Allison Waldman
- http://www.barbrafile.com
Granderson has Stadium Secrets to share
Lately, Detroit Tiger all-star outfielder Curtis Granderson has been in the news because he might be joining the New York Yankees. However, if Major League Baseball free agency doesn't make him a household name, television might. Granderson has an idea for a reality series that's being shopped around now and it's not like anything else other athletes have pitched. Granderson's series is called Stadium Secrets and it will be like History Channel's Cities of the Underworld. In fact, it might be suited to the History Channel. Granderson would host the show and lead viewers into the inner recesses and hidden passages of famous stadia around the world -- although it'll probably start with American locations.
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Family Matters meets The Young and the Restless ... casting wise
It's taken a while, but The Young and the Restless has finally filled a role that's been vacant for too long. No, David Hasselhoff is not coming back as Snapper Foster. The role of Malcolm Winters is returning and Darius McCrary's got the Y&R role. Malcolm, the dynamic younger brother of Neil Winters, has been missing in action for a while because the previous actor in the part, Shemar Moore, has become a star in primetime.The Winters family is an important element in the Y&R canvas and they've missed Malcolm. Shemar was asked to come back, but with his success on Criminal Minds, there simply wasn't time in his schedule for both shows. Truth be told, there probably wasn't enough money to compel him to work that hard. So,while the fans might have liked Shemar back, they'll have to get used to a new face instead.
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NBC cooks up a new food reality show with a big prize
Okay, take the idea of Shark Tank (or Dragon's Den if you're a BBC America fan), mix it with the Top Chef folks, offer a great grand prize and hope for the best. That's the recipe behind NBC's new food competition show, United Plates of America. The network is turning to the Magical Elves from Top Chef -- no, seriously, that's the production company's name -- to succeed in the food field where NBC has flopped in the past. Remember The Chopping Block? Remember Rocco DiSpirito's The Restaurant? NBC has more luck with the dieters on The Biggest Loser.This go-round is not about a single restaurant. It's about a chain of restaurants. To me, that's a questionable goal. Most successful chains start off with one great restaurant and then take off. This concept is go big or go home. Maybe it's more complicated, but it doesn't sound that way.
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The Emmys are coming, the Emmys are coming ... in August
There's something a little unnerving about the fact that the Primetime Emmys float. Not the award statuette itself. No, that would be like an anchor in the water. I'm talking about the date for the Emmys. The 2010 Primetime Emmys will be on Sunday, August 29, on NBC. The 2009 Primetime Emmys, lest you forgot already, were September 20. The date of the Emmys floats around depending on which network is broadcasting the show. NBC has a steady date with the NFL on Sunday nights during football season. NBC Football Night in America in the network's top-rated show. The top. Number one. That means there's no way that the Peacock was going to give up a Sunday night game for the Primetime Emmy broadcast.
So, using their power, the network simply declared that the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards will be held in August. They pulled this same stunt in 2006, so the folks at NATAS (the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences) weren't stunned.
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Review: Friday Night Lights - A Sort of a Homecoming
(S04E04) Life is what happens while you're busy making plans. Matt hasn't exactly been the architect of his future, but the Dillon former quarterback has been plugging along. This week found Saracen in the cross hairs emotionally. The Taylors, meanwhile, continue to struggle through the professional turmoil, and the younger set in Dillon has definite issues -- some good, some not-so-good.
Then there's Buddy Garrity. If he's not a Panther anymore, and he denounced his identity with the West Dillon team last week, what is he? As he told Eric, the beauty of boosterism is that it comes from the heart. Where's Buddy's heart now? More on that and the rest, after the jump.
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Review: Top Chef - Culinary Olympics
(S06E12) When I saw that the title of tonight's episode was "Culinary Olympics," I didn't really imagine what the chefs would be going through. Were they going to be pole vaulting into the kitchen, did they have to prepare a meal on an ice skating rink? What could be the Olympian angle? Well, apparently there's a culinary competition that's as intense as the Olympics -- and it's not held in a kitchen stadium with Alton Brown doing play by play. That said, this may have been one of the toughest assignments ever on Top Chef. I tried to envision how past season winners -- let alone the runners up -- would have done in the same circumstances that these final five faced. I can't say for sure that I can think of one that would have aced it ... and for how this five did, read on.
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Brooke Shields is getting in The Middle
When you think of Brooke Shields, you think glamor and fashion and high style... Well, I do anyway. She's Suddenly Susan and one of the hot ladies on Lipstick Jungle. I do not think of her as a suburban mother of four in Orson, Indiana. However, that's exactly what she's going to be on an upcoming episode of ABC's sitcom The Middle. As oxymoronic as it seems, I love the idea of Brooke on The Middle. She'll be going deep into the heart of the heartland to play a character who's supposed to be like Fran Heck, Patricia Heaton's character on The Middle. There's nothing as liberating for an actor as the chance to let loose and break the mold.
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Things I Hate About TV: Pop-up ads
When Lewis Black went off at the Emmys a couple of years ago about TV becoming obnoxious with the amount of information splayed on the screen, he hit the nail right on the head. Sad to say, things have not gotten better since that rant. In fact, they're worse. I don't know what's worse, the annoying pop-up ads on the television screen or the annoying pop-up ads on the computer screen. At least in the case of the latter, it's the equivalent of a commercial and -- somewhat -- understandable. But when you're watching a television show and have to ignore the bug in the corner, then be subjected to a variety of pop-up promotions and reminders for shows you may or may not be interested in watching it's enough to make you turn off the set. I'd say it's enough to make you switch channels, but where can you go to avoid the intrusion? PBS?
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Fred Willard checks in to Modern Family
There's an old adage in show business that says something to the effect that casting is half the battle. If you cast a part well, you're sure to have a winning finished project. If that's true, then the casting of Fred Willard on Modern Family is sure to be a hit. I won't reveal what role Fred will be playing til after the jump, so if you don't want to know, don't read on. Suffice to say, the very funny Mr. Willard is being given a great opportunity to shine.Willard, who was terrific on Everybody Loves Raymond, not to mention all the Christopher Guest films like Best In Show and A Mighty Wind, was on sitcom TV just last season on Fox's Back to You. In fact, it was on that show that Fred worked with Modern Family's Ty Burrell. Now they get to do it again.
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Review: NCIS - Power Down
(S07E08) NCIS did something so great on tonight's episode that I'm surprised I haven't seen it done on another procedural until now. If you haven't seen the show yet, I won't spoil it, but I will say that it was a complication that really made the show.
There were moments for DiNozzo to reference all kinds of TV shows from the past, a chance for Gibbs to prove that there's nothing he can't handle with aplomb, and even the opportunity for Abby to show that sans Cafe Pow, she's still the sharpest lab tech in NCIS. More on the case after the jump.
The TV Squad Podcast: The Prisoner, '80s TV, soap news and more
Let's talk about spoilers ...
The Prisoner -- An early look
