It's that time again...

Another column is up on Inside Pulse.

More on Conan

This is an excellent article from the San Francisco Gate (via TV Tattle) that spells out exactly why Conan O'Brien is an odd choice to replace Leno on The Tonight Show. One thing it doesn't mention that I've been thinking about is how a lot of Conan's act (and charm) is about how he is a nobody, a loser, how no one watches his show - that kind of thing. He certainly can't go on like that once he's hosting the institution that is The Tonight Show, can he? Well, we'll see. Who even knows what kind of things will happen by the time 2009 rolls around. I know, I, for one, will watch The Tonight Show more often with Conan as host - at least at first.

Oh, and this article confirms that Conan will indeed be leaving New York for L.A.

Conan's back live tonight if anyone wants to hear what he has to say on the subject.

One last thing - I hope this bumping up time slots things ends there and Carson Daly isn't going to get the Late Night gig.

Conan replacing Leno

In kind of a surprise announcement today, NBC says that Conan O'Brien will replace Jay Leno as host of The Tonight Show in 2009. Here is the offical news release but it still seems curious. Will Conan move to L.A.? How does this affect CBS's search for a new person to fill the 12:35 slot?

Osama Bin Lotto

On this site, you can wager on what this election year's "October surprise" will be. You pick the event and the date and you could potentially win $500,000. The site is sponsored by Ben Cohen, of Ben & Jerry's fame. Of course, a lot of speculation expects that surprise to be the capture (or revealing of the capture) of Osama bin Laden, but there are other options, too.

DVDs I want...

How cool is this! Afterschool Specials are coming out on DVD. I used to love to watch these things after school - I would be thrilled when it was time for one to air. I don't really remember any of the ones mentioned, though... (Thanks to Fresh Hell for the link!)

Survivor episode 2

Dolly got voted out of Survivor. This week was definitely more enjoyable than last week, but I don't know. I feel like it's missing something. Maybe it's just too early in the season. I was impressed with my fellow SU student Eliza, however, and think she made the right decision. Dolly was way too wishy-washy to be reliable and judging by her relief at being voted out, would have been a major detriment to any alliance. Now, though, Eliza has to either try to make amends with Julie, Mia and Lisa or she has to stick with the so-called older group - who don't really like her. Although they liked her enough to go along with her plan to get rid of Dolly (of course, they might have just wanted to save Leann). I really think Mia will be next to go, based on her outburst in the previews and her facial expressions at Tribal Council. She seems to have a real superiority complex, when she isn't even calling the shots! And, clearly, Rory is not long for this game on the men's side. I can't imagine what could possibly happen to save him. His so-called alliance can get rid of him and still keep a numbers advantage over the young, burly-men and he seems to have done nothing to try and fit in with the others.

Anyway, my episode recap will be up on Inside Pulse tomorrow morning, I guess. It's written - just needs to get posted. But that's not up to me.

"Free" car

This article in the Chicago Sun-Times (via TV Tattle) is kind of funny in that it talks about how all those cars Oprah gave away are going to end up costing each of the new owners about $7000. You know, because of taxes. Interesting was that the whole big scene of converting her parking lot into a Pontiac warehouse with Oprah walking the audience to their new cars was a big hoax because no one actually gets their car until Oct. 1st at the earliest.

Bachelor premiere

I'm not that interested in the new season of The Bachelor, but I was interested to see how this two bachelors thing was going to play out. The women chose Byron, which I find kind of surprising, just because he offered such gems as "It should be against the law for anyone to get married before the age of 30" and something like "I think it's good that I've been married once before. Someone who is 40 and hasn't been married... I mean, you can't just have a girlfriend your whole life." I know, it doesn't make sense!! But some of the girls swooned over how deep he was. Huh? Overall, he acted like it was important that he tried marriage (the other guy has never been married) - but it was only for two years! Wow, what a show of commitment that was.

September Book Club

Tonight was my old book club's monthly meeting (I think, although they haven't kept me updated like I asked). The book they read was The Sweet Potato Queens' Book of Love by Jill Conner Browne. I was going to try and read it even though I knew I couldn't be there, but hey, I have a lot of schoolwork these days! I'm still trying to adjust. Anyway, if you have some free time, you should check out that whole Sweet Potatos Queen Web site. It's like its own society. Kinda scary.

Late Late Show guest hosts

Drew Carey filled in so far this week and although I haven't watched it yet, I plan to because I want to watch everyone and judge them on who I think is the best. These are supposed to be try-outs. I did this with The View, too, and I was right about two of the three finalists. Here is a list of future guest hosts for awhile, which includes the previously released names of Michael Ian Black, DL Hughley and Jim Rome, but seems to be missing Amy Sedaris, interestingly enough. What is most exciting to me, though, is that my personal choice for the hosting gig is included!! Yay! I am so going to be rooting for him. Why am I not employed by a network?

Hooray!

How AWESOME was that last episode of The Amazing Race? I am so thrilled that Chip & Kim won. I almost had a heart attack with all that drama, though. I'm not kidding. I was sad in the first hour when Colin came out of nowhere and whipped Linda's butt climbing that mountain, but the luging and Nicole's whinefest on the biking course in hour two was just classic. In Calgary, when Chip & Kim found out that early flight to Dallas had been delayed - priceless. It's pretty funny that Colin & Christie spent so much time preparing (calling ahead for a town car and pulling stuff out of their backpack to check), yet they didn't bother to check up on whether their flight had been delayed. Chip was totally right about the Colin on top of his game would have caught that. Overall, I think that is something that helped Chip & Kim win - their accurate awareness of their competitors and those competitors' downfalls. Other teams just wanted to beat the other teams; they didn't stop and consider HOW to beat them.

Another great moment was the problem of checking the bags. Both Colin & Christie and Brandon & Nicole felt they were going to get a leg up by checking their bags, yet it ended up screwing them in the end when they couldn't get on the United flight. They might not have been able to get on that flight anyway, but duh, everyone should know that their luggage cannot travel without them. It's like the number one rule of air travel since 9/11.

Oh yeah, and Drew did win Big Brother 5. Kind of a ho-hum finale. At least Drew is from Ohio. Go Ohio! Oh, and Jase really isn't that likeable even outside of the house, is he?

Can't Miss Finales

The finales of two of summer's big reality shows are tonight - Big Brother and two-time Emmy-winner The Amazing Race. While I'm guessing the Big Brother finale is going to be a bit predictable (I'm thinking Drew is going to win and it probably won't even be close), it's always fun to see the question and answer part with the jury. Jury members tend to be bitter. I suppose it is possible that Cowboy will win but I'm seeing it go down as Drew getting the votes of: Diane, Karen, Nakomis, Marvin, Will and Adria. I kind of see Natalie as maybe the only vote for Cowboy. It's always tough to call final votes, but on The Amazing Race you don't have to. It's pure action and four teams are left. I REALLY am rooting for Chip & Kim, but I think I'll be okay as long as Colin & Christie don't win. Don't forget, Colin & Christie will start off tonight without any money! That hasn't deterred any of the other groups so far, but with their winning personalities, it might not be as easy to get money from strangers.

Emmys

My column on Inside Pulse is all about the Emmys this week. I enjoyed E!'s Fashion Police because Janice Dickinson was ruthless. Ruthless! She called William Shatner a "stuffed pig!" Wow. Speaking of fashion, another thing to check out is the Clothes Off Our Back clothing auction, featuring some of the clothing of the Emmys up for auction for charity. Seriously, it's so interesting to see clothing sizes!

1-1

Oh yeah - the Browns lost to Dallas yesterday. Like that is a surprise. Even more surprising, what seems like half of the team got hurt. Mr. #1 Pick Kellen Winslow might have a broken leg. Great. Jeff Garcia SUCKED so bad they had to put in the rookie quarterback. Great. Hey, where was Kelly Holcomb?

Oops, she did it Again

Like everyone isn't using that headline. But, anyway, Britney Spears got married over the weekend to that skanky dancer boyfriend of hers who left his pregnant wife for her. Lovely! Here is a link to some pictures (beware an obscene amount of pop-ups). It's so cute to see the matching warm-up suits worn by everyone. The men's say 'Pimp.' Britney's "dress" is just beautiful, too. I just saw the interview with her ex-husband, Jason Alexander, on The Larry Elder Show last week, and he said that Britney's mom had a major freak-out after they got married, saying he ruined her life. Interesting that she seems to think Kevin Federline is fine for her daughter.

Emmys

I'm not sure that I need to remind anyone that the Emmys are on tonight! Yay! I made my picks for who wins via an article on Inside Pulse. Like I know anything.

Two Horsemen

I don't know what Drew was thinking tonight on Big Brother 5 by keeping Cowboy and getting rid of Diane, but I hope he's right about thinking he can beat Cowboy. If it didn't mean that Cowboy would win, I almost would want Drew to lose for getting rid of his girlfriend for COWBOY. How I hate Cowboy. Maybe it was a smart move. I mean, people might have appreciated Diane's strategy possibly and given her the money. But, then again, they might still give it to Michael (although I doubt it). Michael seems pretty sure that he is going to win, for some reason, but it was quite the eye-opener when Julie read those questions, I bet. Who does Adria want to keep in touch with? Drew, not Michael. Who would Marvin not want to be related to? Michael. Whose actions surprised Nakomis the most? Michael. Hee hee. You could almost see Michael want to cry as each question came.

Survivor premiere

My first recap of the season is up. Eh, it was a so-so opener. I think there was too much of the tribal stuff in the beginning but I know Mark Burnett loves that stuff. If he really felt that all needed to be included, then the episode should have been longer. It would have been nice to see more of what happened at camp, considering there really was no explanation for why Brook was voted out. I understand the targeting of the young buff men, but why Brook specifically? It's interesting that as badly as Chris messed up, he was able to save himself. In fact, it never seemed like most of the men ever considered getting rid of him. It makes me wonder if there were some work ethic issues between the older guys and the younger guys, just as there were in the women's camp, that we just didn't see. Other than that: Brady is HOT! Eliza is annoying (sorry - I hope I don't see her around campus). And I think I'm going to like Scout.

Tonight's the Night

Survivor: Vanuatu debuts tonight! I wasn't that excited about it until I watched the live internet talk show today with Richard Hatch and Chris Booker (read about it in the upper-right-hand corner of that link). The guest today was Jeff Probst. It was cool and I'm seriously excited to have a way to hear commentary from Hatch all season long. I'll love to hear an hour of him telling players how stupid they were. The booted players will be the guests on the Friday shows. He's going to ask good questions, I just know it. The only thing that seems to be a bummer is that it doesn't seem like the shows are archived so if you can't watch them right at 2pm (EST) then you don't get to see them at all. It may be too early to tell that, though. Housecalls (the Big Brother internet talk show) is archived.

More Star News

Star Jones is going to be the replacement for Joan and Melissa Rivers on the E! Emmy Red Carpet coverage this Sunday. She claims in the New York Post (via TV Tattle) that she won't be snarky. Umm, what's the point then? I hate when they kiss the celebrities' asses all the time. Joan Rivers mocking Kevin Costner's choice in engagement ring was the best red carpet moment ever.

November 13th

You all might want to 'save the date' for the wedding of Star Jones! She announced her wedding date today on The View. Apparently, the wedding is 'white tie,' which means that it is as formal as possible. Fun. Of interest, two of her co-workers announced that their husbands cannot attend and Star would not let them substitute someone else! What a be-yotch! If you are in the mood to gag, you can check out the official Star and Al Web site here.

Yowza!

I read this online about Tracey Gold's DUI earlier today but here is The Smoking Gun link (via TV Tattle) complete with horrible mug shot. Think her eyes are all teary because she broke her son's clavicle? Ow! Poor kid. One question, though. If the husband was in the car, why wasn't he driving?

Another Column

My second column for Inside Pulse went up today.

Larry Who?

I have no idea who this Larry Elder guy is but I've seen the commercials and he has a new talk show debuting tomorrow. He's obviously smart, too, because his first guest is Jason Alexander! Not Jason Alexander the actor from Seinfeld but the Jason Alexander who was married to Britney Spears for like four hours. The topic of the show is 'Was This Marriage a Mistake?' Uh, I think we know the answer to that one. But, seriously, I have to tune in to hear this!

1-0

Yay! The Cleveland Browns won their season opener - home opener, even - today! It's like the first time in years that they won their first game. And it wasn't even close. Take that, Deion. Bet you didn't come back to lose to the Browns.

Highly Recommended

It occurred to me that I saw a movie like over a month or six weeks ago that I really wanted to praise on here but then with my moving and everything, I never got around to it. Anyway, it's The Station Agent. It was really, really good. Quirky characters, but touching and funny, too. I even developed a bit of a crush on Bobby Cannavale after watching it. Bobby's supposedly going to be back on Will & Grace this year as Will's boyfriend. Hope so!

Denial Ain't Just a River in Egypt

Ken Jennings denies that he loses in the 75th game. (link via TV Tattle) Whatever. We'll see. Like we expected him to be on the show for the rest of his life. Of course he is going to lose sometime! He's not going to admit when it happens but I don't know why the poor guy is out doing interviews where he has to lie. He'll be on The Ellen Degeneres Show on Monday, too.

Actually, now that I think of it, if he was still taping shows, he would be there, at the Sony lot, taping shows, wouldn't he? He wouldn't be able to appear on The Early Show and The Ellen Degeneres Show and who knows where else...

Joey Love

I watched Joey last night and enjoyed it! I'm pretty hard to please with new shows, too. I'm not so sure if I would have enjoyed it if I wasn't already invested in the Joey character but I am, so what can I do? I laughed out loud more than once (even at the jokes I've seen over and over and over and over during the summer commercials... ie "I'm name"), which is saying a LOT, and I really liked his dorky nephew. The two guys living together will have a nice dynamic and it's good to see that Joey won't have to live alone. I'm glad they didn't go with the obvious and made the good-looking neighbor married. And Joey's job-hunting and failed auditions really never gets old. Newspaper columnists have mixed reviews: the good and the bad. (links via TV Tattle, of course)

Bye-Bye Karen!

I was not sorry to see Karen leave on Big Brother 5 tonight. I don't like the way she played the game and I found her pretty annoying. However, I REALLY hope Michael goes next. I think the final three should be Drew, Diane and Nakomis, with either Nakomis or Diane winning. I like Drew but I don't think he deserves to win. You shouldn't win just because you are a nice guy - he hasn't shown a whole lot of strategic mind, has he? I am glad that Drew is HOH this week and will not be voting. I hope he puts up Nakomis and Michael and Diane gets rid of Michael OR he puts up Diane and Nakomis and Diane is able to save herself. We'll see.

Jeopardy! Spoilers

Blog Kottke.org has been fanatical in finding out information about uber-winner Ken Jennings and his long stay on Jeopardy! Reported yesterday was the number of episodes that Ken lasts (yes, he does eventually lose) and today is the final Jeopardy! question that was apparently Ken's downfall. Too funny.

Celebrity Poker Showdown Season....4?

I'm not sure what the latest season number should be, but there are three champs so I guess it's up to four. Anyway, Bravo has released info about the next season, including debut date (Oct. 10 - I guess it will air on Sundays now) and contestants (including a number of returnees). There is only one person I don't know - who is Neil Flynn?

Craig's Perfect Replacement

Last night, I came up with the perfect replacement for Craig Kilborn on The Late Late Show: David Alan Grier. He's funny but not in a stand-up way. (I know he does do stand-up, but he is more conversational.) He's very smart and quick. He seems to not be able to get a television show that sticks and he never seems to play the lead in any movies (therefore, he's probably available.) He seems up for anything. Plus, he's African-American, which would probably be a great choice ratings-wise. I don't know - I really think he would be perfect. I know I'd tune in.

On The Late Show with David Letterman last night, Regis Philbin offered himself up for the job, too, but Letterman seemed to not like that idea. He also insisted the show needs to stay in Los Angeles. Regis wouldn't be too bad, actually, but the poor man really needs to stop working so much as it is, instead of adding new projects.

Tivo + Netflix = Wow

So, this article from Newsweek (via TV Tattle) talks about an impending partnership between Tivo and NetFlix that will eventually see subscribers to both services able to download the rented movies directly into their TVs. That would be cool. Already with NetFlix, you don't have to leave your home to rent movies but with these plans, you won't have to even make the walk to your mailbox. Wow.

Inside Pulse

Yes, Survivor-Central is officially no more and I now write for Inside Pulse. TV is the light green section, I guess. My first column was posted today. I'm going to be writing a general television column (or, in Inside Pulse lingo, a flagship) every Tuesday along with my Survivor recaps that will post every Thursday night/Friday morning just like before.

Ohio, Ohio, Ohio

When he was on The Late Show with David Letterman last week, Tim Russert predicted the Presidential election this year will come down to the state of Ohio, much like he correctly predicted that the 2000 election would come down to the state of Florida. And it did. That worries me, but that is exactly why I'm voting absentee. It is SO important to vote.

Big Brother To Evict Two This Week

Apparently, since there are too many contestants left in the game and too few weeks, the latest twist on the show involves someone getting voted out today and another getting voted out Saturday. Here is the full story. So, hopefully Adria AND Michael will leave this week.

You know, I thought there seemed like too many people left in the house for it to be September, but I didn't really do the math.

Soapbox - OLTL

It's been awhile since I commented on any soaps but I just wanted to mention that David Fumero is coming back to One Life to Live!!! He plays Christian Vega and he is darn cute. I knew he would be back sooner or later and I was so happy to read in the latest issue of ABC Soaps in Depth (delivered to my new home!) that he'll be back soon. I hope he figures into the Santi storyline - like Tico has had him held hostage all this time. Anything to make Antonio even crazier.

In other OLTL news from my rag mag, it mentioned that John McBain would be traveling to Pine Valley and AMC for a murder investigation of a Llanview resident. Hmm... a Llanview resident who knows people in Pine Valley... YAY! Paul is going to be murdered! That has to be it, doesn't it? And there will be all sorts of suspects, especially once the truth about the baby switch comes out. I was expecting a Paul murder months ago but in the meantime, they sort of tried to redeem him a little. Maybe with Christian coming back, they decided it was finally time to get rid of Paul.

I got CABLE!!

I finally got cable in my new apartment and it makes me so very happy!! No more monkeying around with the rabbit ears antenna, praying that CBS comes in. I even checked out some of my new channels, like YES and Trio and Lifetime Real Women. Plus, I get something called iControl, which lets me watch certain saved programs whenever I want to watch them. I watched some calls from Crank Yankers, part of some Lenny Kravitz concert and Rudy Guliani's RNC speech. It's kind of cool.

Late Late Show Hosts Named

According to this article (via TV Tattle), four guest hosts have been named to replace Craig Kilborn for the time being, although no details are given as to how long they will be there or if there will be others, too. Interesting choices and I'm really not going to complain about any of them. Amy Sedaris is no surprise at all, and I like that a woman is in the running. I've never hidden my love of Jim Rome, so I have no complaints there. He is a good interviewer and he's got a great fan base to draw from, but I'm not so convinced he can deviate from sports. Michael Ian Black - I'm torn about him. He seriously cracks me up on things like "I Love the 80s," but a whole hour of him? I'm not sure about that. And D.L. Hughley - hey, he's funny. He is. So far, so good.