBC decided to save money by having Jay Leno move his show to 10 p.m. ET/PT. That means they have 5 hours less original programming they need to fill each week. Will that be a success for them? I predict the Jay Leno show will get decent ratings. Possibly even better than Conan’s show, but how will the show compete against the other networks?

Shark Tank -

A somewhat fresh idea for a reality show and it’s created by Survivor creator, Mark Burnett. Sticks around for a full season, but next season? Eh, probably not.

Accidentally on Purpose -

This show got a good time slot between How I Met Your Mother and Two and a Half Men. So it has a shot to stick around. I will lean towards a second season.

Mercy -

NBC has two new medical dramas this season, which they hope will replace E.R. I see only one of them sticking around for another year. This one doesn’t look good since we have seen the hospital through the eyes of nurses before.

Trauma -

This NBC drama looks better since it’s a fresh prospective from the paramedics view. Although, this will probably be similar to TNT’s short-lived Saved show.

N.C.I.S.: Los Angeles -

It’s on CBS and it’s a spin-off of a successful franchise. And it follows the original show. This one will be around for a few years.

The Forgotten -

This could go 50/50. It stars Christian Slater. But it’s on ABC on Tuesday nights. It does follow Dancing with the Stars and it has no real competition. Could be around next year.

The Good Wife -

In competition with The Forgotten. It’s on CBS so that gives them an edge, but Slater is a more interesting star than Julianna Margulies. So it could be around, but between the two I lean towards The Forgotten.

Melrose Place -

It worked with 90210 on The CW, so why not again? This remake will probably not be that good, but it airs after 90210, so it should stick around.

Hank -

One of 5 new shows for ABC on Wednesday nights. It stars Kelsey Grammer, but it sounds boring. See you later.

The Middle -

See above.

The Modern Family -

See above. But if they need a new comedy to stick around, this one has the best chance over the two above. I mean Al Bundy is in it.

Cougar Town -

This has the best chance of surviving out of all the new Wednesday shows. Timely premise and former Friends star, Courtney Cox.

Eastwick -

Could stick around, if people stick around to see it. Not likely, but slight lean towards a second season.

Glee -

Likely to develop a cult following. Good chance if FOX gives it one and it does have a good time slot.

The Beautiful Life -

I loved The O.C., but Mischa Barton is a train wreck and she will bring down this show so fast off of The CW.

Community -

Getting big push with a good Thursday night time slot. Likely to be around.

Flash Forward -

Getting the BIG Thursday night push from ABC. Been said to be the new Lost. I say it will be around next year.

The Vampire Diaries -

Twilight has made everyone vampire crazy, so this one will probably be around.

Brothers -

It’s an interesting idea that stars former NFL star, Michael Strahan. But it’s Friday night. Doubtful, but it’s FOX Friday night. Who care?

Three Rivers -

Another medical drama, but this one is on CBS. I can see it go either way, but slight lean towards a new season.

The Cleveland Show -

Family Guy fans will probably save this one. Besides FOX needs to fill a hole in its “Animated Domination” Sunday night lineup with King of the Hill gone now.

V -

Another sci-fi series from ABC. I say it won’t last.

Stay tuned to Inside Pulse TV this season for complete reviews on all your favorite shows and maybe even some of the new ones as well.

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Dancing Partners Announced For New “Stars” on Dancing with the Stars

Josh Clinton — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 01:38:30 +0000

ABC has announced the professional dancers paired with “celebrities” for the 9th season. Here are the pairings:

Aaron Carter with Karina Smirnoff
Natalie Coughlin with Alec Mazo
Mark Dacascos with Lacey Schwimmer
Tom Delay with Cheryl Burke
Macy Gray with Jonathan Roberts
Ashley Hamilton with Edyta Sliwinska
Melissa Joan Hart with Mark Ballas
Kathy Ireland with Tony Dovolani
Michael Irvin with Anna Demidova (her debut)
Joanna Krupa and Derek Hough
Chuck Liddell and Anna Trebunskaya
Debi Mazar with Maksim Chmerkovskiy
Mya with Dmitry Chaplin
Kelly Osbourne with Louis Van Amstel
Donny Osmond with Kym Johnson
Louie Vito with Chelsie Hightower

Source: Zap2It

New Cast of Dancing With The Stars Announced

Josh Clinton — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 23:52:21 +0000

The new cast of ABC’s Dancing with the Stars has been announced and for time ever there will be 16 “celebrities” taking part in the competition. That means a few weeks there will be two people going home, starting with the first week which begins on September 22.

Here is the rundown of the contestants:

- NFL Hall of Famer Michael Irvin

- Former sitcom star Melissa Joan Hart

- 70s pop star Donny Osmond

- Iron Chef America’s Chairman Mark Dacascos

- Supermodel-turned-entrepreneur Kathy Ireland

- UFC legend Chuck Liddell,

- Singer and actor Aaron Carter

- Olympic swimmer Natalie Coughlin

- Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay

- Multiple Grammy winner Macy Gray

- Comedian/actor Ashley Hamilton, also son of George Hamilton

- Model-actress Joanna Krupa

- Entourage co-star Debi Mazar

- Singer and actress Mya

- Reality TV star Kelly Osbourne

- Pro snowboarder Louie Vito

Source: Zap2It

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La Toya Jackson In “Serious Discussions” To Join Dancing with the Stars

Josh Clinton — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 21:58:52 +0000

Michael Jackson’s sister, La Toya, is reportedly in “serious discussions” to join Dancing With the Stars.

“She’s a big fan of the show, and being from a musical family, it would be a good fit,” her rep says.

Source: Zap2It

Rewind – The Week in Reality TV

Kevin Wong — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 19:44:56 +0000

The Amazing Race – Episodes 14-9
Going from Phuket to Bangkok, the brothers ended up finishing last in a non-elimination leg, and carried over a 3 hour penalty in addition to performing a speed bump. Surprisingly, there was no bunchup or any surprises to delay the inevitable, and they were Philiminated to a montage of their “greatest misses”. Meanwhile, in the land of people that were still in the competition, Luke and the sisters had several dustups, and all I can say is that Luke really needs to stop being a bitch. Besides, he started it. Anyway, the sisters finished first with the siblings second and Luke/Margie third. Cheerleaders were a bit behind but still in it.

Also, I’d like to mention that while I’m a fan of sports, and fully support the “Heidi rule”, I’m glad that they’ve got my CBS Sundays back to normal again.

American Idol – Episodes 8-29 and 8-30
The big news is that the judges used their save on Matt Giraud. I would assume that they did it partially because they had to at some point and partially because Lil and Anoop should really go first. Anyway, this week is disco, which probably means we’ll get that crappy SYTYCD choreographer to give us a crappy disco number for the contestants to dance to. Oh and two people are getting booted. Yay!

The Celebrity Apprentice – Episodes 8-6 and 8-7
Brian got assigned to Athena because they were shorthanded. No, wait, KOTU was shorthanded. How does this even make sense? So Athena makes Brian the PM for a task involving Lifelock. End result is that KOTU wins and Brian gets fired, I guess because The Apprentice made his Murtaugh List. So next task is a charity auction of Ivanka’s jewelery, with Joan and Annie as PMs. Annie, by the way, has been getting on the nerves of all the celebrities. Quite possibly because Annie isn’t really a celebrity – she’s a poker player. Anyway, we’re left on a cliffhanger before the auction as apparently KOTU recruits poker players who DON’T like Annie to bid on their behalf.

That cliffhanger has Athena winning, raising $153,000 to KOTU’s $92,000. Apparently this is a record, so good on them for that. Not so much on Trump, who ended up firing Natalie Gublis because she’s not Joan Rivers, who apparently can get away with calling other people Hitler. Seriously, if Natalie called Annie Hitler, would she have been fired? You know it. But it’s Joan fricking Rivers, so she gets a free pass. But hey, it’s Trump being Trump, right?

Meanwhile, Annie’s not getting a very good storyline, but a couple of things about that. First, she did mention that she took notes from the Piers Morgan playbook and is pretty using that (with a little Phil Hellmuth thrown in) to try and win. Second, she’s NOT A CELEBRITY. The Riverses, Clint Blacks et al will go back to their mansions not knowing who the heck she is once this show is done, and she’ll go back to the poker tables with a reputation that probably won’t hurt her in the least.

So the next task was to create a frozen meal. Jesse finally got a shot as PM, and ended up winning the task (barely) over Herschel. And given that Walker was now 0-2, he got the boot. So now KOTU has only Clint and Joan left. And they hate each other. What are the odds that Annie gets transferred over there as well?

Dancing With the Stars – Episodes 8-9 and 8-10
I’m really not watching this show, hence the brief recaps. I saw Benji on there though – and of course he’s great doing what he does. I assume that he’s still under contract to SYTYCD to choreograph, hence the not being a “pro” to dance with the celebrities. Anyway, Steve-O got the boot. Ty is probably next to go, so it’s unlikely that we’ll see another SYTYCD alum win a different show this year. Pity.

Hell’s Kitchen – Episode 5-9
Noone got eliminated because Robert developed some heart problems whilst the cheftestants visited the Borgata in Atlantic City. Which was probably a good thing since Andrea was the worst chef but was spared due to having immunity. At this point we’re just in a holding pattern until Danny and Paula face off in the final service. Any other combination would result in the most lopsided finish since Rock won.

Survivor: Tocantins – Episode 18-8
After Joe was airlifted out, there was some debate between JT and Stephen as to who to side with now. But first, the reward challenge saw the group of JT, Brendan and Debbie win a beautiful spread, while Stephen wins another trip to Exile Island. Immunity Challenge has Tyson win the Idol again. Tyson then gets everyone to use the split vote strategy to flush out the Idol and vote out either Brendan or Sierra. Brendan doesn’t realize this is happening so he gets the boot. Coach, meanwhile, has become incredibly arrogant and one would hope that he gets voted out sooner than later.

The Ultimate Fighter – Episode 9-3
We had the final two Team USA fights as Jason Dent took on Robert Browning and Kiel Reid took on Frank Lester. First fight between Reid and Lester was interesting for the finish. Reid is apparently known for his Lay and Pray tactics (or in PC terms – smothering) and showed that early. But during a later takedown attempt Lester got a kimura which resulted in a Reid slam turning into a single arm DDT for Lester. With Reid unconscious, Lester got the duke. In the second fight, Browning got beaten up by Dent. Credit goes to Robert for fighting at 155 (since he fights at 135) but it was pretty clear that he was overmatched by the Octagon vet.

Kevin Wong spent the weekend reseeding his lawn. Yay, spring?

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Rewind – The Week in Reality TV

Kevin Wong — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 14:47:44 +0000

American Idol – Episodes 8-25 and 8-26
Trap week as the Idols get to sing whatever they want. So as you might expect, the usual people sing well, the tomato cans sang “eh”, Scott sang like Scott, and Megan sang like crap. Naturally, this means that Megan, Anoop and Allison are in the bottom 3. Yeahbuhwha? Allison? Geez, people really must not like the second best performer on the show. Fortunately, Megan got the lowest number of votes, and Simon saved us all from the inevitable by going “yeah, no” to using the save before Megan even sang. They really should do this every week because I think most people already know the pecking order here.

This week, we get “Songs From the Year You Were Born”. This was probably one of the best weeks last year, so let’s hope we’ll get some good stuff this year.

The Celebrity Apprentice – Episode 8-6
We FINALLY got a team swap, as KOTU ended up being Clint, Herschel, Joan, Natalie and Khloe. Athena consisted of Melissa, Annie, Jesse, T-Boz and Brande, with Clint and Melissa as the PMs. I have no idea what happened to Brian here. The task was to create a viral video for All detergent, and I gotta say – the executives didn’t seem to understand what viral videos are about. KOTU’s video (featuring Clint) was, indeed bad, however Athena’s video (featuring Jesse acting like a deer in the headlights) was pretty damn funny, getting a random seal of approval from Perez Hilton. However the All execs apparently have pickles up their butts, since they didn’t like either video and wanted something conservative instead. We got to see one of their more conservative ads during a commercial break, and to be honest? Lame.

Anyway, noone won the task, and so both PMs had to bring people into the boardroom with them. Melissa brought T-Boz – who volunteered – and Brande, while Clint randomly chose Khloe and Natalie. But rather than firing both PMs, Trump found some seriously thin excuses to fire T-Boz and Khloe. In T-Boz’ case, he brought up Bradford from Season Two as someone who volunteered and got fired. And because T-Boz volunteered, SHE got fired. But of course, this is total BS, because Bradford gave up Immunity to go to the Boardroom, which is absolutely a dumb thing to do. Meanwhile, Khloe got fired because during the previous episode she went back to L.A. to attend her mandatory DUI classes. Apparently Trump hates drunk driving so much that – even if you’re paying your debt – he fired her on the spot. So basically, even though the PMs should’ve been responsible for clueless execs not liking the videos, they’re good reality personalities, and so two other people get fired.

Dancing With the Stars – Episodes 8-5 and 8-6
You know, I really don’t watch this show, but I have to ask – what’s up with the horribly clipped LIVE performances? Granted, that Kevin Rudolf song is horrible, but I would think that you’d let the artist sing more than 90 seconds of their songs, no? I mean, you can understand it on Idol, but obviously, this isn’t Idol and I don’t see that the artists are well served by doing a hacked-to-pieces performance.

But back to the show – Steve Wozinak got booted because really, he wasn’t very good. Holly Madison also got the boot because Dancing With The Stars picked the wrong Girl Next Door as a replacement dancer – I think Josh would agree with me when I say that Kendra is clearly the dancer of the three (although clearly not the brightest). Even if it is just booty dancing.

Hell’s Kitchen – Episode 5-7
So the Reward Challenge turns out to be making dishes featuring King Crab. Ramsay likes neither teams’ initial choices of Andrea and Ben’s dishes, and he loves Paula and Danny’s dishes. The men win, and they get to go eat a lot of food. Dinner service features the teams creating their own menus, at Ramsay’s standards, of course. Highlight of the service is the woman going to the hot plate to complain and Ramsay mouthing off at her. Blue team is found to have lost the service due to lower diner satisfaction, even though it was apparent that the red team was doing worse in the kitchen. In the end, Danny was forced to nominate a teammate for elimination, and he chose Ben. However Ramsay once again showed that there is no box by booting Carol for sucking in the kitchen (and presumably for blaming others for her mistakes).

I Get That A Lot
This was a decent April Fool’s time waster, as celebrities (more or less) did a hidden camera segment where they pretended not to be themselves. Best of the celebs was Heidi Klum who really got into her role as a pizza girl and showed some decent improv skills. Worst was Mario Lopez as a hot dog vendor, simply because it’s fricking A.C. Slater – noone is fooled into thinking it’s someone else.

Survivor: Tocantins – Episode 18-7
Reward Challenge consists of tossing clay pigs through two structures designed by the other teams to break the pigs. Timbira wins this and Brendan chooses Joe to go since his alliance controls both Individual Idols. Joe takes Erin with them and they learn the existence of the Idols. And the clues leave basically no question as to where the Idols are. Realizing this, Taj decides to make a(n apparently traditional) fake Idol. To fool Joe. But in doing so, J.T. discovers the REAL Immunity Idol and suddenly the secret quartet is now a quintet. This comse into play as Jalapao loses the Immunity Challenge and Sydney is sent packing, no doubt disappointing male viewers as a hot chick AGAIN gets booted before the merge.

The Ultimate Fighter – Episode 9-1
The first episode takes us to Liverpool, England as we have 8 lightweights and 8 welterweights from the UK looking to make it to the Ultimate Fighter house. Of interesting note here is that both Rich Franklin and The 8 fights are mostly quick finishes, with only two fights going past the first round, and only one going to a decision. So as it currently stands, Team UK is comprised of:

Lightweights (155lbs):

Andre Winner
Jeff Lawson
Martin Stapleton
Ross Pearson

Welterweights (170lbs):

James Wilks
Nick Osipczak
Dean Amasinger
David Faulkner

Next week, we head back to Vegas and see how Team USA pans out.

Kevin Wong is rooting for UNC to win the tournament. For entertainment purposes, of course.

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Rewind – The Week in Reality TV

Kevin Wong — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 13:11:03 +0000

The Amazing Race – Episode 14-7
Teams went to Phuket, Thailand with an honest-to-goodness clue to find a gorilla. Because how hard is it to find a gorilla? Apparently quite difficult if you decide to go straight to the beach (like Mel and Mike) instead of stopping and asking people in a crowded city square. The gorilla happens to be at the Phuket Zoo, where the teams had to take a picture with a tiger and get “stepped on” by an elephant. Next task is a needle/haystack task that may very well have been a Roadblock until just before the leg started – opening drawers at a spice shop – that ends up doing nothing in terms of placement. This took the teams to a Detour, which involved either filling barrels with water and replacing them with empty barrels, or carrying a team member 2 miles in a rickshaw.

Mark and Michael blew threw the tasks and arrived first, however they tampered with the bike pumps and hired a taxi for the Detour which was expressly prohibited. Having been hit with a one-hour sit&go penalty, they watch as Tammy/Victor and the cheerleaders gain a five minute advantage in finishing first and second, respectively. Team Momma’s Boy finishes fourth, as Margie shows some impressive resolve in finishing the leg despite heat exhaustion and (presumably) dehydration – she collapses AFTER the leg is completed. Phil immediately jumps into action to help her out, and at this point is there any doubt that he’s the best reality/game show host? OK, there is, but that’s because So You Think You Can Dance hasn’t started it’s season yet.

Once Mike and Mel figure out their clue, they fly through the tasks but it’s not enough, and they end their run in Thailand.

American Idol – Episodes 8-23 and 8-24
The theme was Motown, and while we got great performances from the usual, the results show told us that Matt Giraud was in the bottom two, while Megan Corkrey was inexpicably not even bottom three, despite a serious case of being not very good. Michael Sarver went home, to noones surprise. What perhaps was surprising is that Paula cannot answer a direct question if it requires her to speak into a mic.

Next week, David Cook and Lady Gaga are on the results show, and the theme is apparently “Top Downloads”. Which sounds like a joke since there’s no vocals in porn music.

The Celebrity Apprentice – Episode 8-5
Basically this episode was about Dennis Rodman and his drinking. Rodman and T-Boz were selected as project managers and the task was to run the management at the Loews Regency Hotel. Being two people up, the women had a clear advantage and that advantage increased when Dennis threw in the towel about halfway through the task. Regardless, the men seemed to have a good accounting of themselves and Trump fired Dennis. Kind of a shame here because if you watched The Mole, you know Rodman is actually a pretty astute guy when he wants to be, and on this show he didn’t care from the get-go. So the question here is why get Rodman on the show if you know he’s not gonna care about it one way or the other?

The Chopping Block – Episode 3
Remember when NBC had announced that they would have a reality timeslot at 8pm every weeknight? Seems like a lifetime ago, doesn’t it?

The point is that NBC has now become the network that has no idea how to put together a reality show. They managed to screw up American Gladiators by showing CLIPS of events – that take about a minute – in favour of having Hulk Hogan talk. They make a potentially interesting Amazing Race knockoff (Treasure Hunters) as boring as hell. Which, when you think about it, probably explains why The Chopping Block is boring and now cancelled. Marco Pierre White may be the most brilliant chef on the face of the Earth, but he’s about as interesting as, well, Hulk Hogan on American Gladiators. Next time, NBC, maybe a little promotion would help the show out. Or better yet, just repurpose the cooking reality show you already have in the NBC Universal family – the well-regarded Top Chef.

Dancing With the Stars – Episodes 8-4 and 8-5
People danced. Denise Richards got the boot.

Hell’s Kitchen – Episode 5-7
Teams did the blind taste test and they generally sucked. Dinner service saw Lacey be the second consecutive person to get booted during the service, yet the Blue team managed to win the service even with a 2-person disadvantage. The Red team was asked to unanimously nominate two people for elimination but they couldn’t come to a consensus. As a result Andrea, Carol and L.A. were all up for nomination and L.A. got the boot because the Andrea/Carol feud is more interesting than a competent cook.

Survivor: Tocantins – Episode 18-6
This episode was a clip show. Trust me, you missed nothing. Unless you watched the tournament by accident. Which I did, and as a bonus, I’m guaranteed a Top 3 finish in my office pool (which is for entertainment purposes only, of course).

The Ultimate Fighter
UFC Fight Night 18, with a main event of “Natural Born Killer” Carlos Condit vs. Martin “Hitman” Kampmann, takes place on Wednesday, and serves as the lead-in to the new season of The Ultimate Fighter. Subtitled “United States vs. United Kingdom”, we have Dan Henderson (US) and season 3 winner Michael Bisping (UK) as coaches, and we should be getting tons of jingoism, fights, and subtitles because Liverpudlian accents are hard to understand, or something. The first two episodes should be the now-traditional round-of-16 fights as the show cuts down to 8 welterweights and 8 lightweights for the show so if you like fighting, you’ll get your fill on Wednesday night.

Kevin Wong has a UConn/UNC final on his sheet of integrity – real dangerous, right? He wishes college football could somehow duplicate the tournament to determine a national champion.

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Holly Madison Still Dancing Despite Pain

Josh Clinton — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 21:54:24 +0000

Holly Madison may have been living the easy life on The Girls Next Door, but she’s not going to run because life got hard.

The 30-year-old Dancing With the Stars competitor is determined to return to the show Monday, despite having to miss out on rehearsals after experiencing excruciating pain, reports Usmagazine.com.

“She is committed to the show and her partner, Dmitry [Chaplin] and will rest when she can,” says her rep. “She fully hopes and, at this time, expects to dance on Monday.”

Madison has been prescribed pain meds. Earlier in the week, she had thought she was suffering from bruised ribs.

She filled in for Jewel, who had to leave the show when she injured her knees.

Source: Zap2It

Rewind – The Week in Reality TV – 03/16/2009

Kevin Wong — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 19:25:49 +0000

The Amazing Race – Episode 14-5
Teams were still in Siberia. First task was a Detour of Russian Bride (find a bride, drive her to her groom) or Russian Snowplow (drive a Lada and then complete a snowplow training course). Victor decided to act like an ass and ditch Teams Momma’s Boy and the Cheerleaders, which can’t be good for karma. The Roadblock was to run 1.4 miles to the Pit Stop – in their underwear. In -3C. Females were probably happy to see Phil in his boxer briefs. Males were probably happy to see Tammy, Cara, Jen and Christie run around in their bras and panties.

Team Momma’s Boy finished first, while Team Mile High finished last, but this was a non-elimination leg and the flight attendants will have to do a Speed Bump in the next leg.

American Idol – Episodes 8-19 and 8-20
We had the Top 13 perform, and they got to do the songs of Michael Jackson. And actually, most of the performances were pretty good, but there was a clear jobber class that emerged, consisting of Jasmine, Jorge, Anoup, Hippychick, Alexis and Michael (maybe). A twist was revealed where the judges could veto one elimination in favour of… well, we never did find out, and it didn’t matter, as Jasmine and Jorge were revealed as the bottom two and the judges didn’t bother to exercise their veto for either.

The Celebrity Apprentice – Episode 8-3
The task: sell wedding dresses. The method of winning: as usual, make more money than the other team. Tom was PM for the men, Brande for the women. If you’ve been watching, you know that Dennis could seriously give a crap about the show. This time around, he decided to hang out at a bar with a “Russian model” and never bothered to show up the day of the dress sale. Not that it probably would’ve mattered, as the women won by a tidy margin and Tom ended up getting fired.

The Chopping Block – Episode 1
Let’s just put it this way – I don’t think I’ll be giving you summaries of this show for much longer. For one thing, Marco Pierre White makes for a horrible TV chef – but anyone who’s watched the British Hell’s Kitchen would attest to that. Second, the show plays out like a second rate amalgamation of Top Chef and The Apprentice. Now granted, any cooking reality show is taking a back seat to Top Chef, but there, they made “Restaurant Wars” into something special. Here, every episode is “Restaurant Wars”, and it’s not really special. Anyways, two teams, four couples, and… one of the teams lost, and the Vietnamese duo quit in lieu of an actual elimination. When people quit right off the bat, it’s not a good sign, y’know?

Dancing With the Stars – Episode 1
It was made official that ex-Girl Next Door Holly Madison replaced Jewel and the chick from The Bachelor replaced, um, I don’t remember. Anyways, judges weren’t holding back and Steve Wozinak should probably stick to computers instead of dancing. Chelsie, by the way, looked a lot more healthy than she did on So You Think You Can Dance.

Hell’s Kitchen – Episode 5-5
Teams got to work a Bar Mitzvah as Ben (who is Jewish) had the biggest grin I’ve ever seen on this show. Men won the taste test challenge as the honouree liked their food better (although his mom and bubby seemed to enjoy the women’s fare). The prize – spa pampering, and more naked Robert than anyone (save his fiancee) should really have to see.

Punishment involved dealing with the Hell’s Kitchen party planner (who is apparently PARADE gay) and putting together a basketball court.

Dinner service was the usual, with the Red team losing. Andrea was named best of the worst, and sent up Coi and LA. Most of the women seemed to disapprove of Andrea’s status as best of the worst, but, you know, it’s Ramsay’s call, and he sent Coi packing. Next week, Giovanni joins the red team. It’s not actually mentioned, but that brief shot of him in red was a bit of a clue.

Survivor: Tocantins – Episode 18-5
Taj and Stephen find the hidden Immunity Idol, with Stephen holding on to it by virtue of having pockets. Reward Challenge was a variation of the Dizzy Dummy from Wipeout. Yes, they stole an idea from Wipeout. Sadly there was no Jill Wagner to laugh at the contestants when they failed. Jalapao ended up winning, and sent Brendan back to Exile. Brendan took Stephen, which made Tyson a bit suspicious. But then again, I’m pretty sure Tyson is suspicious of everyone. Reward Challenge featured food at the Product Placement Cafe. Yeah, whatever.

We found out for the first time that Spencer is gay. We also found out for the first time that Spencer talks, which in terms of editing probably was not a good sign for him. Immunity Challenge was a catch the launched ball challenge. Timbira came from behind to win, despite J.T.’s best efforts to win this on his own. Taj blew up at Joe, but despite this, Spencer was given the boot.

Next real episode is in April, as Survivor gives in to March Madness.

Kevin Wong is currently getting his tournament bracket ready – what about you?
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Rewind – The Week in Reality TV (03/02 – 03/08)

Kevin Wong — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 17:11:38 +0000

The Amazing Race – Episode 14-4
Teams flew to Siberia, during which the brothers accidentally called the cheerleaders who tried to pull a fast one, but the joke backfired as Things We Did Not See On Film occurred that resulted in Kisha and Jen, Team Mile High and the brothers arriving well ahead of the other teams. We got one of those “use your head” clues as teams had to find a dam that was printed on Russian money. They then encountered a Detour that involved either stacking wood or building shutters. Most teams chose the wood stacking although three teams (Mel/Mike, Mark/Michael and Kris/Amanda) decided to switch tasks after the wood stacks collapsed. Unfortunately for Amanda and Kris there was a U-Turn here and Margie and Luke stuck them with one, forcing them to do the wood stacking anyway. The U-Turn also had a new twist in that it was a “Blind” U-Turn and the U-Turned team had no idea who gave it to them.

Roadblock involved multitasking as a team member went down a bobsled coaster while looking for letters that spelled “Chekhov”. Most teams did this in a reasonable amount of time. The top two teams ended up rather close at the finish as Kisha and Jen couldn’t find the correct entrance and ended up second behind Team Mile High. Tammy and Victor bounced back with the third place finish while the U-Turned Amanda and Kris were eliminated.

In other news, Billy Debney interviewed eliminated Racers Steve and Linda Cole. Check it out.

American Idol – Episodes 8-16, 8-17 and 8-18
Semifinal Group 3 competed and seemingly took the criticisms of the previous groups to heart. Well, unless you were a 17-year old, in which you still chose the wrong song. Both Joe Corey and I went three-for-three this round as Lil Rounds, Scott “The Blind Guy” McIntyre and “Puerto Rican Nightmare” Jorge Nuñez made it through. We had the 8 Wild Cards chosen, and after all was said and done, we had a top 13. Yes, thirteen. I guess they were short two episodes to complete the order. That or they wanted to capitalize on Slumdog Millionaire, since Anoop Desai was the final person chosen in a surprise. Joining him were Matt Giraud, Megan “Hippychick” Corkrey, and Jasmine “Commercialcommercialcommercial” Murray. The highlight of the wild card episode was Megan looking for a high-five from Jasmine – and not getting it.

Joe Corey reviewed both the performance and results shows, while I reviewed the performance show as well.

America’s Best Dance Crew – Episode 3-8
In the finale, there weren’t any dance offs, just new dances by all the groups. As pretty much expected from the outset, Quest Crew (the one featuring Domenic, Hok and Ryan from So You Think You Can Dance) won the title. It should be interesting to see if this good karma for Dance alumni continues to Dancing With the Stars, where Dimitri Chaplin and Chelsie Hightower are set to join Lacey Schwimmer in the competition.

The Celebrity Apprentice – Episode 8-2
Teams are asked to make a comic book for Zappos.com, with help from Image Comics (I’m assuming that they supplied freelancers). KOTU chooses Scott as a project manager, and their campaign involves using the catchphrase “EEE” (which several people, but notably Tom) and two models that are supposed to be the same person but look nothing alike. Athena, meanwhile, has Khloe as PM and presumably succeed because Annie took charge. Annie will either be the first woman fired or she’s gonna win this thing, which would be great because she really isn’t a celebrity as compared to everyone else – only poker fans are likely to pick Annie Duke out of a crowd of moms. Scott takes Tom and Herschel (because Trump said bring two) into the boardroom with him but Scott ends up fired because “EEE” didn’t make sense to Zappos.

Dancing With the Stars
Both Jewel and Nancy O’Dell have dropped out of the competition, which if you’ve seen the video for “Intuition” may have been fortunate for Jewel. And unfortunate for everyone who wanted to see Jewel in skimpy outfits. Apparently, their replacements will be announced tonight, although rumours persist that former Girl Next Door Holly Madison will be teaming up with Dimitri. The other contestants:

Belinda Carlisle (The Go-Gos) and Jonathan Roberts
David Alan Grier (In Living Color) and Kym Johnson
Shawn Johnson (Olympic Gymnast) and Mark Ballas
L’il Kim (Rapper) and Derek Hough
Gilles Marini (I have no clue and I don’t care either) and Cheryl Burke
Ty Murray (Bull Rider and Jewel’s husband) and Chelsie Hightower
Steve-O (Jackass) and Lacey Schwimmer
Denise Richards (Wild Things) and Maksim Chmerkovskiy
Lawrence Taylor (The luckiest guy in the competition) and Edyta Sliwinska
Chuck Wicks (Who?) and Julianne Hough
Steve Wozinak (Apple co-founder) and Karina Smirnoff

Dancing With the Stars starts tonight on ABC. Don’t expect Chelsie and Ty to reenact the “Bleeding Love” routine. Do expect Edyta to wear minimal amounts of clothing.

Hell’s Kitchen – Episode 5-4
The teams went to an Asian market that kinda looked like those “villages” that they set up on Survivor for Reward Challenges. The task was a Top Chef-like challenge, where teams had to create three Asian-inspired “fusion” dishes. How exactly one determines fusion cooking is beyond me – it’s a pretty generic term to be honest. The red team won this challenge, but all the men (+ Lacey) had to do was make fortune cookies and origami. The dinner service was, as usual, not up to Ramsay’s standards – Andrea and J in particular had bad days, whereas Lacey actually rocked her station. Meanwhile, Robert got annoyed when Ramsay called him Bobby due to some father issues (his father was named Bobby). In the end, Ramsay had Giovanni nominate a blue chef and L.A. a red chef. To noone’s surprise this turned out to be Andrea and J. However Ramsay decided to boot Colleen due to her continual mistakes, but complimented her tenacity.

Survivor: Tocantins – Episode 18-4
On Timbira, Coach relented and Brendan was appointed leader of the tribe (for whatever that’s worth). Meanwhile, the “Secret Alliance” moved forward as Stephen found out that he had moved bass ackwards into a favourable situation. Unfortunately, Brendan was unable to tell Sierra before the Reward Challenge, which is the test of strength challenge we haven’t seen in a while. The men all manage to hold up to around the 200lb mark (with one from each side tying Rupert’s record of 220lbs) so it comes down to the women and Taj outlasts Debra for the Jalapao win. Their reward is a camp “raid” which ends up consisting of water and a bag of beans, partially since Timbira has nothing and partially because karma is a bitch and a tribe swap puts you over on Timbira.

Sierra is sent to Exile, but luckily she chooses Taj who fills her in on the alliance.

The Immunity Challenge is again a race to untie puzzle pieces and solve the puzzle, which Timbira does to win for the first time since the first challenge. Helen campaigns for Sydney to go but ultimately the Tribe decides that she might be better to keep around and Helen gets the boot – with Taj making a throwaway vote for .

Top Chef: New York – Episode 5-15
Andy Cohen hosted the traditional reunion special. The relationships of Stefan/Fabio and Leah/Hosea were touched on, as well as the Wacky World of Carla. We got to see Leah and Jamie tanked which caused perhaps the least serious Judges Table ever, and a look at the “Birthday Curse” as well as the “Year of the Baldy”. We learned that apparently Tom is a sex symbol in the gay chef community, and that Stefan will hit on just about anyone with boobs. This season’s T-shirts were “I heart Fabio’s head” and “I’m a cougar in the kitchen” (Arianne). The $10,000 fan favourite award went to Fabio, who has an unhealthy obsession with monkey ass but whatever, he was hilarious.The Amazing Race – Episode 14-4
Teams flew to Siberia, during which the brothers accidentally called the cheerleaders who tried to pull a fast one, but the joke backfired as Things We Did Not See On Film occurred that resulted in Kisha and Jen, Team Mile High and the brothers arriving well ahead of the other teams. We got one of those “use your head” clues as teams had to find a dam that was printed on Russian money. They then encountered a Detour that involved either stacking wood or building shutters. Most teams chose the wood stacking although three teams (Mel/Mike, Mark/Michael and Kris/Amanda) decided to switch tasks after the wood stacks collapsed. Unfortunately for Amanda and Kris there was a U-Turn here and Margie and Luke stuck them with one, forcing them to do the wood stacking anyway. The U-Turn also had a new twist in that it was a “Blind” U-Turn and the U-Turned team had no idea who gave it to them.

Josh interviewed eliminated Racer Brad Hunt, whose wife, Victoria, was unavailable to join in.

Joe Corey reviewed all three episodes. Check out his recaps for the Group 3 performance show, the Group 3 results show and the Wild Card show. You can also check out my recap of the performance show.

Belinda Carlisle (The Go-Gos) and Jonathan Roberts
David Alan Grier (In Living Color) and Kym Johnson
Shawn Johnson (Olympic Gymnast) and Mark Ballas
L’il Kim (Rapper) and Derek Hough
Gilles Marini (I have no clue and I don’t care either) and Cheryl Burke
Ty Murray (Bull Rider and Jewel’s husband) and Chelsie Hightower
Steve-O (Jackass) and Lacey Schwimmer
Denise Richards (Wild Things) and Maksim Chmerkovskiy
Lawrence Taylor (Wrestlemania co-main eventer) and Edyta Sliwinska
Chuck Wicks (Who?) and Julianne Hough
Steve Wozinak (Apple co-founder) and Karina Smirnoff

Dancing With the Stars starts tonight on ABC. Don’t expect Chelsie and Ty to reenact the “Bleeding Love” routine. Do expect Edyta to wear minimal amounts of clothing.

Sierra is sent to Exile, but luckily she chooses Taj who fills her in on the alliance.

The Immunity Challenge is again a race to untie puzzle pieces and solve the puzzle, which Timbira does to win for the first time since the first challenge. Sandy campaigns for Sydney to go but ultimately the Tribe decides that she might be better to keep around and Helen gets the boot – with Taj making a throwaway vote for Joe.

Josh has an interview with Sandy talking about her time on Survivor

Kevin Wong is a writer and co-editor for Reality Dish. He’s not sure what Fabio’s obsession with monkey ass is.
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Jewel and Nancy O’Dell Both Injured and Out of Dancing with the Stars Competition

Josh Clinton — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 00:17:56 +0000

A day after it was reported that Playboy Playmate Holly Madison has been in rehearsals for the upcoming season of Dancing With the Stars, ABC has announced that both singer Jewel and Access Hollywood host Nancy O’Dell will be leaving the competition due to injuries.

Jewel has fractured the tibia in both her legs and O’Dell has torn the meniscus in her knee.

“When the doctors told me my injuries were so severe that I couldn’t walk — let alone compete — I was devastated that I couldn’t continue,” says Jewel, who had the distinction of being the first celebrity who would be competing against her husband, rodeo star Ty Murray.

“Beyond disappointment doesn’t even being to describe how I feel about not being able to continue on Dancing with the Stars,” says O’Dell. “It has been one of my favorite shows since Season One! But I have torn the meniscus in my knee in two places, which requires surgery.”

ABC has not yet confirmed that Madison will indeed be joining the cast, nor do we know who the second replacement will be. ABC needs to come up with someone quickly though. The new season of Dancing With the Stars premieres next Monday, March 9.

Source: Zap2It

Girl Next Door and Playboy Playmate, Holly Madison, Possibly Late Replacement on Upcoming Season of Dancing with the Stars

Josh Clinton — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 22:55:22 +0000

The new season of Dancing with the Stars doesn’t start for another few days, but rumors are circulating that one celebrity hoofer may already be out — and a former Girl Next Door may be taking her place.

Us magazine reports that Holly Madison, the Playboy Playmate, ex-girlfriend of Hugh Hefner and star of E!’s The Girls Next Door, is set to join the ABC dance competition, which begins a new season on Monday (March 9). The network isn’t commenting.

Madison would most likely take the place of singer-songwriter Jewel, who wrote on her blog last week that she’s been slowed by tendonitis in her knees — a result of rehearsing for the show with partner Dmitry Chaplin. Jewel’s husband, rodeo cowboy Ty Murray, is also a contestant this season.

Along with fellow Hef girlfriends Bridget Marquardt and Kendra Wilkinson, the 30-year-old Madison starred in The Girls Next Door from 2005 until last month. The three women have all moved out of the Playboy Mansion and gone their separate ways; Hef has reloaded with a new set of girlfriends and will keep filming the show.

A number of Dancing with the Stars participants — both celebs and their pro partners — have been injured during the show’s run. Most have been minor (sprained ankles are pretty common), although Olympian Misty May-Treanor had to withdraw last year after tearing her Achilles tendon last fall.

Source: Zap2It

Jewel Already Injured Rehearing Before Premiere of Dancing with the Stars

Josh Clinton — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 23:59:23 +0000

The new season of Dancing With the Stars hasn’t even started yet, but Jewel already has the first reported injury.

The singer has been sidelined by swollen knees after rehearsing too hard, she reports on her blog Wednesday (Feb. 25). Jewel, 34, and her husband, bull-riding champ Ty Murray, are both contestants on ABC’s reality dancing competition this upcoming season.

“I guess I really over did [sic] it on the rehearsal front!” she writes. “My knees have been hurting so badly that I finally broke down and talked to Ty’s knee doctor yesterday. He said I have tendonitis in my knees and that I have to start a course of medicine to try and bring the swelling down.

“But now I’m just worried I won’t even be able to dance! Hopefully these steroids will really do the trick and I can keep bad flare ups at a bay [sic] in the future.”

Jewel has been rehearsing for eight hours a day with newcomer pro Dmitry Chaplin, and her first dance will be the cha cha. She’ll have to sit out of rehearsal for a couple days and perhaps go to rehab. Her husband has cautioned her to take it easy.

“[M]y Russian partner and I have the same work ethic and our motto has been ‘ATTACK!!’ Well, it bit me in the behind, so I will have to bide my time and practice my moves in my heard [sic]. It’s actually really helpful.”

The eighth season of Dancing With the Stars premieres on Monday, March 9.

Jewel has previously hosted Nashville Star and appeared on Men in Trees. On the big screen, she starred in Ang Lee’s 1999 film Ride With the Devil. She’s received three Grammy Award nominations and has sold over 27 million albums worldwide.

Source: Zap2It

Newest “Stars” Announced For Upcoming Season of Dancing With The Stars

Josh Clinton — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 18:02:26 +0000

A married couple, an Olympic champ, yet another former NFL star and the man who serves up Chocolate News will be Dancing with the Stars in a month’s time.

ABC announced the cast for the eighth cyle of its popular dance-off on Sunday night (Feb. 8), dropping names during its prime-time schedule. The 13 stars will begin competing on Monday, March 9.

Singer Jewel and rodeo champion Ty Murray are not the first husband and wife to have been part of “Dancing with the Stars — that honor falls to Lisa Rinna and Harry Hamlin. They are, however, the first married couple to compete against one another in the same season (Rinna danced in the show’s second season, and Hamlin followed her in season three).

The cast also includes NFL Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor, who joins the likes of Jerry Rice, Emmitt Smith, Jason Taylor and Warren Sapp in transitioning from the football field to the dance floor. Shawn Johnson, one of the stars of the U.S. gymnastics team at the 2008 Olympics, will also compete. So will comedian David Alan Grier, the host of Comedy Central’s Chocolate News.

Here’s the full cast:

Name: Belinda Carlisle
Famous for: A music career with the Go-Go’s and as a solo artist

Name: David Alan Grier
Famous for:In Living Color, Chocolate News

Name: Jewel
Famous for: A Grammy-nominated music career, hosting Nashville Star; married to fellow competitor Ty Murray

Name: Shawn Johnson
Famous for: Her four-medal (one gold, three silver) performance in gymnastics at the 2008 Olympics

Name: Lil Kim
Famous for: A Grammy-winning hip-hop career, outrageous fashion choices

Name: Gilles Marini
Famous for: Making Samantha have impure thoughts in the Sex and the City movie

Name: Ty Murray
Famous for: Winning seven world all-around rodeo championships; married to fellow competitor Jewel

Name: Nancy O’Dell
Famous for: Hosting Access Hollywood

Name: Denise Richards
Famous for: Wild Things, The World Is Not Enough, a rocky marriage to Charlie Sheen and currently an E! reality show

Name: Steve-O
Famous for: Being a Jackass

Name: Lawrence Taylor
Famous for: Terrorizing quarterbacks in a Hall of Fame NFL career

Name: Chuck Wicks
Famous for: Country-music hit Stealing Cinderella, dating Dancing pro Julianne Hough

Name: Steve Wozniak
Famous for: Co-founding Apple Computer

Source: Zap2It and ABC

Two Dancing with the Stars Pros Get Engaged!

Josh Clinton — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 23:25:47 +0000

A pair of Dancing with the Stars professionals have become real-life partners.

Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Karina Smirnoff got engaged on New Year’s Eve, People reports. The two professional dancers have been dating since the summer.

The couple was in Las Vegas to celebrate the new year when he popped the question. A source assures the magazine that “they are really cute together.”

Smirnoff, 30, and Chmerkovskiy, who turns 29 this month, are both natives of Ukraine. She was previously involved with her former Dancing partner Mario Lopez, but they split up last spring.

Chmerkovskiy partnered with Olympian Misty May-Treanor on Dancing last fall, while Smirnoff danced with chef Rocco DiSpirito. The show’s next edition premieres on ABC in March.

Source: Zap2It