RachaelRay-related stories
Posted Oct 21st 2009 12:05PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Celebrities, Celebreality
Reality is not relative when it comes to television. Reality television, my friends, is here to stay. So when I let you know that
GSN will air Carnie Wilson: Unstapled, a new reality show starring the former singer from Wilson Phillips and the host of
The Newlywed Game, you shouldn't be surprised. At least not about another celebrity reality program. The fact that it's going to be on GSN -- that's the Game Show Network -- however, that's a bit of a shocker.
GSN has fallen in love with
Carnie Wilson. Kelly Goode, GSN senior vice president for original programming and development, gushed about CW, saying, "Carnie is incredibly funny and earthy. ... She's a personality the viewers have fallen in love with. And she's a hit on
The Newlywed Game.
Continue reading Carnie Wilson's reality show will be on... GSN?
Posted Oct 8th 2009 1:02PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Interviews, TCA Press Tour, Top Chef
Given the
popularity of the second-season opener of The Next Iron Chef, I figured it was a good time to pull out this interview I did with the show's host,
Alton Brown, at the network's TCA party in July. It was definitely the tastiest party of the tour, as each
Iron Chef contestant plied the critics with delectable morsels of their creativity at various stations.
In a bit of a surprise, one of the contestants,
Amanda Freitag, was being assisted by her friend
Ariane Duarte, one of the more popular contestants from rival program
Top Chef's New York season (I was so flabbergasted by the turn of events,
I snapped a pic of the two with my cell phone). When I pointed this tidbit out to Brown, his response was very interesting...
Continue reading Alton Brown calls Top Chef a "sous chef kind of show"... then takes it back
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 May 4th 2009 3:35PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Industry, Celebrities, Talk Show
Being Oprah's buddy is never bad for one's career. And like former frequent guest stars Rachael Ray and Dr. Phil, now actress, author and former
Playboy playmate
Jenny McCarthy is poised to be the next "Big O" thing. She has inked a multiplatform deal with Harpo Productions to develop projects of all different kinds, including a talk show of her very own.
While her career may have started in nudity and comedy, she's more recently become known for her books, and her activism in the fight against autism, which her son has.
Continue reading Jenny McCarthy getting the Oprah seal of approval, which may include a talk show
Posted Dec 6th 2008 11:03AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Industry, OpEd, Daytime, Celebrities, Talk Show
I guess I'm not surprised to hear that Oprah Winfrey has been named the most powerful woman in entertainment. You can read the full list
here, in
The Hollywood Reporter's 17th annual "Women in Entertainment: Power 100" special issue.
OK, here's the thing about this. I really do get why
Oprah is powerful. She's in charge of her own show (remember years ago when she fought to gain control and fired a bunch of people?); she's launched a bunch of other shows, including
Rachel Ray, Dr. Phil, and maybe Dr. Oz coming up; she opened that school for girls in Africa; people read the books she recommends; they buy the stuff she likes; and she even had a hand in getting Obama into the White House.
Continue reading Dear Oprah: Power doesn't equal popularity
Posted Dec 5th 2008 9:31AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Celebrities, Talk Show, Reality-Free
There's a famous scene in
The Godfather: Part III -- the only really memorable one -- where Michael Corleone says, "Just when I thought I was out... they pull me back in." I thought of that when I read that
Oprah Winfrey may not be ending her talk show in 2011 after all. What? I thought it was a done deal, but no. Every time I think she's done, she's back again.
When asked by
Access Hollywood about
The Oprah Winfrey Show ending in 2011, Ms. W said, "I'm not done." Well, you sure could have knocked me over with a feather. I mean, really, I understand that it's a woman's prerogative to change her mind, but I really thought Oprah had other worlds to conquer, other fish to fry.
Continue reading Oprah's talk show future might be all her OWN
Posted Sep 9th 2008 10:05AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: News, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
The most famous Rachel on TV today isn't the same one that made Jennifer Aniston a star. And it's Rachael with the extra "E" that's the syndicated star of a talk show that won the Emmy in 2008. But the newest Rachel on the air is MSNBC's plucky new host of her own show, Rachel Maddow. Like Aniston, Rachel Maddow's hairdoo is fashionable, and like Ray, Maddow's very personable. However,
The Rachel Maddow Show is worlds apart from
Friends or
30 Minute Meals/The Rachael Ray Show. Maddow is all about politics, current events and things that, by and large, are important.
In some ways,
The Rachel Maddow Show is a spinoff of
Countdown with
Keith Olbermann. Maddow has been a regular sub for Olbermann, proving her prowess to MSNBC, and her show has a cushy spot between the first run of
Countdown at 8 p.m. ET and the replay at 10 p.m. For the premiere episode, in fact, Keith appeared as Rachel's first guest -- a crossover from the end of
Countdown where Rachel was interviewed in the last segment before the close. This was a smart move, sort of like a bridge from his show to hers, a bridge to somewhere if you will.
The new studio for Maddow has the quality MSNBC look, glass top desk, plasma screens, obnoxious -- but expected -- graphics on the bottom and bugs and flags reinforcing information as it's spoken.
Continue reading The Rachel Maddow Show (series premiere)
Posted Aug 20th 2008 8:39AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: News, Programming, Reality-Free
If you watch MSNBC for the politics fix, no doubt you have seen Rachel Maddow. She's one of the talking heads, a politically savvy woman who has been featured on shows like
Hardball with Chris Matthews and
Countdown with Keith Olbermann.
In fact, she's been Keith's regular fill-in this summer, a sure sign that she's MSNBC's star on the rise. The network has just announced that
Rachel Maddow has been chosen to replace MSNBC's Dan Abrams, bumping his show
Verdict out of the primetime lineup.
Maddow is getting a great spot on MSNBC, right after
Countdown at 9 p.m. Abrams is not getting kicked to the curb. Like when
Tucker Carlson lost his show and remained one of the net's pundits.
Continue reading Rachel Maddow takes Dan Abrams' spot on MSNBC
Posted Aug 18th 2008 12:01PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Food/Home/DIY, Game Show, Reality-Free
Perhaps it's unfair to prejudge, but I am really, really disappointed in the Food Network. The announcement that they are planning
a new series that involves competitive eating called Eat the Clock sounds like a sell-out.
It sounds like Food Network is following in the footsteps of classy shows like
Hurl and
Fear Factor. I expect better from the network that espouses to be about the best in food and cooking, not how fast you can jam it down your throat.
The same company that's behind
Rachael Ray's Tasty Travels, Pie Town Productions, has cooked up
Eat the Clock. They're comparing it to
The Amazing Race, but with eating contests thrown up -- I mean, in. There will be travel involved, which relates to Rachael's travel show. Maybe they'll have Rachael try her gullet at consuming mass quantities. (Oh wait, that's the Coneheads.)
Continue reading Food Network cooks up competitive eating show
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 Aug 12th 2008 5:23PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Food/Home/DIY, Celebrities, Reality-Free, Hell's Kitchen
You know why
Rachael Ray is smiling all the time? She's the richest food star in the world. According to the latest
Forbes list of top-earning celebrity chefs, Rachael Ray leads the pack. In fact, of the top 10 names, all but two are TV stars.
Therefore, you better believe that all that exposure on Food Network, Bravo, Travel Channel, Fine Living, BBC America, and Fox -- not to mention syndication and appearances on talk shows and demonstrations on the
Today Show -- makes a big difference.
Continue reading TV stars dominate Forbes's list of top-earning celeb chefs
Posted Jul 3rd 2008 8:00AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Food/Home/DIY, Celebrities, Talk Show, Reality-Free
According to that journalist without peer, Ted Casablanca -- yeah, I'm sure that's his real name -- Food Network diva and
Emmy-winning talk show hostess Rachael Ray is working on a new project.
No, it's not a new cookbook or anything about food or travel, her two specialties on FN.
Rachael Ray is writing her memoirs, the story of a kid from upstate New York who's made in big on TV.
Rachael, who turns 40 on August 25, has had a meteoric rise on TV, and as I wrote last week, she's one of
five TV stars I think have exceeded expectations. In a very short time, she's become a force with which to be reckoned.
Continue reading What's next for Rachael Ray? Her memoirs
Posted Jun 29th 2008 1:24PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Celebrities, TV Squad Lists, Reality-Free
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 PenningtonI'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.
Continue reading Five TV stars who've exceeded expectations
Posted May 30th 2008 3:22PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: OpEd, Game Show, Early Looks, Reality-Free
Here's the thing about game show revivals: you have to satisfy people on two levels. For fans of the old show, you have to make the gameplay of the new show familiar enough to keep them happy and coming back. And, in order to attract new fans, you have to modernize and add touches that will suck in viewers and help build drama. That's one of the reasons why most new game shows have
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire-style darkened sets with swirling lights, and depend on ominous music and tight camera angles to create drama.
Million Dollar Password, premiering Sunday at 8 PM ET, has all of that. They even nabbed
Millionaire's original American host, Regis Philbin, to give it that extra bit of primetime oomph. But does it work? Well... sorta. Fans of the Allen Ludden / Tom Kennedy / Bert Convy incarnations might be dissatisfied with what they've done to their old favorite, but even an objective observer can see that the gameplay has some flaws that are going to need to be worked out for the show to succeed.
Continue reading Million Dollar Password -- An early look
Posted Apr 17th 2008 9:21AM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Daytime, Talk Show, Reality-Free
Now we know that we're getting serious when it comes to the 2008 presidential campaign: Cindy McCain, wife of presumptive Republican nominee John McCain,
will co-host on The View on Monday, according to both the AP and the
show's own web site. Mrs. McCain has been on the show before, appearing with her husband in 2004, and Sen. McCain has been on the show a number of times, most recently last week. But this is the first time either of them have sat with the hosts for the entire episode.
As the AP article mentions, there's no word on whether Mrs. McCain will share any recipes on the show. Why is that significant? Nothing really, just a little bit of plagiarism committed by an overzealous campaign intern; the intern
reprinted recipes from various Food Network personalities, including Rachael Ray, on the campaign's web site and tried to pass them off as "McCain Family Recipes." I'm surprised people didn't get suspicious sooner, because I don't think I've ever heard either McCain say the word "Yum-o."
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