She's an experienced host, an Oscar-winner, a Broadway star. But is Whoopi Goldberg hosting the 62nd Tony Awards the answer for the struggling annual broadcast? The Tony Awards, which honors the best in Broadway theater is considered one of the four major entertainment awards, along with the Oscar, Emmy and Grammy. But the Tonys have been losing viewership year after year despite the stars lured onto the broadcast. After having no single host the past two years, CBS has tapped Whoopi to be the emcee for the June 15 live broadcast from Radio City Music Hall in hopes that she'll make a difference in the Nielsens. The last single host was Hugh Jackman in 2005.
While this is Whoopi's first turn as Tony host, she is well regarded for her four stints as Oscar hostess. At the most recent Oscars, when Whoopi was left out of the host-highlight clip package of years gone by, she was ticked off and talked about it the morning after on The View. Perhaps doing the Tonys will be her way of sticking to the Oscars?
So, AOL TV did a poll about America's favorite talk show hosts and 1.3 million people made their feelings known. Interesting results. I didn't agree with some of them, like who I like waking up with. Diane Sawyer was the top choice, but I'd go for the second place finisher, Matt Lauer. As for whom to go to bed with -- TV talk show wise, that is -- I can't believe most of the people chose Jay Leno. Is he really that popular? I prefer David Letterman; I'm a sucker for the Top Ten lists.
Oscar turned 80 last night. For eight decades, Hollywood has been handing out gold statuettes for the best in motion picture arts and sciences. Sadly, last night's show will not have to worry about winning an Emmy. Not only was the show pedestrian, long and uninspired, it was also a bomb in the Nielsen overnight ratings. In fact, it was historically disappointing: averaging just 32 million viewers to become the least watched Oscar telecast ever! EVER, people!
Of course, if you're worried that with ratings so bad, some day the Academy Awards won't be broadcast -- don't. The Oscars, like the Super Bowl, make a fortune for the network broadcasting it. ABC made an average of $1.8 million for each 30-second spot.
Yesterday, Amani Toomer and Michael Strahan of the World Champion New York Giants (boy, it feels great to write that) stopped by The View to talk about fitness equipment. During the segment, Whoopi Goldberg, who is such a self-proclaimed Giants fan that she spoke during the team's post-victory-parade ceremony at New York's City Hall, asked Toomer about the miracle catch he made late in the game, where he pinned the football to his helmet before being tackled.
There was just one problem: Toomer didn't make the catch. David Tyree did. Video is after the jump, thanks to our friends at BestWeekEver.tv
Some people don't think this should be a "top story" of 2007, as I've heard it decried already around the interwebs, but the fact remains that this feud was all over the news, garnered high ratings and made The View one of the most buzzed about shows of 2007. Regardless of if you think Rosie was being a bully or Elisabeth was being a baby or if both were being words we don't say in polite company, it was a big deal. I know when I heard she was joining the show for its tenth season, my first thought was "The View is still on the air?"
Varietyreports that negotiations to have actress Whoopi Goldberg join The View (she's been a guest host several times) are close to being finalized, though the network has made no official announcement just yet.
ABC is also apparently talking with comedian Sherri Shepherd about the possibility of joining the show. Currently the only three permanent hosts are Barbara Walters, Joy Behar and Elizabeth Hasselbeck.
Goldberg would replace Rosie O'Donnell, of course, who left the show a couple months ago.
When I was a bright, young journalism student back at Rutgers University (Go Scarlet Knights!) I remember a mantra that my professors bore into our brains each and every week: check your sources. If you verify your facts with at least two or three other sources you are good to go. Apparently, the news editors over at WJZ, Baltimore's CBS affiliate, missed that day in class. And, because they did they ended up in an extremely embarrassing situation.
Earlier this week they reported that Michael Richards appeared in blackface at a roast honoring Whoopi Goldberg. They reported this as breaking news not once, but twice, and attributed the story to the website Dateline:Hollywood. Well, it seems that the news department over at WJZ didn't realize that the site satirizes Hollywood. Needless to say, they were red-faced about the entire blackface situation (place groans here) and they ran a brief correction during their 11 p.m. newscast. What they should have really done was fired the staff member(s) who discovered that information and didn't read further about Britney's private areas wanting to talk to the press. They may have gotten and idea that it wasn't a legitimate news site then.
Oh, and someone's internal alarm should have gone off when they saw that story, since it is so familiar to something that happened back in 1993. That's when Ted Danson, who was dating Whoopi Goldberg at the time, appeared in blackface at a Friar's Club roast. Really, it wasn't that long ago, newsies.
It's tough being Tori Spelling. She's spent better than a decade living under the spotlight and having every mistake magnified. Granted, she brought a lot of it on herself, but I think she has probably taken more than her fair share. It's just so easy. But given all that, I think she gains a lot of points for being able to make fun of herself, because when you get right down to it, that's what so noTORIous is all about. Laughing at the absurdity that is her life.
I think that those years of bad press and bad jokes may have been the biggest problem that this show had. One that it faced before they ever shot a scene, and one that they were never really able to overcome. A lot of people simply dismissed the show for no other reason than it was starring Tori Spelling as herself. And that's too bad, because I'm here to tell you that they made a pretty funny sit-com.
Among the other details the CW network gave to critics gathered at the TCA press tour today -- the network will open its first fall schedule with America's Next Top Model on September 20th, and the network will air original wraparound segments during commercial breaks -- the new network announced that Whoopi Goldbert will be guest starring in two epiosdes of Everybody Hates Chris. According to the network press release about the move (which they sent to me directly! Look, Ma, I'm somebody now!), Goldberg "will play Louise, a woman from Queens who moves in next door to Chris' family, and whose granddaughter is the latest object of Chris' affections."
Say what you will about Whoopi, but her strength has always been comedic acting; she even had some funny moments during her much-maligned and short-lived NBC series Whoopi. So, paired up with the fine writing talents of Chris Rock and his staff on Chris, Whoopi's guest stint might actually be pretty good. It might actually help me remember to watch the show, which I had a lot of trouble doing last year.
Whoopi Goldberg will be returning to television for the first time since Whoopi
was on NBC a couple years ago. She'll be guest starring in an episode of Law and Order: CriminalIntent for May sweeps in a role that will most likely be recurring. Goldberg will play Chelsey Watkins, an
evil foster mother who goes up against Detective Mike Logan, played by Chris Noth. Goldberg seems to be playing this
up, insisting her role will be the baddest ever on Criminal Intent. I assume she means the character will be
bad, not her acting. Though maybe she did mean her acting, and she's going for some kind of award for bad acting. You
never really know, you know? This sounds promising, but Criminal Intent still remains my least favorite series
of the Law and Order franchise.
Whoopi Goldberg's new series about an all-girl soccer team in New York City will
premiere this Sunday on Nickelodeon at 7 p.m. Goldberg developed Just for Kicks as a way of exploring the
double standard that surrounds girls in sports, and to show how these young ladies can participate in rough
sports and still be "girls" without having labels applied to them like "butch" and
"tomboy" (though in my experience it's always the "tomboys" who wind up as total hotties when they
get older). If nothing else, I admire the spirit of the show, and its message of female empowerment. The first episode
will focus on a team of cheerleaders, one of which tries to convince her friends that soccer is a cool sport. You know,
if they really wanted to cover everything they'd have a bunch of boys join the cheerleading squad, too. I'm just
saying.
She's an experienced host, an Oscar-winner, a Broadway star. But is Whoopi Goldberg hosting the 62nd Tony Awards the answer for the struggling annual broadcast? The Tony Awards, which honors the best in Broadway theater is considered one of the four major entertainment awards, along with the Oscar, Emmy and Grammy. But the Tonys have been losing viewership year after year despite the stars lured onto the broadcast. After having no single host the past two years, CBS has tapped Whoopi to be the emcee for the June 15 live broadcast from Radio City Music Hall in hopes that she'll make a difference in the Nielsens. The last single host was Hugh Jackman in 2005.
So, AOL TV did a poll about 
Oscar turned 80 last night. For eight decades, Hollywood has been handing out gold statuettes for the best in motion picture arts and sciences. Sadly, last night's show will not have to worry about winning an Emmy. Not only was the show pedestrian, long and uninspired, it was also 
Yesterday, Amani Toomer and Michael Strahan of the World Champion New York Giants (boy, it feels great to write that) stopped by 
Some people don't think this should be a "top story" of 2007, as I've heard it decried already around the interwebs, but the fact remains that this feud was all over the news, garnered high ratings and made The View one of the most buzzed about shows of 2007. Regardless of if you think Rosie was being a bully or Elisabeth was being a baby or if both were being words we don't say in polite company, it was a big deal. I know when I heard she was joining the show for its tenth season, my first thought was "The View is still on the air?"
Variety 
When I was a bright, young journalism student back at Rutgers University (Go Scarlet Knights!) I remember a mantra that my professors bore into our brains each and every week: check your sources. If you verify your facts with at least two or three other sources you are good to go. Apparently, the news editors over at WJZ, Baltimore's CBS affiliate, missed that day in class. And, because they did they ended up in an extremely embarrassing situation.
It's tough being Tori Spelling. She's spent better than a decade living under the spotlight and having every mistake magnified. Granted, she brought a lot of it on herself, but I think she has probably taken more than her fair share. It's just so easy. But given all that, I think she gains a lot of points for being able to make fun of herself, because when you get right down to it, that's what so noTORIous is all about. Laughing at the absurdity that is her life.
Among the other details the CW network gave to critics gathered at the TCA press tour today -- the network will open its first fall schedule with America's Next Top Model on September 20th, and the network will air original wraparound segments during commercial breaks -- the new network announced that Whoopi Goldbert will be guest starring in two epiosdes of Everybody Hates Chris. According to the network press release about the move (which they sent to me directly! Look, Ma, I'm somebody now!), Goldberg "will play Louise, a woman from Queens who moves in next door to Chris' family, and whose granddaughter is the latest object of Chris' affections."
Whoopi Goldberg will be returning to television for the first time since Whoopi
was on NBC a couple years ago. She'll be guest starring in an episode of Law and Order: Criminal
Intent for May sweeps in a role that will most likely be recurring. Goldberg will play Chelsey Watkins, an
evil foster mother who goes up against Detective Mike Logan, played by Chris Noth. Goldberg seems to be playing this
up, insisting her role will be the baddest ever on Criminal Intent. I assume she means the character will be
bad, not her acting. Though maybe she did mean her acting, and she's going for some kind of award for bad acting. You
never really know, you know? This sounds promising, but Criminal Intent still remains my least favorite series
of the Law and Order franchise.
Whoopi Goldberg's new series about an all-girl soccer team in New York City will
premiere this Sunday on Nickelodeon at 7 p.m. Goldberg developed Just for Kicks as a way of exploring the
double standard that surrounds girls in sports, and to show how these young ladies can participate in rough
sports and still be "girls" without having labels applied to them like "butch" and
"tomboy" (though in my experience it's always the "tomboys" who wind up as total hotties when they
get older). If nothing else, I admire the spirit of the show, and its message of female empowerment. The first episode
will focus on a team of cheerleaders, one of which tries to convince her friends that soccer is a cool sport. You know,
if they really wanted to cover everything they'd have a bunch of boys join the cheerleading squad, too. I'm just
saying.
The Upfronts: FOX
Carter Bays of How I Met Your Mother: The TV Squad Interview
The Upfronts: CBS
