Ya gotta give Drew Carey a lot of credit. Going into his third season on The Price is Right, he's been able to step in the shoes of an icon, Bob Barker, and do a good job. He's also his part to drag the 38-year-old show into the 21st century, whether it wants to be here or not.
If you were on Twitter last week the day Michael Jackson died, you also might have seen the rumors that Jeff Goldblum had fallen on a movie set in New Zealand and died (there was also a rumor that Harrison Ford had died but that wasn't true either). Last night Stephen Colbert broke the news to fans, only to have Goldblum show up himself to dispute the report.
The funniest part is the live news report from New Zealand about Goldblum dying. I'd love to hear the answer as to why they said the police had confirmed it! (Video also here.)
If you're wearing blue to pay tribute Billy Mays, you were probably as shocked by the pitchman's death as I was. Heck, I was even more surprised by Billy's passing than I was by Michael Jackson's. The guy seemed as healthy as a horse, sporting nothing more than the slight beer gut anyone of his age that's not a fitness fanatic and lives the good life is likely to have.
So in a perverse way, some of us approaching middle age were hoping that the cause of Billy's death could have been explained by the bump on the head he got after his flight had a rough landing the day before he died. We figured it was a delayed response to head trauma, a la what happened to Natasha Richardson earlier this year.
Somebody has to stop Ryan Seacrest. Please. I mean it. He's going too far. Seacrest tweeted that he is talking with Lindsay Lohan about her own reality show. Presumably it'll be in the vein of Ryan's other reality star vehicles, Keeping Up With the Kardashians and Denise Richards: It's Complicated. Notice that I didn't say it would have the same quality as those other shows because if you've ever watched more than an episode, you know that quality is not a requirement. Manipulation, mugging and broad fake emotions are all that's necessary.
So, Lindsay Lohan, heed my warning: stop talking to Ryan Seacrest. No good will come of it.
While I think that Twitter and Facebook can be invaluable for news (including what's going on overseas) and just plain fun, Jon Stewart does have a point about how all of the cable news networks (especially CNN) rely way, way too much on Twitter messages and web site posts and opinions from viewers (local news does it too). Seems like they're trying to fill up space and get viewers "involved" instead of, you know, showing some editorial judgment. Honestly, I really don't care what "funnyballs69" thinks about North Korea. Last night Stewart and The Daily Show talked about this a bit. (Video also here.)
Actually, I've been thinking about this, and I wonder: is this really such big news? I mean, 2012 is a few years from now, and there's a good chance that 30 Rock will be over by then anyway. So Baldwin will probably be leaving the show when, well, everyone else is.
Still, this interview with Playboy (highlights only - buy the mag for the whole thing) looks pretty interesting, with lots of quotes about his marriage, his contemplating suicide after leaving that phone message for his daughter, what he thinks of TMZ, Twitter, his possible political plans, and why he'll never go on Today again.
Update: The post on Grunberg's page was a retweet originally written by someone else. (Apparently, I need Grunny to control my mind and actions!)
Greg Grunberg is reading my mind.
Yesterday, the Heroes actor tweeted a short rant about The Listener, NBC's new show about a paramedic who can read people's minds. As everyone who watches Heroes knows, Grunberg plays a mind reader on his show, which also airs on NBC.
Here are Grunberg's thoughts on the new mind reader in town:
"wht is ths "The Listener" crap. thr's alrdy a show abt a mindreader on tv, its called heroes, & @greggrunberg is all we need."
This clip from The Daily Show pretty much summarizes what's wrong with the cable news channels. And no, Jon Stewart isn't just dumping on Fox News here, he also goes after MSNBC for being obsessed with Rush Limbaugh and CNN for their insane i-Report/Twitter reliance.
Note to self: if you're picked for jury duty, don't bring a cell phone camera and take pictures.
Yesterday, Today co-host Al Roker was picked for jury duty, and like a lot of people he decided to tweet his adventures in real time for his followers, including taking some pics for his Twitter page. The court never told him he could (he took pics outside the court not the courtroom itself), and when they found out they politely asked him to stop.
This is never going to happen in real life, but last night Jimmy Fallon deleted all of his social networks because it was getting too confusing and taking up too much of his time. I don't know if there's one button to get rid of your Twitter, FriendFeed, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, NetFlix, and IM accounts, but I'm sure someone is working on one right now.
Defying all odds and the writers' strike curse, Chuck has managed to snag a third season on NBC. So what now? Obviously, new episodes won't start airing until after the Winter Olympics, so fans and those associated with the show and NBC have a few months before they need to begin obsessively tracking the ratings. But that doesn't mean that fans are taking the summer off. Chucktv.net, a Chuck fansite, is hosting "Chuck Me Mondays," starting June 1st. They're inviting both current fans and those who are just wanting to know what all the Chuck fuss is about to watch the spy comedy as a group Monday nights at 9 PM. While you watch, you can comment on the episode right on their site, or on Twitter, with the objective being to make Chuck a trending topic on the micro-blogging site every Monday. They're starting with the pilot and working all the way up to the season 2 finale-- it's a crash-course in all things Chuck.
First, it was Ethan Suplee petitioning to save My Name Is Earl. Not to be outdone, Christina Applegate set up a petition to save Samantha Who? after it got canceled by ABC last week. This could be a very worrying trend. Now any time a show is canceled, can we expect a big brouhaha online with some cast members setting up petitions or urging fans to send something to the networks? Then it slowly becomes standard operating procedure. "Somebody call the warehouse and tell them to make room for the bobblehead campaign, we're pulling the plug on The Office."
The networks will start covertly spearheading the campaigns themselves to try and drum up fake publicity for their struggling shows. They'll "cancel" the show, fake up a massive petition and give the show a reprieve. "See how glorious and magnanimous are we?" In the case of Samantha Who?, I don't see how a petition would help anyway considering it was an economic decision. "This is nice Christina, but I don't see anywhere on here how you're going to shave a million dollars off of each episode."
I know the Internet has been harsh on Twitter lately, what with Oprah signing up for an account and that stupid Ashton Kutcher vs. CNN thing. But it's time to prepare yourself for a whole new world of online Twitter bashing.
Creating a show based on the popular Web service isn't necessarily a bad idea. I'm sure someone could do something creative with it. But the people developing the upcoming Twitter TV show have other ideas. According to the AP, "The show would harness Twitter to put players on the trail of celebrities in an interactive, competitive format."
Ugh.
Really? Twitter is bringing us a celebrity stalking game show?
Have you caught Kevin Pollak's new online talk show? It's titled Kevin Pollak's Chat Show, appropriately enough, and it airs (can we still say that if it's on the web, "airs?") every Sunday at 5PM PT. So far he has had a variety of guests on, including Mad Men's Jon Hamm, Levar Burton, Paget Brewster, and Alex Albrecht. It's a fun little show, with a casual atmospshere and a Charlie Rose-like set. Here is his interview with Matthew Perry (yes, that's really him on Twitter). Sure, they talk about Friends, but also tennis, Studio 60, Old Spice commercials, and this.
Late Night host Jimmy Fallon is a big geek and is addicted to Twitter. So last night he appeared on G4's Attack of the Show to play Tic-Tac-Toe. Or, more accurately, to play Tweet Tac Toe (or #tweettactoe, in the world of Twitter hash marks). But they didn't play it alone. Fallon and the host actually got their Twitter followers to give them the moves.
Somewhere, someone is working on a Chutes and Ladders game you can play on LinkedIn, and it's going to be awesome.
Ya gotta give Drew Carey a lot of credit. Going into his third season on The Price is Right, he's been able to step in the shoes of an icon, Bob Barker, and do a good job. He's also his part to drag the 38-year-old show into the 21st century, whether it wants to be here or not.
If you're wearing 
Actually, I've been thinking about this, and I wonder: is this really such big news? I mean, 2012 is a few years from now, and there's a good chance that 
Update: The post on Grunberg's page 
Note to self: if you're picked for jury duty, don't bring a cell phone camera and take pictures.
Defying all odds and the 
First, it was Ethan Suplee petitioning to save My Name Is Earl. Not to be outdone, 
I know the Internet has been harsh on Twitter lately, what with Oprah signing up for an account and that stupid Ashton Kutcher vs. CNN thing. But it's time to prepare yourself for a whole new world of online Twitter bashing. 
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