TonyAwards-related stories
Posted Aug 29th 2009 11:35AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Video, Music and Variety, Celebrities, Awards, Reality-Free
How do you pump up the viewership for a music award show on a network that used to be all about music but lately has been all about reality TV and nasty scandals? Well, apparently MTV has decided to go retro and keep it funny. To promote the upcoming
2009 Video Awards, MTV has created a West Side Story parody, not too different from the brilliant solo turn by
Neil Patrick Harris at last June's Tony Awards.
The commercial is a mixed bag. Taylor Swift proves that she has the real goods as a singer, doing the toughest part of the "Tonight" quintet. Ne-Yo's dance turn is more of a salute to Michael Jackson than an homage to composers Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim. And Katy Perry's rooftop bit reinforces the fact that she's funny and playful.
Continue reading MTV's star-studded West Side Story parody
Posted Jul 2nd 2009 10:55AM by Joel Keller
Filed under: OpEd, How I Met Your Mother, Celebrities, Awards, Emmys, Reality-Free
This seems to be Neil Patrick Harris' year. A tour-de-force season on
How I Met Your Mother was followed by hosting stints on the Tonys and TV Land Awards that showed how natural he was in the role of awards host. Heck, he even managed to get the Tonys some viral street cred by
doing a Billy Crystal-esque medley at the end that stated the show "could not be any gayer if Liza was named mayor and Elton John took flight."
So, it's not a big surprise to hear that
NPH is near a deal to host the Emmys as well, according to
Variety.
Continue reading Neil Patrick Harris to host the Emmys?
Posted Jun 8th 2009 6:26PM by John Scott Lewinski
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Celebrities, Awards
Rock of Love star Bret Michaels ran smack into a descending piece of stage scenery at Sunday night's Tony Awards, going down for the count with multiple injuries.
You can watch the
video here, or just watch after the jump. If you're not a fan of Michaels, his band (Poison) or his "looking for romance" reality show, you should resist the urge to watch it about 10 times while giggling. It's wrong to laugh at another person's misfortune. This reporter would certainly never dream of enjoying something like this.
MIchaels' injuries include a broken nose and three stitches in his lip. He had a CAT scan today as a precaution s he has an old neck injury. No word what effect the impact had on his permanent make-up.
Continue reading Bret Michaels loses one round fight with Tony Awards set
Posted May 14th 2009 8:33PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, Celebrities, Reality-Free
Ladies and gentlemen alike know that Neil Patrick Harris has got it all: Perfect comedic timing,
a hit show, old-fashioned song-and-dance skills, a ridiculously diverse audience, and a body built for suits. With such overwhelming levels of snazzy, is anyone surprised that NPH has been asked to
host the 63rd Annual Tony Awards?
Some of the theater-literate out there may know that NPH has done his fair share of musicals onstage, from
RENT to
Sweeney Todd to
Cabaret. Most of you are probably most aware of his Joss Whedon project,
Dr. Horrible's Singalong Blog, which provided us with endless joy (and by "endless", I mean "three installments' worth"). Regardless, NPH has the knowledge, the background and the charisma to pull this off.
Continue reading Neil Patrick Harris to host the Tony Awards
Posted Jan 23rd 2009 10:03AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Celebrities, Ratings, Awards, TV Squad Lists, Reality-Free
Do you remember what film won the Oscar for Best Picture last year? (
No Country for Old Men). What about Best Actor and Actress? (Daniel Day-Lewis and Marion Cotillard). If you didn't remember, don't feel bad. You're probably like most people. Most of us weren't watching in 2008. Even though they were celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Academy Awards, it was the lowest rated and least watched telecast ever.
As I perused the
Academy Award nominations yesterday, I couldn't help but think that this year's broadcast is going to have a hard time drawing a huge TV audience. And considering that the only thing you can usually count on with the Oscars is that they'll run over three hours long, the show will probably leave something to be desired, too.
In fact, here's six reasons the Oscars -- which will be broadcast live on February 22 on ABC -- will probably stink.
Continue reading Six reasons the Oscars will probably stink - VIDEO
Posted Jun 5th 2008 8:23PM by Kristin Sample
Filed under: Celebrities, Awards, Casting, Reality-Free
CBS has secured
even more celebrities to grace the stage at Radio City Music Hall next Sunday. Gabriel Byrne (
In Treatment), Julie Chen (
Big Brother), Harry Connick, Jr. (
Will & Grace), Laurence Fishburne, Mandy Patinkin
(Criminal Minds), David Hyde Pierce, Lily Tomlin and John Waters (
Til Death Do Us Part) have been added as presenters. These actors and actresses (and, er, Julie Chen) will join an
already stellar list of presenters and host Whoopi Goldberg.
I have to admit it. I'm getting a little excited for The Tonys. I usually find them boring. The performances are fantastic but the awards in between are a bit of a snore. However, this cast of presenters is intriguing. I'll at least be flipping back and forth hoping to catch the performances and my favorite stars.
The 62nd Annual Tony Awards will be held on Sunday June 15th from 8:00 to 11:00 p.m. ET on CBS.
Posted Jun 3rd 2008 8:01AM by Kristin Sample
Filed under: Music and Variety, Celebrities, Awards, Casting, Reality-Free
CBS is rounding up some
A-listers to appear at The Tony Awards this year. Alec Baldwin (
30 Rock), Kristin Chenoweth (
Pushing Daisies), Glenn Close (
Damages), Richard Griffiths, Laura Linney (
John Adams), John Lithgow, Liza Minnelli, Mary-Louise Parker (
Weeds), Daniel Radcliffe, Brooke Shields (
Lipstick Jungle) and Marisa Tomei will be presenters at this year's award show. As previously announced, Whoopi Goldberg of
The View, a Tony-winner herself, will be this year's host.
Also, the Tony Award-winning productions
The Lion King and Rent will make rare encore performances at this year's gala.
The 62nd Annual Tony Awards will be broadcast live from Radio City Music Hall on Sunday, June 15th from 8:00 to 11:00 p.m. ET (delayed PT) on CBS. Here's my issue with the
Tonys. It's long and it's usually a snore. Do you think this effort to spice up the show will pay off? Does it make you want to tune in?
Posted Jan 11th 2008 8:00AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Late Night, The Amazing Race, Desperate Housewives, Lost, Daytime, The Daily Show, Entourage, Music and Variety, Talk Show, Project Runway, 30 Rock, Awards, Pushing Daisies
Finally someone shows some love for
Lost, which got itself back on track last season. The Directors Guild announced their nominees for this year's awards.
Lost nabbed two nominations in the Dramatic Series category, for "The Looking Glass" and "The Brig."
The Sopranos picked up two of the three remaining nominations, saving the last one for AMC's excellent freshmen drama,
Mad Men.On the comedy side,
30 Rock nabbed two nominations, with
Desperate Housewives and
Entourage picking up one each. And the critical love for ABC's incredibly charming
Pushing Daisies continues as it snatches the final spot. But one category in which the Directors think very differently than anyone else is in Reality Programs. Not only is the kitschy
Who Wants to be a Superhero? nominated, but is joined by
Shooting Sizemore and
Pros vs. Joes. The full list, including commercials, documentaries and mini-series after the jump.
Continue reading Directors Guild Awards nominations are in
Posted Jun 12th 2007 11:04AM by Paul Goebel
Filed under: OpEd, Awards
This year the Tony Awards garnered the lowest ratings since 1992. Most people are quick to say that it's because they were broadcast on the same night as the finale of The Sopranos but we all know better, don't we?
The Tony Awards are given for excellence on Broadway, which for many years now has been an oxymoron. Aside from the occasional movie star driven vehicle like Martin Short's Fame Becomes Me or blockbusters like The Producers, Broadway has done very little of note in a long time. More importantly, any decent Broadway production is overpriced while also being sold out, giving average Americans little chance to ever see a Broadway show.
Continue reading Why are the Tonys on network TV?
Posted Dec 26th 2006 12:01PM by Brett Love
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, NBC, Watercooler Talk
NBC has ramped up the promotion for their new reality show,
You're The One That I Want. We've mentioned the show a
couple times in the past. The short version is that contestants are going to compete for the roles of Danny and Sandy in a new production of the
Grease musical.
That's all well and good, but I can't help but wonder just who is going to watch that. Musical theater certainly does have a core audience, but I have a feeling that it's not big enough to measure up to the demands of prime-time network TV. I get the idea behind the show, it's got the singing of
Idol and the dancing of
DWTS, but that doesn't make it
Idol or
DWTS. We've already seen what happens when people try to clone these shows.
The One and
Skating with Celebrities come to mind.
Continue reading Who does NBC think is going to watch "The One That I Want?"
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