He's no Johnny Carson or Bob Hope or Billy Crystal, but pop star and former boy band fave Justin Timberlake could be the next star to host the Academy Awards. The Oscars are still months away, but the Academy is already contemplating a way to make the show more Nielsen worthy.
Last February's show, hosted by The Daily Show's Jon Stewart (he also hosted in 2006), celebrated the 80th anniversary of the Oscars but was a ratings dud. It was the worst Oscars ever, in terms of Nielsen ratings, even though it had a 21.9 rating and 33 share.
Many people blame those dismal numbers on a disinterest among viewers in the films that were in contention last year, including heavy dramas No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood, Michael Clayton, which seemed to have little appeal to mass audiences.
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?
About two months ago, we learned that Donny and Marie Osmond were being considered for their own daytime talk show. One of the Osmonds will indeed host a talk show in the somewhat near future. Earlier this week, Marie, who recently appeared on Dancing with the Stars, announced that she will host her very own syndicated daytime talk show set to premiere in the fall of 2009.
This will not be Marie's first time as a host. If you recall, from 1998 to 2000, she co-hosted Donny & Marie with her brother, Donny Osmond.
TV Week tells us that after clearing 85% of the market with a few last-minute sales, including to one of my local stations in St. Louis, The Bonnie Hunt Show is now able to get things in order for a Fall 2008 launch. Hunt filmed a pilot in June of 2007 and was picked up with a two year commitment in September.
Bonnie Hunt is one of those Hollywood names everyone knows, everyone in the industry likes, and she's been around forever, but she's never been in anything "big-time." Her biggest TV role was probably her Emmy-nominated performance in the short-lived ABC series Life with Bonnie, in which Hunt played ... a TV talk show host ... well, that's kind of weird. I guess all she's really wanted to do is direct-- I mean, host a talk show. Sorry, they all want to direct, of course. Goes without saying. So I probably shouldn't have.
If only Bob Hope and Johnny Carson could come back from the dead...
Seriously, besides Billy Crystal and onetwo-time host Steve Martin, most Oscar hosts have suffered in the face of high expectations and the reality that they couldn't unleash their full force of funny over an audience full of mostly humorless industry types. Dave Letterman got eaten alive despite a performance most home audiences (well, me) thought was hilarious. Chris Rock dared to actually try to be a tenth as daring as he is in his stand-up act and he was called "insulting" by his non-fans and "boring" by the people who liked him. Ellen DeGeneres was so benign she put people to sleep.
Which is why I wonder why Jon Stewart would accept the Academy's reported invitation to host the ceremony again next year. When he hosted in 2006, he got decidedly mixed reviews, from people who liked his performance to folks like Nikki Finke, who said that Stewart bombed.
FOX announced today that Ryan Seacrest will be hosting the 59th Emmy Awards on FOX September 16 at 8:00 p.m. This news comes in the wake of the announcement that Seacrest will also be hosting the Super Bowl.
I have no idea if this is a good idea or not, as I don't watch American Idol, E! News, Captain Seacrest's Pirate Ship Hootenanny, or whatever the hell other series he's featured on. Still, isn't the typical rule for awards shows to have some kind of comedian hosting them?
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.
Yesterday was a big day for Bob Barker, now the former host of The Price is Right. His final episode of The Price is Right aired in primetime, just before he won a Daytime Emmy for Best Game Show Host. After the Emmys, Barker spoke to the press about what the future holds for his beloved game show.
Barker said that Rosie O'Donnell is in talks to take his place as host. And he gave her a little boost, saying, "There's no doubt in my mind she could do the show. Now, whether they want a lady host, I don't know." So far, the producers have only auditioned men. The top male contenders are said to be Todd Newton of E!, Mark Steines of Entertainment Tonight, George Hamilton and John O'Hurley.
I'm not so sure about Rosie (TV Squadder Paul is absolutely against it!). She has a wicked side to her that she would have to suppress on The Price is Right, which may make her seem disingenuous.
Let's give Dennis Miller credit: the man isn't afraid to try new things. He's been a comedian, an actor, a sports announcer, a political pundit (of sorts), a talk show host, and a radio show host.
Now, he's going to host a game show.
On August 7, Miller will host Grand Slam on the Game Show Network, a new series that will test players' knowledge in math, verbal skills and current events. The twist is that all of the contestants were big winners on other game shows. Jeopardy! champ Ken Jennings will appear on the new game show, along with past winners of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.
There will be a few changes made to the ceremony this year with reality show creator Mark Burnett at the wheel: the entire show will be broadcast live for the first time, allowing a more interactive experience for younger viewers, not to mention the chance to win the Best Movie Spoof award, part of a contest set up by MTV and Yahoo.
The new book is actually based on Tim Gunn's Guide to Style, which began casting today. The new series will follow Gunn as he teaches people to be more fashion conscious and find a look that suits their personality.
The first sentence of Gunn's book reads that "the most important key to the content of your wardrobe" is knowing who you are. Since I'm pretty sure who I am is "someone who doesn't care what Tim Gunn has to say," I guess the first step for me is not reading his book and just wearing whatever the hell I want. I would like to thank him for the first sentence, though, it was very helpful.
Peyton Manning just has to do everything Tom Brady does, doesn't he? First, he won a Super Bowl and an SB MVP award, just like Brady (though Brady's won 2 SB MVPs and 3 rings). Now he's decided to celebrate his 31st birthday by hosting Saturday Night Live on March 24. Brady hosted the show two years ago, and did a pretty decent job of it, all things considered.
Manning should do an even better job, since he's already shown a pretty good sense of humor in the myriad commercials he's done over the years. I mean, what football fan didn't love it when he exhorts a deli guy to "Cut that meat!" in a MasterCard commercial? Or when he donned a clever disguise to extol his own virtues in a Sprint ad? Well, most of them didn't. But you can't deny that he'll do a serviceable job on SNL. Although, as far as athlete sketches go, nothing can beat the Joe Montana "I'll be upstairs masturbating" moment from 20 years ago.
(By the way, I'm not a Patriots fan; I'm a Giants fan. I think I'm just jealous because we got the wrong Manning, that's all.)
He's no Johnny Carson or Bob Hope or Billy Crystal, but pop star and former boy band fave Justin Timberlake could be the next star to host the Academy Awards. The Oscars are still months away, but the Academy is already contemplating a way to make the show more Nielsen worthy. 
She's an experienced host, an Oscar-winner, a Broadway star. But is 
About two months ago, we learned that Donny and Marie Osmond were 
TV Week tells us
If only Bob Hope and Johnny Carson could come back from the dead...
FOX announced today that Ryan Seacrest will be hosting the 59th Emmy Awards on FOX September 16 at 8:00 p.m. This news comes in the wake of the announcement that Seacrest will also be 
Variety 
Yesterday was a big day for Bob Barker, now the former host of The Price is Right. His final episode of The Price is Right aired in primetime, just before he 
Let's give Dennis Miller credit: the man isn't afraid to try new things. He's been a comedian, an actor, a sports announcer, a political pundit (of sorts), a talk show host, and a radio show host.
Comedian Sarah Silverman will be 
Project Runway's Tim Gunn (also host of the upcoming Tim Gunn's Guide to Style) has a 
Peyton Manning just has to do everything Tom Brady does, doesn't he? First, he won a Super Bowl and an SB MVP award, just like Brady (though Brady's won 2 SB MVPs and 3 rings). Now he's decided to celebrate his 31st birthday 
Giveaway Monday: How I Met Your Mother season three DVD
Oops! Newspapers around the world use SNL pic as official Palin one - VIDEO
The evolution of TV Squad
