EllenDegeneres-related stories
Posted Nov 13th 2009 9:24PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, American Idol, Celebrities, Judges
If
Kara DioGuardi has her way, she and Ellen DeGeneres will be hitting it off like franks and beans, peanut butter and jelly, frick and frack... two peas in a pod. At at an industry conference in New York, Kara was
musing about the upcoming season of American Idol in which DioGuardi and DeGeneres will be sharing the judges' table together -- with Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell, of course.
"I'm hoping the chemistry with Ellen will be great -- and a great start to the season," said Kara.
With that in mind, Kara's going to sleep on the couch at Ellen's house until they're bosom buddies. ...Kidding! But Kara will try to spend some time with Ellen during December when they both have some time off from their busy schedules.
Continue reading American Idol's Kara DioGuardi on Paula and Ellen
Posted Nov 3rd 2009 11:29AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Awards, Reality-Free
Oscar roulette is usually played when it comes time to figure out the nominations. However, this year there seems to be a wheel of fortune spinning with the names of possible hosts for the show. Of course, the
folks running the show have intimated that they might want to have a few stars sharing the duties. Historically, that hasn't worked out too well.
The other day when
Hugh Jackman removed his name from the running, I asked you for your ideas and told you that I like Kathy Griffin. Jimmy liked George Clooney and Justin Timberlake. Sancty suggested
Neil Patrick Harris.
Continue reading Who'll host the Oscars? The oddsmakers like Billy Crystal
Posted Sep 22nd 2009 11:05AM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Reality Shows, Late Night, American Idol, Celebrities, Game Show, TV Squad Lists
American Idol's choice of Ellen DeGeneres as a judge replacement threw everyone for a loop, even schlubs like me who don't watch the show.
It's not that she's not talented, successful or funny. It's just an odd choice, putting a comedian on the show that takes its goal of crushing losers' dreams on live television so seriously. It would evoke the same reaction from me if they picked Andrew "Dice" Clay as the new judge, if the Diceman was talented, successful or funny.
And besides, why do they need humor and comedy on such an otherwise serious show? There are lots of humorless, vapid and downright boring shows that are crying out for comedic interjection.
Continue reading Seven shows that need funny commentators more than American Idol
Posted Sep 10th 2009 4:28PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: OpEd, American Idol, Judges, News and Gossip
If the news that
Ellen DeGeneres was going to become a judge on American Idol had broken a year ago, I would have been totally psyched. Hopefully she would replace Paula, and bring some much-needed humor to the show (humor that isn't mean-spirited or
allegedly pill-addled, that is). But now that Ellen will be the new fourth judge on Idol, the news comes as somewhat as a disappointment.
I've been a huge fan of Ellen since her stand-up days, so I'm all for her showing up anywhere. I also think her purpose of bringing a "fan's perspective" to the show is a good idea on the producers' part. But does Paula need to be the only judge Ellen replaces?
Continue reading Can Ellen replace another American Idol judge too?
Posted Sep 10th 2009 2:07PM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Sports, American Idol, Celebrities, Judges, Casting
Now regular Squad hoppers know I'm no drooling
American Idol watcher, so maybe you think my opinions on this show are worth less than the U.S. dollar injected with swine flu.
But this move to bring in Ellen DeGeneres, a talk show host, actress and comedian, screams of another move in the world of TV commentating. A move that seemed well reasoned enough but went down in a glorious ball of blue and orange flames on live television.
Comedian and long time TV fixture
Dennis Miller's very short stint as the color commentator for ABC's
Monday Night Football screams of similarities louder than that guy in the Edvard Munch painting watching the Orson Welles sex tape. Great, Miller's voice is back in my head again. Thanks cha cha, I mean, Ellen.
Continue reading Idol's Ellen DeGeneres decision sounds eerily similar to MNF's Dennis Miller manuever
Posted Sep 9th 2009 9:38PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, American Idol, Celebrities, Judges
There is big news in the world of television tonight. Multiple Emmy winner and talk show host
Ellen DeGeneres has joined American Idol as a judge. She will essentially be the permanent replacement for Paula Abdul, so if any of you were holding out hope that Paula was standing by to resume her post, forget about it.
The bigger story here is that a star of Ellen's stature, someone who has high visibility and is beloved by the public, has decided to become a member of America's number one rated prime time show.
Ellen DeGeneres on
American Idol as a guest star would be a rating boost, so it's safe to say that her weekly presence will ensure that
Idol's numbers will continue to be top of the chart.
Continue reading American Idol shocker: Ellen DeGeneres replacing Paula...permanently
Posted Aug 31st 2009 9:29AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Food/Home/DIY, OpEd, Daytime, Celebrities, Awards, Emmys, Reality-Free
History was made at the
Daytime Emmys last night... twice.
The Bold and the Beautiful won as the top Daytime Drama and the hosts of
The View finally were winners. Good for
B&B, the last of the half-hour soaps, coming off a terrific year. And it was great for the ladies of
The View, who were probably starting to feel like getting the gold was an impossible dream. Unfortunately, they weren't there -- not one of them -- to accept.
However, amid the joyful wins and a jolly 40th anniversary salute to
Sesame Street, there was a sad quality to the Daytime Emmys. Perhaps it was the over-arching reality that daytime TV is struggling, a point made clear when Betty White hosted a farewell to
Guiding Light. No offense to the delightful Ms. White, but the salute was lackluster and hardly worthy of a show that has been broadcasting for 72 years! The cast appeared to receive a final ovation, but nobody spoke for the show.
Continue reading The sweet and bittersweet Daytime Emmys
Posted Jul 23rd 2009 12:20AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, So You Think You Can Dance
(S05E18) While Mia Michaels was a little better during her last guest stint at the judge's table, it was Ellen DeGeneres that excited me the most. I'm a huge fan of DeGeneres, dating back to her stand-up work. And while I think she's hilarious and I love her comedic style, I'm not sure if her presence here made much sense.
GROUP
"Let It Rock," Kevin Rudolf f. Lil' Wayne (Contemporary, Travis Wall)
I'm not sure this offered each individual dancer the chance to shine that Travis indicated it would; either that or they were all shining in the same style. Nevertheless, it was a high energy performance. I actually found the lighting on the costumes a bit distracting from the performances, but as it's a group number, I'm not too worried about it.
Continue reading So You Think You Can Dance: Top 8 Perform
Posted Jul 1st 2009 8:25AM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: News, Web, Celebrities, Reality-Free
Keith Olbermann! Come on down! You're the next TV celebrity whose death has been falsely reported on the Internet!
The MSNBC Countdown's Wikipedia page reported he had died earlier this morning, possibly due to complications from celiac disease.
I sent emails to two networks officials to confirm this jarring claim. Jeremy Gaines, MSNBC's vice president of communications, responded that he is certain the entry is a "hoax" and that he and other network officials were working to correct it. The section on Olbermann's death has since been removed from the page.
Continue reading Exclusive! Keith Olbermann is not dead
Posted Jun 27th 2009 10:02AM by Nick Zaino
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, Music and Variety
The variety show format seems like a no-brainer for success - get someone with star power and surround them with a bunch of ringers and some weird people spinning plates or bending themselves into curious shapes, and voila! Instant hit, right? But there have been some spectacular failures in recent TV history. Maybe it's the fact that there are so many talent/reality shows now that a show with no "winner" or competition doesn't seem as interesting.
Somehow, despite all of that, Ellen DeGeneres has managed some success with the format, and is now on her third -
Ellen's Bigger, Longer & Wider Show, on TBS Saturday at 9PM.
Perhaps it's the fact that it's on TBS, which means the stakes are slightly lower than on the main networks. Or the fact that DeGeneres brings a loyal fanbase from her
Ellen DeGeneres Show and her stand-up. Those would be the reasons you would look for if you were an industry executive or a media critic.
Continue reading Ellen's Bigger, Longer & Wider Show
Posted Mar 19th 2009 8:25PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: TV Royalty, Daytime, Web, Celebrities, Reality-Free
I work at home now, which is how I've discovered the wonder and glory of daytime television. If you're at all like me, then you really need to go someplace other than your house and Target. Also, you watch
Ellen every day. On nearly every show lately, Ellen has been
campaigning to get on the cover of O Magazine.
Ellen has made it clear that she doesn't want to be on the cover alone-- with Ms. Winfrey would be perfectly acceptable. She has also made it clear that she will stop at nothing to achieve her goal. After snafus that included calling Harpo Studios to speak with Oprah and being left on hold for 11 minutes, only to be told that Oprah was in a meeting, it looks as though Ellen's dream may have finally come true.
DeGeneres posted the following on
her official Twitter feed: "
Oprah just asked me to be on the cover of O magazine!" Now, since it's Twitter, there's no further explanation or confirmation. I, however, choose to take it at face and congratulate Ellen on reaching her goal-- and beginning her takeover of Oprah's empire.
Posted Sep 10th 2008 1:22PM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Celebrities, Reality-Free
In a move that should come as no surprise to anybody, Pamela Anderson has stripped off her clothes yet again. This time on
The Ellen Degeneres Show. No, she didn't get completely nude (or even wear a flesh-toned swimsuit as she did on
Saturday Night Live). She remained in a somewhat television-safe bikini
to show off her rockin' 41-year-old body.
Um, how do I react to this? She's still got the curves, but the move smacks of desperation. She's trying to generate publicity for herself and whatever current project she's working on. Or maybe she's trying to get more work. She is getting up there in age. In Hollywood years, she's ancient. The whole "Hollywood beach bunny blonde" image doesn't work so well when you're in your 60's. At that point, she may have to rely on her talent.
The video is after the jump. I leave it to your discretion as to whether or not it's safe for work.
Continue reading Pamela Anderson takes off her clothes for Ellen - VIDEO
Posted Aug 14th 2008 2:19PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Celebrities, Talk Show, Reality-Free
Queen Latifah couldn't make it work. Megan Mullally struck out, too. In fact, if you think about it, more stars fail in their attempts to become talk show hosts than succeed. For every Ellen DeGeneres and Tyra Banks, there's a Caroline Rhea and Magic Johnson.
So, will sitcom star Leah Remini go from the
King of Queens to the queen of daytime talk? CBS -- home of
King of Queens for a very successful run from 1998-2007 -- is developing
a daytime show for Leah Remini that's being called something different than a typical talk show.
If you tune in to
The Rachael Ray Show today, you might get an idea of what Leah could bring to daytime -- she's Rach's guest.
Continue reading Can she talk? Leah Remini in talks for a talk show
Posted Jul 18th 2008 2:05PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Emmys, WGA Strike, Reality-Free
For Ken Erhlich, executive producer of the Emmy broadcast, the goal is clear. "The war cry is always, 'What are we going to do and how are we going to make it better?' We did some inventive things, we changed it up, we understand that this is the industry's big night. This means something and we can't trivialize it, but we certainly can have some fun with it." He told me that last year, prior to the Emmy-in-the-round broadcast, a memorable -- and successful show.
In 2008, the decisions about the 60th anniversary Emmys are still in the works for the September LA broadcast, but one decision has already been made.
It won't be in the round. While it looked good on air, the industry didn't like it. "People loved it at home. It had a great look, but you know, you try things, you want to bring something fresh to the show."
Continue reading Big plans for 60th Emmy broadcast ... as long as there's no strike
Posted Jul 10th 2008 2:00PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: Game Show, Casting
Hole in the Wall, this summer's
latest Japanese game show ripoff, has announced its hosts. Actress Brooke Burns and L.A. weather anchor Mark Thompson will be presiding over Fox's version of human Tetris. Both have game show experience, with Burns having served as the host of
Dog Eat Dog and Thompson providing the voiceover for
Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?Hole is being brought to America by
American Idol producers FremantleMedia North America and came to be after clips of the Japanese version became hugely popular on YouTube. Ellen DeGeneres also got a kick out of the Japanese competition, not only featuring several clips on her talk show, but even going so far as having audience members participate in her own version.
Continue reading Hole in the Wall finds its hosts
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