a and e-related stories
Posted Oct 14th 2009 5:31PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Celebrities, Casting
If this report is true, that Michael Jackson's kids are indeed going to star in the
new Jackson family reality show on A&E, then I guess I have to revise my view on who are the sane members of the family and who aren't.
US says that Prince, Paris, and Prince Michael "Blanket" Jackson will costar in
The Jacksons: A Family Dynasty, which will premiere in December. The magazine says that Janet Jackson gave the thumbs up to the kids appearing in the show. I always thought she would be one who would say no to something like this. Older sister Rebbie doesn't want the kids to appear in the show and won't appear in the show herself.
Continue reading Michael Jackson's kids will appear in new reality show - or will they?
Posted Sep 8th 2009 2:01PM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Programming, OpEd, Watercooler Talk, Episode Reviews
When it comes to hoarding stuff, I've gotten better over the years, but I'm still a fairly impressive pack-rat. For instance, I've got boxes of newspaper clippings in the basement dating back to the 1980s, when I wrote for the local daily paper.
Do I need this stuff? No, but it's part of my history, so I hang onto it. Maybe at some point in the distant future, I'll make a bunch of nice scrapbooks and pass them on to my kids. Then
they'll have to figure out what to do with it. Isn't that how it works? People just keep handing their stuff down through the generations, and no one knows what to do with it. Eventually, no one even knows who it belonged to in the first place, and maybe it'll get tossed out.
But I must say, after watching A&E's
Hoarders, I feel downright neat and tidy.
Continue reading A&E's Hoarders - And I thought MY place was cluttered
Posted Aug 27th 2009 6:00PM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Industry, Cable/Satellite, Reality-Free
A long-awaited merger between two cable channels has been finalized...uh, finally.
A&E Networks aquired Lifetime as part of a deal between Hearst, Disney and NBC Universal. The deal makes Lifetime a sub-company in the A&E empire.
The deal puts Disney and Hearst in the front row seats of both networks with NBC in a distant third. This means that
NBC can sell its holdings in Lifetime to the other two parties within the next 15 years.
There doesn't seem to be any serious announcement or confirmations of a name or brand change under their new owners. Lifetime will still be called Lifetime.
Continue reading A&E buys Lifetime
Posted Aug 21st 2009 5:29PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Programming, Celebrities
This was actually a reality show that was already in the works at A&E way before
Michael Jackson died in June. They filmed a one-hour special and they were hoping that a reunion concert with Michael would happen in the last episode.
There's no official word yet, but
sources say A&E is going to do the series after all, and it will focus a lot on how the brothers are coping with Michael's death. Will you watch it?
Posted Jul 8th 2009 8:01AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Watercooler Talk, Reality-Free
Are you watching
The Cleaner? It seems to be the cable drama that has gotten lost in the mix of other shows that get more press and acclaim, like
Mad Men,
Breaking Bad,
Weeds, and
Rescue Me. But one friend of mine swears that the show is one of the best shows on television right now.
TV shows and movies about drug addicts always bum me out though.
Posted Jun 10th 2009 5:02PM by Eliot Glazer
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Video, Game Show, Reality-Free
If you're like me, then you're probably a mom. Although, I don't have children. In fact, I'm a quarter-century old dude built like an extra from a 1960's beach movie (that's not necessarily a compliment, especially if you think "compact" is a terrible description of body type, as I often do). However, when I'm at the gym, I seem to get along like gangbusters with all the mothers who take to the Stepper for a mindless lower-body workout in which one essentially climbs to nowhere.
In fact, every now and then, you'll catch me on the machine upwards of an hour, which is by no means an easy task when you have the attention span I do. But luckily, I've got plenty of friends to keep me going, and I don't even have to talk to them. Because they're inside the TV! (Sorry, moms!)
Continue reading Five shows to watch at the gym (if you know what's good for you)
Posted Jun 4th 2009 2:05PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Cancellations, Reality-Free
Though it probably comes as no big surprise, sources are saying that the
Patrick Swayze drama about a rogue FBI agent,
The Beast, won't be returning for a second season.
While A&E has told Variety that no official decision has been made, word is that episode 13, which aired at the end of April, will be the series' last.
I've been watching
I'm a Celebrity: Get Me Out of Here!, which is a terrible revelation to make about myself, but in the three hours of my life that show has taken from me, I've come to a few conclusions: 1. My life needs more meaning, and 2.
Lou Diamond Phillips is kind of a bad-ass.
I bring this up because apparently, there had been talks of
The Beast continuing with someone other than Patrick Swayze in the lead in case Swayze's poor health prevented him from continuing on the show. Phillips recently guest-starred on the series, and I would love to see him on television (in a situation in which he wasn't getting eaten by rats).
Continue reading A&E cancels The Beast
Posted May 12th 2009 3:43PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Celebrities, Reality-Free
While
Kevin Costner is executive producing a new A&E Western mini-series event, he's not as sure if he'll be directing any of it or even if he'll be appearing in it. It all depends on the script. So he's not sure if it'll be good enough to bother with beyond his current EP duties?
Come on, Kevin. This is A&E. Remember their first, and only so far, mini-series
The Andromeda Strain? Yeah,
I actually watched it and it was horrible! Which means this one simply has to be better. Right? It can't be much worse. Truly. It can't.
Continue reading Kevin Costner may direct/star in a new Western mini-series...or may not
Posted Feb 18th 2009 9:29AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Programming, Celebrities, Pickups and Renewals
Joining the long list of former celebrities who have gotten a second life as a result of television reality programming, M.C. Hammer
will be getting his own series on the A&E Network. It will be called, what else,
Hammertime and will chronicle his life with his wife and five children.
Honestly, is there a 1970's or 80's celebrity who hasn't been the star of his or her own reality television show? We've had Hulk Hogan, Scott Baio and a myriad of others in various reality shows that contain the word "celebrity" such as
Celebrity Boxing and
Celebrity Apprentice. Okay,
Dancing With The Stars doesn't have the word "celebrity", but it has "star" which is close enough.
I think what gets me the most is that this same concept was used in
The Osbournes (depending on the show's use of profanity). I envisage a network exec saying "Think
The Osbournes, but it's a rap star with more kids". If it's good enough for Ozzy...
Posted Aug 1st 2008 1:43PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Celebrities
Even in the world of overdone magic trick specials, this one looks like it was especially overdone.
If you haven't heard, illusionist Criss Angel escaped from an imploding building Wednesday night. The A&E star was handcuffed to a six story building and had to unlock the cuffs and escape the structure via a helicopter on the roof, before tnt went off and the building imploded. Did he make it? The fact that you haven't heard any news reports of his crushing will probably give you the answer.
Continue reading Building blows up, Criss Angel doesn't die
Posted Jun 6th 2008 12:20PM by Keith McDuffee
Filed under: Subtle Subtitles, Reality-Free
Welcome to Subtle Subtitles. For those of you who are uninitiated to the purpose of this feature, we're asking you to come up with your funniest quote or description for what's going on in the screen grab we choose for the week. Winners are announced in the following Friday's contest.
Last contest's winner:
apronk
"Clay Aiken is breeding!!!"This week, a scene from the series premiere of CBS's
Swingtown ...
Posted Jan 21st 2008 10:01AM by Jay Black
Filed under: OpEd, TV 101
Do you remember coming back from
your first semester at college and running into a kid you used to go to high school with who decided to use college as an excuse to totally reinvent him or herself? Like he was the class dork and in three months he's all of a sudden a death-metal anarchist? Or she dated the basketball team (the varsity, junior varsity, AND the freshmen) and now she dresses like Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman?
There was always something disturbing about it. Not so much that they had changed -- everyone has a right to change -- but because what they now were was different from the template you had made for them. When the universe doesn't act like you expect it to, you get uneasy; it's a natural reaction. I couldn't help but feel that way this week, when I watched A&E's new show
Parking Wars.
Continue reading TV 101: Channel Drift (or, what the hell happened to A&E?)
Posted Oct 15th 2007 8:56AM by Keith McDuffee
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, TV on DVD, Contests and Giveaways
It's time for us to give away some stuff ... again! One of today's giveaways is for three copies of
The Kids in the Hall - complete series megaset on DVD, which is in stores October 31, but through Wednesday, October 17th,
you can order the set at 50% off. All you've got to do is submit a comment below before 5PM Eastern, October 19, and mention your favorite sketch from the series. We'll randomly choose three winners to receive the DVDs!
Some other details:
- To enter, leave a confirmed comment below stating your favorite Kids in the Hall sketch.
- The comment must be left before October 19, 2007 at 5:00PM Eastern Time.
- You may enter only once.
- Three winners will be selected in a random drawing.
- Three winners will receive a copy of The Kids in the Hall Complete Series Megaset DVDs (valued at $199.95).
Click here for complete Official Rules.Posted Jan 10th 2007 6:15PM by Adam Finley
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Cable, Programming, Animation
The producers of Dr. Katz: Professional Therapist are developing a new animated series for A&E, Hollywood DMV. This will be the first animated series for the network, and will feature animated versions of stand-up comics as they stand in line at the DMV. The main focus of the animated series, however, will be the employees.
If it were anyone else but the producers of Dr. Katz behind this, I'd probably dismiss the series without even watching it, but Dr. Katz managed to find that balance between recycled stand-up material and multi-dimensional main characters, so I'm optimistic.
Continue reading A&E orders up some new shows
Posted Dec 8th 2006 11:01AM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, NBC, ER, Interviews, Celebrities
When people who have met John Stamos say that he's a nice, charming, down-to-earth guy, they're not kidding. He's so damned charming that twice during my phone conversation with him last week, I told him that since he already had my number, he should call me to talk about TV off-the record. (Hey, the guy said to me both times that he enjoyed the conversation. And we talked about New Jersey -- he did a movie in Freehold once. So I caved.)
It's that likability that has carried his career for the last twenty-five years, from
General Hospital to
Full House to
ER. It's also what he hopes will draw people to
Wedding Wars, an A&E original movie that will air Monday at 9 PM. In the comedy, he plays Shel, a gay party planner who sparks a national pro-gay-marriage movement when he goes on strike while planning the wedding of his brother Ben (Eric Dana).,The strike happens after he finds out Ben wrote an anti-gay marriage speech for his boss, the governor of Maine.
I spoke to Stamos about the movie for The New York Post, but while I had him on the phone, I couldn't resist asking him about
ER, his Uncle Jesse mullet, and his friendship with Howard Stern. The interview is after the jump.
Continue reading John Stamos: The TV Squad Interview
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