TVSquad

For four seasons on Bravo, Kathy Griffin has been trying to crawl her way off of what she called "The D-List," taking humiliating gigs and opening up a lot of her personal life to the cameras to try to get some attention. Truthfully, though, Griffin has been off of the D-List for quite some time, which makes tonight's season five premiere of My Life on the D-List (8 PM, Bravo) a bit puzzling. What list is she on now?

Griffin has now won two Emmys for the D-List, had a string of popular stand-up specials on Bravo, and her comedy album For Your Consideration, was nominated for a Grammy this year (she lost to George Carlin's It's Bad For Ya). And this season features appearances by Paris Hilton, Rosie O'Donnell, T.I., Bette Midler, Lily Tomlin, and Christina Aguilera - quite a cast for someone supposedly fighting obscurity. Plus, her book Official Book Club Selection: A Memoir According to Kathy Griffin, hits stores in September on Ballantine Books.

You've gotta admit: tramps are fun. Their boozy, often promiscuous antics are the life of any party. Whether you're cheering them on or witnessing their antics with horror, tramps make any situation interesting. The same goes for TV shows. From Blanche DuBois to, well, most of The Real World cast members after season 3 or so, the television landscape has been filled with entertainingly trampy characters.

They may steal your husband, dance on a bar, or just generally leave a path of destruction in their wake. Whatever it is, it's sure to be memorable. For this reason, TV tramps are not to be looked down upon; they are to be revered. So consider this list a tribute: a tribute to TV's biggest tramps. May they never reexamine the path their life has taken.

If you happened to be watching Fox News' 3-hour UParty 2009 New Year's Eve special, you might have caught a glimpse of some unbelievable words scrolling across the bottom of the screen. " ... and let's hope the magic negro does a good job. " Wait ... what the ... ?!

The ticker usually contains news bites from Fox itself, so those particular words might have garnered a little shock. As it turns out, though, it's all very innocent. Well, sort of. It was actually a text message from a viewer that said, "Happy New Year and let's hope the magic negro does a good job. Love, Jen and John C."

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times ... and a lot of it happened right on our TV screens. As we look forward to 2009, here's one more glimpse back at what was good and what was really NOT in the year gone by.

Overall, it seems like the Writer's Strike really hurt the business. Shows that might have survived, didn't. New shows have been stuck in development longer than usual. But despite all that, there were moments that were thrilling, shows that are terrific ... and those that weren't.

A couple of months back, in the midst of Project Runway leaving -- or trying to leave -- Bravo for Lifetime, a rumor was floated that Kathy Griffin wasn't sure about returning her show to Bravo as well. As a loyal and happy watcher of Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List, I was concerned. Fortunately, the rumor has turned out to be just that. Bravo announced that it has locked up Kathy Griffin to a new, one-year deal.

It includes the fifth season for My Life, another edition of Bravo's A-List Awards with KG as the hostess, and two new comedy specials from the Emmy-winning D-lister. Excuse me while I pause to react -- YIPPEE!

Dancing With the Stars is a show that makes no sense to me. I understand the appeal of it; I'm usually very interested in any program that involves celebrities doing ridiculous things on national television and I know that people love bright shiny costumes, but it still somehow manages to hold no interest for me whatsoever.

With that said, I know that the announcement of each season's DWTS cast is heavily anticipated and rumored for months before the actual announcement. We heard that Dan Marino may be a contestant; a claim that was soon denied. 82-year-old Cloris Leachman was another name floated, as was Magnum, P.I. himself, Tom Selleck. Kim Kardashian and Kathy Griffin were also said to have been approached.

As with most rumors, some of these turned out to be false, but others had some truth to them. Follow me after the jump for the official (and completely insane) cast of Dancing With the Stars' seventh season, along with some twists the producers have cooked up for this go-around.

The Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards -- affectionately known as the Shmemmys to Kathy Griffin fans -- has at least one more viewer this year. I will be watching the other Emmy presentation, the awards that come before the Primetime Emmys. The big one with all the major categories, musical numbers, clip montages and near-mandatory attendance by the nominees is the Emmys. The other one is the technical awards. But I will be watching for a very good reason: Neil Patrick Harris and Sarah Chalke will be co-hosting the Creative Arts Emmys this year on the E! channel, September 20.

Neil, an Emmy nominee for How I Met Your Mother, and Sarah, who is also a guest/semi-regular on Mother as well as a permanent regular on Scrubs, are a great choice for this gig. They're smart, funny, quick, attractive and maybe even unpredictable.

I mean, wouldn't it be a hoot if Neil came on stage in his Dr. Horrible gear and asked Sarah if her Hanes undies were riding up or doing their job? She should then counter and ask him about that smell, you know ... the Old Spice? Hey, maybe they should get Bruce Campbell to confront Neil about the Old Spice deal -- that was Bruce's commercial before Neil took over!

Kathy Griffin may be the ultimate D-lister, but the Emmy-winning star of Bravo's reality hit Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D List, is really a smart cookie in my book. She told TV's Extra that she turned down Dancing with the Stars, a top-drawer, sort of B-list opportunity. "I have a hard offer for Dancing with the Stars," she revealed, adding that it's not for her. "I can't even touch my toes!"

Now, before you think Kathy was being haughty or superior, to me she was just being smart. While appearing on Dancing with the Stars would be a great chance for exposure, appearing on DWTS is one of the toughest gigs in show business. I hand it to Kathy for knowing her limitations. The kind of physical workout involved is just too much, especially if you figure that you're likely to embarrass yourself. I mean, what did a stint on DWTS do for Penn Jillette?

Earlier today I did a first take on the Primetime Emmy nominations, sharing with you my first impressions and noting a few surprises. Now, I'm going to finish what I started. Please, share your comments and your opinions about the nominations.

It was an historic occasion yesterday last Thursday on NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, didn't you know? The lady who lives to be banned -- and re-banned in the case of The View -- Kathy Griffin appeared as Jay Leno's guest. What's the big deal?

Well, if you recall the first season of Kathy's show, Bravo's My Life on the D List, the comic was rather brutally insulted by Jay when he called her ugly, and in the subsequent episodes of the show, Kathy revealed that she was put on The Tonight Show's "do not invite list."

And yet, the other night, there was Kathy in the prime seat, chatting it up with Jay, dissing celebrities as is her wont, and generally looking like the D List is now just the title of her show, not her true show business status.

Americans are utterly obsessed with celebrities ... particularly their lives away from the limelight. Numerous television "news" programs and magazines highlight stars doing normal things that many of us would do on a daily basis. So, it was only logical that reality series have been built around some of these personalities to highlight their time away from the camera.

Yet it didn't work out as was intended. Rather than showing that these personalities were normal people, they showed the viewers how messed up they, and their families, really were. In some of the earlier Celebreality programs, they even showed unknown weaknesses that fans never knew existed. Despite all of this, viewers have been tuning into these shows each and every week to watch ... just like they would if video of different train wrecks were aired each week.

This fan base has given many of these stars a second, third, or fourth chance at success -- even if their boat sailed a long time ago. Such is the case during the Reality Revolution, where even the most famous can receive fifteen more minutes of fame.

When I look at some of the people who have emerged as today's biggest stars on TV, I scratch my head and wonder, "how did that happen?" There are a few stars who have completely exceeded my expectations -- and I bet yours, too. In fact, after you read my five (no cell phone pun intended), I'm betting that you'll have a few more overachievers to add to the list.

1) Ty Pennington
I'm not ashamed to admit that for a couple of years I was hooking on TLC's Trading Spaces. It may have been the perky Paige Davis, the home improvement on a $1,000, the cool things that the designers did in just 24 hours -- whatever it was, I was a regular viewer. Oh, yes, there was also a carpenter on the show named Ty Pennington.

(S04E01) Kathy Griffin is back, or as I choose to call her now Emmy Girl. Yes, the Emmy is on full display. In your face, everyone, Kathy's got an Emmy! Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List won the Emmy last year and if this first episode is a sample of what season four has in store, that Emmy is going to get a companion. This show is riotous. And irreverent and a perfect blend of comedy and celebrity reality which is really unreality because how many of us interact with Anderson Cooper and Michael Moore?

Kathy Griffin has found the perfect genre for her particular brand of comedy. A sitcom wouldn't capture her true character, strict stand-up is not her best venue (although she's gotten very good at it), and a talk show would force her to chat with others and appear interested. The My Life on the D-List format works for her and she's found a way to incorporate stand up, situation comedy and guests into a reality hour that highlights her being funny. She has supporting players -- Team Griffin, Jessica, Tiffany, Tom and Kathy's adorable mom, Maggie -- as her comic foils and partners in crime.

Controversy continues to swirl around the Disney Channel's once-squeaky-clean Hannah Montana series. Now Kathy Griffin is telling Entertainment Weekly she was fired from the series for comments she made at last year's Creative Arts Emmys.

I dunno. Does "Suck it, Jesus! This award is my god now!" seem all that bad? That's probably one of the classier things the D-List comedian has ever said.

But Griffin didn't go quietly into the night, opting instead to fire off a few shots at the show's star, Miley Cyrus, whose racy Vanity Fair photos are making the water cooler rounds this week. "[She] has been flashing her green bra and posing topless," said Griffin. "I was basically told, 'Disney doesn't want you anywhere near the building.'"

Ugly Betty, Brothers & Sisters, and Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List all received GLAAD Media awards in a ceremony held over the weekend. The award honors fair media portrayals of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals. This is the second GLAAD award for both ABC shows, which won for Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Drama Series. Kathy Griffin's show is a first-time winner in the Outstanding Reality Series category.

The event was attended by many TV personalities, including T.R. Knight, Ellen DeGeneres, Jimmy Kimmel, and Sally Field. Bravo will air the ceremony at an undetermined date and time. It will be the first time the GLAAD awards have aired on a national cable network.