elvis presley-related stories
Posted Nov 24th 2009 11:25AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Industry, OpEd, Music and Variety, Celebrities, Judges, Reality-Free
If you don't already know her story, get ready to hear all about it. On December 13, the
TV Guide Network will present a Susan Boyle special. An hour all about the unlikely Scottish singing sensation.
I Dreamed a Dream: The Susan Boyle Story is a one-hour documentary/interview/performance special chronicling the rise of the
Britain's Got Talent performer who became a You Tube phenom and has just released her first CD.
American Idol's Simon Cowell is the mastermind behind this production, which will also be broadcast in England on the ITV1. It'll have celebrity interviews including Simon himself, footage of Susan's hometown, her TV appearances till now, and -- naturally -- Susan singing songs from
I Dreamed A Dream, the new CD.
Continue reading Coming soon: the Susan Boyle TV special
Posted Nov 18th 2009 4:04PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Celebrities, Casting, Reality-Free
When I first heard the plot of the new TNT drama pilot that George Clooney is producing,
Delta Blues, I thought it might be funny at first but way too odd to watch for several episodes. It's about George Hendricks, a Memphis police officer who lives with his mom and is also a part-time Elvis Presley impersonator (I'm going to assume that he doesn't dress up as Elvis while he's on duty or this show will go be way into the red zone of the QUIRKY meter).
Well, at least they grabbed someone good for the role.
My Name Is Earl's Jason Lee is going to play the lead character, and I can definitely picture that. Now I just wonder if he's going to dress up as younger, thinner Elvis (circa 1959) or older, wider Elvis (circa 1975).
The pilot will be directed by Clark Johnson, who worked on
The Shield.
Posted Oct 27th 2009 1:06PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Celebrities, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
George Clooney learned a lot about television toiling away on
The Facts of Life and
E/R. The latter wasn't NBC medical drama that made him a star. I'm talking about the
1984 Elliott Gould sitcom on CBS that lasted a year, just 22 episodes.
But the point is this: he may be a major movie star today, but George knows and appreciates television. That could be why
George Clooney's behind Delta Blues, a cop drama that TNT has just picked up.
I use the term drama loosely, because it's something goofier than a straight drama. The lead character is an Elvis Presley impersonator when he's not working for the Memphis Police Department. One more thing: Like Elvis, he honors his mother... and lives with her. Does that make him a mama's boy? I guess we'll have to wait and see.
Continue reading George Clooney, Elvis, the cops and TNT
Posted Jul 21st 2009 7:02PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Celebrities
You probably haven't given a second thought as to who
Top Chef Masters judge Gael Greene has slept with (why would you?), but you're about to find out. Greene describes it all in her 2006 memoir
Insatiable.
She has always seemed like an interesting character to me, one of the judges on that show (or the original) that seems to have an intriguing, wild background. And in the book she describes the various famous men she has slept with, and that list includes Elvis (Presley, not Costello), Burt (Reynolds, not Ward), and Clint (Eastwood, not Black).
Here's an excerpt from Greene's book.
[via
Pop Candy]
Posted Nov 3rd 2008 10:25AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Late Night, Celebrities, Reality-Free
If you believe in such things, Johnny Carson is likely spinning in his grave right now. The great star of
The Tonight Show is about to be revealed, the good, the bad and especially the ugly and unsavory, in a memoir.
Johnny Carson's attorney Henry Bushkin is writing a book about the star,
spilling all the secrets that he kept confidential while Johnny was alive, and it's all legal. Bushkin is looking for one more way to cash in on his client, one he soaked plenty when Johnny was alive.
Carson is a beloved TV icon, maybe the most beloved after Lucille Ball, but nobody believes that the affable, funny man who came into our bedrooms every night was a sweetheart. He was known to hold a grudge, to be snippy and cranky on occasion, and to have a temper.
Continue reading Johnny Carson... warts and all
Posted Aug 18th 2008 5:12AM by Paul Goebel
Filed under: Ask TV Squad, Reality-Free, Stump the King
I got a great letter this week from a TV fan named Jim R.
"Dear TV Squad, About 15 years ago, I watched an episode of a scifi/fantasy TV show wherein an Elvis impersonator traveled back in time to meet (and eventually kill) the real Elvis. Could you please tell me the name of this program? Thanks"
Continue reading Stump the King - Sci-Fi
Posted Jan 25th 2008 2:45PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Industry, Celebrities, Dancing With The Stars, Pushing Daisies, Chuck, Dirty Sexy Money
There are very few times that I wish I lived in Los Angeles (I'm a cold weather guy). This is one of them.
The annual William S. Paley Television Festival kicks off on March 14 (at its new home at Hollywood's Cinerama Dome) and runs through the 27th, and it looks like a lot of great shows are going to be celebrated during those two weeks. Already announced are panels that will reunite the cast from Buffy, The Vampire Slayer, as well as nights devoted to Chuck, Mad Men, Pushing Daisies, Gossip Girl, Dirty Sexy Money, Elvis Presley, and Judd Apatow. And there are still more events to be announced next week.
Continue reading Buffy cast to reunite at Paley Festival
Posted Aug 16th 2007 5:01PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Programming, What To Watch Tonight
At 8, CBS has a new Big Brother. - FOX has a new So You Think You Can Dance at 8.
- PBS has Elvis Lives: The 25th Anniversary Concert at 8.
- Speaking of Elvis, TCM has movies all night, including Jailhouse Rock and Viva Las Vegas.
- ESPN has preseason football at 8, the Dolphins vs. the Chiefs, while ESPN2 has the Western & Southern Financial tennis tournament.
- At 9, the History Channel has a new Boneyard.
- Sci-Fi has a new Who Wants To Be A Superhero at 9.
- At 10, AMC has a new Mad Men.
- There's a new Burn Notice on USA at 10.
- Food Network has a new Ace of Cakes at 10.
- TV Land has a special Elvis edition of Myths & Legends, also at 10.
- At 10:30, VH-1 has a new I Hate My 30s.
Check your local TV listings for more.
Posted Jun 21st 2007 4:04AM by Brett Love
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Episode Reviews
(
S03E08) It's becoming quite apparent that this is going to be a tough race. The competition is just entering the second week and there really isn't anyone that sticks out as being noticeably below the rest of the group. Depending on the styles drawn each week, every team in the competition has the potential to have the best performance of the night. It should make some difficult decisions for both the voters and the judges.
This week Nigel and Mary were joined at the judges table by Mia Michaels for what turned out to be quite an impressive group of performances. She told Cat that she was disappointed to see Ricky leave and that America got it wrong, putting the best three male dancers in the bottom three. I didn't agree with Ricky being let go last week, but I think she's going a little far there.
Continue reading So You Think You Can Dance: Week 2
Posted Jan 8th 2007 8:02AM by Adam Finley
Filed under: Music and Variety, Celebrities
Do you know what today is? I'll tell you what day it is: it's Elvis' birthday. In honor of the King, I'm going to teach all of you how to do a passable Elvis impersonation. Here's what you do: speaking in the lowest register your voice can reach, say this line: "A hubba hayba hubba hayba baby." Gyrate your hips while doing this and sneer. Now marry a teenager. Now take drugs and die. There you go, you're a rock and roll icon.
Continue reading Happy birthday, Elvis - VIDEO
Posted Oct 7th 2006 10:02AM by Adam Finley
Filed under: CBS, TV on DVD, Music and Variety, Celebrities
Elvis Presley made three appearances on
The Ed Sullivan Show in the late 1950s. It was on his third and last appearance that he was filmed only from the waist up to obscure his gyrating dance moves, gyrations that no doubt would have hypnotized every teenage girl in America and turned them all into mindless slut zombies willing to do Elvis' bidding whenever he so desired. Thankfully, CBS stopped that particular catastrophe from ever happening. The complete episodes featuring Elvis and containing the original commercial breaks will be included in a new DVD box set titled,
Elvis Presley: The Sullivan Shows. The set will be released on November 21.
Posted Aug 2nd 2006 10:07PM by Adam Finley
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, OpEd, Horror, TNT
(S01E08) While I haven't been overwhelmed by every episode of Nightmares and Dreamscapes, for the most part I think they picked decent stories to base the episodes on. I would have liked to seen more of Stephen King's older short stories represented, but I guess the producers lost my phone number or they forgot to call and ask me which stories I would have picked.
Anyway, I would not have picked "You Know They Got a Hell of a Band" as one of the stories. One of my favorite things about Stephen King's short stories is how outlandish they can be, but this one, about a couple that winds up in a small town inhabited by dead rock stars, was just silly. I thought maybe they could turn that into something kind of fun and goofy for television, but instead they played it straight, which really wasn't the best approach.
Continue reading Nightmares and Dreamscapes: You Know They Got a Hell of a Band
TV Squad Ten: Top Ten ESPN shows from worst to first
Andy Richter: The TV Squad Interview
Have any questions for Vik Sahay of Chuck? Ask them here!
