Posted Jun 22nd 2009 8:01PM by Nick Zaino
Filed under: Sports, OpEd, The Apprentice
Never have a personality and an organization entered into a more appropriate marriage than Donald Trump and World Wrestling Entertainment. Pro wrestling has always been full of over-the-top, testosterone filled rants, colorful costumes, and over-sized props. And Trump, well, is famous for about the same sort of thing. Plus, we know pro wrestling is fake, and we're pretty sure about Trump's hair.
All weekend long, USA promoted tonight's
WWE Monday Night Raw event, on which Trump will appear. The "ruse" is that Trump bought the WWE, something
John Scott Lewinski reported last week didn't sit well with the company's stockholders. On tonight's show, Randy Orton defends his title against Triple H, as "decreed" by Trump. And he gave a
press conference today with the WWE Divas. What could be more fitting?
Continue reading WWE Monday Night Raw: Trumple H?
Posted Jun 16th 2009 1:02PM by John Scott Lewinski
Filed under: The Apprentice, Celebrities, News and Gossip
On a three-hour edition of World Wrestling Entertainment's
Monday Night Raw on USA, CEO Vince McMahon announced he had sold the show to Donald Trump.
Before a shock wave ripples through the sports entertainment and reality show worlds, it's safe to say this is "a work" -- as they say in grappling circles. Trump has his orange-topped mug back on TV as an on-screen performer with WWE. Behind the curtain, when the arena goes dark, McMahon is still in charge.
According to McMahon,
Trump will take over running the show in person next Monday night when a special, commercial-free
Raw originates from Green Bay, Wisc.
Continue reading Trump grapples with WWE as new 'owner' of RAW
Posted Jun 8th 2009 2:04PM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, The Apprentice, Celebrities, Big Brother (US), Dancing With The Stars, Ratings, Celebreality
I can't watch
I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! The show is basically
Big Brother but with an unwillingness to compete. Why do celebrities sign up for physically and mentally demanding reality shows when they don't want to compete? I'm looking at you,
Dustin Diamond. To attempt to get some viewer sympathy, the celebrities are playing for charity. I feel bad for the charities that Heidi and Spencer have because I wouldn't want their douchebag antics associated with the charity's image.
Celebrity reality shows can succeed without having to play the charity card. It's all about maintaining the quality level.
Continue reading Charity doesn't make for better TV
Posted May 21st 2009 11:03AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, The Amazing Race, American Idol, The Apprentice, Survivor, Dancing With The Stars, So You Think You Can Dance, America's Got Talent
With the latest seasons of
Survivor,
The Amazing Race, and
American Idol wrapping up, fans patiently have to wait until the fall or spring 2010 for their favorite shows to return. But why wait? Several reality TV shows debut in the summer both as lighter fare than fall shows and a way to test for target audiences.
If one recalls, several summer reality TV shows have eventually moved to prime real estate in the fall or spring. If rumors are true the summer favorite
So You Think You Can Dance will be the next to move, airing in the summer and fall.
Here are some alternatives for your favorite reality TV shows.
Continue reading Summer reality TV alternatives
Posted May 19th 2009 12:56PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: Industry, Programming, The Apprentice, Law and Order, Saturday Night Live, The Office, Heroes, Pickups and Renewals, Friday Night Lights, Upfronts, Chuck, Reality-Free, America's Got Talent, Parks and Recreation
NBC has been leaking like a sieve for weeks, so other than a few on-the-bubble cancellations, there aren't any huge surprises in their official upfront announcement. The big change is that they're doing two official seasons. A lot of the networks have been doing this unofficially, but NBC seems to be one of the few that is putting a label on it.
Returning: Heroes, The Biggest Loser, Law & Order: SVU, Saturday Night Live, SNL: Weekend Update Thursday, Parks and Recreation, The Office, Law & Order, Southland, Dateline NBC
Returning mid-season: Chuck, 30 Rock, The Celebrity ApprenticeGone: Life, Medium, My Name is Earl, Kath & Kim,
Kings,
Knight Rider
New: Trauma, The Jay Leno Show, Parenthood, Community.
New for mid-season: Day One, 100 Questions, Mercy, The Marriage Ref
Not reflected on the schedule, but will be returning in the summer: America's Got Talent,
Friday Night Lights (which will once again be aired first on Direct TV).
Watch this space for more details on the new shows...
More on the schedule and comments after the jump.
Continue reading The Upfronts: NBC
Posted May 13th 2009 7:04PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, Programming, OpEd, The Amazing Race, The Apprentice, CSI, House, Lost, Smallville, Grey's Anatomy, The Office, 30 Rock, Reality-Free, Fringe, The Big Bang Theory, Parks and Recreation
Do the American people really like watching their favorite shows this way? Assuming you have more than one or two shows you enjoy following, this week is daunting to say the least and beyond exhausting. Just last night I had a three-hour finale of
The Biggest Loser and that awesome
Fringe finale. In the past few days we've said goodbye to
The Amazing Race,
The Apprentice,
Cold Case,
The Unit,
Brothers & Sisters,
The Big Bang Theory,
House and
Castle. And that's just on the major networks.
Over the next two days we have
America's Next Top Model,
Lie to Me,
Lost,
Bones,
My Name Is Earl,
Smallville,
Parks & Recreation,
CSI,
Grey's Anatomy,
Hell's Kitchen,
The Office,
Supernatural and even
CSI: NY on a special night. And it goes on through the weekend. In an era where ratings are slipping, how can it make good business sense to put all of these finales on against one another all within a few days of each other. I know they've always done that, but I just don't think it makes sense anymore.
Continue reading We're barely halfway through and I've already got finale fatigue!
Posted May 11th 2009 10:01AM by Joel Keller
Filed under: OpEd, The Apprentice, Watercooler Talk, Celebrities, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
... a woman!
I took this post over from Isabelle, who fell ill while putting it together (no worries, she's OK), but I couldn't resist keeping her joke intact. Of course, the winner of this year's
Celebrity Apprentice was going to be a woman, given that the finalists were Joan Rivers and Annie Duke.
Last week, Isabelle
polled the TV Squad readers on who they thought
should win the show and on who they thought
would win the show. As of now, 52.8% said that Annie should win while 59.1% said that Annie would win. The poll results are rather close but Annie got the lead for both questions. Were your predictions right?
Continue reading And the winner of The Celebrity Apprentice is....
Posted May 5th 2009 3:08PM by Isabelle Carreau
Filed under: OpEd, The Apprentice, Vs., TV Squad Polls, Watercooler Talk, Celebrities
If you are a fan of
The Celebrity Apprentice, you should have watched Sunday's two-hour episode by now and know that Joan Rivers and Annie Duke will face off in the ultimate task.
On April 23, I asked TV Squad readers to vote in an
Annie Vs Joan poll. The question was simple "Who should win the war?" At the time I write this line, 43.3% voted for Joan, 35.4% said Annie, while 21.1% opted for Trump to fire them both. That means 21.1% of you are disappointed this week, as Trump decided to make Joan and Annie the two finalists.
No matter if you like or hate Annie and/or Joan, you have to admit that out of the four contestants that were left at the beginning of the episode, those two will offer the most entertaining finale. Now that we know it's officially Joan Vs. Annie, who do you think should be hired?
Continue reading Who should win the Celebrity Apprentice?
Posted May 4th 2009 12:22PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Programming, The Apprentice, Law and Order, Saturday Night Live, The Office, Heroes, Pickups and Renewals, 30 Rock, Friday Night Lights, Upfronts, Chuck, Parks and Recreation
There weren't a lot of surprises at
NBC's "In Front" presentation this morning. As already leaked,
Parks & Recreation,
Heroes, and
Southland have been renewed, joining the already announced
30 Rock,
The Office,
The Celebrity Apprentice,
Friday Night Lights,
The Biggest Loser and
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
There's still no word on
Law & Order's bid for a 20th season,
nor did they clarify the fate of Chuck, though insiders feel confident both will be back. Back on the bubble is
Medium, which was leaked as renewed last night, along with
My Name Is Earl. Their fates are a bit more murky, especially
Earl considering NBC is giving
Saturday Night Live's "Weekend Update" a prime-time berth, apparently launching NBC's Thursday night.
Continue reading NBC announces four new dramas, two new comedies to fall lineup
Posted Apr 29th 2009 8:02PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: The Apprentice, Pickups and Renewals
It's an exciting time to be a B-, ,C- or D-List celebrity.
NBC has just renewed the Celebrity Apprentice for another season set for next spring. Ratings have been pretty good for the current run, airing on Sundays with such A-List celebrities as Khloe Kardashian, Tom Green and the Dice Man. It's surprisingly entertaining television, and it's fun seeing Donald Trump interacting with these big names. Of course what it really is is just more of that celebreality voyeurism crap on which VH1 built an empire.
Continue reading The Donald to fire more "stars" next year as NBC renews Celebrity Apprentice
Posted Apr 25th 2009 9:00AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, The Amazing Race, American Idol, The Apprentice, Survivor, Celebreality
One of the best things about reality shows for me is watching people succeed or crash in a fiery abyss. While watching
Grey's Anatomy, I caught the commercial for all the summer shows and was excited to see the return of
I Survived a Japanese Game Show. Last year was heavily underrated. All the contestants were likable, everyone learned about Japanese culture, and the biggest thing everyone came off learning something.
While I wait for summer and hope for a new season, this week started off MTV's
The Phone. I was nervous about Justin Timberlake being the executive producer, but the show surprised me. Any fan of
The Mole,
The Amazing Race,
Cha$e, or
Treasure Hunters should probably consider. Now on to the weekly awards.
Continue reading Weekly Reality Awards
Posted Apr 23rd 2009 12:50PM by Isabelle Carreau
Filed under: OpEd, The Apprentice, Vs., TV Squad Polls, Watercooler Talk, Celebrities
This season of
The Celebrity Apprentice may not have
Piers and Omarosa to spice things up. However, poker player Annie Duke and comedienne Joan Rivers are a close second.
In the first episodes of the season, we didn't see much of the rivalry between the two ladies but the past two or three episodes have shown them as enemies. The two of them have done and said pretty harsh things about the other. The war between the two is still ongoing so before one of them is fired, it's time we take a few minutes and make our predictions as to who will win the war: Annie or Joan?
Continue reading Celebrity Apprentice: Annie Vs. Joan
Posted Apr 15th 2009 12:32AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: OpEd, The Apprentice, Celebrities, Dancing With The Stars, Episode Reviews
(S08E11) With no dance off, the results show lost most of my motivation. The fluff factor of the cheesy dances was in high effect. The episode was surprisingly sexual: Samantha couldn't keep a straight face interviewing Lawrence about Edyta's lack of clothes, Chuck said some double entendre involving Bruno, Shawn and Melissa considered putting their partners in very little clothing, and Steve-O used the word "Man-struate."
Luckily for America, the show created one of the best drinking games. It has nothing to do with scores, clothes, or Samantha Harris saying something stupid. More information after the jump.
Continue reading Dancing with the Stars: Week 6 Results
Posted Apr 13th 2009 12:02PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: OpEd, The Apprentice, Watercooler Talk, Celebrities
For months, the three people who still watch NBC have seen the promos for this season of
The Celebrity Apprentice; the big climactic scene was of Joan Rivers smashing down a glass out of some sense extreme frustration. Of course, it made the three of us wonder: did she get annoyed during a particularly tough task? Did one of her fellow celebs completely throw her under the bus? Was it Joan's way to finally lash out at Donald Trump's scattered and random management of the game?
It turns out that it was none of these things. In fact, when the scene came in this week's episode, it was so anticlimactic that you might have missed it if you had turned away to get some ice cream. In fact, this week's entire two-hour episode ambled along so slowly that I thought NBC expanded it to three hours to take
Kings' vacated timeslot.
Continue reading Everything about last night's Celebrity Apprentice was boring - VIDEO
Posted Apr 6th 2009 4:26PM by Isabelle Carreau
Filed under: OpEd, The Apprentice, Episode Reviews
I admit it, I've been watching
The Celebrity Apprentice and I have been entertained by every minute of it. Yes, it doesn't take much to amuse me on Sunday nights, as you can see, but those of you who do watch the show must agree that this season's crop brings the drama!
The cast may not include
Omarosa and Piers,
last season's winner, but
Dennis Rodman, Clint Black, Annie Duke, Joan and Melissa Rivers stepped up to the drama plate.
Warning! If you haven't watched last night's episode yet, stop reading this post now and come back once you've watched it because I know you'll want some place to discuss the boardroom drama.
Continue reading Did Trump go off his rocker on last night's Celebrity Apprentice?
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TV Squad previews NBC's new shows (part 1)
TV 101: How ESPN controls the world and what the other networks can learn from it
TV Squad previews CBS's new shows
