If Simon Cowell decides to stay in his judge's chair on American Idol, he'll have to squeak along on a salary of more than $100 million.
The U.K. and U.S. tabloid press reports that Cowell is negotiating for more than $140 million to return to Idol. That's just a slight raise over the reported $36 million he made for sitting on his backside and ridiculing warbling wannabes last year.
Who knew being aggressively obnoxious and judgmental could pay off so well? (In fairness, his very successful work as a record executive might have played a little part in his success, too.)
Don't look for it this week. As Nigel says, these things take time. At least they should take time. I'm glad So You Think You Can Dance is trying to put together a Michael Jackson tribute special. I'm even more glad that executive producer Nigel Lythgoe is trying to take the time to do this right. While everyone seems to be trying to throw something together right away, Lythgoe says that it'll happen if and when it happens. Plus, I'd sure rather see a SYTYCD tribute than tonight's re-airing of the MJ American Idol episode.
The more cynical among us may see it as a chance to cash in on the death of the King of Pop, but considering Jackson's significance into the world of popular dance, it makes perfect sense. Lythgoe's even trying to pull in Paula Abdul to help choreograph some aspect of it. I wouldn't mind seeing some synergy between American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance, considering that Fox is setting them up to air in opposite half-seasons; Dance in the fall, and Idol after Christmas.
Every single review that has been written for the new drama Hung (and will ever be written) will use a joke/pun concerning the title of the show. I refuse to do that. I have a good head on my shoulders. It might be hard to do, but I think if I refrain from bad jokes I won't get the shaft from readers.
Jimmy Kimmel Live went literal with this promo for the new show. It brings back a certain celebrity we had all forgotten about...
Since Michael Jackson died two days ago, TV and radio stations have been busy with around the clock news coverage, specials about the King of Pop, and even non-stop playing of Jackson songs and videos. More special programming is planned this weekend, and AOL has a list of what we'll see.
This morning at 10:30, E! will have the special Michael & Farrah: Lost Icons (good for them to include Farrah, whose death was overshadowed by bad timing). At 8 tonight (and Sunday), CNN will have Man in the Mirror, followed by a rerun of Larry King Live coverage and interviews about Jackson's death. At 10, The Bio Channel will air Bio Remembers: Michael Jackson.
They've decided to air an encore of the Michael Jackson themed episode of American Idol from this past season. In it, the Top 13 contestants performed from Jackson's catalogue. It's a bizarre choice, because despite a few good performances, notably from Kris Allen, Alexis Grace and Allison Iraheta, most of the performances were either okay or downright terrible. I'd think you'd want some good singing of perhaps some of his better known works to honor the man.
The summertime is when I could get a breath of fresh air from Ryan Seacrest. By the end of American Idol, I'm just hoping that Ryan would stop interviewing contestants and just get to the singing. Eventually the confetti falls, we have a winner, and Ryan Seacrest disappears from my television until January.
So You Think You Can Dance rolls around and we're greeted by the wonderful Cat Deeley. I have to admit that she's light years ahead of Ryan Seacrest. She may not be as witty as Tom Bergeron, but she brings a flair to her hosting duties.
If you haven't seen our game before, we give you a picture from a recent episode of a TV series and you provide the caption! Last week we had a pic from the season finale of American Idol, and the winner is grimmie with this:
"And what is the bid for this KISS wannabee?"
This week's pic is from the series finale of Reaper. Yes, it could be just a season finale if it gets picked up by someone else, but for now it's "series."
It's also interesting that Idol rules state that power texting, the kind of texting that AT&T reps showed Kris Allen fans how to do, is against the rules. Isn't there some sort of built-in safety net for the voting? How can one fan vote over 10,000 times for one person? Shouldn't it be one person, one vote? Or one household, one vote? Or maybe one phone number, one vote? I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with the results. I have no idea. But it does seem that a better system could be in place.
One of the joys of being a blogger is all the comments we receive. Once you weed out the personal threats, the discussions of your stupidity, the prayers to various gods that you get struck by a particularly painful STD, and the calls for you to be fired, you're actually left some solid contributions to the online discussion.
With that in mind, I've decided to turn this week's column over to you guys, a collection of commenters that I think I can say without hyperbole is the greatest collection of commenters in the history of the known universe. I've put together nine questions about TV that I'd love for you to answer. Don't feel like you have to answer them all: choose which ones are most interesting to you and then have at it.
I'm anxious to hear your opinions, so let's get to it...
So Kris Allen beat Adam Lambert by a ton of votes last week. You knew there would be a controversy, right? This one is based around AT&T. Seems they might have pushed the results toward Allen by having their reps at parties organized by fans of Allen and teaching them how to "power text," which apparently means sending 10 or more text messages at once. The New York Times has all the details.
Experts say one of every three adults experiences depression periodically in a lifetime. If a recent interview in the U.K.'s Daily Mail is on the level, it looks like Simon Cowell could use a prescription or two.
That could just be a celebrity waxing philosophical, but if you look up the basic symptoms of clinical depression, it sounds like Cowell is ticking off a checklist. He admits that he avoids social contact for days on end and avoids pleasurable activities. It's almost as if he's calling for an intervention.
I am not going to pay $29.95 a year to read the blog entries of Clay Aiken. So I'm glad that someone else does and can post the following quote from Aiken. Guess theAmerican Idolrunner-up isn't a fan of another runner-up, Adam Lambert.
I couldn't be happier with the way AI ended this year. I only turn the show on once a season and only to see what the set looks like. This year, I happened to turn it on during the minute that Adam Lambert was singing "Ring of Fire," and, at that moment, thought my ears would bleed. Contrived, awful, and slightly frightening! I wasn't really a fan and found myself surprised whenever folks told me that they liked him.
If you haven't seen our game before, we give you a picture from a recent episode of a TV series and you provide the caption! Last week we had a picture from the crazy season finale of Lost. Our winner is Ryan, with this caption:
"Sorry Ben, but the tribe has spoken and you're voted off the island."
This week it's a picture from the equally crazy finale of American Idol, with Adam Lambert and friends.
With the latest seasons ofSurvivor, The Amazing Race, and American Idol wrapping up, fans patiently have to wait until the fall or spring 2010 for their favorite shows to return. But why wait? Several reality TV shows debut in the summer both as lighter fare than fall shows and a way to test for target audiences.
If one recalls, several summer reality TV shows have eventually moved to prime real estate in the fall or spring. If rumors are true the summer favorite So You Think You Can Dance will be the next to move, airing in the summer and fall.
Here are some alternatives for your favorite reality TV shows.
If Simon Cowell decides to stay in his judge's chair on American Idol, he'll have to squeak along on a salary of more than $100 million.
Don't look for it this week. As Nigel says, these things take time. At least they should take time. I'm glad 
At 8, ABC has a new, two-hour episode of The Bachelorette, followed by a new Here Come The Newlyweds.
Since 
In the wake of his surprise death yesterday, 
The summertime is when I could get a breath of fresh air from 
If you haven't seen our game before, we give you a picture from a recent episode of a TV series and you provide the caption! 
If the reports coming from the 
One of the joys of being a blogger is all the comments we receive. Once you weed out the personal threats, the discussions of your stupidity, the prayers to various gods that you get struck by a particularly painful STD, and the calls for you to be fired, you're actually left some solid contributions to the online discussion.
Experts say one of every three adults experiences depression periodically in a lifetime. If a recent interview in the U.K.'s Daily Mail is on the level, it looks like Simon Cowell could use a prescription or two.
I am not going to pay $29.95 a year to read the blog entries of Clay Aiken. So I'm glad that someone else does and can post the following quote from Aiken. Guess the 
If you haven't seen our game before, we give you a picture from a recent episode of a TV series and you provide the caption! 
With the latest seasons of
Seven greatest hand cannons in TV history
TV Squad previews NBC's new shows (part 1)
TV 101: How ESPN controls the world and what the other networks can learn from it
