TVSquad

If you're Alexis Stewart, daughter of domestic goddess Martha Stewart; your childhood was weird. It's an unavoidable fact; no one could grow up around that much tulle and handmade, hand-stamped wrapping paper and escape without any lasting effects. Luckily, Alexis has been able to use this to her advantage. Along with her friend Jennifer Koppelman Hutt, Alexis Stewart is mining her experiences growing up with Martha for her new show, Whatever, Martha.

When I first heard about Whatever, Martha, I laughed. Seriously; it sounded like one of those ideas you come up with at three in the morning after downing a family sized bottle of Cabernet. Kind of an, "oh my God, I just had the best idea for a show: what if we sat around and watched old episodes of Martha Stewart Living and tried to do the crafts while I talk about how screwed up my childhood was and how Martha always forgot my birthdays and stuff" kind of idea. Starting on September 16, that 3 am idea is going to become a reality -- and we have video.

How's this for a winning recipe? Domestic diva Martha Stewart has snagged superchef Emeril Lagasse for her empire. Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. announced today the acquisition of Emeril's franchise -- all those cookbooks, kitchen products and TV shows in which he stars -- for $45 million in cash and $5 million in stock at closing. That $50 million could swell by $20 million more if "if certain benchmarkets are achieved."

Martha's purchase, however, does not include Emeril's Homebase, which includes the chef's 11 stellar restaurants, including Emeril's New Orleans and Delmonico's Steakhouse in Las Vegas.

I don't think this is on the level of something like, say, Jay Leno appearing on The Late Show With David Letterman, but it's still something I didn't think I'd see: Martha Stewart interviewed by Howard Stern. She'll be on his Sirius Satellite radio show tomorrow.

Sure, they're both part of Sirius and it's good synergy, but it's still rather interesting. They seem to be very, um, let's just say "different' types of people. The questions that Stern asks, especially on Sirius...will he be that bold and blunt with Martha? Will he ask about her sex life? Will she swear? Will she go after Donald Trump? I can't really imagine he's going to ask her questions about making the perfect Christmas decorations or how to bake the perfect apple pie.

Stern was on The Late Show last night, dressed as Santa (or, more accurately, Father Christmas), and gave free Sirius radios to Dave, Paul, and everyone in the audience.

On the heels of the firing of her executive producer Rob Dauber comes word that NBC Universal has granted Martha a third season.

Oddly enough, the show is actually down 24% from the same time last season, which seems like a big number to me, but the article points out that it recently got the best ratings since May and the numbers in larger cities are going up as well. As for Rachael Ray and her new show, the ratings are very impressive. Maybe the 2007-08 season will be the ultimate Martha vs. Rachael battle. I'd like to see each of them on each other's shows. That would be worth watching.

I'm kinda glad that the show was renewed. It's not a show I watch every single day, but a world in which Martha Stewart doesn't have a TV show would be a weird world indeed.

[via TV Tattle]

Martha Executive Producer Rob Dauber has been fired from the show after several weeks of being at odds with the domestic diva.

The most interesting part of this story isn't that Dauber was fired, but that Mark Burnett is a producer of the show. I knew that he was the producer of Martha's version of The Apprentice, but I didn't know he was also doing her daily syndicated show. And Dauber? He worked with Burnett on The Restaurant, NBC's reality show for a couple of years ago. That was a show I really wanted to like, because I worked in the restaurant biz for many years, but it just got to be tedious and cringeworthy after a handful of episodes.

[via TV Tattle]

The Queen of All Media (Howard Stern holds the King title) is selling her well-known Turkey Hill home in Connecticut for $9 million. It has 9 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths, a heated pool, a barn, and large gardens (duh). It's on 4 acres. (I know nothing about real estate, is this a good price?)

I think that everyone here should pitch in and we can buy it and make it the official TV Squad headquarters. We can all live there together, Real World style.

[via Gawker]

Oh, how I wish I had watched this! Damn you CNN!

Television and music icon Charo visited Martha today. While on the show she smashed a giant chocolate bunny with a mallet and told Martha that she need to wear outfits that showed off her boobs more. They also showed a clip from a 1970s Merv Griffin Show episode that had both Martha and Charo on it (Charo told Martha that her food gave her gas and diarrhea). Oh, why couldn't someone tell me this was going to happen?

When I talk to younger people in their 20s and tell them about Charo, about her 70s appearances on TV shows and her guitar playing and her "coochie-coo!" catch phrase, they often look at me like I have six heads. Maybe Martha has introduced her to a whole new generation.