Posts with tag Today
Posted Jul 7th 2008 2:01PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: News, Industry, OpEd, Casting, Reality-Free
So, you probably heard that the NBC Universal empire will be expanding by one, once
it has added The Weather Channel to its media outlets. On MSNBC this morning, the subs on
Morning Joe were crowing about CEO
Jeff Zucker, sucking up royally, and even hyping GE stock.
It was all really uncomfortable, obvious and out of place when you are tuning in for news, politics, some pop culture and get NBCU corporate cheerleaders in full pom-pom mode.
Okay, enough ranting; there is some news to report. If the deal goes through -- and it will --
Today weatherman Al Roker may be relocating or he'll be repurposed, becoming the face of The Weather Channel.
Continue reading Al Roker, NBCU and the Weather Channel
Posted Jun 2nd 2008 11:02AM by Joel Keller
Filed under: News, Industry, OpEd, Daytime, Reality-Free
This morning, as I watched the
Today show, I noticed that they had "team coverage" of
the big fire on the
Universal Studios back lot. Not only did they have reporter Peter Alexander doing a live remote from the scene, but they decided to send Al Roker, who was in L.A. to tape
Celebrity Family Feud, over there, as well. Matt Lauer called the fire "devastating," and Alexander went on to list all the sets that went up in smoke, including the town square from
Back to the Future. Oh, and some of the video archives were destroyed, even though there are backups.
All of this was delivered in somber tones, as if this was like those wildfires that have enveloped that part of the country over the last few years. It made you wonder if anyone got hurt. Thankfully, no one did. So why the somber tone? Sure, these sets might have some sentimental value, but they're just fake storefronts. And why have a reporter there if Roker was already available? It makes you scratch your head until you realize that NBC and Universal are corporate siblings.
Continue reading Corporate synergy watch: Today's coverage of the Universal fire
Posted May 28th 2008 11:20AM by Joel Keller
Filed under: News, Industry, OpEd, Celebrities, Reality-Free
If you watched the network morning shows this morning, you've seen the shocking sight of the Big Three evening news anchors -- Brian Williams, Katie Couric, and Charlie Gibson -- appearing on each show ... together! Gasp! How can that happen? Don't the networks have contract clauses and armies of lawyers to prevent these things from happening?
Well, I guess the lawyers tend to stay home when a good cause is involved. The anchors went on the news shows this morning
to announce a cross-network telethon called
Stand Up for Cancer Stand Up To Cancer, which will air on NBC, CBS, and ABC on September 5. The one-hour show will have musical performances and testimonials from all three anchors about the need for furthering cancer research (remember Couric's husband and sister both died from various forms of the disease). Money raised by the telethon will go to a number of organizations and research groups.
Continue reading CBS, ABC and NBC to hold cancer telethon; Couric returns to Today
Posted Apr 16th 2008 1:40PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Daytime, Reality-Free
Let me start this TV Squad Soap Report by saying that I have a soft spot in my heart for
Days of Our Lives. It's the first soap I remember watching as a kid and I've always stuck with it, even when it's gone through some dark times. And if you're a
Days fan, you know just what I mean (more on that later).
Right now I'm beginning to see a pattern on
Days of Our Lives that's kind of upsetting. The show seems to be stuck in retro mode. They've been bringing back characters by the boat load. This is nothing new. All soaps do it. On
All My Children, they just brought
Cady McLain back -- and her character Dixie, who's supposedly dead.
One Life to Live is resurrecting greatest Tina of all,
Andrea Evans. So what's the big deal with what
Days doing it? Nothing. It's perfectly legitimate. I support it...to a point. When it reaches a point to where new characters are not taking hold and more and more of the past is becoming the present.
Continue reading TV Squad Soap Report: The retro Days of Our Lives
Posted Apr 12th 2008 8:15AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Sports, Celebrities, Reality-Free
Game over.
The NFL Network has made a change in the broadcast booth and Bryant Gumbel will not be back calling games. The veteran broadcaster, one-time host of NBC's
Today show and CBS's
Early Show and currently the host of HBO's
Real Sports, has been doing play by play on the NFL Network's eight-game schedule alongside color commentator Cris Collinsworth for the past two seasons. He's now the ex-play by play man.
The NFL Network didn't say who would be replacing Bryant, and the way it was presented it appears that the decision to separate at this time was a mutual decision. Still, it was Gumbel who tendered his resignation, perhaps avoiding the embarrassment of being dumped.
Continue reading Bryant Gumbel out as NFL Network announcer
Posted Apr 3rd 2008 2:38PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Celebrities, Game Show, Casting, Reality-Free
Al Roker is in final negotiations to host the NBC celebrity edition of Family Feud, the one that we wrote about recently as a
summer series on the Peacock.
Roker, currently the main weatherman and easy-going interviewer on
Today (the first three hours at least!), would seem a perfect fit for this job. He's friendly, funny, personable and has a high recognizability/likability rating. He's also busy on the dial with Food Network shows, both producing and hosting. In fact, in 2006 his production company put out
Celebrity Food Fights, about competing celebs -- not unlike
Family Feud concept -- for Food Network.
Continue reading Al Roker ready for the Feud?
Posted Apr 1st 2008 10:20AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Industry, Daytime, Cancellations
Usually when you talk about death on soap operas, you have to know that like science fiction, death doesn't mean the end of the story. After all, many characters have come back from the dead thanks to mistaken identity, bizarre abductions, switched coffins, et. al. But when I tell you now that the NBC soap opera
Passions is dead, I really mean it. Really.
There is no chance that Passions is coming back to NBC. The soap was yanked from the daytime lineup last year, but in a deal with DirecTV,
Passions has remained in production. The satellite provider has been showing episodes of the bizarrely-plotted show for months. However, in a recent development, DirecTV has decided to pull the plug. Universal Media Studios, which produces the one-hours, has been trying to find a new place on the dial for
Passions without any luck.
Continue reading Passions is dead...for real this time
Posted Mar 31st 2008 10:04AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Daytime, Celebrities, Talk Show
Three weeks ago it was a hot rumor. Now it's a fact. NBC announced that
Kathie Lee Gifford will co-host the fourth hour of Today beginning Monday, April 7th. She'll be teaming up with Hoda Kotb for an hour of chit-chat, info, interviews and what have you. I doubt she'll be singing, but then again, if Kathie Lee can cajole them into rolling a piano onto the set, watch out.
"I am truly honored to join the
Today show family, many of whom have been friends and colleagues of mine for years," said Kathie Lee via release. "And I'm especially looking forward to working with Hoda, a bright and beautiful woman I admire very much. Together I hope we will bring a fresh and fun perspective to the topics that affect all of our daily lives."
Continue reading It's official: Kathie Lee joins Today
Posted Mar 7th 2008 8:42PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: News, Daytime, Celebrities, Talk Show
Is Kathie Lee Gifford coming back to daytime? Does Regis know; does he care? Well, whatever the case with Reeg, there is talk that La Kathie Lee may be ready for a new talk show gig.
In the
Hollywood Reporter,
Today executive producer Jim Bell said
Kathie Lee Gifford is on the short list as a co-host for the fourth hour of the show. "I think she's a great talent," he said of KLG, while adding that other names are in the hopper as well.
Continue reading Kathy Lee Gifford co-hosting Today's fourth hour?
Posted Feb 22nd 2008 12:02PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, Daytime, Celebrities
Reunions are hot, you know? On February 12, for example,
Oprah reunited (most of) the kids from
The Cosby Show, with Bill appearing via satellite. Well, never one to let a good idea go to waste, NBC jumped on the theme. They recently had a
Family Ties reunion on
Today, so now the morning show is commencing tomorrow with a series of more
"Together Again" features. Tune into 8:00 a.m. hour each day so you don't miss a thing!
Continue reading Today to host classic TV cast reunions
Posted Feb 18th 2008 4:19PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: News, Industry, Daytime, Big Brother (US)
This is no laughing
matter. John Gilmore, executive director of Autism United, said today that CBS must apologize for an insensitive remark made on the Julie Chen-hosted reality show
Big Brother during last week's episode. One of the contestants, a man named Adam, said that if he was the show's big winner, he would use the money to start a hair salon for people with developmental disabilities. Adam went on to say he wanted a beauty shop "so retards can get it together and get their hair done." When Sheila, another contestant, protested, "Don't call them that," Adam declared that, "Disabled kids. I can call them whatever I want. I work with them all day, okay?"
According to CBS's
Big Brother web site, Adam is a public relations manager for an unnamed foundation. The 29-year-old is from Cherry Hill, New Jersey, but is now living in Delray Beach, Florida.
Continue reading CBS owes an apology for Big Brother faux pas
Posted Jan 6th 2008 6:20PM by Anna Johns
Filed under: News, Programming
Prepare to be dazzled. Okay, that's probably not the right word to use when Harry Smith is involved.
CBS is re-launching The Early Show tomorrow morning, complete with new set, new role for Harry Smith, new faces, and (most importantly) a new, aggressive attitude.
The Early Show and other morning programs on CBS have consistently placed third behind NBC's powerhouse
Today and ABC's
Good Morning America. It's been so bad that 43 CBS affiliates have opted not to run
The Early Show and have instead provided their own morning content.
Starting tomorrow, Harry Smith will be the main anchor of
The Early Show and pretty much at the helm of the broadcast.
Continue reading CBS launches new Early Show tomorrow
Posted Jun 22nd 2007 3:02PM by Adam Finley
Filed under: Celebrities
To answer the question posed in Bob's previous post, no, NBC News did not offer to pay Paris Hilton one million dollars for an interview.
Previously, the New York Post had claimed NBC had outbid ABC for the interview, but NBC News denies this, saying they have never paid for an interview and never will. Still, other networks remain skeptical since Hilton's people have allegedly told them that NBC's Today already has the first interview locked down between Hilton and Meredith Vieira.
Continue reading NBC denies $1 million offer for Hilton interview
Posted Apr 9th 2007 11:02AM by Joel Keller
Filed under: News, Industry, OpEd, Daytime, Watercooler Talk
I don't watch the
Today show every day, but I tend to watch it at least once a week, and I want to say this up front: I think Meredith Vieira is doing just fine. Is she completely comfortable in her new position? Probably not. But morning TV is a tough thing to tackle, and to expect her to be as smooth in the job as Katie Couric was is asking a bit too much. If anything, Meredith needs to assert herself a little more; sometimes she blends into the scenery, the goofy personality she displayed on
The View not coming through as much as it should. But I guess that's what happens when you're forced to laugh at Al Roker's jokes for two hours straight.
Continue reading How do you think Meredith Vieira is doing so far?
Posted Feb 21st 2007 1:06PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: NBC, News, OpEd, Daytime, Watercooler Talk
I like Meredith Vieira. I really, really do. I've heaped praise upon her in this space in the past, and I'm sure that I'm going to heap more praise on her in the future. But she completely dropped the ball on the
Today show this morning when
she interviewed the three climbers that were rescued from Mt. Hood a couple of days ago. She asked them a lot of questions about how they survived, and how their dog Velvet helped them stay warm. But she didn't ask the one question I'm sure every non-hiker in the country was curious about:
What the hell were they doing up there on the mountain to begin with?
Continue reading Please don't encourage the hikers
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