He's currently on Broadway in a play -- with 007 Daniel Craig -- and he "quietly turned down the job" according to sources. It's not because he was a bomb emceeing the proceedings either. He didn't do the "Oprah, Uma, Uma, Oprah" joke nor did he trip on his shoelaces in the opening number. Quite the contrary, in fact. Hugh Jackman was a perfectly fine host.
But he doesn't want to do it in 2010. Maybe he doesn't want to push his luck? Maybe he just doesn't want to work that hard.
Maybe they'll change the name of this year's Academy Awards to So You Think You Can Win An Oscar? Or maybe it'll be Oscar, You Should Be Dancing. What else can we expect now that Adam Shankman has been assigned to produce the Oscar broadcast... with Bill Mechanic. The Bill Mechanic part is almost like fine print. (Or that cute kid Brick on The Middle who whispers under his breathe in a funny, creepy way. "Mechanic...")
The story here is Adam Shankman. He's a director/choreographer and dancer. He's a judge on the current season of So You Think You Can Dance. His biggest credit is Hairspray, one of the few movie musicals that has made it to the big screen and was a bit hit in the last decade. Shankman should bring movement, energy and -- perhaps -- dance to the Academy Awards?
Sesame Street did a Mad Men spoof recently, and now they're spoofing another contemporary pop culture icon: the iPod.
In this clip, the Muppets are seen wearing headphones and dancing in silhouette a la various commercials for Apple's iPod. Steve Jobs called and is going to sue PBS. Just kidding!
[via Mashable]
Last night, Paula Abdul hosted VH-1 Divas. Would she be out of it? Would she say something crazy? Actually, she did something that was very smart: she impersonated the person who is going to take her place on American Idol. Sure, you can say it's just dancing, but she's got the moves down right.
(S04E24) Nick asked the crowd who they'd like to see in the finals, and of course, it was impossible to tell which names they yelled out, since all of the acts have their fans at this point.
Tonight we learn who's taking the last five spots in the finals. Nick also reminded us that the next show will air Monday, Sept. 14, and that there's no judge's pick tonight. The five who go through will be the five that America voted for. As it should be, in my view.
After a brief recap of last night's show, Nick asked Piers why he X'd the acts he did. Piers said it's a simple formula -- a game of the good and the not-so-good. Sharon gave another shout out to Barbara Padilla, whom she absolutely loves. Hoff said, "I'm Hoff crazy!" He also reminded us that they've seen a hundred thousand acts and it's getting down to the wire.
(S04E23) There were mixed feelings amongst viewers last week when the America's Got Talent judges announced that they couldn't decide who, between Voices of Glory and Fab 5, should get the fourth place in what was supposed to be a final round of the top eight acts of the summer.
It wasn't much of a surprise when Nick announced at the beginning of this week's performance show that there would be no judges' pick. It wouldn't make sense to have a Top 9, eh? I'm happy that more acts -- aka the same number as last year -- will get to perform in the finals. But what I'm happier for is that America will pick the final five acts to enter the next round. No judges' pick. The results will be solely based on the number of votes.
How did the ten remaining acts perform this week? Which acts should move on? My two cents, Piers' many Xs, and your comments coming up!
How many episodes of Glee's first season were there? One? Not sure why FOX is saying September 9th's return of the show is the "season" premiere and not "series" premiere if only one episode has aired. Here's a special sneak peek of one of the numbers, "Bust Your Windows," from the episode. You'll notice a young Jason Bateman washing the damaged car.
This song will be followed by "I Saw What You Did To My Car And I've Filed A Complaint With The Local Authorities."
(S04E04) "Houston, we have a problem." - Piers about the Houston, Tx, contestants
Yesterday, America's got magic. Tonight, America's got a problem. Yet, another episode filled mostly with bad or subpar acts. I don't get why the editors don't ensure a good balance between good and bad acts in each episode. Actually, I don't get why they don't show more of the good acts that are voted through so that we get to know the performers right from the start so they all have an even chance to get our votes. I guess I'm not cut out to be a reality TV show editor!
Let's give our two cents about the bad acts of the night, including Divani; Jolie, Lester and their lawnmower; Rusty "They don't understand Broadway" Reece, and Marti "The most annoying man in Miami" Brill.
(S04E03) "America's Got Magic." - Read on the magic box used by a contestant
America definitely got some magic tonight, as this was the first episode of the season where there were more good acts and not-so-bad ones than there were bad acts.
Before I give my two cents about the performances and let you comment on them, as well, I need to raise the issue of sponsoring. It looks like Orville Redenbacher is now sponsoring America's Got Talent. So far, it was done with some taste -- just a sort of "pop corn" ad telling us to watch the show -- but I'm afraid it may become as intrusive as the "Gone Completely Crakers" were last season. Let's hope we won't get a "Poppin' It" segment similar to the "Crakers" one, as they were boring and used good air time that could have been given to good performances.
Have you ever noticed that whenever Richard Simmons visits a talk show, he makes everyone feel uncomfortable? Last night he visited Anderson Cooper and Erica Hill to talk about his new health initiative, and he started to dance around the studio, which made the two hosts laugh. He wanted Anderson to dance, but we all know that he doesn't dance! I think Simmons is a little too old for the tank top and shorty-shorts, don't you?
If you heard about Fox's new musical drama/comedy Glee and thought it's probably going to be something like Disney's High School Musical, you're wrong. Gleefully wrong. Glee is one of the best entertainments I've seen on television in a long, long time.
Writer/producer/director Ryan Murphy describes the show as a hybrid, and he's right. It is. For me, I saw elements of the movie Election, plus Fame and Friday Night Lights, with a bit of The Wonder Years thrown in, only it's not nostalgia. Glee is all the best parts of all the above, plus music and dancing and great characters and really witty material.
I have not danced in about 10 years. It's not something that a lot of people look good doing, and I don't really enjoy it anyway. So I would have pretty much really blown last night's dance challenge on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. He invited two audience members onstage to create a dance for the show. The first one is goofy but easy to do. No one can do the second. (Video also here.)
If you were to summarize any of the Real Housewives shows, it would be "stupid people doing stupid things for stupid reasons." Is there ever anyone on these shows that you actually like? In this clip from last night's season finale of Real Housewives of New York City, Ramona (love these names) goes all loopy ("it's a cocktail party, not a disco party!") and then dances with some guy (check out Bravo's site if you can't see this video). Um ... enjoy?
(S07E06) This was a rarity in the Monk canon. It was not only a serious episode, but one in which Monk seemed capable of touching another person and falling in love again. The title of the episode, in fact, suggests that he does fall in love.
There were other differences in tonight's show. The murder of the taxi driver brought Stottlemeyer and Disher to the case, and Natalie and Adrian, but also a San Francisco Homicide task force -- i.e. two other detectives.
Have we ever seen these guys before? I don't remember them. They were there for one reason basically, to contradict Monk's assertion that the prime suspect -- Layla with a Z, a beautiful social worker -- is not the "guy." In the face of mounting evidence, Monk refused to believe she did it.
(S01E11) Roger and Susan finally had that moment. After eleven episodes, when he showed up in her kitchen and said what we've been waiting to hear him say -- "I love you, Susan" -- it was cathartic. Done to the tune of Carole King singing, "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?" Swingtown grabbed me by the throat, leaving me dying to see what would happen next. Only that was the end of the show.
I guess that's a good thing, being on the edge of my seat, hungry for more. Of course the next episode is two weeks away and probably the last of the show unless CBS deigns to bring it back in 2009. Based on the level of interest I have and I've seen from readers, Swingtown has earned a second season.
But I digress, let's get back to "Get Down Tonight." There was an awful lot of getting down, including the kids. BJ and Ricky had a hot game of strip poker with Sam and her very mature cousin Lisa. Not surprisingly, Ricky was all bluff and ran for the hills when things got too advanced, while BJ showed again that he's a real mensch (Yiddish for a quality person).
So Ricky Gervais has signed to host the Golden Globes, which means the pressure is on the Oscars to come up with a host or hosts equally as stellar. Or interesting. Or compelling. 
Maybe they'll change the name of this year's 
(S04E24)
(S04E23) There were mixed feelings amongst viewers 
(S04E03) "America's Got Magic." - Read on the magic box used by a contestant
If you heard about Fox's new musical drama/comedy 
(S07E06) This was a rarity in the 
(S01E11) Roger and Susan finally had that moment. After eleven episodes, when he showed up in her kitchen and said what we've been waiting to hear him say -- "I love you, Susan" -- it was cathartic. Done to the tune of Carole King singing, "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?" Swingtown grabbed me by the throat, leaving me dying to see what would happen next. Only that was the end of the show.
Mike Henry and Daryl Hall on a Cleveland Show Thanksgiving
The TV Squad Podcast: The Prisoner, '80s TV, soap news and more
Let's talk about spoilers ...
